Lot's Wife : How Not to Look Back

But Lot's wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:26 (NLT)

 

Source: via Mijoi on Pinterest

So I had written a post before this and I deleted it. So, I'm not going to retype it. We'll just start here. Lot's wife became a pillar of salt. God really was focusing me on this. This account in the Bible always bothered me a bit, I think because I never gave much thought to it. But tonight, God was speaking to me about this. About how she looked back. Why she looked back. Why we shouldn't. And how I do this in my own life! Here God is trying to set me free and here I am trying to hold onto my shackles like some shiny Tiffany bracelets. The problem is, we don't see it like He sees it! And what good is it if He sets us free yet in our hearts we delight and long and savor SIN! Sin in the heart is still sin.

There is no magical formula. I don't claim to give one. But here are some things I will share with what I feel God has outlined for me in hopes that this might also help someone else.

 

1. KEEP LOOKING FORWARD/DON'T LOOK BACK.Take EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE. Do not remininsce on old boyfriends, movies, old friends, old places you used to hang out at, etc that God called out as sin, bondage and delivered you from.  And we CAN do something and should do something about those phsycial things lying around that reminds us of these times. Do you still have pictures of your old boyfriend that God said was an unequally yoked relationship? Get rid of the pictures. Still hanging out with the friends that caused you to get put in jail? Maybe it's time for new friends.  If you're like me, I have always listened to a lot of music growing up in a musical family. I remember my life in music as in what was my favorite song at that time. There are certain bands or songs that I cannot listen to. It reminds me of specific people or specific times. Rather I CAN but I choose not to. So I cleaned out my ipod and chucked a whole lot of cds. Yes, money down the drain!! But we have to decide what freedom is worth. We are setting our minds, our thoughts, and our hearts against Him when we long after these things. Going back to those places are not for them to be "enjoyed" and "longed after" because that doesn't glorify Jesus to savor in your sin. It does however glorify Jesus if it is for a testimony of His goodness and His mercy and love!
2. IGNORE PEOPLE'S SO CALLED WISDOM. How many times have I done something that I KNOW God told me not to do but I did it because everyone else is doing it? This usually happens when that thing is not "bad or evil " in  itself . But the thing is a personal relaitonship with Jesus involves our heart. So if something just as neutral as a book is causing you to sin...then we must cut it off. We can't follow the crowd. You are not to please them but God. (this is not to say people can't offer you Godly advice, but we know when God tells us to do something and then we're just talking our way out of it! ) 
3. PRAY and SEEK THE LORD. Let's be honest. We cannot make those longings dissappear by ourselves. Because what we truly want is a heart change.  Yes, these above things will stop you from feeding them. But only praying and seeking the Lord will be the nourishment we need spiritiually.  As a result  it will change our hearts and fill us up and satisfy us. Only then will we stop longing after those things we tried to feed off of like the Samaritan woman and only found it was so dissatisfying. When she encountered Jesus she left her water jar and ran off to tell everyone about the Christ. Spending time with Jesus WILL give you new desires and reading His Word will renew your mind. And of course , PRAY. Pray that Jesus gives you His sight and feelings on this sin.  Lot's wife looked back like she was missing out on something good but if she saw it like God saw it I'm sure, she wouldn't have looked back. Pray that God transforms your mind to see whatever it is in the same way He sees it!  And also because sometimes you just find yourself looking back sometimes, you can even pray for the Holy Spirit to convict you immediately when you start to and for you to be oh so sensitive to it.and make you aware of it.

 

I have not mastered this myself and do not claim to be perfect. I am walking trying to learn more of Him. I do believe that Jesus will answer this prayer if it comes from a sincere heart and He will see these acts of faith though.

 

Let us remember Lot's wife.

 

xoxo Mila

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Returning to Your First Love

Whenever I feel far from  God I have to ask  myself  "WHY?" I know the obvious answer...it's because I moved away. Something is in between us. It's usually something that I have let consume my time, caused me to worry & I let it stick around and I entertain it, etcetc.

I can look back some months ago or even to when I rededicated myself to Christ. How come I'm  not nearly as on fire for Him  as I once was. In my quiet time I asked the Lord this and this verse popped up in my head:

"Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first"

Revelation 2:5

What are the works I did at first I thought? God made it clear that it had to do with me spending alot of time with Him. In my free time and if I had time when I could be undisturbed I would pray aloud and worship by praising Him  aloud or just signing.  With school and work, I often find myself praying but not nearly as much. And reading my Word but not nearly as much. And so I felt called to do just that. Repent, turn and repeat. I took the challenge.

I created a prayer list to help me stay focused but also asked for prayer requests so that I would not forget to pray for people. (go to the CONTACT  ME section to email me yours!). I started with the Book of Hosea as I love that Book of the Bible and always reminds me of God's love (next post more on this). Even if I'm surrounded by people I can worship silently with my headphones on and just by meditating on Him.

I began reading a new book about satisfying our Thirst. It focuses on the 2 aspects of Worshipping:It goes over the Specific Act of Worship and the Lifestyle of Worship.  This book recommended something called ABC  Worship where you basically go through the Alphabet and praise God with something beginning with each letter. Sometimes it can be challenging but always keeps me focused on Him..

I love how God always meets me right where I am. He always has an answer for me and makes it so clear if I only ask Him and then stop to listen [i sometimes forget that part!]. What might make me feel closer to Him  might be completely different from  you. Isn't that the beautiful thing? We can uniquely relate to Him!!! What matters most to Him  is that we return to our first loves and it is so easily done by thinking back to the beginning. Simply do whatever you did then.

What makes you feel closer to God when you are feeling far from Him?

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