A Reconciled Child

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5:10

A new year is upon us and we have safely said goodbye to 2007. It was a challenging year for me, but I remember oh so dearly the old school song I Made It.

I’ve been up and I’ve been down
Almost leveled to the ground
But IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
I made it!

Ya’ll didn’t know I could blow like that…on paper! There are pains and experiences spiritually that I will never forget and there are some things that happen in 2007 that I don’t want to remember.

As we all know, we as Christians don’t or should not make/made any “new years resolutions”. These things are never kept by majority of the folk in our society. It starts off good but, always ends up disappointing…sometimes it ends before it has ever gotten started. The term we should use for this year is reconcile. Reconcile? Yes, reconcile with the One who is desiring to have us reconcile to Him…the Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. What is reconcile you might ask?

The Greek word for reconcile in Romans 5:10 is katallassō, which means to return into favor with, be reconciled to. Being reconciled with an individual means to cease being angry with an individual(s) and receive them into favor…either for the first time or again. When you have grudges towards any individual, no matter who it is, we suffer spiritually because it begins to rot (decompose or decay) our walk with Jesus, our mental state, our physical state and our spiritual state. There are some hurts and pains that we have carried for so long (well beyond 2007) that it is turning us into a monster that we cannot control (within ourselves). It’s time to let go of the damage packages (the sins, curses & habits) in 2008…allow the Lord to impact our lives without our interference.

Are there some folk that you need to reconcile with? Is there returned favor that needs to be restored to an individual or from an individual to you? Have we truly reconciled with the Lord about our shortcomings in 2007and the below years? Have we found and received that restored favor from the One who always desire to have all of us to Himself before we knew we were alive? I hear that 2008 is the year of new beginnings…well I have actually started seeing new beginnings in November of 2007. Haas your new beginning started yet? Or are you beginning on hold because of continued doubt of what God can do for your life. Maybe you’re mad at God for not coming through for you when you thought it was time. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one after giving all your prayers and hope that God was going to “deliver them from death”. God wants each and everyone one of us to hand over the anger, bitter, strife, homosexuality, lies, deceit, and selfish desires and straight out rebellion over to Him. It’s time to stop playing in the Christian walk and allow God to transform to impact this world with the Word of God.

And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: Ephesians 2:16

God wants us back in the manifold and carry our His purpose He has for our lives. The true blessings do no lie in us or others. The true blessings lie in our faithfulness to God and from we apply all of His Word to our lives. Remember, if we have children, they’re watching us…and we don’t need to do things our lives that is against God that will cause our babies to stumble (Luke 9:42). This would include doing things on the down low thinking that what you do in secret will not affect them. There are spiritual consequences for everything we do in the physical. It is time to get rid of the “I’m going to make you pay” mentality. Folk stay mad and other because of something someone said or did to them 20 years ago. Now I’m not saying that if someone was raped, molested or something tragic happened to an individual that this is something that should totally thrown out of their minds. I am saying that folk should be ashamed of themselves if they are 45 years of age, holding a grudge because someone still owes them $20 since they were 15…come on now. Is easy to hold on to those continued grudges, but hard to unleash those feelings at the foot of King Jesus. James 5:9 strictly and plainly tells us not to -Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
If we hold these things against folk then judgment is brought upon us by God Himself. Jesus made things alright when He died on that cross, reconciliation took place then between God and man…once man confesses his faults/sins, confesses the Lord Jesus Christ as His Lord & Savior and turn 180 degree from his sinful lifestyle. It is powerful of the love and favor God & Christ had one us. And it’s a powerful thing knowing that the Holy Ghost is there to give us that power that we need to complete and defeat that challenges that lie ahead in our lives.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33

Let’s not get hung up on the things that are material by putting them first (check out Matthew 6:20), lets make a commitment to give our all to the Lord. God knows our hearts desire and if we focus on Him and His ministry and GNL, the blessings and desires will come…in His will and His timing. Be blessed on this day and know that Jesus loves you and I love you all too. Until the Sequel of Jesus.