Thursday, April 15, 2010

Cutting Edge

What is cutting edge? Well, when you draw a line and cut on it to follow a pattern- that is a cutting edge. You are shaping the thing you are cutting and you are getting rid of and cutting away the extraneous and unwanted! The cutting edge is also the edge of the knife or sword that well- cuts! They who live by the sword will die by the sword. But in this case it is the Sword of the Lord, the Living Word that is sharper than any two edged sword. And we must live by this sword and also die by this sword... die to our selves, our selfish selves, our petty dreams and wants and LIVE to the great big GOD Dreams that HE wants to pour into us. Live by the Kingdom standard and Rule.

What made me think of all this? Well, you see, I spoke at a women's conference this past weekend. Destined for God's Greatness, hosted by Women of Honor Ministries. It was in Portland, Oregon. I was told by someone that my message was cutting edge.

It made me stop to think. Do my words spoken as HIS words, cause flesh to be cut away-and bring a circumcision of the heart? Do they divide to the heart of the matter? Do my words create a signpost to Jesus and to the greater good of being sold out to HIM? Totally sold out.

A Living Sacrifice is what is required for a Living God! No Dead Letter of the Law. No, it must be a New and Living Way. "Way" being the optimum word for Covenant. A Living, breathing Covenant that is filled with Life, filled with relationship. Filled with Love! This is what Jesus strove to teach while here on earth. This is what He suffered and died to bring to life through His sacrifice and resurrection.

Jesus was cutting edge. He didn't mince words. Mincing is a cooking term. It means to chop up finely. No he didn't mince up the meat of the Word, He just handed you a chunk and let you chew on it! But He presented it well seasoned and with a new flavor instead of dried out, tired, or the same old refried hash that religion tries to dish up. NO! His meat was to do the Will of the Father who sent Him and to teach us to do the same. And God's will often doesn't look like anything religion hands out. This meat is moist and succulent and well seasoned and flavored with LOVE!

Cutting edge: (according to The Free Dictionary on line)
An effective quality or element. (How effective are we as Christians?)
The position of greatest advancement or importance; the forefront
(Who and what is at the forefront of your life?)

The position of greatest advancement is total focus on your passion. Edison never gave up with his 1000's of failed experiments. He kept pressing in to find the one that worked. George Carver Washington thought outside the box and discovered more than 300 uses for peanuts and their derivatives!

When you have a dream, a belief that God has given you and you keep your ear to His heart and you don't let the dream slayers kill what God has given to you... then you will be amazed at what HE can and will do through you!

The cutting edge: the effective or decisive element. What element is that in our lives? The Holy Spirit's leading! Wisdom from above. Knowledge gathered and rightly applied. Crucial, resolute, firm in purpose. All these are part of the cutting edge. We must be unwavering in our Trust and in our walk with Him. Emotions waiver, but our Spirit and our heart must be stayed on Him.

As my Dad is wont to tell me: Fear freezes Faith." And, "Your Destiny is not tied to your past but it is in your Future." Don't be look at the past, has been's, used to be's, or the coulda, shoulda, woulda's. Forgetting those things that are past...( both the good and the bad) and straining forward to what lies ahead...

straining =To alter (the relations between the parts of a structure or shape) by applying an external force;

Scripture says: be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind... No weapon formed (can shape you into it's mold) shall prosper... for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds...(usually in OUR minds) But we have the mind of Christ. Cutting edge. Let Him cut away all that is unlike Himself and mold and shape us for His use. A vessel sculpted on the Potters wheel with an Eagle Eye to beauty and functionality.

Cutting edge. It simply comes down to being pliable in His hands, for His use. As the old rock and roll lyrics said: "Bend me, shape me any way you want to, long as you love me, it's alright!" Is it alright? Can we trust Him? Can we step into the center of His Will, His World and trust that it is going to be for our good as well as the good of the Kingdom? Will we eat His Meat? Drink His Cup? Put our ear to His chest and hear His Heart Beat? Will we? Not Can we, because He has already invited us to do so. So it is now a question of will we?

Ahh Lord, let the cutting begin a fresh and a new.
Take this vessel and mold it for You.
No longer strong, standing on my own
Posses my heart and make it Your own.

Let my one Passion be
to be totally sold out to Thee.
Cutting Edge- that's how I want to live
Cutting Edge- my all to give

Cutting edge, take away the rest
Cutting Edge, help me be my best
Cutting Edge, come set me free
to live on the Cutting Edge with Thee!

NEM 4-14-2010

3 comments:

Raymonda said...

This isn't a "nugget". It's a gold MINE, Nancy. So very, very much Truth from the Throne of our Father... My "spiritual geiger counter", (as Terri used to call it) is going of the chart!

My heart cries out in agreement with the poem.

Thank you...

Karen said...

Lord, cut through the seemingly impossible situations in our lives and hearts that might try to prevent us from moving on in the fullness of all that is YOU! Karen

J said...

Nice Word!