Made New

This week I am late posting my blog and it was not because I have not tried working on it. It seems every time I would sit down to write that there were good ideas to share but nothing that I could say I wanted to put in writing from the Lord. Yesterday, my wife and I were reading our daily devotion out of Walk with God by Tie Green, and this portion of his writings struck my heart and caused me to reevaluate my approach to the Cross.


“The beauty of the Cross is its ugliness. God left us no aesthetic religion to idolize, no self-effort to perfect, no Law to fulfill. He completely undid us by doing it all Himself. The way to become godly now is not to become godly; it is to declare our ungodliness and cast its cost on Another. The way to become pure now is not to be pure; it is to declare our impurity and ask for the heart and mind of Another. The way to live is not to seek life; it is to die and let Another live in our place. We thought the wisdom of God would be to make us better people—through works, service, intellect, philosophies, religion, and more. But in His wisdom, Jesus did not come to make us better. He came to do away with the old entirely and to birth something new. We take hold of that by embracing the ugly, ignoble Cross. Only then can newness come.” Tie Green

In all honesty, this year has been a year that has tested my faithfulness and trust in everything I have ever believed, taught, and attempted to live out. As the parts of my life that I thought were solid began to shift and look like they were crumbling it caused many new emotions to form in me; some that I truly never new were so strong and controlling. I think for the first time in many years, I could say that I was afraid. Being a “good” man of God, I am very aware that fear is not from God, but is weakness and lack of faith. So, to combat that, I tried to walk in faith and make decisions that would battle that fear that lingers inside of me. Just this week I was talking to my sister about my families future and all of the options we were looking at. I did not tell her I was afraid. Who admits that? We were just talking and encouraging each other and later that day she sent me the scripture out of Isaiah 44:1-10.

Verse 2 This is what the LORD says—
he who made you, who formed you in the womb,
and who will help you:
Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant,
Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

The whole scripture spoke directly into my heart and she picked up on something that I was trying to mask. She saw the fear in our conversation and the Lord used her to speak into my life. When Melissa and I were reading this devotion I knew the Lord was speaking to me again. Here is what He said to me. God may not talk to you like this, however, He is pretty straightforward with me and this is how one of our most recent conversations went.

God- Kristopher. Kristopher! KRISTOPHER! (I am hard headed and it usually takes a moment for Him to get my attention.)

Kristopher- Yes- You talking to me?

God- Why are you afraid? Have I not been faithful to you all the days of your life? Why are you trying to hide that you are scared? Do you think that you will be less than? Do you think I won’t love you and maybe I will only fulfill my promise to those who can fake me out? Son, I have an amazing future for you and your marriage, for you and your family, for you and your finances, for you and the ministry you put your hand to. Quit trying to fake me out. It will never work. You cannot even fake out your baby sister. I do not need you to find a way to not be frightened. All I need you to do is to admit your fear and run to me. I will not alter your fear or even make you strong enough to handle it. I will make you new! I will give you a new perspective and a new faith. Like the manna that I gave to the Israelites, I only gave them what they needed for the day. They were not allowed to take more. You are in the same situation. The faith that you have had for the last 36 years of life is no longer enough to get you through this next season. You must come to me- run to me- and be made new again. You must receive the faith that I will place in you that will sustain you for today-- a Faith that will allow that fear to dissipate. Then tomorrow, you need to come back and do it all over again.

Kristopher- (tears)

God- I love you boy and have the best for you.

Kristopher- Help me believe. Make me faith new. I am scared.

God- I know. Your fear does not scare me. Here is your portion of faith for today. It will be exactly what you need.

Kristopher- Thank you.

God- Now, I do expect to see you tomorrow. There is something new that is going to happen tomorrow and what you have today is only there to help you face the challenges of today.

Kristopher- ☺