Become ingrafted.

A few blogs ago, I had written about the process of ingrafting. I had written about the process of becoming new in Christ. I had referenced 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! I remember explaining what exactly it means to be 'ingrafted'. The dictionary definition of 'graft' is this, In surgery, a portion of living tissue is surgically transplanted from one part of an individual to another, or from one individual to another, for its adhesion and growth. Sounds a little painful doesn't it? 


We as humans need Christ. We need a savior. We're all broken, bruised, and bloodied and the thought of allowing someone else to control our lives sounds impossible for us. We like to do things our own way in our own time. When we decide to dedicate our lives to Christ, we become a new creation. We become ingrafted in Christ. Now, ingrafting doesn't sound like a pleasant thing when you fully dive into the word. And you know what? It's not. Ingrafting from the surgical standpoint I'd assume would not be a pleasant process. It's living tissue that is being transplanted from one area to a whole new area to grow. It's going to cause the most beautiful human to look like Frankenstein --- in the beginning. Ingrafting from the spiritual standpoint, is also not a pleasant process. Yes, it's a beautiful process when you can see the changes that God is making in your heart. The only reason I'd say that it isn't pleasant is because it hurts. It doesn't hurt in the physical sense like a surgery would, but it hurts in the heart. 


Jeremiah 17:9-10
"The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, 
   a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart 
   and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human. 
   I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are, 
   not as they pretend to be."


Our hearts are deceitful. They are full of pride, arrogance, insecurities, fear, worry, doubt, hate, anger, bitterness.. the list continues on. When we allow God to get in there and dig deep, you're going to feel those awful areas begin to quiver and shake. They are going to want to hold on for dear life, but you must allow God to take control of them. You must allow Him to come beside you and push the boulder out of our path to freedom. Regardless of what convictions He may place on your heart, you must trust Him. You must let Him begin the ingrafting process. Convictions are painful. They are not easy pills to swallow. Yet, they are from God. God convicts his children just as your own father would convict you. Conviction defined means, to impress with a sense of guilt or to declare guilty of an offense. These offenses that we are convicted of are those exact things that our deceitful hearts can be full of. They are things that God wants us to give to Him, so that He may help us become as Christ-like as possible. He wants us to give them to Him, so that we can become free and become new in Christ. When convictions come our way, we shouldn't feel bad about ourselves. God doesn't show us conviction to make us hate ourselves. He shows us conviction because He loves us and wants to help us become better for Him. We need to take his discipline, understand it, and turn it around. With God we can do that. That's the whole point of the test He's trying to get us to sit down and take. He wants us to glorify Him. How are we to do that with hearts full of madness?

I've constantly battled fear. In the past couple weeks, fear is starting to fade from my heart. A month ago, if you were to ask me where I saw myself in 5 years I probably would have been able to answer you. I would have said something like, "Oh you know, in the same city I'm in now, hopefully married, teaching Elementary students at a public school..." Now, if you were to ask me that same question I wouldn't be able to answer you. God has drastically helped me with my battle of fear. I no longer have a desire to stay put. When I was back in high school through the beginning stages of college, I wanted the traditional white picket fence, fully decorated home, huge backyard with the kids playing in it, friends in every direction lifestyle. I can't even fathom that anymore. I'm ready to go wherever God wants me to go and if that means moving to a different area code every week, month, or year then you best believe I'll be doing it. And, the only way I got to that point was because I finally began dedicating my life to Christ. I've finally given the fear in my heart to Him and have let Him begin the ingrafting process. The process of becoming a new creation. 


I think we all need to learn humility and give everything to Christ. Oh, you better believe I am in no way a pro at this. But, that's okay because God approves of me either way. He can help me overcome my unbelief no matter how prideful I am. He will heal me of that if I continue to pursue Him and He will do the same for you. Remember, it's a process and it's all about God's time. I was reading yesterday afternoon (Beth Moore - Get Out of That Pit) and I really enjoyed what she said about God's timing -- "I think God often ordains a wait because He purely enjoys the togetherness of it". Remember me explaining that we were created for a relationship with God? How awesome does that make you feel that He wants to spend time with you that much? Our God wants to spend time with us. Believe it.

I've always had this desire to travel everywhere, to build homes for people, to volunteer at soup kitchens, and to meet people all over the place because their stories just interested me -- yet I never knew what exactly I should be to do that. I thought I needed a career to make all of that happen. God has finally pulled out my little girl and showed me that I can do all of that -- for Him. All of those things can glorify Him. Sharing the Gospel and loving people, I can do. The only thing that would have ever stopped me from that is fear. He's casting out fear from my heart. I think we all need to embrace the little kids inside of us and let God really pull them out, along with all those deceitful things within our hearts. Those little kid desires, hopes, and dreams may not be as ridiculous as you think they are. They may not be in the exact way that you'd have thought you'd be pursuing them, but they will be in a better way -- with God. We are called to have a childlike faith, right? Let's start by being obedient to our call regardless of how scared you may initially be of it.

Let Him start that process for you today.
You may spend many nights crying or angry. You may want to give up when it gets hard. You may want to be prideful and long to do it yourself. You may question everything that He's doing and throw a fit. Trust me, I understand. I've felt all of that on this journey. But, humility is our friend and Christ is our lover.

Let Him love you. Let Him heal you.
Let Him heal your heart from madness.


Let's be little kids again.