Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. Colossians 1:22 NLT
How many times have we failed? We feel we have screwed things up so bad we are beyond hope and a future. I have, and that hopelessness was then fueled by a whisper in my mind telling me, “Why should God help you after what you have done.” Every time I would pick myself up and began to recover, something always happened to detour me and that whisper would tell me God was punishing me. At times even though I knew I was doing what God called me to do, that whisper was present reminding me that I wasn’t succeeding.
I know most of you are shaking your heads in agreement and feeling a sense of relief that you’re not alone, someone else feels the way that you do or have. But as welcoming as that “comfort in numbers” mentality is, it can also be a hindrance. So, let me go on with what I have learned through experience. You can’t stop the thoughts, but you can stop them from becoming a mindset. Or as Martin Luther once said, “You can’t stop birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from nesting there!” Too often the enemy convinces us that once we have a wrong thought God is mad at us for thinking such a thing. If we “catch” that thought instead of releasing it, it begins to grow and reminds us that everything that goes wrong, every unmet need, every unanswered prayer is because of what “we did”. Guilt, shame and disgrace become normal and we begin to see ourselves as “less than” than who we truly are. I want you to really know this whether you have asked for Jesus’ forgiveness and to give you a new heart and mind or not YOU ARE LOVED by God! And He loves you so much that He will continue to pursue a relationship with you.
That’s right God wants you to live in His presence, not to control you, but so that you would have freedom from the devil who does want to do just that. Satan wants to keep you feeling bad about yourself, less than enough and defeated; and he’s very good at it. Now although he is powerful, he no match for the power of our Loving God. Once you have accepted Jesus’ invitation to have a relationship with Him, He gives you the ability to stand blameless before God no matter what you have done or will ever do! God no longer sees your faults and who you are, but He sees you as perfect and who He’s going to help you become. Now that’s a Christmas gift! Don’t let this free gift pass you by go to Him in prayer and receive the first of many gifts God has for you.
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