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Wednesday night I had the privilege of speaking to an awesome group of Ladies at First Baptist Glen St. Mary and I’m SO excited about what Jesus showed me that I just have to share a bit of it here! Don’t you just love it when God peels back the layers of His Word and shows you something that’s been there the whole time!
WOW! He WOWs me!
You see, He doesn’t just take away our sin when He saves us, He exchanges it for His righteousness. It’s the Great Exchange. At the moment of salvation here are a few exchanges that take place:
• His glory for our shame
• His hope for our hopelessness
• His peace with God for our separation from Him
• His power for our weakness
• His presence for our loneliness
• His everything for our nothing
The Great Exchange is where it all begins, but it’s a principle we experience throughout our Christian walk whether we realize it or not.
When you’re walking through a painful place in your life, you call upon God, you trust Him and He replaces your pain with peace. A strange sort of exchange takes place. You don’t understand it and you can’t explain it. You just know the God of all creation just intervened in your life with a whisper from Heaven and said, “I love you!”
When you’re at a fork in the road of your life and you need wisdom, you call upon God, you trust Him and He replaces your confusion with wisdom. A strange exchange takes place. You don’t understand it and you can’t explain it. You just know the God of all creation just intervened in your life with a whisper from Heaven and said, “I love you!”
Well, last week I was having a meltdown moment. Ever had one of those?
You see, for the past 2 years I’ve been burning the candle at both ends like a crazy woman. Writing, speaking, ministering at church and working a full time job. It’s a 6 am to 1 am day…just about every day. And about every 2 months I hit a wall. Physically. Emotionally and even Spiritually – I’m toast. Stick a fork in me, I’m done…and I just melt.
Have you ever felt like that? Like you just couldn’t go on!
Well, I had one last week and on my way home from work I began to cry out to Jesus.
“Jesus…I know you see me. I can’t do this anymore! I can’t keep this pace up!
I got home, made my way to the bed, pulled the covers over my head and somewhere between praying for God’s help and thinking about everything, the Lord swooped in like a mighty gust of wind and mounted up my heart like eagles wings.
Emotionally, Spiritually and even physically – I felt renewed. Refreshed. Ready to do that proverbial straw that had previously broken this camel’s back!
As I was lying in that bed crying out for help, the Great Exchange was taking place and I didn’t even know it. His peace replaced my overwhelming pressure! It was a strange exchange! I didn’t understand it and I certainly couldn’t explain it. But God intervened in my life with a whisper from Heaven and said, “I love you!”
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
Look at this passage through the lens of the principle of exchange. He came to make these exchanges in our lives, but we hold onto our broken hearts, our pain, our ashes, our mourning souls and our bondage rather than asking Him to exchange it for His healing, His freedom, His comfort, His praise, His joy and His beauty.
Sweet friends, only God can initiate the Great Exchange of salvation, but every other exchange will only happen if you cry out for it. You have to initiate it.
This past Wednesday night as I was sharing about the beautiful exchange principle I’ve never seen before, the Lord’s presence in my own heart was so real that I almost couldn’t go on. Those sweet women didn’t have a clue, but I was almost speechless. You see, the Lord came in and exchanged my weakness for His power and my anxious heart for His peace. I didn’t understand it. I couldn’t explain it. But somehow the Lord showed up with a whisper from Heaven and said, “I love you!”
Aren’t you thankful for the exchanges He makes in this journey called life?
Are you holding on to a painful past experience? Are you held captive to fear, failure or an addiction? Are you gripping your grief, your bitterness, your pain or your shame? What exchanges do you need to make?
Stephanie Shott! If I had known you were doing all this, I would have shaken my momma-finger at you! You weren’t taking care of yourself. You weren’t feeding yourself, in every way.
God made us this way. We lack; He fulfills! That way we NEED HIM!
This exchange is because of covenant. In the exchange of exchange of belts, which held all the weapons in place, not only did it represent an interchange of possessions but it also symbolized an interchange of one’s strength, adding the strength of the one partner to the other.
Covenant also included the exchange of other belongings, which meant fulfilling the need of the other by giving him what he lacked out of your abundance. Whatever either one needed, as a covenant partner, each fulfilled the need of the other.
Jesus dying on the cross offered the ultimate covenant exchange, for all that we lack in life, He provided in that one moment of time. As our Covenant Partner, He is all-sufficient to provide whatever we need.
I’m sorry, sweetie, you had a meltdown but it sounds as if the Lord scooped you up and poured you back into a usable vessel. Please take care of yourself.
Sorry for the long comment. It just came running out! Blessings to you, sweetie! 😀
Stephanie, I know exactly from whence you come. 😉 From your meltdown to experiencing this very exchange you speak of. I'm in an unusually prolonged desert experience right now. Extremely painful yet, it drives me to His feet like nothing else. Thank you for your transparency and for sharing your heart, as always. Much love to you, Shelly.
Oh I loved the Great Exchange message that you shared with us on Wed. night at FBC Glen. All the way home that night I just kept saying, “Lord, WOW me”! When I think of the MANY exchanges that Jesus has made in my life that alone is enough to WOW me! Thank you for sharing. Your REALNESS is what has drawn me to you my friend! Love you.
Hi Sweet Lynn ~ I think I heard the momma voice coming out on that one! 🙂 Love it! Love you!
Thank you SO much for reminding us that every exchange is a result of the covenant relationship with have with God. What a beautiful truth!
Love you, sweet friend!
Shelly ~ Your walk through this painful place in your life is definitely going to be tools to minister to the hearts of women who face similar circumstances. I'm praying for you, my friend! Love your heart and hope to meet you when I go speak in Sanford in March!
Cindy ~ I can't tell you how thrilled I was to meet you in real life Wednesday night! I really felt at home with you sweet Bible study girls! And it blesses my socks off that the Lord encouraged you Wednesday night too! So glad we can call on God to help us live the exchanged life! Oh yes…He WOWs us! 🙂