Consider how a colt feels when he’s done nothing but experience total freedom of movement until the day he’s introduced to a halter and the confines of being tied to a post. How would YOU feel? What would YOU think? Your freedoms are being assaulted! Do you yield or do you fight? But YOU know something that the colt doesn’t. YOU know that once the colt is halter broke, he can be led to other pastures, experience other freedoms that he would never know until he’s broke to lead. What LOOKS like a limitation to freedom is in reality the doorway to greater liberties! WE are that colt and God is using the SAME strategies on us as we do on them. Here is the story of 3 colts...Bubba, Cadillac and Princess and each of their individual responses... which one are you???
by: Crystal Lyons
One of my favorite portions of scripture to quote daily is Psalm 103:1-5. Verse 5 says that the Lord will satisfy my mouth with good and renew my youth like eagles. Youth renewed…..I like that. It was just the other day as I was quoting this verse that it suddenly occurred to me that this verse isn’t simply talking about regaining physical youth, though that is included, but it includes ALL areas of youth renewed. This includes the renewing of childlike qualities of faith and trust. Old wounds healed so we can believe like a child again….see like a child again and forgive as quickly and easily as a child. Jesus Himself said, “Except you become as a little child, you shall not ENTER the Kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4 and Matthew 19:14) This is talking about MORE than getting saved. Many born again people, who are truly saved, will never walk in Kingdom power and authority. They go to heaven when they die but they don’t enter the Kingdom. I go to heaven when I die as a result of what Jesus did…..but I enter into the Kingdom through much tribulation. (Acts 14:22) Salvation is free, but entering in and walking in Kingdom authority costs! Matthew 11:12 says the Kingdom suffers violence (many things resist the Kingdom in this world system) and it’s the violent who take it by force! We must press through the resistance to walk in Kingdom power and authority! We must rise above the earth bound things to soar like eagles! To do this, we must have our youth renewed. Not simply our physical youthfulness, but our childlikeness.
How are we to walk through a world where people betray and wound us, grow in wisdom that rises above the foolish immaturity of a child, and yet retain the childlike qualities of faith and trust? It can only be done as we allow the Lord to do His work in us. Be angry, but sin not…..let not the sun go down on your wrath. (Ephesians 4:26) This means that you have the freedom to FEEL the way you feel when injured or betrayed, but what we DON’T have is the liberty to let it become a part of us! God gives us a time to sort through hurts, anger, bitterness, grief, etc., and then in His incredible wisdom and perfect timing, He begins to ask us to let these feelings go. It’s time to move on. If we continue to wallow in these emotions and painful memories, we will get stuck and be buried where we lie. Like Jesus said, we can’t walk in the fresh outpourings with the old wineskins. Through the battles of life and the scars incurred, we can become brittle and unable to move into the next phase with the Lord unless we go through a time of renewal. These times of renewal will often place us in “the cleft of the Rock” where we are hidden for a time in the Lord while He works on us. It is during this time that the fellowship and support of other believers is essential. If it were not for other believers encouraging us with truths that we cannot, at the time, grasp for ourselves; we could shrivel up and die under a weight of depression. Through this process, a softening of the crusty areas and a healing of old wounds occur.
I want the renewal of youth, though I gotta admit, I’m not too incredibly thrilled over the process. But the other option is even less desirable. I don’t want to be an old wineskin that has to be set aside because I refuse the process by which the old skin is made soft, pliable and stretchable again. Not only am I claiming scriptures for my physical youth to be renewed, I also want my inner man to be made young again. The battle scars I carry have made me much wiser, but amidst the wisdom, it is easy to become less trusting, more rational and even cynical. These are crusty areas that must be dealt with or I won’t be able to move within the flow of what God is doing next.
One of my other favorite scriptures is Psalm 23; in it is a promise from the Lord to “restore my soul”. Our soul is our mind, will and emotions…..our personality. When something is restored, it is brought back to its original form. It isn’t new, but it’s been restored, made fresh and like new again. That’s what God promises to do for our soul….our mind, emotions, personality. He wants us childlike again. Not childish….childlike. He WANTS us to be wise in the ways of war…not easily subverted or fooled….He wants us to keep the wisdom we’ve gained from our encounters with the enemy, but He DOESN’T WANT us to lose that inner childlikeness towards Him! We are to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves. Easy to believe what God says, easy to trust God, easy to love others….even our enemies. This takes GOD renewing our inner being! But if we’re going to soar like eagles, run and not be weary, walk with Him and not faint….we MUST have our inner man made new. Old calloused places must be dealt with. We must be willing to lay aside our earthly wisdom born out of hurts and wounds and receive a higher, heavenly wisdom that supersedes the rational knowledge that we’ve put our trust in. This earthly wisdom is a product of fear born from a desire for self preservation. Jesus basically says to cease from a lifestyle of preserving self….to place ourselves unreservedly in His care….and as a result, He will renew our youth, restore our souls….make us childlike again. Those who grow bitter and cynical…die. Maybe not physically at first, but certainly destiny wise. Bitter, cynical people are disqualified for use in the Master’s Kingdom.
I once had a mini-vision where I was shown how God wanted me to embrace a person, who I saw in the vision holding a knife, ready to stab me once I embraced them. I said, “Lord….if I do what You ask, they will only hurt me”! His reply kind of shocked me. He said, “Yes they will….but do it and trust that I will heal you”. I would love to say that I obeyed this command unreservedly, but that would be a blatant lie.The Kingdom of God is near. He is looking for those who will walk in supernatural Kingdom power and authority. This will take a restoring of our childlikeness….a renewing of our youth. Earthly wisdom must be submitted to heavenly. Our eyes must become childlike again….able to see and believe what’s going on in the invisible realm. We must be made quick to love the unlovely…..trust God when we can’t trust man….see a bright future when the world around us is swallowed up in cynicism. Even though the process to let go of old hurts and wounds, and allow our heart to be made soft again, is not without its pain; the promise of becoming one who walks in God’s manifest presence so far outweighs the pain of the process that like Paul, we have to say, these “light afflictions” are not worthy to compare to the glory that will be revealed! God renew our youth like eagles!
To view more articles written by Crystal, go to Word Is
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