The first day of another new year is when most people, saved and unsaved
alike, face the changes they would like to make. This is the time when
many seriously consider the specific stained areas of their lives that
need bleaching, so to speak. No doubt you ladies have a few things on
your list you'd like to alter, namely some sins that need to be forsaken
once and for all! What does God want us to do with the shame we feel about
sins we commit every day? What is the secret to succeeding in bringing
about these necessary changes in our lives? The answer lies in God's Word,
so let's allow the Spirit to open our understanding....
Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool.
"COME NOW"
Ladies, God would personally invite all of us to come to Him! Don't hide
from the Lord as did Adam in the cool of the day when God sought Him out...
You see, our Lord would like to have a conference with us concerning our
happiness and success. Do you think He would invite us to simply bash
us over the head with the club of condemnation?? No, the Lord would not
have invited us to confer with Him if He did not have our well being at
heart. Do not refuse the One who loves you and knocks at your door...
Come NOW!
"AND LET US REASON TOGETHER"
Reason, as defined in Webster's 1828 dictionary, is to examine or discuss
by arguments; to debate; to endeavor to inform, convince or persuade;
to confer or inquire by discussion or mutual communication of thoughts,
arguments or reasons. It is a faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes
truth from falsehood and good from evil. Today men and women reason within
themselves, they reason with courts and legislatures, they reason with
Dr. Dobson, Dr. Laura and Dr. Spock. There are a host of ways we examine
and discuss human behavior, but unless we come together with the Lord
and reason, we have not the full assurance of reasoning justly! How willing
have you been to enter into a conference with the Lord and seriously examine
your behavior, dear lady? I'm not referring to the areas of your life
YOU'VE decided to examine, I'm talking about the areas GOD wants to discuss
with you!
Job 13:3, "Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason
with God."
The Lord appeals to our intellect as well as our emotions... As Christians,
we must not stand idle, nor shift our brains into neutral in regard to
our dealings with our Father in heaven. Instead, we must use our minds
and let His truth sink into our souls! We must be doing the good the Lord
requires of us... Is there ever a time we should come away from a conference
with the Lord disagreeing with Him about our behavior?? Should the Lord
of the universe not win every argument with us? How easy is it for God
to persuade you of your errors?
"THOUGH YOUR SINS BE AS SCARLET..."
"THOUGH THEY BE RED LIKE CRIMSON..."
Ladies, no real, lasting change will ever come about in your life or mine
until we agree with what God says - that our sins are scarlet and crimson
- deep and intense in color! We have double-dipped ourselves in transgression
and many backslidings.... Though you may be uncomfortable with the reality
of this truth, scarlet and crimson IS the color of our character! Can
you humbly admit that today? Can you agree with God that your sins are
of such magnitude? There can be no bleaching till you see the stain....
"THEY SHALL BE AS WHITE AS SNOW"
"THEY SHALL BE AS WOOL"
Certainly we all want our lives to appear as white as snow, amen? We all
have relationships and ministries we want to see succeed. And we all have
stains in our lives that we are sorry for... Don't ask to be comforted
till you are first cleansed! God wants us not to just feel sorrow for
the sins we have committed but to break off the practices of them! Perhaps
the image of a piece of cloth, once dyed deep red, becoming white again
seems impossible to you. However, when you understand the intensity of
your sin, you will also understand that you can not clean yourself. You
must resort to a more powerful source...
Psalm 51:7, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow."
Yes, there is a fountain in which all sinners may be cleansed, there is
pardoning mercy available that will bleach out every stain in our life!
As we humbly admit our sins before God, He has promised us forgiveness
for them! Such a promise is not afforded to those who continue to argue
with God or hide from Him altogether.... Don't hang up on the Lord, don't
disconnect yourself from His many blessings! Ladies, you can leave God's
presence clean and white, with confidence and peace and in right standing
with your heavenly Father. Why avoid that conference call with the Lord
when He has such loving interest in your happiness and the answer to your
success? Take the call... As He does the leading and invites us to come
to Him now, we must do the following and submit our reasoning to Him.
It's the only way you can achieve a truly happy new year!
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
