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Holy Spirit Forever GETTING
BEYOND OUR MASKS BY
DOROTHY WALLACE MAYBE
YOU’VE TRIED AND TRIED AND FAILED AND FAILED. YOU FIND YOURSELF THINKING,
THERE IS NO WAY I CAN CHANGE! THERE’S NO WAY I CAN BE THE MAN...THE
WOMAN...THE HUSBAND...THE WIFE...THE PARENT...THE SINGLE PERSON...GOD WANTS ME
TO BE. THE TASK IS TOO GREAT! THE ODDS ARE INSURMOUNTABLE! OR POSSIBLE YOU LOOK
AROUND... MAYBE AMONG YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS, MAYBE AMONG THE MEMBERS OF YOUR
CHURCH, MAYBE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST IN GENERAL...AND SHUDDER BECAUSE OF ALL THE
HYPOCRISY YOU SEE. OR MAYBE YOU LOOK WITHIN AND SHUDDER AT YOUR OWN HYPOCRISY! YOU WANT
HEAVEN, BUT YOU’RE GETTING HELL ON EARTH INSTEAD. YOU FIND YOURSELF CLINGING
TO LIFE----SOMETIMES BY YOUR FINGERNAILS----IN THE HOPE THAT SOMEHOW, SOMEDAY,
SOMEWHERE LIFE WILL CHANGE AND HEAVEN WILL COME TO EARTH. OR PERHAPS YOU’VE
ALREADY LET GO IN DESPAIR. YOU’VE RESIGNED YOURSELF TO A LIVING HELL. I
UNDERSTAND. TRULY, I DO. I’VE BEEN THERE. AND YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO KNOW
HOW MANY OTHERS HAVE BEEN THERE TOO. IT REALLY WASN’T ALL THAT MUCH DIFFERENT
IN THE DAYS WHEN JESUS WALKED THIS EARTH AS A HUMAN BEING. HE LOOKED AROUND HIM
AND SAW MEN AND WOMEN AND YOUNG PEOPLE TRAPPED IN THESE SAME SITUATIONS. THEY
TRIED AND TRIED---- AND THEY FAILED AND FAILED. THEIR RELIGION----THE STORIED,
RICHLY TAPESTRIED FAITH OF THEIR FATHERS----JUST WASN’T WORKING. MANY OF THOSE
WHO SEEMED “IN THE KNOW” ABOUT GOD AND HIS WORD WERE RANKED HYPOCRITES. BUT RATHER
THAN CONDEMNING THESE UNHAPPY, HARRIED PEOPLE, JESUS HAD DEEP COMPASSION ON
THEM. TO HIS EYES, THEY LOOKED “DISTRESSED AND DOWNCAST LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A
SHEPHERD” (MATTHEW 9:36). SO HE WENT UP TO A HIGH AND BEAUTIFUL HILL
BESIDE THE SEA OF GALILEE TO SET FORTH THE TRUTH FROM HIS FATHER. OVERLOOKING
THAT SEA----A SEA SOMETIMES PEACEFUL AND SERENE, AT OTHER TIMES TURBULENT AND
THREATENING----HE SAT DOWN WITH HIS DISCIPLES AND TOLD THEM ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN. ABOUT WHAT BELONGING TO THAT KINGDOM WOULD MEAN IN THEIR DAILY LIVES.
ABOUT THE CHANGES IT WOULD BRING. AND ABOUT THE PRICE THEY WOULD HAVE TO PAY. LET’S
CLIMB THAT HILL TOO, IT’S A BREATHTAKING CLIMB...WITH A BREATHTAKING VIEW.
LET’S SIT AT HIS FEET, HIGH ABOVE THE RESTLESS, CHANGING SEA. LET’S DRINK IN
HIS WORDS AND PONDER HIS PERSPECTIVE. FOR WE TOO HAVE BEEN “DISTRESSED AND
DOWNCAST,” AND WE TOO NEED THE WISDOM AND GUIDING HAND OF OUR GOOD SHEPHERD. TO SIT AT
HIS FEET AND READ AGAIN HIS TIMELESS WORDS IN (MATTHEW CHAPTER 5 THROUGH
CHAPTER 7). DON’T MARK OR UNDERLINE A SINGLE WORD. SIMPLY OPEN YOUR HEART
AND READ. BUT BEFORE YOU DO...BEGIN WITH PRAYER. TELL THE FATHER YOU WANT TO
HEAR AND UNDERSTAND, THE WORDS OF HIS SON. TELL HIM THAT YOU LONG TO HAVE
THE LIFE THEY CAN BRING. THEN WHEN YOU’VE FINISHED YOUR READING, TALK TO HIM
AGAIN. TALK TO HIM ABOUT WHAT HIS SON HAS SAID. BE HONEST. TELL HIM WHAT
YOU THINK, WHAT YOU FEEL, WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, WHAT
YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND. TELL HIM WHAT YOU FEEL IS
IMPOSSIBLE----AND WHY. LIFT UP
YOUR VOICE, AND CRY OUT TO HIM, LORD, ONLY YOU CAN CHANGE ME. PLEASE
DO IN JESUS NAME. IF YOU HAVE READ THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD, YOU KNOW HOW GOD
DELIGHTS TO HEAR AND HONOR THE CRY OF THOSE WHO CALL OUT TO HIM WITH SINCERE
HEARTS. HE NOT ONLY HEARS “SAINTS” HE HEARS THE CRY OF
“SINNERS” AS WELL. HE’S HEARD MY CRY, AND HE WILL HEAR YOURS. This is a quarterly newsletter brought to you by Victory Temple Ministries
E-Mail us Victory Temple Ministries
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