Grace For The Journey

God will tolerate no rival.  Nor should He!  What this means is that you will experience the grace of “divine dulling” in two ways:

God’s grace will “dull” the excitement and enticement of the pursuit of your sin.

OR

God’s grace will “dull” the excitement and enthusiasm of the pursuit of your Savior.

Regarding the first truth . . .

God will not allow His people to be driven into the ashes of defeat as it relates to the pursuit of sin.  He will, in His perfect timing, dull our selfish ambition.  He will, in His timing, dull our desire for sinful gain.

God is in the business

Of removing the enjoyment and enticement

Of the sinful desires of our heart.

He will do whatever it takes to “dull” the spell they have cast over us and reorient our hearts back to our first Love.

God tells us in Hosea 2:11-13, “’I will also cause all her celebrations to cease, her feast days, her new moons, her Sabbaths – all her appointed feasts.  And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’  So I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.  I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense.  She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers; but Me she forgot,’’ says the LORD.”

The prophet Hosea paints a stark picture of the grace of “divine dulling” that God will bestow on us when we indulge ourselves in illicit affairs of the heart.  Look closely and you will see that God. . .

Will remove the expected return on our sinful investment,

Which will ultimately drive us to our knees in repentance.

And the desire to return to our first Love.

Regarding the second truth . . .

God will also dull the excitement and enthusiasm of our pursuit of Him.

You may be wondering how that could possibly be an act of grace!

When we have divided affections He will dull our affections for Him to open our eyes to the fact that the proverbial wheels are coming off the tracks of our lives.  He will not allow us to experience the rich relationship of intimacy and affection with Him when He is not on the throne of our lives.  And why should He?  He will tolerate no rival and will never affirm our affections for anything other than Himself by letting us think that all is well.

I often hear statements in counseling sessions such as, “I’m not really enjoying my time of worship right now” or “I feel distant from God when I’m reading the Bible or even praying.”  People look at me in astonishment when I tell them, “Perhaps God has sent you the grace of divine dulling to reorient your heart back toward Him.  Could it be that you have settled for lesser loves that have captivated your heart?  That will block you from the right relationship you should be experiencing with your Savior.”

Remember, if your time with God seems distant or dull, you can be sure that God did not move away or suddenly become a bore.

God does not move away from us; we drift away from Him.

God’s Word does not become dreary or stale;

Our desire to search the Scriptures cools.

When we give our hearts to something other than Jesus, that idol will drain us of our passion for the only One who is worthy of our love and devotion.

This is why we need to be reminded of the truths of the Gospel every day.

We need daily reminders of the love we have in Christ

And how everything else in this world

Pales in comparison to the fulfillment we find in Him.

Let the grace of “divine dulling” drive you back to the only One who will meet you in your place of need and satisfy you beyond all you could ever ask or imagine.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”