It was a dream, but it was also the truth: If I am not careful, some thing is going to ruin me. If I don’t keep my eyes open and my arms wrapped around Jesus, I will most certainly diverge – and the results won’t be pretty.
You see, I have these underlying things that pop out of me, things like: I want to be wanted, I need to be seen, I desire to be liked, I hope to be valued. Intrinsically, they are not bad, but without God as the fueler – they’re horrible.
What is prone to lead you astray?
That “something”, if you’re not careful,
is bound to become your one thing.
Don’t think it can’t, won’t or will never happen to you…that in itself is called pride and pride every time goes before a fall, friend (Prov. 16:18).
What is it for you?
Imagine this for a moment. Christ, of all people, he chooses you! He singles you out as one of the 12 disciples. You preach, teach, heal and exorcise demons. You walk behind the miracle maker. You see his deeds. You know his words. You watch the lame walk, the mute speak and the blind look. He calls you by name. He likely touches you. He deems you special. Wouldn’t it be amazing?!
How would you feel? How might adoration bubble over?
(Following would be so easy; you would never leave his side, right?! That would be impossible. Impossible to turn away from him, wouldn’t it?! Uhh...Hardly!)
So, there you are, this chosen little loved one. And there you stand, looking at the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. You see his value, but there’s another dang voice calling. It speaks things like riches, mightiness, love, value, adoration, power, earthly weight, beauty, and influence – and how you should acquire them. It calls you…to figure things out.
When you spend so much time listening to the wrong voice, you kind of negate its harm.
It gets slippery here.
You have to be careful, for you may end up getting what you long for –
but Jesus may end up – long gone.
There you stand and walk. You kiss Jesus with your lips – but betray him in your heart (Luke 22:48).
Don’t think you are above the betraying act of Judas. If the the very people who walked behind Jesus, could walk away, so could you.
All the disciples, people who had a first-hand account of his majesty, abandoned Jesus: “This very night you will all fall away on account of me.” (Matthew 26:31)
Peter does it three times even after pledging allegiance to his King: “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” (Matthew 26:33)
If you walk oblivious to your leanings and lures, you’ll walk right into them. It happens all the time – feet are swept up and face implants down. Oww!
I think I could easily end up as a Judas. If I go about my business without giving a second thought to my mind, I’ll be kissing all sorts of things. I can’t allow this to happen, can you?
Jesus, though, he has this way or reaching out to his loved ones who are loving him. He reminds me that his touch is all I need. His forgiveness is always active. His presence is always tangible. His help is always 2-steps ahead and his gift of freedom is always waiting to work. He reminds me that I am his and he is mine and that he will help me endure this thing called faith.
He reminds me that: Perfect love casts out fear. Not once. Not twice, but every single time and that when I start stretching my neck to see other things, his love will gently massage it back to peace and calm – if I only come – to him.
The simple truth is…when you cuddle into Jesus’ deep seat of love, you can’t so easily get up and head other places.
Prayer:
Jesus, I love you. I want to never depart from you. May all my needs, always be met in you. Keep my devotion devoted no matter what. May your love and forgiveness never leave room for despair. May the things I want to kiss, never kill me. Jesus, I love you. Amen.
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Amen, The Lord help me to follow Him steadily and steadfastly in Jesus Name.
He has been cautioning my heart on similar things, friend.
I don’t want to miss Jesus. He is more important than anything else….
You are loved and truly blessed, Kelly.
With much Love from Nigeria,
Hugs and Blessings
Yes, may we follow without abandon. Thank you Ifeoma.
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It’s kind of scary to think we might one day fall away from Jesus, but without His grace, it could happen! So wonderful and reassuring to think of the Holy Spirit in us, the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. So wonderful to remember we’re held. But we have to be mindful about hanging on too! Thankful for grace.
It is. May we not be too proud to think it can’t happen and too lowly to think he won’t love us. LOve you Betsy!
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Oh Kelly, yes we are self-seeking and self-serving. Yes His mercy is new every morning for us. What’s that old hymn – prone to wander?!
May your love and forgiveness never leave room for despair.
Amen and amen. Hugs. Susan
Thank you Susan. Yes! May we not find ourself in the place of despair.
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I pray we all remember to lean into Jesus’ love today. Thank you Kelly, for always sharing Jesus’ love with us here. Thank you also for being a gracious and welcoming host:) Have a great day!
Yes, may we lean in and grab hold of it; it makes all the difference. Be blessed Kristine.
Wow! Your title says a lot! Loved the thoughts and thank you for hosting!
Thank you Debbie!
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I come back to this truth whenever I hear a “no” from God that I don’t understand or appreciate. Some of His greatest mercies are his refusals, and I may never find out the reason why, but, in trust and obedience, my right response is a “thank you, Lord.”
Yes, I love thinking his greatest mercies are in his refusals. Great insight.
Thanks for such an honest post, Kelly. I enjoyed your encouragement as well in being surrounded by the love of Jesus. Thanks for sharing and for hosting! Blessings 🙂
You bet. Jesus’ love holds us.
Jesus will not let go of us if anything we let go of Him as you described above. It seems we can be swayed and if it happens one time too many we will end up where we thought we wanted to be without God. But He loves us too much and we need to know and believe He will always fight for us. God’s love is perfect and will wrap around us as our strength when we are tempted to turn away. Blessings to you Kelly!
I praise him for this with you Mary. He is so good to us.
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What a scary thought. If I’m honest, I’ve been Judah ….and Peter and Jonah in my sin. But thanks be to God for His immeasurable grace. Oh Kelly, your post has me confessing this morning my poverty of spirit.
Lord, we want you above everything else. We need you every minute.
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So very true, Kelly: “The simple truth is…when you cuddle into Jesus’ deep seat of love, you can’t so easily get up and head other places.” I’ve had the same thing impressed upon my heart, which is why I felt the Lord leading me to reflect and write about how we can receive Love (God), so that His actions of Love might flow out of us more freely. I’m looking at 1 Corinthians 13 and considering each trait of Love (and thus also of God) and how we can receive them to let them live and move and have their being in us. So far, it’s been eye-opening for me. I experience the same struggles as you…so this series has been so good for me. I’m preparing a post on Love not being Self-Seeking and how God places boundaries around us (e.g. in what good works He has prepared for us and what not) that if we receive/accept bless us and if we don’t…harm us, as we step over them.
Thank you for this prayer Kelly and for this thought provoking warning! The enemy is called an “angel of light” and he will do anything can make have me slip away from my Savior. I am so thankful that God did not give up on me when I moved so far away from Him. I now know in my heart that I want to be near Jesus Christ at all times. I want to get very comfortable in His seat of love and protection. Learning to trust Him every day and encouraging others to do the same. Thank you for letting me take part here at purposeful faith. Meeting some of my sisters in Christ has truly been a blessing and encouragement. May God continue to bless you and yours in all your endeavors as you seek Him. Have a wonderful week!
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I needed these words and warning friend, thank you!
Ugh, it’s a battlefield out there! I’m constantly torn between the extremes of “forgive yourself,” and “hold yourself to a higher standard.” There really never is a time when we can sit back and breath easy and feel we’ve arrived. And I love the way you weave God’s truth into being careful of the temptation to let off the gas. “Cuddle” with Jesus. I love that. It makes me think of the way I want my daughters to stay eternally lap-sized as they stumble down in their PJ’s with the most awful morning breath… I never want it to end. Jesus says, we can lean into Him always…so why don’t I? Great post. Thanks for always being so encouraging through the tough spots!
Happy Tuesday!!!
Megs
Yup,
I used to think, wouldn’t be me, I wouldn’t turn away, I wouldn’t betray Jesus. Then I read this fiction book about Judas and it really opened my eyes. I saw how easily I too could and HAVE betrayed him in my heart. Mmm. Humility is so key here. This truth resonates with me today.
Kelly,
This is so true…pride can make us think we won’t but humility will keep us close to God because we know apart from His grace we all have the potential to be Judas…blessings to you in all areas of your family and life 🙂
My pride destroys everything beautiful that God longs to do in and through me. Thanks for this reminder, Kelly.
Thank you for this truth today Kelly! I have definitely found myself saying – no never, not me, I wouldn’t betray Him. But truth is I do every day when I pay more attention to my human cravings than His heavenly callings. We have to constantly return to Him!
Kissing all sorts of other things ~ no thank you. I don’t want to be caught in that trap, but it is easy if we’re not cuddling, isn’t it. Kelly, we war similar battles. I love how you put all “on the table” and offer hope through your words. I love seeing Jesus in you.
Thanks for this post- it is a scary to think how easy it could be to fall away from Jesus, but it is important to be aware and to guard against it. And grateful for his grace- I know I’ve had times when it’s felt like I can’t hold on to him but he has held on to me.
I think we all have found ourselves getting caught up in the lies of the enemy a time or two. He can be so crafty, but God is so much more crafty. God does indeed love us completely. I love that perfect love casts out fear. That is a promise I can cling too.
Kelly, this really struck a cord with me and by the number of comments, it looks like it hit home with others. The line that stood out is, “You have to be careful, for you may end up getting what you long for – but Jesus may end up – long gone.”
It makes me think of the Israelites when they wanted meat and murmured about the manna. God finally said, you want meat, I’ll give you meat … until it comes out of your nostrils … It was His judgment, not His blessing!
Thanks for hard-hitting truth and thanks for hosting.
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Your words blessed, warned, and encouraged me, Kelly. Thank you. So timely!