Thought for the Week - 15th November 2020
Exodus 19: 3-5 (NKJV)
‘’And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.’’
Deuteronomy 39
“For the LORD’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance.’’
We carry wounds and unseen hurts that sit among us as individuals, but Christ comes into the place where we harbour our wounds and through His sacrifice on the cross takes these deep pains. He takes our sins, griefs, agony and torments upon Himself and exchanges them for His lightness of heart, His composure and peace, His joy and delight. We must ask Him for this exchange to take place in us, if we don’t, we will carry these griefs with us all our lives. God gave us His Son so that we don’t have to carry these things but be set free from all that would chain us.
Christ cried out in agony on the cross as He took upon Himself the great weight of all our sin in exchange for our freedom. Have you been set free? Are you still being set free? Are you still coming to God for your protection, provision and belonging?
Moses and Jacob are special people to God, they are His portion, belonging to His family and a place of His inheritance. You and I are a part of that too, we are grafted into the family of Jacob, and just as they were, we too are a special people and treasure to God. We are part of the inheritance of His kingdom. What a wonderful thing it is to belong to the God of all creation!
We have a part to play in this however; to be grafted into His kingdom, we have to allow Him to graft us. When we come to Christ we become a new creation in Him and one of His special people. We become part of the divine exchange and the bigger picture which is beyond what we can comprehend and far beyond our own self.
‘’I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.’’ (Romans 12-1:2)
This exchange and transformation must take place in our lives as part of His kingdom and family. It is a continual process and should carry on no matter how long you have been walking with God. Do you see yourself as part of the bigger picture? Do you see that you are to be trained up in service to be of use to God?
We are to be persons of living sacrifice acceptable to Him through Christ Jesus. God has called you; He has made you a special person belonging to Him and His kingdom, to part of His inheritance and bigger picture. He has freed you from sin, hurt and torment, and will continue to transform you through this exchange when you continue to ask Him to come in.
Amen
Thank you so so much for sharing this. I am deeply moved and encouraged by this and it’s as if you’re talking directly to me. I am in awe of our Jesus and this Jesus is who I love and follow and I live to love, worship and serve Him.
Amen and thank you again.