Participants:
Series Code: AVGC
Program Code: AVGC210006S
|
00:04 Hello, I'm Jill Morikone.
00:06 Welcome to the Adventist Virtual Global Camp Meeting. 00:08 This seminar is entitled, Restored Relationship. 00:12 And it's divided up into three sections. 00:14 The first is the calling. 00:16 Do you feel that God has called you 00:18 into relationship with Him? 00:20 Do you desire to serve Him? 00:22 Do you want to follow Him? 00:24 The middle section is the wandering. 00:27 Do you feel that you have wandered 00:28 far from God? 00:30 Do you want to come home? 00:31 But you're afraid that He would see the filth 00:34 that is covering you. 00:35 The final section is my favorite. 00:37 That is the renewing. 00:40 Do you want a fresh start? 00:41 Do you want to come home? 00:43 Do you want that first love experience 00:47 with Jesus renewed? 00:48 Then this seminar is for you. 00:50 Let's pray. 00:51 Holy Father, this is Your time. 00:53 We come before You in the name of Jesus, 00:55 asking for the anointing of Your Holy Spirit, 00:58 that Your Word would come alive 01:00 and You would speak to us 01:01 and show us a clear picture of Jesus. 01:05 In the precious and holy name of Jesus I pray. 01:08 Amen. 01:10 It was probably 12 years ago 01:14 and I was going on a walk, 01:15 which is a normal thing for me down our gravel road. 01:19 And there's a little country church 01:21 around the corner. 01:22 And all of a sudden I heard meow, meow 01:25 coming from the bushes and here was the scrawniest 01:28 little cat you can imagine. 01:30 Tiny gray. 01:32 Her fur was matted. 01:34 She had fleas. 01:35 She was infested with worms and she was starving. 01:38 And she came up to me and she rubbed against my ankle 01:42 and she followed me all the way home. 01:44 And we got home and I walked in the house 01:46 and I told Greg, 01:47 that's our cat. 01:48 She's going to be ours. 01:50 Why? 01:51 Because I want her. 01:53 And Greg tells her to this day. 01:55 We've had her about 12 years and he tells her to this day, 01:58 your mom chose you. 02:00 It reminds me of John 15:16. 02:04 Let's look at that. John 15:16. 02:06 This is Jesus speaking to His disciples 02:09 and to you and I down through the stream of time, 02:11 right before He went to the cross. 02:14 John 15:16, 02:15 "You did not choose Me, 02:17 but I chose you and ordained you 02:21 that you should go and bring forth fruit, 02:23 and that your fruit should remain." 02:26 Did you catch that? 02:27 We didn't choose God. 02:28 He reached out and He chose us. 02:32 Why did God choose the nature, 02:35 the children of Israel? 02:37 Why did He choose them? 02:39 Deuteronomy 7:6, 02:44 "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, 02:48 the Lord your God has chosen you 02:51 to be a people for Himself, 02:52 a special treasure above all the peoples 02:55 on the face of the earth. 02:57 Why was Israel chosen? 02:59 Were they chosen because they were stronger 03:00 than the other nations? 03:02 Were they richer than the other nations? 03:03 Were they more good looking or more talented? 03:07 Did they run in better social circles? 03:09 Maybe they obeyed better. 03:12 No, none of those reasons. 03:14 Read the next verse. 03:15 "The Lord did not set His love on you, 03:17 nor did He choose you 03:19 because you were more in number than all the other people, 03:22 for you were the least of all the peoples." 03:26 Why did He choose them? 03:27 "But because the Lord loves you, 03:31 and because He would keep the oath 03:33 which he swore to your fathers, 03:35 the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand 03:38 and redeemed you from the house of bondage, 03:40 from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt." 03:43 Did you catch that? 03:44 Why was the nation of Israel chosen 03:46 to be more special than any other people 03:50 on the face of the earth? 03:51 Simple, because the Lord loved them. 03:56 And because He remembered His covenant 03:58 with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 04:01 and that He would bring them out from Egypt 04:04 and make them a people for Himself. 04:08 You see, God delights 04:09 in taking what other people cast aside. 04:14 Let's look at Ezekiel. 04:15 I don't often spend time 04:17 studying in the Book of Ezekiel, 04:18 but I really liked this passage. 04:20 Ezekiel Chapter 16. 04:21 We're going to pick it up in verse 3. 04:24 We're looking at why God chose the nation of Israel 04:27 and by extension, 04:28 why He wants you and I. 04:31 Ezekiel 16:3, 04:33 "Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: 04:36 'Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan, 04:40 your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 04:43 As for your nativity, 04:45 on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, 04:49 nor were you washed in water to cleanse you, 04:52 you were not rubbed with salt 04:54 nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 04:57 No eye pitied you, 04:59 to do any of these things for you, 05:01 to have compassion on you, 05:03 but you were thrown out into the open field, 05:07 when you yourself were loathed 05:10 on the day you were born." 05:11 Now that word loathed in Hebrew 05:13 means something that's hated. 05:15 Why? 05:17 Because it is unclean. 05:19 So what is God saying here? 05:21 Cod is saying that Israel was not a wanted child. 05:24 None of the usual birthing rights 05:28 were observed. 05:29 The umbilical cord wasn't cut 05:31 and you always do that when the baby's born. 05:33 The baby wasn't washed with water. 05:35 It was not rubbed with salt. 05:36 It was not even clothed. 05:39 It was not looked on with compassion. 05:41 It was thrown out into the open field. 05:45 Verse 6, we're in Ezekiel 16:6, 05:49 "When I passed by you, 05:51 I saw you struggling in your own blood." 05:54 So, God passed by and saw 05:55 the nation of Israel, the children. 05:58 He saw you and I struggling in our junk, 06:01 in our sin. 06:02 And I said to you live, 06:05 yes, I said to you in your blood, 06:07 live. 06:09 Why is that? 06:10 God delights in taking what other people 06:14 have cast aside. 06:16 The next verse Ezekiel 16:7, 06:19 "I made you thrive like a plant in the field 06:21 and you grew mature and became very beautiful." 06:24 So Israel, the unwanted child that nobody wanted, 06:27 grew up and became beautiful. 06:30 Verse 8, 06:31 "When I passed by you again and looked upon you, 06:33 indeed your time was the time of love. 06:35 So, I spread my wing over you 06:38 and covered your nakedness." 06:40 This is symbolic. 06:41 You think of Boaz and Ruth and spreading the skirt. 06:44 This is a marriage proposal. 06:46 God says the child that nobody wanted, 06:48 the child that was thrown out in the open field, 06:51 He wanted, 06:53 He wants to marry. 06:54 Yes. 06:56 I swore an oath to you 06:57 and entered into covenant with you. 06:59 And you became mine says the Lord, God. 07:02 Now you and I as spiritual Israel, 07:04 Paul talks about this very clearly 07:06 in Galatians Chapter 3. 07:07 Galatians 3:26-29, 07:10 "You are all sons 07:12 and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 07:15 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ 07:18 have put on Christ. 07:20 There's neither Jew nor Greek, 07:22 there's neither male nor female, 07:24 there's neither slave nor free, 07:26 for we are all one in Christ Jesus. 07:29 And if you are of Christ's, then you are heirs 07:33 according to the promise, heirs of Abraham's seed 07:36 and heirs according to the promise." 07:39 You see the promises given to Israel 07:41 are now extended to us. 07:43 The covenant given to Israel 07:45 is now extended to us. 07:47 The marriage offered to Israel 07:49 to be married to the Lord Jesus Christ 07:51 is now extended to us. 07:53 We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. 07:57 Why did God call us? 07:59 Because we're strong, because we were good looking, 08:01 because we thought we were rich 08:02 or intellectual or gifted, 08:04 or we could somehow walk in obedience. 08:08 No, 08:09 He called us because He loves us. 08:12 For God so loved the world 08:13 that He gave His only begotten Son 08:16 that whoever believes in Him would not perish, 08:19 but would have everlasting life. 08:22 God delights in taking what other people 08:26 have cast aside. 08:27 Do you feel thrown out? 08:29 Do you feel unwanted, unloved, 08:32 unredeemable, unreachable? 08:35 He looks at you and I, 08:37 thrown out in the open field and he says, 08:39 live. 08:41 I want you as My child. 08:43 And not only does He want us, 08:45 but He equips and prepares 08:47 those whom He has chosen. 08:50 We're going back to Ezekiel Chapter 16. 08:52 And we're going to continue with the story 08:54 of the unwanted baby 08:55 that grew up and that God married. 08:57 We are in Ezekiel 16:9. 09:00 I washed you in water. 09:02 That reminds me of the washing of the water of the word. 09:05 What is God saying? 09:06 I gave you My Word. 09:09 "I washed you in water. 09:10 I thoroughly washed off your blood 09:12 and anointed you with oil." 09:14 He gives us the gift of His Holy Spirit. 09:17 Not only do we have the gift of His Word, 09:20 we have the gift of His Holy Spirit. 09:22 "I clothed you in embroidered cloth 09:25 and gave you sandals of badger skin. 09:27 I clothed you with fine linen 09:29 and covered you with silk." 09:31 You were," verse 13, 09:33 "exceedingly beautiful 09:35 and succeeded to royalty." 09:38 So what does God do? 09:39 First of all, He gives us His Word. 09:41 Second, He gives us the gift of His Holy Spirit. 09:45 Third, He says, I'm going to clothe you 09:48 or cover you 09:49 with My righteous white robe. 09:52 It reminds me 09:54 in Zachariah Chapter 3, remember Joshua, 09:56 the high priest is standing 09:59 before the angel of the Lord 10:00 and he's covered in filthy garments. 10:03 He's dirty, he's defiled. 10:05 He's sinful. 10:06 And yet God comes 10:08 and takes off those dirty garments 10:11 and clothes him with Christ's righteousness, 10:15 His perfect robe. 10:17 Not only that, it says 10:19 they succeeded to royalty. 10:20 Did you catch that? 10:22 You were exceedingly beautiful and succeeded to royalty. 10:24 It reminds me of 1 Peter 2:9, 10:26 "You and I are a chosen generation, 10:28 a royal priesthood, 10:30 a holy nation." 10:31 And why is that? 10:33 That we could proclaim the praises of Him 10:35 who called us out of darkness 10:36 into this marvelous light. 10:40 Now, if we stopped there, 10:41 the story would be fabulous. 10:42 You and I unwanted, unloved, 10:44 thrown out in the open field 10:46 in our own sins and junk. 10:49 God looked at us and said, live. 10:51 I want you as My child. 10:54 I will marry you. 10:56 I will change you. 10:57 I will give you My Word. 10:58 I will anoint you with My Holy Spirit. 11:01 I will give you My righteousness. 11:04 Everything you need to walk in Me and to be a Christian, 11:08 but it doesn't stop there. 11:09 Now we come to the middle section, 11:11 which is the wandering. 11:14 We are in Ezekiel 16 still. 11:16 Picking it up verse 13, you were beautiful. 11:18 We just read that, and succeeded to royalty. 11:21 Verse 14, 11:22 "Your fame went out among the nations 11:24 because of your beauty, 11:26 for it was perfect through My splendor." 11:29 So, why are we perfect? 11:31 Through God's splendor which I bestowed on you, 11:34 says the Lord God. 11:35 Verse 15, 11:37 but, there's a little word right there, 11:39 "But, you trusted in your own beauty, 11:44 you played the harlot because of your fame. 11:48 You poured out your harlotry 11:50 on everyone passing by who would have it." 11:53 Why did they walk away from God? 11:55 They trusted in their own beauty. 11:58 What does that mean? 11:59 They became proud in who they were. 12:01 We're the chosen people of God. 12:03 We got it together. 12:04 These other nations, they have some problems, 12:06 but we are the chosen people of God. 12:11 Why did they walk away from God? 12:13 Because they were proud of what 12:14 God had given to them. 12:17 Their fame went to their head 12:19 and they forgot that God's the one 12:20 who gave the beauty. 12:22 God's the one who called them as His special people. 12:24 God's the one who gave the fame. 12:26 And the purpose of all of that 12:28 was to point back to God. 12:32 Never think that we are special 12:36 as Seventh-day Adventist Christians. 12:39 Because we think somehow 12:42 we have a corner or a monopoly on truth. 12:45 Because the truth in the Word of God 12:48 that is extended to everyone. 12:50 Never think that we are special 12:52 because we were somehow chosen by God 12:55 because the call 12:57 to be God's child is extended to the entire world. 13:01 Never think that we are special 13:04 because we were somehow wanted by God. 13:07 God calls and wants everyone. 13:11 Turn with me to the Book of Hosea. 13:13 Hosea is an amazing book 13:15 and we don't really have time to unpack it, 13:17 but it's an object lesson. 13:20 God told the Prophet Hosea 13:22 to go marry a woman of harlotry. 13:25 He was supposed to marry Gomer. 13:27 And if I had been in his shoes, 13:29 I would not have wanted to do that. 13:31 Why God 13:33 do You want me to marry this woman 13:34 who's going to be unfaithful to me? 13:36 But it was a sym... 13:38 It was symbolic to represent 13:41 that the nation of Israel 13:43 had turned their back on God. 13:45 They had forsaken their husband who's God. 13:49 And they had followed after other idols. 13:52 In fact, Hosea is the last prophet 13:53 to the Northern kingdom of Israel before they fell. 13:56 Now, remember, Israel had split 13:58 after Solomon into the north and the south. 14:01 The Southern kingdom was later taken into captivity, 14:03 into Babylon and they returned, 14:05 but the Northern kingdom, they were taken away 14:07 by the nation of Assyria. 14:10 They never came back. 14:12 Those people were lost forever. 14:14 They were dispersed or settled 14:16 amongst the Assyrians. 14:18 It was a time of spiritual bankruptcy 14:19 when Hosea was prophesying. 14:21 It was a time of idol worship. 14:24 It was a time of child sacrifice. 14:26 These people, the chosen people off God 14:29 had degenerated in their worship 14:31 that they no longer not only worshiped God, 14:34 they offered their children 14:36 as sacrifices to heathen idols and heathen gods. 14:41 Injustice and oppression, it was very common. 14:43 In fact, no commandment of God 14:45 was kept by the people. 14:47 The unwanted child. 14:49 Remember the child in Ezekiel 16 14:50 that was thrown out in the open field. 14:52 That unwanted child 14:54 that grew up that God wanted. 14:56 They decided 14:57 they no longer wanted their God. 15:01 And we see in Hosea, this theme, 15:04 the anguish of steadfast love. 15:07 You see if love is temporary, 15:09 if love is fickle, it doesn't hurt that much 15:11 because if your love is not returned. 15:13 Well, you just say fine, I'll go seek another object 15:15 and I'll love something else. 15:17 However, if love is steadfast, 15:21 rejection and unfaithfulness cause 15:25 great anguish. 15:27 Love goes on even when the object of that love 15:30 no longer cares. 15:32 Tremendous suffering results. 15:34 So you see the heart of God, 15:36 our Father hurts tremendously because He could have said, 15:40 well, I'll just choose another people. 15:42 Well, I don't really need Dick, Tom, Harry and Joan, 15:45 I'm going to find someone else. 15:47 No, He wants you. 15:50 So His heart is hurt 15:53 when we reject Him. 15:54 And that's what was going on with this nation of Israel. 15:58 So we see that Hosea, 16:00 he marries Gomer 16:01 and they have three children together. 16:03 And then Gomer, she runs off, 16:05 which is what she was prone to do. 16:07 She followed after other lovers, 16:10 which is symbolic 16:11 of the nation of Israel or you and I 16:13 following after other idols. 16:17 In fact, we see this in Hosea 2:2, 16:21 "Bring charges against your mother, 16:22 bring charges for she is not my wife, 16:25 nor am I her husband. 16:26 Let her put away her harlotries from her sight." 16:29 Verse 4, 16:31 "I will not have mercy on her children 16:33 for they are the children of harlotry, 16:35 for their mother has played the harlot. 16:37 She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. 16:40 For she said, I will go after my lovers 16:43 who give me my bread and my water, 16:44 my wool and my linen, 16:46 my oil and my drink." 16:47 Did you catch that? 16:49 What is she saying there? 16:51 She's saying these other people, 16:53 these idols that I put in place of my husband, 16:56 in place of God, 16:57 they gave me my water. 17:00 Remember, God's the one that gave the little baby 17:02 the water and washed it. 17:03 God's the one who gave the word, 17:05 but yet she's saying they gave me my oil. 17:08 Remember, God's the one 17:10 that gave the little baby the oil. 17:11 God's the one that washed it with oil. 17:13 God's the one that gives you and I the Holy Spirit. 17:16 Yet she's saying they're the ones 17:17 who clothed me. 17:19 Remember in Ezekiel, 17:21 God's the one that covers 17:22 you and I with His righteousness. 17:24 And so she's so self-deceived 17:27 thinking that all the blessings in her life, 17:30 all the things that she has been given, 17:32 came from God, came from, 17:35 they came from God, but she thought, 17:36 no, they came from someone else. 17:40 Now you and I might not be playing the harlot 17:43 like Hosea in Hosea and Gomer story. 17:46 However, an idol is anything 17:49 that you and I place before God, 17:52 anything between us and God, 17:54 we can make an idol out of marriage, 17:55 or an idol out of children, or an idol out of friends, 17:58 or an idol out of money, or music or entertainment, 18:01 or work or church, even ideas. 18:05 You know, ideas can become an idol. 18:08 God could have left 18:09 the nation of Israel alone and without hope, 18:12 but yet He wanted to woo them back 18:15 and bring them back to Himself. 18:17 And that's where we come to the third section, 18:19 the renewing. 18:21 God tells Hosea, 18:23 go back and buy your wife back. 18:26 Now she was yours once, you were married, 18:28 you had three children together. 18:30 And yet she forsook that marriage covenant 18:35 that marriage relationship and she did her own thing. 18:37 She wandered in her own path, 18:40 and yet God tells Hosea go, 18:42 buy her back. 18:45 And so he does, he buys her incidentally 18:48 for 15 shekels of silver, 18:49 which is half the price of a slave. 18:52 So, her value in the market 18:55 was not even worth that much and yet God said, 18:59 "I want you for Myself." 19:01 And that's what He does to you and I. 19:04 He wants to remove from us the desire for other gods. 19:07 He wants to remove from us that taste 19:10 for sin or for idol worship. 19:12 And He buys us back 19:14 from the land of the enemy, how? 19:17 With the precious blood of Christ. 19:20 I want to leave you in closing with seven promises 19:23 that God extends to us as His covenant people. 19:28 We're going to Ezekiel Chapter 18. 19:31 We're gonna pick it up Ezekiel 18:30-31. 19:34 Promise number one, He promises 19:36 to give you and I repentance 19:38 and cleansing from sin. 19:41 Repent and turn from your transgressions 19:45 so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 19:48 Cast away from you all the transgressions, 19:50 which you have committed and get yourselves 19:52 a new heart and a new spirit, 19:54 for why should you die, 19:57 O, house of Israel? 19:58 You can put your name in there. 20:00 Why do you wanna die? 20:01 God says, repent 20:02 and turn back to Me. 20:05 Now we can't conjure up repentance. 20:07 I remember as a child, my mom saying, 20:09 tell your sister, you're sorry, and I'd go, "Sorry." 20:12 That's not being sorry for what you did but God, 20:16 Romans 2:4 says that 20:18 "It is the goodness of God 20:20 that leads you and I to repentance." 20:22 So God is the one 20:23 who gives us the gift of repentance. 20:26 1 John 1:9, 20:28 "If we confess our sins, 20:29 He's faithful and just to forgive us 20:30 and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 20:35 Christ's forgiveness, it is instantaneous. 20:38 Christ's forgiveness is complete. 20:40 Christ's forgiveness requires no goodness on our behalf. 20:45 And Christ's forgiveness is though it's conditional, 20:48 it is dependent on you and I just reaching out 20:52 and asking for that forgiveness. 20:55 Promise number two, He promises to write His law, 20:58 His word in our hearts. 21:01 Keep your finger in Ezekiel. 21:03 We're coming right back. 21:04 But Hebrews 8:10 says, 21:06 "This is the covenant 21:07 that I will make with the house of Israel 21:08 after these days says the Lord, 21:10 I will put my laws in their mind 21:12 and write them on their hearts." 21:15 God, by the power of His spirit 21:17 wants to put His word 21:19 in our minds and in our hearts. 21:22 Promise number three, we're going back to Ezekiel. 21:24 He promises to cleanse us from sin 21:27 and from idol worship. 21:29 Ezekiel 36:25, 21:32 "I will sprinkle clean water on you, 21:36 and you shall be clean. 21:38 I will cleanse you from all your filthiness 21:42 and from all your idols." 21:44 Do you feel like you are that child 21:46 we talked about at the beginning, 21:47 who was thrown out in the open field. 21:50 Do you feel like you are unredeemable, 21:52 or unreachable, or how could God 21:55 even take me back after what I've done? 21:57 He promises that He will cleanse you, 22:01 sprinkle that clean water on you, 22:03 cleanse you from filthiness and from idols. 22:06 He does it. 22:07 We don't have to clean ourselves 22:08 up before coming to Him. 22:10 He does the cleansing. 22:11 Promise number four, He promises 22:13 to give us a new heart and a new spirit. 22:16 Ezekiel 36:26, 22:19 "I will give you a new heart 22:21 and put a new spirit within you. 22:23 I will take out the heart stone out of your flesh, 22:26 and I'll give you a heart of flesh." 22:29 This is the imputed 22:32 righteousness of Christ. 22:33 This is His robe 22:35 that He puts over us and covers us with. 22:39 He wants to give us a new heart. 22:40 He forgives us. 22:42 Yes, He cleanses us 22:43 and removes those idols from our lives. 22:46 And then what does He say? 22:48 He wants to give us a new heart and a new spirit. 22:50 Promise number five. 22:51 I promise to give us His spirit. 22:54 He promises, 22:55 "I will give you My Spirit 22:57 so that you and I can walk in obedience." 23:00 The next verse, 23:02 "I will put my spirit within you 23:03 and cause you to walk in my statutes 23:05 and you will keep My judgments and do them." 23:07 So, He promises not only to clean us up. 23:10 He promises not only to give us a new heart 23:12 and a heart of flesh that even desires 23:15 to walk after Him. 23:16 He promises to sanctify us, 23:19 to enable you and I to walk in obedience, 23:22 not through our own strength, not through anything 23:25 that we can do of ourselves, 23:27 but through Him. 23:29 Promise number six, 23:30 He promises to be our God. 23:33 The next verse, Ezekiel 36:28, 23:36 "Then you shall dwell in the land 23:39 I gave your fathers. 23:40 You shall be My people 23:43 and I will be your God." 23:46 The last promise number seven, to vindicate, 23:50 He promises to vindicate 23:52 His name before the world. 23:56 Ezekiel 36:23, 23:58 "And I will sanctify My great name, 24:01 which has been profaned among the nations, 24:04 which you have profaned in their midst." 24:07 Did you catch that? 24:08 The nation of Israel, and you and I many times 24:12 as Seventh-day Adventist Christians 24:14 have profaned the name of God, 24:17 because we did our own thing 24:19 because we didn't follow Him because we did lip service, 24:22 but our hearts, they were unconverted 24:25 and we didn't even know 24:27 who our God was 24:28 that we claim to be married to. 24:31 They profaned His name, 24:34 but it doesn't stop there. 24:35 It says, "The nations shall know 24:37 that I am the Lord 24:39 when I am hallowed in you before their eyes." 24:42 What is He saying? 24:43 When you and I are changed by the power of Jesus, 24:46 when He gets a hold of us and cleanses us 24:49 and fills us up and changes us, 24:52 other people will know 24:54 that we have been with Jesus. 24:56 And will know that we belong to Him. 25:00 We'd had our little kitty cat about four years 25:02 when the unthinkable happened, 25:04 she disappeared. 25:06 Greg and I had traveled on a trip for 3ABN. 25:09 And when we got back, we called her 25:10 and she wasn't there. 25:12 And Greg said, it's late. 25:14 We don't know where she is. Let's go to bed. 25:16 And all I could think about was the owls, 25:17 and the coyotes, and the foxes, 25:19 and the bobcats that might've eaten her. 25:22 And she was our little cat and we left her, 25:24 but we went to bed and prayed. 25:26 And the next morning she still wasn't there. 25:28 And so Greg went into work 25:30 and I put on His old jeans 25:32 and an old flannel shirt. 25:34 And I headed out in search 25:36 of our little cat. 25:38 I went across the street from our house 25:40 and there's a lot of thickets and briars. 25:43 And almost immediately, there were so thick, 25:45 they forced me down to my knees. 25:47 And I'm crawling through the bushes, 25:49 dodging deer droppings and poison Ivy 25:52 and yanking this flannel shirt of Greg's 25:55 off of the briars and the prickers 25:57 stopping to call. 25:59 No meow. 26:00 Calling again, no meow. 26:03 I searched about an hour 26:05 at hands and knees calling, 26:07 crying out. 26:08 Then I started down a different path 26:10 and all of a sudden there she was, 26:13 I saw her way back in the woods 26:14 and I went out and I said, where have you been? 26:17 Why hadn't she come home? 26:19 Maybe she'd been lost. 26:21 Maybe the way home 26:23 it looked too far. 26:24 Maybe she just gotten too tired to walk anymore. 26:28 I don't know why. 26:30 Before we got her, 26:32 she had been a little bit abused 26:33 so she did not like to be hold. 26:35 She was afraid 26:36 every time we would pick her up, 26:37 she'd struggle and try to get away. 26:39 And so I knew there's no chance 26:41 I could carry her home. 26:42 So I started walking. I said, come on Pebbles. 26:44 You can walk with me hoping 26:47 that maybe she'd walk with me, 26:49 but she didn't. 26:50 She just sat there and looked up at me. 26:52 So I thought, well, I got nothing to lose. 26:55 So I reached down and I picked her up 26:58 and amazingly, 26:59 she didn't struggle. 27:00 She had no fight left. 27:03 She just knew that I loved her 27:06 and she wanted to go home. 27:08 Across the field we went me dirty, 27:10 scratched up 27:13 and a little cat in my arms. 27:15 And as we walked, 27:17 my mind traveled to the many times 27:18 my Father, the shepherd 27:21 had looked for me, the times He had called me, 27:24 the miles He had walked in my pursuit. 27:26 I thought of the brambles and thickets 27:28 that He had gone through 27:30 in search of me. 27:32 Sometimes I think I purposely hid 27:35 afraid of a holy God. 27:38 Seeing my sin polluted heart, 27:40 seeing what was wrong in my life, 27:43 seeing that I had forsaken Him, 27:45 and I had gone after other idols. 27:48 And I had done my own thing. 27:51 Other times I just got lost 27:52 and I couldn't seem to find 27:54 my way back home. 27:56 Other times I was so worn out with a fight, 27:59 I just couldn't take another step. 28:01 Those were the times my Father reached down, 28:05 picked me up and carried me home, 28:08 close against His heart. 28:11 I don't know where you are in your walk with Jesus. 28:15 You might hear Him 28:16 calling to your heart and feel like, 28:18 but I've done too much. 28:20 I've been through too much. 28:22 I've spat in His face. 28:25 I've gone after other lovers, other gods, 28:28 other idols. 28:30 Would He take me back? 28:32 I wanna tell you right now 28:34 that there's nothing 28:35 that you have ever done or can do 28:37 that will separate you 28:39 from the love of God. 28:41 Open up your heart to Him 28:43 just now and say, Lord Jesus, 28:46 would You cleanse me? 28:48 Lord Jesus, would You take me? 28:50 Lord Jesus, would You make me Your child? 28:52 And you know what? 28:54 He will. |
Revised 2021-06-10