Choose!

Dear friends


King Solomon said that there is a time for everything..."a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build..." (Ecc 3:2b-3) Concerning all things spiritual, the writer of Hebrews also said there is a time to be fed milk and a time to move on, grow up and be fed meat. (Hebrews 6)


Indeed there is a time when we need to be reminded and taught about God's unconditional love, His mercy and grace. We need to know without doubt that we can come before the Thrown of Grace just as we are and that we will never be turned away. We need to hear the Good News about salvation, redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation.


When we are weary with life's struggles and our wounds are deep and raw, we need to be able to come to the cross and receive healing and restoration. We need to know that Christ came to bind up our broken hearts,  to comfort those who mourn and to give us a spirit of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Oh how we need that hope! When we are caught up in addictions and when we are bound by chains that are hard to break, we need to hear that Christ came to set the captives free.


But there comes a time when it is time to move on...beyond the cross.


There is a time that when we only tell people about all these things and about God's abounding love, it is not to their advantage. Rather, the feeling that all will eventually 'be ok' because God will 'let it turn out ok' in fact keeps them in the very place that God does not want them to be. Thus, there is a time when some meaty truth with the sharpness of a double edged sword needs to be spoken.


Jesus Himself often spoke a seemingly harsh word to the people. It is one of these that I want to bring before you today:

"...anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."

(Matthew 10:38)

I don't know about you, but to me these are pretty harsh words. According to Thayer's Greek Lexicon the word 'worthy' in this passage specifically shows to being 'worthy of one's fellowship and of the blessings that go with it'. So in fact Jesus is telling his disciples that if anyone, including us, do not take up his cross and follow Him, he or she is not worthy of Christ's fellowship and not worthy of the blessings that are to be found in Him.

This is a different message concerning the cross than the one we have made it, the one we very much love! For we have come to view the cross mostly as a place of refuge, a place of comfort, a place of 'all will be ok', a place where Jesus suffered and thus made everything ok for us.

Yet, when Jesus spoke these words to the disciples, the cross had only one meaning and one message. They knew exactly what Jesus meant when He said this. The cross was a merciless instrument of death. The cross had no other purpose. It wasn't a place of comfort and safety. It wasn't some irritation or burden that one had to live with and bear in life. It was a method and an instrument to execute people.

Jesus was saying that unless in my life there is some kind of execution, I am not worthy of His fellowship, not worthy to share in His blessings.

When Jesus says something, we take notice. When He says it twice, we should not only take notice, we should take it very seriously. Jesus repeated these hard words in Matthew 16:24 -

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

This time round, Jesus shed a little more light on WHO is to be executed on that cross....SELF.


Jesus took up His cross, walked all the way to Golgotha and was executed. Following Him as He commands us, we have to take up our cross and walk up right up to Golgotha and be executed too.


Paul did not say in vain, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live..."

You see dear friend, what we invariably want is to come to the cross, receive forgiveness and redemption and salvation and healing and restoration and acceptance and then move around the cross and come to the place of newness of life, of abundant life and joy and victory and great blessing.

Jesus is saying, the way to move on beyond the cross is to get up on the cross. It is as we die on that cross that we will find Him come alive in us. As we die to our life, we will find His life. While 'I' am still alive, I cannot imagine the new life, the new thing. It is only as we die that the new life is born in us and the impossible becomes possible. That is why on both occasions Jesus also followed up the above words with the following:

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39)

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." (Matthew 16:25)

Death is never an easy matter. Crucifixion is a most painful death...it involves immense suffering.

We should expect dying to self to be most painful and to involve immense suffering. Yet, that is exactly what must happen and take place if we want to be worthy of Jesus' fellowship and the blessings waiting beyond the cross.

Let us just quickly ask ourselves the question - who is this self that needs to be crucified? We know from Scripture that it is the sinful desires of our flesh. Please let me say that the desires of our flesh is only and always sinful. Our flesh is not capable of good and righteous and commendable desires. That is why we have to be reborn of the Spirit before we can be clothed in the righteousness of Christ and produce the good works that were predestined for us.

So dear friend. What is that one thing or that many things that Jesus is asking you to put up on the cross?

Unforgiveness

Hatred

Rage

Jealousy

Sexual immorality

Selfish ambition

Drunkenness

Orgies

Envy

Idolatry

The list can go on and on can't it? Please add to it anything the Holy Spirit points out to you.

As we read and recognize those things we are holding dear to us (yes that is indeed what we are doing) we immediately know the pain that would accompany the death of it! The rich young ruler also recognized the pain and loss of putting that one thing on the cross. He came to Jesus because he wanted to inherit eternal life. He wanted to inherit the Kingdom of God. So he asks Jesus what he has to do. Jesus tells him the one thing that he has not yet put up on that cross. "Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Luke 18:22). This man, having already obeyed such a large part of the Law, would not  put this one thing on the cross. He would not die to this one thing. It saddened him to think that he would have to give this one thing up and, instead of following Jesus, he ended up walking away from Him. Please note that we do not see Jesus begging him to stay, trying to convince him of the greatness of what he is missing out on. No, Jesus spoke the sharp truth, put before him the cross and let him choose.

Perhaps you and I have also come to Christ. Perhaps you and I also want to inherit eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Then Jesus will ask us to get up on the cross. Now, as we realize the immensity of what is asked of us, we are put to the choice explained in Deuteronomy 30:11 onwards. Allow me to state it here. It says nothing else but what Jesus confirmed in Matthew 10 and 16:

"Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach...the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands...then you will live...But if your heart turns away and  you are not obedient...I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed."

I urge myself and I urge you:

SURRENDER.

CHOOSE LIFE.

BEYOND THE PAIN OF THE CROSS IS THE JOY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN YOU.

CHOOSE.

Until next week

God bless and lots of love in Christ

Lize

 



God at work in the midst of dreams

God can restore our vision and our dreams where they’ve been lost. He can bring His truth to bear upon the lies of discouragement. He can also give assurance of a promising future. Any vision for the future that is full of failure and empty hope is not from God (Jeremiah 23:16).

Let’s stand together in prayer asking God to bring us hope to dream again and a new level of encouragement to our lives!

(copied from Stormie Omartian's Face Book page)



I have been wanting to write this post for some time now and today is the day I share with you the God stories behind my book 'Bride Adorned'. They are stories of God's faithfulness in giving us dreams, in planting seeds in our hearts, of connecting people with each other and putting together puzzle pieces to form the most beautiful of pictures beyond our greatest expectations. I hope that through reading these 'back stories', you will find new hope to dream YOUR dreams in the presence of our awesome God.

One woman's dream for her family
Sylvia Mashego came into my life quite some years ago when I was looking for two new cleaning ladies for the lodge. Weary of the troubles that come with employees embedded in the belief of the ancestors, I contacted a pastor friend who has a church in the middle of one of our rural communities. I asked him if he had two ladies in his congregation who would be interested in the job.  A couple of days later he contacted me with the good news that indeed he had found two such ladies although he wasn't so sure about the one lady because she was perhaps a bit too old...that lady turned out to be Sylvia Mashego, a lady to whom, many years later I would dedicate my first Christian book!

In the two years that Sylvia was in my permanent employment before she retired, she proved herself to be like a mother to me in the faith...strong, solid and steadfast. Yet, it was her own story and dreams for her family that perhaps ministered to me the most. Sylvia grew up in a family of sangoma's - traditional healers rooted in the belief of the ancestors. When Sylvia was in grade 7, Christian evangelists visited her school and on that day, she gave her heart to Jesus. Needless to say her family was hugely upset. Her mother warned her that she would die because she was turning her back on the ancestors. Her calm answer was, "No mother, I will not die, I will live but you will die." From that day on, Sylvia had a dream for her family...that they will not suffer the second death. She did not fight them. She did not force them. She prayed for them...diligently and faithfully and continually. In this way, her mother accepted Christ as her savior before she passed away. Also her sister, a sangoma, renounced her faith in the ancestors and accepted Christ before she too passed away. Sylvia's third sister is still alive and she is still a sangoma and Sylvia is, so many years on, still faithfully praying her dream for her sister. In my opinion, Sylvia is a most radiant bride of Christ!

A dream lost and found
One of Satan's schemes to keep me from living the life God has called me to, was to put his lie to me that I am not worthy of being used of God or just not good enough. For much of my earlier years I have believed this lie causing me to loose the hope of dreams fulfilled. Yet, at times, these shut-away dreams would suddenly show up in my heart again. At one such time, I wrote a short story about a woman who was reading through a Christian magazine. In this magazine there was an article about how God had given and fulfilled the dreams of various women. This caused the main character of the story to wrestle with God, asking Him about her own unfulfilled dreams. Did she have a calling? Would He use her? Looking at her book shelf she even asked Him...could she ever write a book? How would she even know to fill one page with words, let alone a whole book? After wrestling with God, the woman came to a place of peace and surrender when her eyes fell on these words in an add on the back page of the magazine she was reading: "Keep your focus on the Lord and know that nothing can take away His plans for you...not your insecurities or failures or anything in your past. Don't give up and He will bring His plans for you into fruition."


Of course all of this was about me and all of it, including the magazine article the woman was reading and the words on the back cover that brought her peace and hope, was true. After writing this short story in 2010, I forgot about it altogether until 4 years later when I published my first Christian book - 'Bride Adorned'! And yes, I have learned that indeed I cannot even fill one page with words, but that God gives the words and as I pen them down, they start filling page after beautiful page!



Weaving with wavering dreams, fear, failure and willing jars of clay.
The following encounter of God's ability to use and bring together and make something beautiful from what we perceive as ashes, will never cease to amaze me. Before I started to work on my book, I used to facilitate various women's Bible studies in our small town. Lyndsay Finney was one of the amazing ladies who joined and continued to attend several of these Bible studies. Lyndsay was a relatively 'young' or 'recent' Christian. She was ever eager to learn and grow in the knowledge of our Lord. At one time she shared with us that she sensed that God was calling her to more, perhaps even to ministry, yet she wasn't sure how or what and, to her opinion, she was still a too 'young' Christian. I used to tell her that I think she is more ready than she thinks she is.

Also during this time, I organized an event called the "United face of Christian Women in Hoedspruit". The very idea was to unite the Christian women from across the various Christian churches in the area. Lyndsay was one of the few women who attended this conference. Yes, it was very poorly attended. To my opinion, it was a disappointment and a failure. Cried many tears over it and learned many lessons from it.

Fast forward about two or three years on, I was working on the manuscript for my book when Lyndsay walked into the office where I was sitting. Upon her question about what I was doing, I told her about my manuscript. I also mentioned that I was in need of someone who could help me check my English since I was writing my book in English but my home language is indeed Afrikaans. Lyndsay looked at me and said, "I could help you with that..."

Little did she know, little did we know...God was working His divine plan! Lyndsay ended up not only editing my English grammar but the whole of the content! She was more than perfect for the job! In her own eagerness to learn and grow, she asked just the right questions and challenged me just enough to ensure quality and clarity of content. And she knew exactly how to unlock my potential to the fullest. How? She told me that what helped her was the picture she had before her of my ability as a communicator which she had witnessed that day at that conference some years ago, which I had written off as a failure. That very event was what enabled her to keep on pushing until what she saw that day, became evident also in my writing.

And guess what, 'Bride Adorned' was as much the result of her hard work and mentoring skills as it was of mine. This woman who thought that she was too young a Christian to be of mighty use to her God! At my book launch she gave a mighty testimony of how she came to love and be used of Christ.

All God needs to fulfill dreams is a willing, loving, eager heart!

Seeds from God
Five years ago, in 2009, I received my first invitation to act as a speaker at a Christian women's camp. The topic given me: Bride, Bridegroom, Bliss. I spoke about our identity as the Bride of Christ but also about the pain and struggles so evident in our lives and yet so contradictory to the image we have of a radiant blissfully happy bride. I continued on to point out what an amazing Bridegroom we have...One that gave His life to give us beauty instead of ashes...One that suffered so that we could have restoration and healing and One that came alongside us in the form of the Holy Spirit to help us on our journey so that indeed we could be that radiant all-glorious bride amidst life's trials.

Upon finishing my presentation, a lady stood up and said that she had a Word for me - she saw seeds that are covered up with cotton wool as to preserve them for a later stage. I wasn't very familiar with prophesying at that point in my life and I couldn't make any sense of it and completely and utterly forgot about it.

Three years later, we were going through some tough financial times when a friend treated me to a cup of coffee to encourage me. While we were chatting, this friend who also has a prophetic gifting, looked at me and said, "Lize, God says that you are going to write a book." I wasn't sure what to make of this - I certainly had no such plans but I couldn't get it out of my head and suddenly found that it had dropped right into my heart and 'Bride Adorned' was birthed.

One year into working on the book, I randomly decided to attend an evening service in a church close to our home. The pastor came to me after the service and said, "Lize, the Lord wants me to tell you that the seed is in the soil and you must not worry, He will give the growth." I was so relieved because we were still struggling financially and my husband had just planted a new crop and we needed good growth and a good harvest desperately! I had no thought about the previous completely forgotten prophesy about the seeds!

Then, as I was looking for guidance from the Lord as to what publishing process to follow for my manuscript, I met again with the lady who gave me the prophecy about the seeds and she reminded me of that! It took me off my feet when I suddenly remembered and realized that indeed that first presentation five years before had grown into a proper book - 'Bride Adorned' - for that presentation contained the core and the foundation for my book! And then suddenly I thought of the pastor telling me the seed is in the soil! I was writing the manuscript at the time!

About a week after this revelation, I was having tea with a new friend. I told her about my book and she looked at me and, without knowing any of this detail, she said "Lize, there was seed in the soil, it has grown to a tender young plant but now that plant will wither if you do not act on it."

She and God had my attention and I wasted no time in publishing 'Bride Adorned'.

There are so many many more back stories to tell but there is not enough time and space. From all this I want to encourage you - if we love God, He will indeed give us dreams in accordance with His plans for us. As in my case, it may take years of waiting and wrestling and surrender and growing and not understanding before the time is right for those dreams to be put into  fruition, but during all this, CLING TO GOD AND STAY WITH HIM! HE KNOWS THE PLANS HE HAS FOR YOU...AND THEY ARE GOOD AS HE IS GOOD!

Before you leave, share in my joy and celebration: 

GIVE AWAY!!!

TO CELEBRATE THE 1000th PAGEVIEW OF MY BLOG

I AM GIVING AWAY

A COPY OF MY BOOK 'BRIDE ADORNED'

TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO LEAVES A COMMENT

WITH THEIR NAME AND POSTAL ADDRESS.

I WILL CONFIRM YOUR GIVE AWAY AND POST YOUR BOOK TO YOU FOR FREE. ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY TO GOD FOR WORKING IN AND THROUGH ME ALSO HERE ON MY BLOG.

God bless and until next week

Lize

How good are you at waiting?

Two weeks ago I started with a wonderful on-line Bible study. Eager to learn and grow and curious to see what topic or aspect will be dealt with next, I can barely wait for that rare time of quiet and peace when I can indulge myself in the study. For those that really want to dig deep the study offers lots of extra exercises and, not wanting to miss anything, I enthusiastically do them all.


Well, this week there was this box on the side which read:


"What are your symptoms...there are recognizable (telltale) symptoms of 'waiting on God'"


Right here I got super excited because yes, I find myself in a place where I am eagerly waiting on God! I am waiting for Him to show me what next, what is He preparing me for or what great thing does He want me to do for Him now that my book is finished. This is so timely! I couldn't wait to read on and recognize the symptoms of one eagerly awaiting something big from God. I almost didn't read this introductory sentence to the end, but I did and it brought me down to earth real quick for the full sentence read:


"What are your symptoms...there are recognizable (telltale) symptoms of 'waiting on God' but not very patiently."


This definitely spoiled it for me a bit. This wasn't for me. I wanted the box with the symptoms of someone on her way to something great! Should I read on? I did. I will not tell you what the symptoms are. They are not things of beauty, honor and dignity and...it would be too embarrassing. They all fitted me. They fitted me so well that I was completely shocked, dismayed and shamed. I could not believe it. I was struck dumb. God certainly had my attention! I was shaken. All I could manage was "Lord, this is me...I am so sorry!"


God was not done yet. He never plans to harm us, to have us wriggling in the mud and mire. His plans are always to prosper us, to build us up in Him. The very next exercise told me to do a Bible search on 'waiting on God' and to record my findings. Quite reluctantly I decided to go about it by doing a word search for 'waiting'. I am so glad I did!


The different Hebrew and Greek words which are all translated in our English Bibles as 'waiting' opened up a whole new understanding of the concept for me and hopefully it will also change my bad attitude in this regard! Let me share with you some of the meanings of the different words translated as 'waiting' or 'wait', all in relation to waiting on God.


First of all, 'waiting' indicates to wait, to hope, to expect and to eagerly look for. This is waiting whilst being convinced and sure of the fact that the very thing you are waiting for will come to pass. It reminds me of Joseph who was so sure of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to bring their descendants into the Promised Land, that even on his death bed he gave instructions that when the time would come for this promise to be fulfilled, they would take his bones with them into the Promised Land. He never saw the promise fulfilled, but he fully expected it to happen...and it did! When we wait on God and time passes and it seems that God is tarrying regarding the thing we are waiting for, do we loose hope that He will ever fulfill His promise? How easily we loose our first, eager expectation.


A further meaning of the word is 'to collect, 'to bind together' and 'to be collected'. This is perhaps the one meaning that struck me the most and made me think hard about what happens to me in the waiting process. To be collected means that we keep it all together in a situation. My question was...what would I need to keep together in my waiting process? Almost immediately I was reminded of the meaning of the word 'abide'. It means 'not to depart'. Jesus told us to abide in Him. In our time of waiting we must stay with Christ. We must bind ourselves to Him so to speak. Looking at my own life I realize that often, when the waiting gets too long, I tend to depart from my position in Christ and run around trying to make things happen on my own. With the resulting distance between me and my Lord, Satan's darts of doubt, envy, bitterness, hopelessness, dismay, despair and the like start hitting me left, right and center. Instead of 'being collected', I start falling apart. Oh sweet the moment each time I realize my mistake, turn and fall right back into His loving arms.


Another application that spoke to my heart was 'to endure, to persist, to be steadfast, to hold one's ground, to remain standing, to be upright and to stand firm'. Does not Ephesians 6:11 say, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes"? And verse 13, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." I think that we are especially vulnerable to Satan's schemes in our times of waiting, when God seems to be quiet. Without the armor of God, we will not be able to stay upright but rather we will be slain by the enemy. Only with our focus steadfastly set on Christ and His faithfulness and love, will we endure the enemy's onslaught while we wait on the Lord.


In contrast to the application of being upright and remain standing, the very next word I looked up carried the meaning of sitting down, to be set, to dwell, to have one's abode, to inhabit and to 'marry'. I was intrigued by the opposites within the word 'waiting' and yes, this one really got my attention because of the possible meaning of 'marry'. Did I not write a book about a bride? Pondering on this one, I had the picture of a bride inhabiting and making her abode so to speak in her new home. She settled into her new home...the home of her husband. It became her dwelling place too. The context in which this specific word was used, was when Naomi told Ruth to wait and see how things would turn out with Boas when he went to discuss the matter of marriage with their first kinsman-redeemer. While I wait on my Groom to work His plan in my life, I must remember that I am His beloved bride and my dwelling place is with Him. I am set at His feet while I wait.


Because of our tendency to wear ourselves out, to try and work and force our own results and make things happen when it seems that God is taking too long, the next meaning of the word 'waiting' was like balm to the weary soul - to sink down, to drop, relax, to let drop, to let go, to be quiet and to show oneself slack. When we have done everything to secure something we want without success, when we have worked ourselves into a frenzy without the desired results, when we don't know what else we can do, when we are tired...let us hear the tender but firm word of our Lord, "Relax, let it go and be quiet, it is in My hands."


Psalm 37:7 says, "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways..." But we can all testify to the fact that waiting is no easy task. Can you guess the possible meanings of the original Hebrew word for 'wait' used in Psalm 37? It means to twist, whirl, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained, suffering torture, wait longingly, bring forth, to be brought forth or to be born. This is how our waiting often feels doesn't it. This is certainly how I am feeling at the moment. I hate being in the place I am. I find waiting on the Lord for His guidance and direction extremely hard. I suffer torture from feelings of self-doubt whispered into my heart by my arch-enemy...yet, I know and can perceive that through this difficult time of waiting, God is bringing forth something - a constantly being renewed me.


Let me conclude with just one more possible meaning - to receive or to accept.


Dear friend, as we wait on the Lord for His promises to be fulfilled in our lives, let us remember that we have already received the greatest of all - Him. He is with us. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. While we wait, He is there. He is here. Accept Him afresh into your heart and be strengthened to wait for Him in faith and trust.


Until next week
God bless


Lize

A new life, a new identity...

"...a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church."

(Ephesians 5:31-32)

In many countries, including South Africa where I live, it is the custom for a bride to take on the surname of her husband. Once you are legally married, you get a new name and you get a new ID document indicating your new name. I love this tradition. I think it shows something of God's intention with the union of two people in marriage.

"God created man as male and female with the capacity to know each other and to become one. The essence was and still is for a man and a wife to enjoy each other in love - they are companions, sharing their lives with each other and giving themselves to each other. Two individuals become united and interconnected in love. They become one. Two people from different families become one unit and start a new life together."
(from 'Bride Adorned')

I used to be Lize Barkhuizen, but upon marrying my husband, I became Lize Dumon. I was still the same Lize and yet I was also a different Lize! I did not as before my marriage, represent only myself or maybe my family of birth. I now represented a new family unit and this new family unit had its own way of doing things, it had its own rhythm. Though neither of us lost our individual identities, we now had a shared identity. In many cases, 'I' now made place for 'we' - in our house we liked to do things this or that way; we liked to go to Kruger Park for holidays; we attended a certain church; we handled conflict in specific way; we had a preferred way to spend our week-ends and so on. Our focus was less and less to forward our individual interests, but the interest of our new family unit, especially when children became part of that unit.

 

You see, though in many ways I was still the same and still acted the same and felt the same...these started to give way to a new way of acting and being. Lize Barkhuizen had to learn to be Lize Dumon. Lize Barkhuizen could be a bit selfish but Lize Dumon had to take into account the likings of her husband. Lize Barkhuizen had a home with her parents but Lize Dumon had to create a home for her husband and kids. Lize Barkhuizen could hide in a private relationship with God, but Lize Dumon had to become bold and share this relationship with her husband and very importantly her children. Lize Barkhuizen loved to be on her own immerged in a book, but Lize Dumon goes on fishing trips with her husband and three boys. Lize Barkhuizen stood for Lize Barkhuizen. The order in Lize Barkhuizen's life was - Lize and then parents and siblings. The order in Lize Dumon's life is - Jan, Lize, Francois, Dewald and Eben. You get my drift. I am still Lize...but I am now Dumon. In this new family unit that was formed, I could not stay Lize Barkhuizen. I had to fully embrace my new identity, my new life, my new future. And though my new identity came with my union in marriage to my husband...the change in me came with years of living within this unity. I had to learn so many things over the years...keeping house, handling conflict, raising kids...I am still learning after almost 21 years!

Dear friend, it is the same with us and Christ. Before we were united with Christ, we were sinners. We are all born in sin. We all start out as sinners...whether we are born into the Christian faith or outside of the Christian faith, we belong to the fallen race of the first Adam. We belong to the family unit of Adam who sinned and thus became a sinner. You and I could call ourselves Lize (use your own name) Sinner. It says perfectly who we were. People who lived according to our sinful nature, who determined right and wrong according to our sinful nature, who lived for self...sinful self.

Oh but there was such grace and love and mercy in God the Father! He offered Lize  and ......... (use your own name) Sinner a marriage proposal. He offered to marry us to His Son, Jesus Christ who Himself was willing to pay the highest bride price for us! We could leave behind our father's house (Satan) and start a new life with our Groom. We could put off the old self and leave behind the old identity ........ Sinner, and take on the identity of our Groom....Christ.

Lize Sinner cannot and will not be found in the Kingdom of Heaven. She cannot be united with Christ and continue to support the ways of her previous life...the ways of fallen Adam....the ways of Satan. No, she now identifies with her Groom...Jesus Christ and He offers her all He has...redemption, forgiveness, righteousness...holiness.

Is it even possible to take on such a new different identity? Yes, thanks to the redemptive work of Christ on the cross.

Is this instantaneous? Our new identity...yes, absolutely. From the moment that we accept His offer of love and give our hearts to Christ, He gives us His Spirit to show that we now belong to Him. Do we instantaneously know how to live our new lives? No. The Holy Spirit starts a process of sanctification in us and, as in our earthly marriages it asks a lifetime of learning and maturing into your role, this is a process that will continue until the day we pass on to eternal life.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:11-14)

Oh, the love of our Groom! The love of Christ! Will I, because a work is still being done in me, cling to my old identity and name and be in this unity as Lize Sinner, showing an alliance to my father's house, with the fallen Adam and with Satan, or will I joyfully and with praise and with thanks take on the Name of my Groom, of my new Husband? And by taking the name of  Saint, will I not rather acknowledge the truth of the actual meaning of the word - 'now consecrated and separated and belonging to God'? I became Mrs Dumon upon legally marrying my husband and I immediately took on his name. I did not wait until I was perfect in 'being' his wife and the mom of his children...why...I would still not be able to call myself Mrs Dumon if that was the criteria!! I became Christ's bride upon accepting His offer of love and receiving His Holy Spirit. You have been given the right to call yourself His, also called a saint - consecrated and separated unto God. John 1:12 says, "Yet, to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

You have a new identity, a new unity, a new family...acknowledge that with praise. In Christ you are a saintly bride. Don't hesitate any longer to accept His Name and your new identity. In His sight, you are blameless...not yet made perfect...but accepted as His beautiful and much loved bride.

Until next week

God bless

Lize