Jeremiah 1:10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant."
To my precious daughters...I have much to say here but I am truly going to try to be pithy...good word choice, huh? What a picture this is for us! Jeremiah's job was to root out and to pull down...to destroy and to throw down and THEN to build and plant. Isn't that what God does with us? He has to bring us to nothing...to the point where we think we are absolutely useless and then He begins to plant, to build and to use us for His glory. We feel like we have reached the end but it is really the beginning...and victory in God's world begins with surrender...
When I was a young Christian, I was given a list of bible verses regarding children and parents that filled two sides of a paper single spaced by a couple who truly loved the Lord and to whom I am forever grateful. As I look back that paper was a gift to me directly from God. It was filled with His wisdom for raising my family...wisdom that I needed and did not have. The verse that the Lord impressed on my heart the most was Psalm 127:1. Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. I DID NOT want my labor to be in vain. I wanted my foundation sure...I wanted Christ at the center...I wanted Him to have preeminence...this verse told me that if He was not the foundation...the reason for all that I did...then my labor would be in vain. I knew in my heart of hearts by His Spirit that this was truth. I have tried never to lose sight of it. I prayed for His desires to be my desires...that I would surrender to His will and allow Him to do His work in my heart.
The battleground, girls, is the mind. We need to set it on Him...to renew it daily with His word. We need to speak the truth (what God's word says) in our hearts. ("RE-MIND" ourselves so to speak) His word will combat the lies that the world inundates us with. It is our offensive weapon. As I make a practice of speaking His truth in my heart and aloud about whatever situation I might find myself in...and there could be many different ones during each day..my eyes get off my circumstances and onto Christ. My outlook changes, my mind is renewed...again, like to think of it as "re-minded"..and His peace then overflows my heart. I want what He wants. Spiritually I am stable...the battles are there...dying to the flesh is something we do daily but His peace is there also because when the battles come I know where to look..I know to re-mind myself of His truth about what I am facing. Immerse yourself in His word, know the truth...He is the Truth..and He is where peace, freedom and spiritual stability dwell.
Love,
Mom
