Don't Cross My Will

But isn't that just what the Father of our spirit has purposed - to introduce a custom-designed and unique application of the cross to my will? If God the Father is love (and He is), then be prepared to embrace the "goodness and the severity" of the Father, at times simultaneously! And although your immediate thought might be, "This can't be of the Father" think again…or better yet, think it NOT strange what has befallen you!

Let's take a look here into Hebrews which plainly speaks of this blessing that goes hand in hand with our being received of the father. To further illustrate, a couple of verses from the King James translation is particularly sweet:

"If ye endure chastening, God is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."

From my perspective, the reality that none of us sees is the reality that deals with the unseen current of our hearts. I love the story of the pastor who allowed his youngest son to have a sleepover with a parishioner's son. The next morning the pastor called his friend to inquire about his son's behavior. To his surprise, the pastor was informed that his son was simply a delight, but experience led him to add ruefully, "I guess you never had to cross his will."

The story in Luke 15 of the generous father is a graphic illustration unveiling the hidden reality of our hearts, and how without being disciplined, corrected, and extricated from the Matrix of religion our needed and continued growth is aborted: "But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons". It would appear as if this father's sons were outwardly perfect – until their wills were crossed. Likewise, we are our Heavenly Father's forever children, but His ultimate intentions are for fully mature (perfect) sons!

Isn't it amazing how, at a heart level, we can divorce ourselves from the Father of our spirit simply because we choose to go our way? The kicker is, because of the intensity of His love for us, He grants us that very freedom. Sooner or later as truth-filled sobriety invades our inner senses, we begin to see the stark reality of this being a divine conspiracy which harmoniously flows between Father, Son and Holy Spirit - that there really is only One way, His way, Jesus the Way! Because of the innate inclination of our foolish "wisdom", we try to go the right way versus the wrong way, and in that process blindly miss out on the best way - His! However, thanks be to God who allows us to go wrong before we learn to go right.

Rich