"Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound."
There is something about us humans that makes us believe that God does not want to give us second chances. But I am learning that while God made us in His image, He is nothing like us. We tire easily and lose patience with others who continue to do wrong,but not God. God is love, and love "suffers long". I learned this in a very personal way many times over in my life. I love much, because I am forgiven much - much more than I will ever know. Yet what I do know is enough to fuel the fire of my love and devotion to God.
Apart from God's power, we are weak, prone to failure. We say that we trust in Christ, but when we fail, our sense of shame and condemnation reveals the truth. In Genesis 1 we see the results of disobedience. Failure leads to shame, which leads to fear, which leads to hiding from the One that we need the most, our Heavenly Father. Fast forward to Romans 8 and we see that in Jesus Christ, there is no longer any reason to hide, for he has taken our guilt and shame. (And I need to pause right here and just fall on my face and thank Him, but I will continue for the sake of time. We cannot pass over this grace lightly!) But oftentimes, as believers, we continue to hide behind our proverbial fig leaves. While we know the scriptures, we doubt that they apply to us. We feel that we are shameful, so we believe that God has rejected us at some level.
As a young believer, I always ran in the wrong direction after I failed. In time, He taught me how to run in the right direction, towards, not away, from Him. He has set my feet upon the rock, but I had to learn to stand in the light of God's grace, otherwise my failures would have driven me far from God. I had to learn that it was not pleasing to God when I derided and chided myself about my faults. I had to learn that Jesus Christ's sacrifice is greater than any sin that I could commit. I had to learn that his cleansing is so powerful that I could come running to God right after I disobeyed, without delay. And most of all, I had to learn that God gives second chances, and not only second chances, but third, fourth, fifth, and as many chances as you need to get it. Yea, He is that good.
This blog is primarily for the one who struggles to obey God, one who can relate with Paul in Romans 7, "O wretched man that I am, who can set me free from this body of death!" Dramatic sounding, yes, but if you have been there you get it. Have you been there? After telling yourself over and over that you wouldn't do ______(fill in the blank) again, you went and did it? So now you doubt that you love God. Maybe you even doubt that He is involved in your life, as I believed for many years. Well, if that is you, I have very, very good news. God's grace covers your worst sin and failures. His power can do the very thing that you cannot do, and you can learn to stand in the areas where you continually fail. Stick with me and I will share the little light that I have on this matter from my own journey. I am just one little light among many, but the light that I have, I will let it shine!
"I am the vine, and you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing."Jn 14
There is something about us humans that makes us believe that God does not want to give us second chances. But I am learning that while God made us in His image, He is nothing like us. We tire easily and lose patience with others who continue to do wrong,but not God. God is love, and love "suffers long". I learned this in a very personal way many times over in my life. I love much, because I am forgiven much - much more than I will ever know. Yet what I do know is enough to fuel the fire of my love and devotion to God.
Apart from God's power, we are weak, prone to failure. We say that we trust in Christ, but when we fail, our sense of shame and condemnation reveals the truth. In Genesis 1 we see the results of disobedience. Failure leads to shame, which leads to fear, which leads to hiding from the One that we need the most, our Heavenly Father. Fast forward to Romans 8 and we see that in Jesus Christ, there is no longer any reason to hide, for he has taken our guilt and shame. (And I need to pause right here and just fall on my face and thank Him, but I will continue for the sake of time. We cannot pass over this grace lightly!) But oftentimes, as believers, we continue to hide behind our proverbial fig leaves. While we know the scriptures, we doubt that they apply to us. We feel that we are shameful, so we believe that God has rejected us at some level.
As a young believer, I always ran in the wrong direction after I failed. In time, He taught me how to run in the right direction, towards, not away, from Him. He has set my feet upon the rock, but I had to learn to stand in the light of God's grace, otherwise my failures would have driven me far from God. I had to learn that it was not pleasing to God when I derided and chided myself about my faults. I had to learn that Jesus Christ's sacrifice is greater than any sin that I could commit. I had to learn that his cleansing is so powerful that I could come running to God right after I disobeyed, without delay. And most of all, I had to learn that God gives second chances, and not only second chances, but third, fourth, fifth, and as many chances as you need to get it. Yea, He is that good.
This blog is primarily for the one who struggles to obey God, one who can relate with Paul in Romans 7, "O wretched man that I am, who can set me free from this body of death!" Dramatic sounding, yes, but if you have been there you get it. Have you been there? After telling yourself over and over that you wouldn't do ______(fill in the blank) again, you went and did it? So now you doubt that you love God. Maybe you even doubt that He is involved in your life, as I believed for many years. Well, if that is you, I have very, very good news. God's grace covers your worst sin and failures. His power can do the very thing that you cannot do, and you can learn to stand in the areas where you continually fail. Stick with me and I will share the little light that I have on this matter from my own journey. I am just one little light among many, but the light that I have, I will let it shine!
"I am the vine, and you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing."Jn 14
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