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What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us Romans 8:31
There are times in life when we feel the whole world is against us. The alarm doesn’t go off and we’re late for an important meeting; the kids miss the school bus and sets our entire schedule for the day off by one hour; the doctor brings us a report that drives us to our knees; the phone call in the middle of the night and the following trip to the morgue. Life can be more than we can handle.
Even as an adult there are times when I long for the ability to just ‘let mom and dad take care of it’!
Sometimes people let us down and the relationship we thought would stay passionate forever turns cold and full of hate. We hurt someone deeply (and unintentionally) and not only do they refuse to forgive us, they spread the word to others of our thoughtless deed.
Where do you turn in times like that? Some turn to external comfort like drugs or alcohol. That usually leads to more problems. Others change relationships or jobs hoping that this time the disappointment and loneliness won’t come, or if it does, it won’t hurt so badly. We can spend our lives blaming others and building walls of anger and bitterness. We turn inside ourselves and become silent time bombs ready to explode at the next infraction in our lives.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you had one person to stand beside you? One person who could stand with you against all the odds and support you in the good and the bad? Someone who loved you and understood that you are doing the best you can. Someone who wouldn’t seek revenge for your faults?
Here’s the good news. You have someone like that. Think for a moment on the four little words in today’s verse ‘God is for us’. Personalize it now, change just one small word.
God is for ME. Let that thought melt the calluses of your heart. Allow it to soften the pain of rejection and frustration. Let it be as soothing oil on the open wounds of your soul.
GOD IS FOR YOU. Regardless of how you got to the place you are in life-God is for you. Regardless of the failures you’ve done-God is for you. No matter how many people are against you-God is for you. Regardless of how many changes are occurring in your life (for the good or the bad)-God is for you.
And, if the God of the universe is for you. If he is the one holding your hand and walking by your side. Who or what can possibly keep us from being all we were meant to be.
PRAYER: Father God. There are days when life seems stacked against me. There are bills to pay, fires to fight and trials to endure. There are times when I am so happy with my accomplishments and no one takes the time to notice. Thank you that you are here with me. Thank you for being for me today as I go through all life has for me. In Jesus name, Amen.
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT)
Why is it that we say ‘salvation is a free gift of God’ and then go on trying to earn it? Imagine if you gave someone you loved a gift, a very expensive gift that they could never repay. It wasn’t a birthday or Christmas or even a special occasion. You simply loved them and wanted to give them something.
From that point on, they continued to do all sorts of things for you. You would come home and your lawn was mowed. Every morning you were greeted at your car with a hot cup of your favorite coffee.
Would you feel your gift was cheapened? Would you tell your friend to stop trying to do so many things and just enjoy the gift? Of course you would.
Too many times in our lives as Christ-followers we become defeated and discouraged because we try as hard as we can to earn our forgiveness. When we fail we try harder and become even more discouraged. Sometimes we even give up the fight and say ‘what’s the use. I’ll never be a good Christ-follower.’
God didn’t give us the great gift of grace so we could be perfect. God gave us the gift of grace because he knew perfection would never happen in us. So even in times of failure we can live victoriously. Even when we rebel we know we can come back home. When we slip into sin we can always repent and come home to him. He doesn’t expect perfection. He isn’t surprised when you fail. He doesn’t hold a grudge. Your sin and weakness don’t cause him to turn his back on you. He will never, ever give up on you.
Stop trying to be the messiah. That job has been taken. Stop trying to be perfect. Only one person has ever done that and you won’t be the second one. Your past mistakes, no matter how terrible, can’t keep God’s power from working in you. His grace is all you need to live powerfully for him.
PRAYER: Father God, I’ve tried to live this Christian life in my own power for far too long. I can’t get it right. There are some issues I just can’t conquer on my own and I’m tired of trying. Forgive me of my attempts to go it alone. Empower me to rest on the fact that your grace is all I need to experience your power. In Jesus name, Amen.
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14
Sometimes I think we as Christ-followers have a warped view of our Bible heroes. Take the Apostle Paul for example. We lift him up as a man we all want to emulate. After all, he wrote most of the New Testament, was responsible for starting many, many churches and, among other things had the wisdom and chutzpa to stand up to Peter and get into his face on a couple of occasions. What a guy!
But I appreciate Paul for more than his godly wisdom and spiritual insight. I admire more the many times in Scripture when he speaks candidly about his own failures. I think Paul would scream in horror if he heard and saw how we elevate him sometimes.
Take for example his letter to the Philippians. Three times in the first few verses of chapter three it’s as if Paul is saying, “I haven’t reached perfection yet. I still fail. I struggle with the same old sins. I battle temptation constantly. Sometimes I win. Sometimes I lose. But, I press on to the higher standard God has called me to in Christ Jesus.”
Isn’t that the way each of us feel when we are honest with ourselves? We aren’t called to perfection. We’re called to battle. We aren’t expected to win every battle with temptation, but we are encouraged to fight each battle with determination and will.
Sometimes that means giving up our ‘rights’. Sometimes we’ll be misunderstood or wrongfully accused. Sometimes we’ll just plain fail. Jesus is more interested in the direction you are heading than how many battles you win. He’s more excited about how hard you fight than your win-loss record. He knows you’ll lose some battles. He knows he’s already won the war.
Don’t get discouraged when it seems the old life has too much power over you. You have been called to battle with Jesus at your side. Don’t give up on yourself. Sometimes you’ll win the big battles; sometimes you’ll lose the small ones. Either way, pick yourself up, brush the dirt from your clothes and press on knowing the Jesus is running alongside cheering you on to victory and comforting you in defeat.
PRAYER: Jesus, there are so many times I’ve failed you. I get up in the morning determined to win and climb back in bed hours later battered, bruised and embarrassed by my weakness. Forgive me for my failure. Empower me to press on. In your name, Amen.
“Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22 (NLT)
The little girl let out a piercing scream that brought both parents running to her rescue. She had been playing on her grandparent’s farm and building a ‘fort’ in the wooded area behind the barn. Unfortunately, she’d chosen to build her fort in the midst of a nest of wood ticks! Her parents spent nearly an hour picking ticks off the scared and crying little girl.
After a thorough inspection, a warm bath and a bowl of ice cream on Grandpa’s lap she felt much better. She got down to play but decided to stay near the house and play with her dolls.
“A little scared to go play in the woods?” Grandma asked her gently.
“A little maybe,” was her reply, “But mostly I still feel itchy, like the bugs are still crawling all over me.”
We can all, no doubt, identify with the little girl in the story. We walk through a spider web or discover some insect on us and for some time later still feel it’s ‘presence’ on us.
The same can often be true of sin. We fail to do what we should, or do something we know we shouldn’t. We may even wander far from God and live a lifestyle we know is wrong or become addicted to drugs, alcohol or lust.
Like the Prodigal Son, we come crawling back to God. We confess our sin. We work hard at cleaning up our act. But deep in the corners of our mind is this sense of guilt and shame that we can’t shake. We pray about it. Read Scriptures. We talk to counselors, pastors or trusted friends. Still we are haunted, sometimes day and night by the feeling of guilt on our lives. Much like the little girl continued to feel the wood ticks on her body.
So, why is that? Is God so angry with us that he won’t let us forget? Are the reminders of our past signposts to make us be sure we were sincere? Does God’s forgiveness fall short of our expectations because our ‘sin was so bad’ that he’s going to haunt us for the rest of our lives?
The simple answer to that is a resounding NO! The Bible is very clear in several places that once we confess our sins to Jesus and ask his forgiveness those sins are forgiven. The moment you asked, the blood of Jesus cleansed you from the penalty of that sin. We can still feel guilty though for a variety of reasons.
If you have asked sincerely for your sin to be forgiven and still feel guilty it could be a matter of healing and healing takes time. Sometimes that healing is made longer because people keep bringing up your faults. Sometimes it can be due to constant ridicule. Religion is a great source of guilt as well with constant reminders that we are bad.
The biggest culprit in our struggle with a guilty conscience though is Satan. That great enemy of Christ-followers wants nothing more than to keep you in the prison of guilt and remorse. He’ll lie to you. He’ll use other people to lie about you. He can even use religion to keep you captive. Don’t listen to him. Listen to the words of Jesus. “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more”. No matter how many times you come sincerely to Jesus he has promised to forgive you. Tell Satan to take a hike. Tell him to get lost. In Jesus Christ you are NOT GUILTY because of the blood he shed on the cross for you.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. I’ve been carrying this load of guilt long enough. I now realize that the guilt I feel is a false belief that I’m not forgiven. I renounce the efforts of Satan to keep me in the prison of my soul. From this day forward I’m going to live in the freedom of your forgiveness. Amen.
“For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there.” Isaiah 28:10
Nobody likes rules. When we are young we yearn to be free of rules and then we get older and find ourselves making more and more rules! Rules tend to confine and control us. Rules take away our freedom. Yet, in our more mature moments we have to admit that the world would be in big trouble if it weren’t for rules. Although rules control us, they can also guide us and protect us from…well, rule breakers!
When the Prophet Isaiah was ministering to the Israelites one of the complaints he and the other prophets heard was that they said the same things over and over again. The Prophets constantly stressed the basics. Later, in Jesus day, the Pharisees took rulemaking to new heights by burdening the people with rules to help them obey the rules. The problem was, those rules eventually, and I think unintentionally, replaced the real rules!
One of the reasons the Prophet Isaiah and his cohorts continued to stress the basics of the Godly life and didn’t move on to deeper things is that the people weren’t following the things God had already required of them.
The same is true today. We have conferences on seeing God’s power. We have books about seeing God’s power. There are some who make money off the ministry of telling people how to see God’s power. But nothing seems to help. For many of us we go through life hearing about God working in magnificent ways overseas or in the lives of others, but fail to see his power evident in our own life?
The thing each of us needs to realize is that our Heavenly Father is desperate to do things in our lives, but he can’t give us the deep things he has for us until we get the basics down. Other religions say you have to follow a multitude of rules to gain ‘divine power’. Not so with as Christ-followers. From the moment you accept Jesus you have all the power of God at your fingertips. His rules are simple. Get into a love relationship that holds him as number on and you will see mighty things.
So why don’t we see mighty God-power in our lives? God doesn’t expect big things from us until we master the little things in life. What are those ‘little things’? It starts with getting rid of all the stuff that keeps you from God. Anything that keeps you from holding God as number one in your life hinders your love relationship with him.
A love relationship with God means we take time out of our busy schedules to pray, read his word and fellowship with him. Those seem like little things but those little things are all God expects from us in order to show his power. It’s not about all sorts of rules like religion will tell you. Following God’s rules is all about freedom to be you.
PRAYER: Father God. I want to be desperate for you. There are so many things that keep me from seeing your power in my life. Empower me with your spirit to focus on the simple things of prayer, Bible reading and fellowship. Let your life shine powerfully through me to others, in Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 