The Great Undoing

Jesus has a way of undoing us. Undoing us completely in His presence so all of us is exposed and bare before Him. It is amazing to be truly known and yet still fully loved. Jesus undoes us so we can be re-wrapped in the garment of His glory. There are two different ways the Lord has shown me that He can undo us.

“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.” (Timothy J. Keller, The Meaning of Marriage)

One of the ways God walks us through the process of undoing is by undoing the things of our past and returning us back to our original design. He has a way of undoing and unraveling the sin, the hurt, and the mistakes and re-wrapping us in the beauty of His love. As I was reading my Bible this week, I read through John 21:15-25 and I was in awe. This passage is after Jesus died and resurrected when he appears to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee. Jesus tells the disciples to throw their nets on the other side of the boat and they end up catching a miraculous amount of fish. Jesus eats breakfast with them and begins talking with Peter. The title of this passage of scripture is “Jesus Reinstates Peter.” Jesus asks Peter three different times, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Every time Peter quickly answers back, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” How amazing is it that Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him? It is as if Jesus is undoing the actions of Peter just a few chapters earlier when he had spoken out and denied Jesus three times. It is incredible how the Lord undoes our past and restores us to our original design: a lover of Him.

Unbeknownst to Peter, Jesus was pouring forgiveness and redemption over Peter as he allowed him to express that he really does love Him. Jesus undoes the spiritual hold of the enemy on Peter’s life. The enemy wanted Peter to fear people and put them before his love for Jesus. Jesus, knowing Peter’s heart, has him speak out loud the love he has for Him and even goes as far as to ask him if he loves Him more than the other disciples. It is almost as if the words of love that Peter speaks for Jesus act to unravel the tight rope of fear the enemy had around Peter and releases him to be the created disciple and friend of Jesus that he is. Jesus not only undoes the sins of the denial, but it says He “reinstates” him. The definition of reinstate, according to Merriam-Webster, is "to restore to their former position or condition." Jesus reinstates Peter to his former position as a disciple of Jesus and as a leader of the Church. What a beautiful example of Jesus’ heart to forgive us, undo the schemes of the enemy, and restore and reinstate us to our original position.

There have been times in my life when I have said or done things I wish I hadn’t, and it can be crazy sometimes the way the enemy uses those things to keep me down and discouraged. But Jesus has a way of completely undoing what the enemy meant for evil, what my flesh meant for evil, and reinstating me into daughtership. And He can do the same for you! Jesus cares so much about us and He desires to reinstate us to our original design after we have been warped by the world and the effects of our sin. To be reinstated may look like having to rewind and declare truth and identity over ourselves just like Peter did. It may look like surrendering ourselves to what Jesus is trying to do in our lives even when we do not fully understand it. It may look like laying something down or picking something up to begin to restore us to our God-given purpose. Sometimes we may have to stop what we’re doing and spin around in a circle a few times to unravel the lies and be free to be filled and re-wrapped with the identities of the Lord. 

“God, your God, will restore everything you lost; he’ll have compassion on you; he’ll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered. No matter how far away you end up, God, your God, will get you out of there and bring you back to the land your ancestors once possessed. It will be yours again. He will give you a good life and make you more numerous than your ancestors. God, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children’s hearts, freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live.”

Deuteronomy 30:3-6 (MSG)

The other type of undoing the Lord showed me recently was the undoing that happens when we sit in His presence. The way He undoes us with the beauty of Himself, the beauty of His love, and the glory of His presence. As I was sitting in a prayer chapel in Lancaster, I noticed a little girl who was there with her mom. She looked about 3 or 4 years old and she was sitting quietly looking at book. I thought to myself, “hmm she kinda looks like I did when I was little.” Her dirty blonde hair, long bob cut, and cute little bangs 😊 I felt God start to speak to me and could feel myself being completely undone in His presence. He reminded me that He loved me even when I was that age. Well of course. But to think that He loved me even as I sat there looking at a book, completely oblivious to the loving Father sitting right next to me. He loved me, He saw me, and He looked down and chose me. He looked at my little face and said, ‘you are mine.’

Even though I didn’t know Him or hear Him at the time, He was speaking over me. And He is doing that for you too. He may be singing and speaking life over you while you haven't yet recognized the loving Father who has been sitting right next to you, or worse yet, know He is there but choose to ignore His words of love. I pray you will experience an undoing. I pray you see Him, hear Him, and know Him more. 

He was telling me who I am and who I have always been. I have been shaped into the person I am because of all the words He has spoken over me, every day, for all my life. I just began to hear it. I began to learn to seek and listen for His voice and then I began to hear it more clearly. I could hear the things He has been speaking over me. I heard my identity. I heard my worth and His heart for me. I heard the cries of His heart for me to step into the plan and purposes He has for my life. I looked at that little girl and I just cried because I saw myself. I saw a girl who does not yet fully know but who will know. I looked at her and wanted to tell her how much was going to happen in her life. I wanted to tell her of all the Lord was going to do in her heart and with her life, if she would only let Him. Oh my, how He sees her and how He looks at her. I wanted to tell her how each experience in her life, each season she walks through, each person she encounters, each truth she discovers, each verse she reads is going to shape her and is working together for her good. He has so much good in mind for each of us. We don’t realize it all until we take a look back on our lives and recognize the ways God has loved us back to life. He has undone the effects of the world and the effects of sins and lesser loves. He has left us bare, open, and vulnerable to receive His all-encompassing love that is better than life. I can't wait to look at someone who is my age now in 20 years and think, 'wow I wish she knew all she was going to experience with the Lord.' I wish she knew the immeasurably more He was going to do with her life.

𝅘𝅥𝅯 Allow Me to introduce Myself again

I’m the One that knew You before time began

I’ve been waiting for You to let me be your friend

Everything you ever need is everything I am

I Am 𝅘𝅥𝅯

(House on a Hill Amanda Cook)

I pray that each one of you can take time to reflect on the undoing that has occurred in your life. He has been undoing the mistakes and the sins, the hurts and the false identities, and He wants to reinstate you to your original position. He wants to love you back to life. He wants you to declare the love you have for Him three times over or as many times as you need to. I pray you experience the undoing of being in His presence and allow Him to remind you of the ways He has been with you all along. I pray He shows you and speaks to you the things He has been singing over you since the beginning of time. I pray you see the immeasurably more that comes with being completely undone by your Loving Father.

Also if you need a soundtrack to listen to as you spend time with Jesus, here is The Undoing by Steffany Gretzinger.

https://bethelmusic.com/albums/the-undoing/

❤ Melissa