Isiah 55 Verses 6-7 say: Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on Him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Verse 8: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.
God says that we are not only to SEEK Him and FORSAKE our WAY, but also to FORSAKE our THOUGHTS! The mercy and pardon of God comes from a complete turn. So often we change our ways but NOT our thoughts. We put on the suit but we think like the ghetto. The danger in this is that our thoughts are our inner life and our thoughts are the unspoken dictator of so many of our actions and reactions. If we change our way but keep looking back in our minds, we cannot be free of what is behind us and we are at high risk for turning back to our old ways. We want to appear changed, but we don't want to actually think changed.
An example from my own life:
When I first started dealing with myself as a "beautiful" woman of God I flat out didn't believe it was true. I had been the "fat girl with the personality" my whole life. My inner person, I thought was a somewhat decent looking person. My outward appearance, I was absolutely sure, nobody thought was beautiful. So someone shared that oh so famous scripture with me... "you are fearfully and wonderfully made." My reaction... "uh huh... blah blah blah, cut the act." I had not yet turned!
But then other scriptures started coming up in my devotions and studies... "you are the jewels of His crown," and, "made in His image"... Eh, could be something there... who cares?! It was with this attitude that God led me right into one of the most dramatic lessons of my life up to date.
Morgan and I were going to be leaders at a youth camp for young blossoming Christians over the summer. I was so excited because it would be my first opportunity to walk in some of my new found ways and get to actually share and speak into others lives. It was the greatest anticipation of my summer months. Then, Bonnie and Di called us with some "great news". We nodded away, eager to know what wonderful thing God was gonna do... "there is a pool at the camp site we're staying at!" We laughed nervously at each other. "Guess I'll have to pack extra shorts," I replied.
"Oh no! No swimming unless you've got a bathing suit!"
Out of the question! My mother had struggled with me and fought with me and lost every time to the bathing suit battle. I simply refused! There was no way I was showing off my fat in a snug spandex shard of material that refused to cover my upper arms and my thighs while excentuating my middle bulge! We fought it and fought it, but they were firm about the rule. Morgan, "the lawyer" we call her sometimes, was all about trying to find a clever argument. I really just refused. I knew my reason. No denial. I was too fat for a swimsuit.
Eventually we were talked into "looking" for a swim suit. Just checking out the market. A day of shopping later... dispassionate shopping I might add... we were empty handed and even more frustrated. We texted Di and told her we had been and that everything was too expensive and just not what we were looking for in a bathing suit. Pretty much, they didn't cover enough. "PATHETIC" she texted back, "I bet you didn't even pray! Come to Chinese and we'll talk about it."
Well I didn't really want to talk about it, but we did. She asked us if we had prayed before we shopped, that we would find a good deal on a decent suit. "Of course not. I don't want one why would I pray for it!" I was feeling kinda sassy 'cause I wasn't happy with the day or how I was feeling and I deal with stress by getting sassy sometimes.
Then Di said something I'll never forget. That caused an instant turn. INSTANT. She looked at me and said, "Ashley, how can you look at a girl this summer that is struggling with self image and tell her she is beautiful, if you have to wear shorts and a t-shirt to the pool because you don't think you are beautiful."
Tears. Hot at the back of my eyes. Sure sign that I just got CONVICTED! I hung my head and sighed. "You know," I said, "thats so... true." So we went the next day and I picked a sweet little fluff of a thing with a little pleated skirt and some supery flowery pattern. I had forsaken my WAY. But I didn't feel comfort when I put on that bathing suit! I was doing it because I didn't want to APPEAR like a hypocrite. As I wore it more and more I started to accept it more and more though. I started to see beauty sometimes. I was able to appreciate beauty in others much more easily. I started realizing that I see beauty in everyone. But my THOUGHTS were still my own. I had not FORSAKEN my thoughts. So I still had twinges of doubt. I saw the beauty of others, but not always in myself. (What an irrational contradiction!) Is it true? Am I beautiful, or am I faking it?
God says we have to FORSAKE our thoughts. What does that mean? I looked up the word forsake. Here are its definitions: 1. to quit or leave entirely; abandon; desert. 2. to give up or renounce. I had not deserted the idea that I wasn't beautiful. I walked outside of it for a while and returned to it when I didn't feel like it was true. Especially when I felt like others didn't agree with God... when I gave man the power to speak beauty in or out of my life. And I didn't renounce ugliness. I didn't renounce the thoughts that fed my worst fear: that I was NOT beautiful. And so I had no mercy from that recurring hardship and pain. I had no pardon from that mental cage.
So in those WAYS that God would have me turn from, let him give me the grace and mercy to do so body, heart and mind alike! Let me FORSAKE my WAYS AND MY THOUGHTS so that I might better understand and accept HIS, which are not mine!
Verse 8: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.
God says that we are not only to SEEK Him and FORSAKE our WAY, but also to FORSAKE our THOUGHTS! The mercy and pardon of God comes from a complete turn. So often we change our ways but NOT our thoughts. We put on the suit but we think like the ghetto. The danger in this is that our thoughts are our inner life and our thoughts are the unspoken dictator of so many of our actions and reactions. If we change our way but keep looking back in our minds, we cannot be free of what is behind us and we are at high risk for turning back to our old ways. We want to appear changed, but we don't want to actually think changed.
An example from my own life:
When I first started dealing with myself as a "beautiful" woman of God I flat out didn't believe it was true. I had been the "fat girl with the personality" my whole life. My inner person, I thought was a somewhat decent looking person. My outward appearance, I was absolutely sure, nobody thought was beautiful. So someone shared that oh so famous scripture with me... "you are fearfully and wonderfully made." My reaction... "uh huh... blah blah blah, cut the act." I had not yet turned!
But then other scriptures started coming up in my devotions and studies... "you are the jewels of His crown," and, "made in His image"... Eh, could be something there... who cares?! It was with this attitude that God led me right into one of the most dramatic lessons of my life up to date.
Morgan and I were going to be leaders at a youth camp for young blossoming Christians over the summer. I was so excited because it would be my first opportunity to walk in some of my new found ways and get to actually share and speak into others lives. It was the greatest anticipation of my summer months. Then, Bonnie and Di called us with some "great news". We nodded away, eager to know what wonderful thing God was gonna do... "there is a pool at the camp site we're staying at!" We laughed nervously at each other. "Guess I'll have to pack extra shorts," I replied.
"Oh no! No swimming unless you've got a bathing suit!"
Out of the question! My mother had struggled with me and fought with me and lost every time to the bathing suit battle. I simply refused! There was no way I was showing off my fat in a snug spandex shard of material that refused to cover my upper arms and my thighs while excentuating my middle bulge! We fought it and fought it, but they were firm about the rule. Morgan, "the lawyer" we call her sometimes, was all about trying to find a clever argument. I really just refused. I knew my reason. No denial. I was too fat for a swimsuit.
Eventually we were talked into "looking" for a swim suit. Just checking out the market. A day of shopping later... dispassionate shopping I might add... we were empty handed and even more frustrated. We texted Di and told her we had been and that everything was too expensive and just not what we were looking for in a bathing suit. Pretty much, they didn't cover enough. "PATHETIC" she texted back, "I bet you didn't even pray! Come to Chinese and we'll talk about it."
Well I didn't really want to talk about it, but we did. She asked us if we had prayed before we shopped, that we would find a good deal on a decent suit. "Of course not. I don't want one why would I pray for it!" I was feeling kinda sassy 'cause I wasn't happy with the day or how I was feeling and I deal with stress by getting sassy sometimes.
Then Di said something I'll never forget. That caused an instant turn. INSTANT. She looked at me and said, "Ashley, how can you look at a girl this summer that is struggling with self image and tell her she is beautiful, if you have to wear shorts and a t-shirt to the pool because you don't think you are beautiful."
Tears. Hot at the back of my eyes. Sure sign that I just got CONVICTED! I hung my head and sighed. "You know," I said, "thats so... true." So we went the next day and I picked a sweet little fluff of a thing with a little pleated skirt and some supery flowery pattern. I had forsaken my WAY. But I didn't feel comfort when I put on that bathing suit! I was doing it because I didn't want to APPEAR like a hypocrite. As I wore it more and more I started to accept it more and more though. I started to see beauty sometimes. I was able to appreciate beauty in others much more easily. I started realizing that I see beauty in everyone. But my THOUGHTS were still my own. I had not FORSAKEN my thoughts. So I still had twinges of doubt. I saw the beauty of others, but not always in myself. (What an irrational contradiction!) Is it true? Am I beautiful, or am I faking it?
God says we have to FORSAKE our thoughts. What does that mean? I looked up the word forsake. Here are its definitions: 1. to quit or leave entirely; abandon; desert. 2. to give up or renounce. I had not deserted the idea that I wasn't beautiful. I walked outside of it for a while and returned to it when I didn't feel like it was true. Especially when I felt like others didn't agree with God... when I gave man the power to speak beauty in or out of my life. And I didn't renounce ugliness. I didn't renounce the thoughts that fed my worst fear: that I was NOT beautiful. And so I had no mercy from that recurring hardship and pain. I had no pardon from that mental cage.
So in those WAYS that God would have me turn from, let him give me the grace and mercy to do so body, heart and mind alike! Let me FORSAKE my WAYS AND MY THOUGHTS so that I might better understand and accept HIS, which are not mine!
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