A Word of Deliverance
Recently, I was sitting in a service in Omaha, Nebraska worshiping the Lord and preparing to speak. My attention was drawn to an ugly black spot under the middle of my fingernail. As I looked at the bruise the Lord questioned me, “What caused that bruise under your fingernail?” I replied, “When a spring loaded tape measure retracted, it hit my finger so hard that it bruised the nail.” The Lord replied, “That is what happens when man’s measurements and standards are applied to your life. I am delivering you from other people’s opinions and even more importantly, I am delivering you from your own opinions and evaluations of yourself.” This word of God is freeing my heart daily!
Carnal opinions and values only result in damage. Self evaluation bruises and causes pain immediately, producing an ugly mark on our lives for all to see. The Lord told me that He was delivering me from the measurements of man, especially my own opinions!” My fingernail is growing out constantly, there is coming a day when the bruise will be removed. It will end up in the garbage where it belongs.
1 Corinthians 4:3-5 “…. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide. So be careful not to jump to conclusions before the Lord returns as to whether or not someone is faithful. When the Lord comes, he will bring our deepest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. And then God will give to everyone whatever praise is due.” NLT
The Lord is the only one who can properly evaluate our lives. Everyone who knows us has an opinion about us. The worst opinion any of us have to deal with is our own opinion of ourselves. Whether we are steeped in arrogance, self-pity or self judgment that would deeply discourage our hearts in the Lord – it is all wrong. Whatever our human opinion is, that measuring rod is not God’s evaluation.
Paul said that he would not pass judgment on any man, including himself! Instead, Paul chose to wait on God to allow His grace and mercy to provide the measurements of his life. When God looks upon His children, He sees us in the light of the finished work of Calvary. The Holy Spirit increases his light in our lives to reveal wrong thinking and lifestyles that must be corrected to properly align us with His finished work. He is also revealing His glorious nature within us that must be developed into maturity. God establishes righteous accountability in our lives through fathers and leaders in the Kingdom of God. What Paul was writing about was not accountability but rather the judgmental opinions of man.
Revelation 3:18-20 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Buying the valuable things of God is a simple transaction called the gift of repentance, it is not difficult. Repentance is changing the source of our thinking from carnality to the Mind of Christ. He knocks on the door of my heart and when I hear His Voice calling me, I simply open the door and surrender to Him. When we open our hearts, He enters and makes all things right. No one can properly evaluate their life in their own strength or their own opinion. I want to encourage you today to open your heart to the Lord; He is knocking to gain entrance into every realm of our lives to bless us. He is drawing near to heal us and initiate an intimate fellowship in His Glory forever!
I am getting so sick of always looking at myself. It takes a conscious effort for me to look at myself through the eyes of the Father. Thank you Holy Spirit that you lead us into all truth. Thank you Lord for the mirror of your Word so that we can see rightly. When we find ourselves IN Christ Jesus we walk through the opinions of man as He split the crowd as they took up stones to stone Him. Praise be to God for Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Ross,
Now is the time we come to the place where we realize that the Father is so deeply in love with us and that He see’s us through the eyes of His Grace and Mercy. He is knocking on the door of our hearts and calling out with His voice … waiting for us to open the door. He wastes no time in entering and filling the emptiness of our lives… He lavishly loves us and His love melts away every lie, every chain of bondage and continually establishes His Kingdom within us and through us. What wonderful days we are privileged to live in! I love you my brother and it is true that we simply walk through the opinions of man and hide in His Love as we walk through to His liberty.
I like that story. If we just allow God to take care of things the way He has them set up, all the bruises in our lives will just go away. We don’t have to try and remove them. One day they just won’t be there and it will be as if they never were. Just let the Lord and His ways take care of us. I like that story.
I woke up this morning with “How He Love” playing over and over in my head. I was thankful that the Lord had given me that song to sing to him to today, but did not know why He’d chosen that song for me on this particular day.
I know now. I was feeling under the weather yesterday so I worked from home and missed my normal Tuesday night workout at the Do Jang. I was feeling a bit lazy and “weak willed” about that. Then I read this article.
When we judge ourselves, even taking a day to rest and recover from a bug makes us condemn ourselves. I praise God for his mercy and incredible love in how he views us. We are children in Christ and He sees us as we see our kids. With love, pride, and a tender heart.
I am constantly amazed by the Lord. His goodness and kindness is extended throughout our lives, as well as, His merciful covering of love. When He breathes into our hearts we receive such revelation of His character and His eternal purposes. He sets the standard of Grace and Mercy in every portion of our being. His Grace is truly overwhelming.
I believe it is a good thing to point to the scripture that verifies what you believe God is telling you. This is not only good for you but maybe more important to those who follow or listen to your teaching so they will know that anything that comes into a persons mind, no matter how good it sounds comes from God.
1Co 4:1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1Co 4:2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.
1Co 4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
1Co 4:4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
1Co 4:5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his
Hi Bill,
I would have added even more scripture, but I am limited on the amount of space I can use on this site – It is a blog, not an article. In any event, I agree with you …
Bill Noer
Thank you for commenting on Bill’s article. We encourage interaction on this site. We also always appreciate feedback and suggestions. Just want to confirm what Bill said. We limit the amount of words in each article purposely. That means we cannot reference everything we say with a specific scripture. However, in writing we make sure we are in line with the scripture and often highlight specific scriptures in our articles. God’s word is central to what we do here.
hallelujah