I want to share this original song of mine with you.
Not because it’s fantastic quality or recording, rather
simply for the message.
I wrote this song from my heart, some months ago, one
night when The Lord convicted me once again of my need to repent. “Repent” is a
word that sometimes scares us…I know there have been many times when I have
felt like a scared child when conviction has come upon me. Yet I know from
experience that when I get down upon my knees and sincerely ask for forgiveness
and strength from my heavenly Father, He answers. We talk via prayer and
scripture until there is understanding and peace floods me.
“Repent” simply means sincerely desiring to do a180deg
turn away from the sin, to turn and have one’s face toward God. And what a
truly, blessed gift repentance is. The enemy would love to have us stuck in our
sin – our head full of condemnation – but there is peace available to all
through Jesus Christ...for those who love Him or want to love Him.
I’ve heard it said many a time that God’s love is
unconditional, yet I know it is even more than unconditional – for His love is
truly transformational! His love does not leave one dead in their sin – it
transforms lives – I know this because I have experienced it.
Sanctification is a process or journey to become more and
more like Christ. Sometimes we don’t hear it spoke of much in modern circles.
But it is God’s heart for His children. And this process requires a ‘stripping
back’.
I wrote; “Strip me bear, to rebuild anew. When there’s
less of me you’ll shine through…” For I know it’s what I need even if it’s not
what my flesh wants…
I think these lyrics are in fine company of Keith Green
who sang; “I want to take Your Word and shine it all around, but first help me,
just to live it Lord…”
And Casting Crowns; “I want to be your hands and feet, I
want live a life that leads, To see you set the captives free, Until the whole
world hears. And I pray that they will see, More of you and less of me, Lord, I
want my life to be The song You sing…”
What a loving Father we have, to not leave us filthy in
our sin, rather to have made the way Himself for us to be in restored
relationship with Him for eternity. To not have taken the easy way…to have not
given us free will, so that we could never sin…rather to have known we’d stuff
up the great gift of being made in His image and still give it, while knowing
He’d have to suffer and make the atonement Himself – dying our rightly deserved
death upon the cross…So that all we would need to do is call upon Him in the
Name of Jesus and repent and love Jesus.
Our Christian pilgrimage is not an easy one, as with our
loving Father we daily fight our flesh.
To die to our flesh, again is not always a message heard
today for it can offend many but is a very real part of a true Christian life
and sanctification. Sometimes we enter a season of trials and even hardships which
strip us back, to a place of where we find afresh that God ALONE is the only
way for peace and rebuilding – a place where God ALONE is all we need…of dying
again to our flesh and choosing eternity over the temporary…
Our flesh wants us to be far from God and an intimate
relationship with the One who is Holy, perfect, sinless, pure, radiant…Our
flesh loves sin and would prefer us to stay in the dark so that we can continue
to sin, away (in our own mind) from His loving gaze. To come into the light of
His perfect presence requires a rejection of our flesh and the sin which tries
to cling so close…
Our flesh wants us to take offence and flight and bicker…rather
than being gracious and taking the higher road.
Our flesh wants us to be aggressive and abusive to our
children…rather than being patient and firm.
Our flesh wants us to be unfaithful to our partner…rather
than leaving an example of true commitment and loyalty.
Our flesh wants us to lust after the flesh of others and
self-satisfy our sexual desires…rather than having our sexual needs met by our
husband or wife in marriage.
Our flesh wants us to meet our problems with pigging-out
on unhealthy food...rather than taking our problems to The Lord and asking Him to
meet our needs so that we can better care for our bodies.
Our flesh wants us to feel good about ourselves at the
cost of the degradation of others…rather than helping others and not
participating in gossip.
Our flesh wants us to seek our own revenge…rather than
forgiving and praying to God to bless the offender.
Our flesh wants us to never be satisfied with what we
have, keeping us mastered by debt…rather than us managing our own lives wisely.
Our flesh wants us to be lazy and therefore mastered by
the opinion of the mob…rather than seeking the truth.
Our flesh wants us to believe all our success is due to
our own self-importance and therefore mock others…rather than living in joyful
humility and respectfully toward others.
Our flesh wants us to be top-dog and therefore not
associate often with others who may stretch us…rather than having healthy,
mature friends who can speak the truth to us in love.
Our flesh wants us to be anxious and believe our security
is in our assets…rather than being free to let go and follow wherever Jesus may lead.
I know refining can be challenging but we really can
trust Him who loves us so much that He refines us for His good purpose, of
making us more like Christ for His Kingdom work. It can be scary to come to a
place of fully grasping and willingly accepting refining, or stripping back but
afterward we will bear much more fruit for Him.
So this is the heart of this song I wrote, ‘I Belong To
You’.
I was in a place of again needing to repent and let go of
sin that had crept into my life…I needed to again surrender all of my will to
His and accept the stripping back so that there would be less of my flesh and
more of His nature...to continue having my heart surgically rebuilt, enabling me
to pump out His life giving blood to others so to speak.
Repentance is such a
wonderful gift from our truly loving saviour who desires to have an intimate
relationship with us for all eternity which starts from the moment we believe.
Scripture says if we say we
are without sin we lie but if we confess our sin He is faithful to forgive us. Grace
is not a licence to sin – never has been, but don’t let sin stagnate and get
between you and Him, confess it and receive His peace.
Jesus’ invitation for
relationship is one to become a part of His family – it is a relationship of
friendship, connection, deep peace and joy, rejuvenation, transformation and
growth.
I know this is a long post
but it the essence of my experience of His grace and goodness and my heart…I
feel I could write and write for He is just so immense. But I will stop now and
leave you with this song I wrote. If you need prayer please email me at echucamel@gmail.com
Melanie.
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