When life wears on you, especially sin, it is easy to find yourself thinking that there is no hope. An endless stream of disappointments, failures and struggles. Sin seems to rear its head at every opportunity. We look at what we have produced and sometimes it is pathetic at best. Doubts begin to hit our thinking, "God really doesn't care for me anyway!" In the worst moments it seems to run us into the ground and we find ourselves ready to give up and quit. We try, only to fail and wonder why we are God rejected when we seem so sincere. The doubts hit us if God is unwilling to put up with us anymore, so the thoughts of quiting come easy.
We need to understand two things: (1) God is for us! The cross speaks volumes and says I am willing to die your death, to take your place of death so you can live. The depth and care from the heart of God become vivid and plain when one examines the cross in light of what was given up for us. You can doubt your doubts and wallow in your pain, but the cross says God is for us! (Rom. 8:31-29) Just ask our Lord when He was facing "our" death but knowing God would bring Him back into His fellowship and the life that was being given. (2) Our hearts need to come before the God who loves us. What happens too many times is when we doubt us and begin feeling like we can never reach God, our hearts begin to embrace "us", not God. God will not share your heart with anyone else. Our heart must be willing and open to embrace Him at all cost. Does that mean we will not fail? Sure we will but before our eyes is a cross full of love and help. We fail, and sometimes miserably, but God does not fail! He draws near to us only when we draw near to Him through Jesus. He picks us up when we are down, but only when the heart is willing to embrace Him. One cannot walk in filth and evil willingly and find help from God. God is holy and pure and will not be in the presence of sin. One can be caught in their filth and evil, desiring out of its repulsive grip crying out to God for a clean and new heart, with a willingness to walk in His presence with all their heart and He will take you into His presence, His life. When one's heart turns completely, 100%, they will find relief and freedom from their sins. The life they long for is found in Jesus. It is a matter if our hearts want Him!
Too many speak with their mouths and knowing in the conscience they need God but their heart is in another place. Their heart desires wrong and evil abounds within but they know in their mind they need help. As they lose time and time again, they find themselves ready to quit. It's hard to quit when you never have started! But if one wants freedom and come into the blessings of God, it takes one thing: and honest, open and broken heart fleeing to Jesus and God will reach out and help. David found this in Psa. 51:17, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." Yes, the worst of worst, the most vile on the earth can have hope provided their heart wants out of their sinfulness. Isn't that who Jesus died for? He didn't offer Himself for the self righteous and those who think they are good. He gave Himself for the sinful, hurting, sickest ones on this earth and speaks, "Don't quit now...I haven't quit on you!" What does your heart desire?
1 comment:
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 "for where your teasure is, there your heart will be also." We cannot expect to bring our hearts before God, as mentioned, when we lay up treasures in everything but God and then expect for everything to be fine. When it's not, we want to quit and think that God doesn't care, but in fact all along we have not had our hearts n the right place to start.
Make God your only treasure and you will find that you have, among other things, this relief and freedom from sin. Treasures of this world fail. God never fails even when we do.
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