The Ultimate Outcome.  By Christina Cannon.

What’s the ultimate outcome?

It is a deeper relationship with Jesus. It is a oneness in spirit with our Father.

Imagine if we set that as our ultimate goal.  What if we were relentless in our pursuit of the relationship He desires with us?  What if we were open to God’s intervention in the areas of our lives that hinder our connection with our Father?

Our past pain and the wounds we hold onto get in the way of our unity with God.  As I stated in last week’s message, sin interrupts and disrupts our relationship with God.  Not only does sin interrupt and maintain a division, but so do the pain and wounds of our past.

Psalms 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Did you know that the meaning of the word wounds in Hebrew means an idol?

When we allow a wound to remain active in our lives, it becomes an idol.  An idol is anything that takes the place of God.

In the book Treasures Out of Trauma by Arlene Hendriks, she describes an idol as a wounded place from the past with the power to influence us in the present that can become idols when they take the place of God.

That is some weighty truth.  We allow our wounds to get in the way, and those wounds dictate our decisions, our behavior, and our actions.  They become barriers in our relationship with God.

If we desire a more intimate relationship with Jesus, we must be willing to eradicate the idols in our lives and do the work required to be free.

I believe we all desire to become whole.  What if we made a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus the goal?  If that were our focus, would we be more willing to do the work to become whole so that our relationship with our Father is what He desires it to be?

The Ultimate Outcome is to walk humbly with our God!

Micah 6:8 ESV

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

We are to grow in every way, making God the head of our lives!

Eph 4:15 ESV

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ,”