Hi Everyone! Did you notice I didn’t post last week? Our whole family was on vacay!
Now, as we head into a new week and because of all the trajedy experienced in our globe this week, we need Jesus’ grace in the dark more than ever in our personal lives and to extend to others. Let’s continue reading in Chapter #3 as we discuss the Platform of His Grace:
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It doesn’t matter what we feel or don’t feel. The truth of God’s Word is unchanging: those who receive Jesus’ finished work on the cross have been given His perfect righteousness. When we are in the storms of temptation and failure with habitual behaviors and addictions, our first steppingstone to freedom is our faith in the finished work of Jesus’ sacrifice.
For if our heart condemns us,
God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
1 John 3:20
We may feel guilt and condemned – but those feelings aren’t from Jesus! No way. God and His Word are greater still.
Oh my. Some of us don’t feel like we are good Christians if we aren’t carrying a boatload of guilt and shame. Me too. I wanted Jesus to know how genuinely sorry I was for – everything. I was, and still am, sincerely remorseful for the junk in my life. Nevertheless, to stay, abide, dwell, or live constantly in the grip of guilt and condemnation denies the work of His horrendous sacrifice. It seems counterintuitive to receive His cleansing gift of grace, yet when we do, how much joy must it bring to His heart?
A few years ago, although I was beginning to experience greater freedom in of my life, I was having one of those moments where I pulled out the proverbial whip and was chastising myself in my thoughts. “Why did I say that? Why did I do that?” verbiage was still prevalent in my daily life. Unbidden – the Holy Spirit brought an image to my mind:
I saw a dining room table stacked high with dirty, food-caked dishes. Mound upon mound they were in messy piles all over the surface of the table. Bowls filled with moldy leftovers and plates with glued on food clumps. Do you get the picture? Out of the blue I saw a robed arm extended. Without question I knew in my heart it was the arm of Jesus.
Oh! The embarrassment of those messy piles of dishes! However, in one deliberate movement, His arm cleared the table of every piece of dingy dinnerware. Clattering, breaking on the floor upon impact, each piece was removed from the table’s surface. And before I knew it, Jesus had replaced the table’s holdings with a pristine white tablecloth, fine china, silver settings, crystal goblets, and flowers everywhere. I heard Him say firmly into my heart, “I don’t want you to ever beat yourself up again. Those thoughts are to be removed, just like those dirty dishes, and replaced by My truth.”
Have those “beat-myself-up” thoughts ever come my way again? Oh, you bet! However, they no longer have a hold upon me and are now cut off at the pass as soon as I am aware of them. I see those dirty dishes on the floor and there is no way I am going to let them back upon the table of my thoughts.
Freedom! Can you imagine how much more time is available to me now that I have cleaner, clearer thinking? Now that condemnation chatter has been silenced in my thoughts, I can better hear the Holy Spirit’s direction instead of wasting time and guilting myself. I seem to have much more time and clarity to deal with the real issues that are plaguing me. It’s not that I don’t confess my sin[i] which is oh so important in the life of a believer, but I no longer let guilt’s once tenacious grip keep me down for the count.
There comes a point in every Christian believer’s life where we must fully base our trust upon what God’s Word states as fact, irrespective of what we feel or what we have done. God is greater than our heart (our emotions) and knows all things – is what God’s Word tells us.[ii]
[i] 1 John 1:9
[ii] 1 John 3:20