HOPE IN THE JOURNEY

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." 1 John 3:2-3

Christians do not believe about life that 'what you see is what you get'. Quite to the contrary, Christians believe that many things we cannot now see are still part of God's plans for us. Some days we cannot see (or maybe even imagine) what it would be like to be completely recovered. But we know that this is God's plan for us. God is committed to our full recovery. As this text puts it, God will not be done with us until we are 'like him'. That is as 'recovered' as you can get.

The clarity of God's plan for us can give us hope. It may be a difficult journey, but you can get somewhere from here. We can make it because God is involved in the process of our transformation. This hope can give us a kind of purity of purpose and vision. Because God is committed to our full recovery, we are not alone with our hopes and dreams. Because God is committed to our full recovery, we have a power greater than our own to help with the struggle. Because God is committed to our full recovery, we can find rest and courage in the purity of God's vision for us.

Because God is committed to our full recovery, we can let go of our pathetic little idol gods and turn to the true and living God. When we worshipped a god-of-impossible-expectations, we became driven and compulsive. When we worshipped a god-who-abused, we became fearful and frozen. When we worshipped a god-who-keeps-his-distance, we fought despair. As we begin to see God as loving, we come to believe that we are lovable. As we begin to see that God wants us to let go of our self-destructive behaviors in order to live more fully, we come to believe that we are precious and valuable.

What I see, Lord,
is not always a very pretty picture.
I long for you to appear.
If you enter the picture, everything changes.
Seeing you changes everything
because I know that when I see you,
I am changed.
Seeing you transforms me.
Sink this hope deep within me, Lord.
Purify me with this hope.
Thank you.
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

The above it so very true. There is hope in the journey. Even though our journey can still be very rough and painful, I can vouch for that, God is certainly committed to our full recovery. He wants us to be all that we can be. He is not finished with us until He is done with us and we are like Him. He is in the transforming business! Wow.

Even now, as my desire to be with Him has intensified I have noticed this. I wish I could remain in the FULL presence of the Holy Spirit all the time. I do not know if that is humanly possible? Sure, He dwells in me all the time. But to have Him manifested in me 24/7, I guess that would be too much for my human body to handle. Until I get to Glory that is.

When the anointing does fall upon me, WoW that is something truly awesome. Something I wish could last forever. Like I said, until I get to Glory will this be possible. I know for a fact that I am being transformed here. The Spirit is reaching deep within my soul to my pain and ministering to me. The transformation process for me personally is in the Spirit which is greater. What I experience now is just preparation for my final destination. Amen!

.................................................................................................................................................... I Got The Joy!