Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Freedom for the Unglued

(Some material adapted Unglued by Lysa Terkeurst)
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him — you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  I Peter 2:4-5

When filming the DVD sessions for the Bible study Unglued in Florence, Italy, Lysa Terkeurst toured a gallery to see the sculpture David by Michelangelo.  The corridor leading up to the room with the beautifully chiseled sculpture was lined with other sculptures – unfinished – called Prisoners.   We are all on a journey to greatness, unfinished but being chiseled by the Master when we let Him.  We can stay locked away in our hard places, or we can allow ourselves to be chiseled into a masterpiece.  It doesn’t happen fast, it is a process.   

Labels
Labels can be horrible when we put them on ourselves.  We can actually imprison ourselves in hard places with no way to escape.  We label ourselves all kinds of negative things such as angry, frustrated, jerk, insecure, just like my mother, unglued, etc.  These labels start out as little whispers that can take over our mind before we know it, consuming us with self-condemnation and defeat. 
We trap ourselves in these hard places with our condemning words and feelings of defeat.  We begin to believe the negative self-chatter that we will never be any different.  We lock ourselves in these prisons – prisons without bars.  The only thing required to hold us there is our perception that we belong there. Inside we are longing for the freedom of God’s grace, yet we can’t give it to ourselves!

Embrace the Grace
Yesterday we talked about imperfect progress.  That is what embracing God’s grace is.  God covers us with His grace in all our hard places.  We are like the unfinished sculptures in the Prisoners display in Italy.  We are locked away in our hard places but we can be free when we let God chisel us.  He is on a mission to create a masterpiece, and yes, we are His masterpiece. It doesn’t feel good but God will use it for good.  He has too much planned for us to lock ourselves away in hard places.  We need to allow Him to chip away the parts of us that don’t look like Him or what He wants us to be.  We can come out of being stuck in the dark places and into the light of who He designed us to be. He is chiseling us, releasing us from those hard places so we can do His good works.   

Let God Chisel
Michelangelo was only 26 when he started working on the 17 foot tall statue of David.  He actually was not the artist that started it.  It had been commissioned before he was even born and two other artists had worked on it but not completed it.  Michelangelo started working on it and two years later, he completed it.  It is said that when asked how he made it, he replied, “It is easy.  You just chip away the stone that doesn’t look like David.”  That is what God is doing with us.  He is chipping away all the parts that are not supposed to be there.  It was also said that Michelangelo never left the statue.  He stayed there beside it constantly.  He ate there, slept there, and worked.  God also never leaves us.  He is working on us, chiseling His masterpiece and He never leaves us, especially in our hard places. 
Embrace the grace of God, the master and let God chisel.

Scripture to Claim:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 
1 Peter 2:9

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