Teshuvah is a time to reflect and return. It’s never too late.
The Sharpening
Painful as it may seem
But necessary it is.
A ripping may be felt
uncovering what is His.
So if we feel a shredding
Don’t fear or be dismayed,
It’s only the sharpening process
He wants to work in us today.
He is going to peel back that hard cover,
to reveal a special message.
In the sharpener we will see,
The shredding revealed the lesson.
So take some time to write it down
For in the process of time;
looking back we’ll understand
This sharpening is His perfect design.
For we are His own workmanship
Written upon His heart
Don’t give up or worry
He is faithful to complete what He did start.
Poem written by laurette laster © 2018
1 Thessalonians 5:24 NIV
The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.
Isaiah 53:6 says
We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and The Lord had laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
The Jubilee bible says we have become lost.
YLT says all of us like sheep have wandered, each to his own way. We have turned.
And simply put, that is why we are ushered into a special time to Teshuvah.
I thought about some ideas that I’ve had in the past. They were not particularly bad ideas but they were not ‘God’ ideas. In my broken and damaged emotions I was able to convince myself, “this must be God.” Without the word of God, good pastors and teachers, and godly leaders, we can easily go astray. Feelings are not good leaders.
A good idea that isn’t leading us (have gone astray) toward the will of God is still a wrong turn. If we are traveling and make a wrong turn we do not convince ourselves that we will reach our destinations just the same. This is why it is very dangerous to listen to messages that tell us any old road, and any old turn will safely take you to your desired location. No, that would be foolish.
We may learn some valuable lessons along the way. I know I sure did. Lessons that taught me to pray: Dear God help me, I never want to do that again. Please forgive me and give me ears to hear Your voice. Teach me to love Your word and Your directions.
Missing the mark is missing the mark. Whether we miss it by 1/16 of an inch or by 1600 miles we still missed it. Think about that. To be so close that it is as if we can taste it, then to allow the deception and the lies of the enemy take us off tract and rob us from Gods best.
Jesus has laid a foundation and we can Shuv, turn, Teshuvah, return. He is the Rock of our salvation.
He is the Great Shepherd. He says my sheep know my voice and another they will not follow.
This season I pray we have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Jesus said let him has ears hear. He goes on to say consider or pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
How does He does He measure our hearing?
It’s by our obedience. There is hearing and there is HEARING.
Just like a diagnostic test, it is by the ability to follow the verbal command. Pretty simple huh?
When we blow it we can Teshuvah. We admit we have gone astray and missed it. We tell The Lord we are turning back to His heart. And we return, Teshuvah with our whole heart.
Excerpt from Dr Rick Flanders
- SINNERS MUST REPENT IN ORDER TO BE SAVED
There is no doubt that sinners are called to repent, and that their repentance is required for their salvation. Jesus said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).
The words of Jesus remove any doubt about the requirement of repentance for salvation, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish,” (Luke 13:3). “All men everywhere,” according to God’s requirement (Acts 17:30), are commanded “to repent.”
Christian churches are the ones addressed in Revelation 2 and 3—seven congregations to be exact. They are given direct messages suited to their situations from our risen Christ, and five of the seven are called upon to repent (the Ephesians’ church in 2:5, the church in Pergamos in 2:16, some in the church of Thyatira in 2:21, the church in Sardis in 3:3, and the church of the Laodicea in 3:19).
Don’t miss this season of Teshuvah it is my favorite time of year.
God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you Shalom.
Until next time, thank you for listening with me. laurette
Through All Seasons 