You know there are so many things in this life that might give me conflicting feelings. My old nature seems to keep raising it's ugly head claiming to be alive...but through Christ, I am being remade. God is retelling my story in Jesus. Rob Bell says it best, "We are all longing to be comfortable in our own skin. But the thing we are searching for is not somewhere else. It is right here. And we can only find it when we give up the search, when we surrender, when we trust. Trust that God is already putting us back together. Trust that through dying to the old, the new can give birth. Trust that Jesus can repair the scarred and broken image. It is trusting that I am loved. That I always have been. That I always will be I don't have to do anything. I don't have to prove anything or achieve anything or accomplish one more thing. That exactly as I am, I am totally accepted, forgiven, and there is nothing I could ever do to lose this acceptance. God knew exactly what he was doing when he made you and me. There are no accidents. We need to embrace our true identity,who we are in Christ, letting this new awareness transform our lives."
How freeing it is to trust that grace pays the bill for all of us!
How comforting it is to realize that because Jon, being a baptized believer and moving in the direction of Jesus was covered by that grace that pays the bill for all of us. Satan would have us to believe differently but "the voice of Truth tells me a different story, the voice of Truth says, 'do not be afraid'.. The voice of Truth says, 'this is for my glory'. Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the voice of Truth!"
I love this. It is a huge shift in our thinking to move from what we've known to a grace-based faith. It's hard to accept that we no longer have the constant conversation in our minds, "am I saved? I hope I am! I'm doing all the stuff just right, aren't I? What if I'm not good enough?"
ReplyDeleteWe sing a song at Landmark called Free, and one of the lyrics is "there is no condemnation/those who are in Christ/they are free" and one day as we were singing it for the hundreth time, it clicked. I realized, I'm in Christ, so I'm free. I am not condemned, and God does not see me through condemning eyes. FREE. It is such a relief to my soul to embrace this teaching that has been so foreign to me. I miss you, and I love it when you write. I think it is good for the heart. Love you!