I have been through seasons in my ten years with the Lord where I felt as if I had shackles restraining my hands and feet. I’ve felt trapped in sin, unable to resist the sickening behaviors that I knew were imposing damage on my soul. Whenever we get caught up in sin, many of us automatically think that we are not “eligible” to come to God and Him readily accept us. Naturally, we keep score of our goodness and badness. When we think that we are doing really well and keeping all the “rules”, we feel as if we are acceptable to God and therefore step into His presence with boldness. But whenever we are not doing so well and give into temptation and sin, we tend to tell ourselves that we need to wait a while and make ourselves better before we can come to God like we did before. This mentality is in complete opposition to the gospel! God accepts us, at ALL times, based on the merit and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When you feel comfortable coming to God because of your “goodness”, you’re deceiving yourself into believing that your actions have made you desirable to God. In retrospect, because you have adopted this “works” mentality, you feel undesired by God whenever you’re not doing so good. But let me remind you, your best works and behaviors are filthy rags to God. It was never, EVER, your goodness that made you acceptable to God. It was CHRIST’S righteousness and CHRIST’S bloodshed. It is His blood that makes you forgivable. It is His blood that makes you beautiful in the eyes of God. It is His blood that makes you acceptable to God and earns you entry into the presence of God. And His blood covers you at ALL times, not merely when your perception of your behavior has a gold star next to it. If you continue to remain outside the presence of God due to your feelings of inadequacy, you’re going to continue to place yourself in the firing line of Satan and his army of demons. They will relentlessly fire the bullets of false guilt and false shame at you. As long as they can keep you focusing on what you “do” and “don’t do”, the harder it will be for you to allow the REAL truth of the gospel to permeate your mind and restore your soul. This is Jehovah Nissi: the Lord is My Banner! He is your standard! He is our present help in the time of need! In these uncertain times sharped in an trouble of attacks from enemy forces—much like in the Kingdom of Heaven—we are in desperate need of supernatural strength and assistance. Yet we have it! Sing your song! Make your declarative statement! Shout your anthem to the world: there is POWER in the name of Jesus to break EVERY chain!! Allow God to be your standard and watch the enemy tuck tail and run from wherever you set your foot!
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 16:24:57 +0000