It's been a few days since I last posted on here, but I've been thinking about what I wanted to say for a good week. I try to use this blog to sort out what I hear God revealing to me and hopefully in the process of posting those things, I encourage some of you as well. I've been thinking a lot lately about grace. And apparently so are lots of others, because between Facebook and the e-newsletters that I receive there has been a LOT said about grace in the last week or so. Do you struggle with receiving grace? I sure do. I realized that because I have such a hard time receiving God's grace in certain areas in my life, I then don't offer myself any grace in those areas either. Makes sense really. How can I give myself grace if I haven't first received the gift of grace that God offers me?
Have you ever looked at it quite like that before? Refusing a gift from God? I mean, come on. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? It reminds me of this story I heard: There is a guy who is traveling across the ocean on this big, beautiful ocean liner. He's tucked away in the bottom of the ship, huddled in this dark, dingy room with just a cot to sleep on. When he gets hungry, he eats the stale crackers and dried fruit that he brought from home. His only source of drink is some warm water he packed away in his bag. He knows that someday he'll reach the great new "promised land" that the ship is taking him to. Until then, he knows he has to just deal with his not-so-nice conditions. Suck it up. Deal with it. This is his lot in life. After several days of being tucked away down in this room of the ship, someone opens the door and discovers him. They ask him what in the world he's doing down here. He explains that he's just looking forward to arriving at their destination and that he's making do with the provisions he has. The person looks at him with complete shock and says, "But don't you know? Don't you understand? This ship and everything on it is here for you to partake of! You need to follow me and see all the wonderful food and accommodations that are available to you. They are fit for a king and it's all for us!". Why live like a pauper when we're actually a child of the King?! I think we do it all the time.
Isn't that just what we live like when we ignore God's gift of grace? He's offering us an unending supply of grace and freedom from our strongholds. Yet we continue to hold ourselves hostage in certain areas of our life. What is that area in your life? I imagine we all have them. Something that you just can't stop beating yourself up about. Something that you know you should be doing better in, but you just can't overcome it. (And instead of shower yourself in grace and choose to do better next time, you shower yourself with condemnation and guilt.)
I think I am finally starting to get this concept. I'm finally starting to realize that none of this condemnation and guilt is coming from God. The enemy has me right where he wants me when I continue to wallow in these self-deprecating ways. Rather than focus on my areas of weakness and struggle, I will instead focus on the truths of God's Word:
Romans 8:37 - "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
Philippians 4:13 - "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."
Romans 8:1 - "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Let's stop falling for this lie! God is NOT up in heaven looking down at us and shaking His finger every time we make a mistake. He already knows every single thing we're going to mess up on from here 'til we take our last breath on this earth. WE are the ones shaking our finger at ourselves. We are the ones holding ourselves to some kind of unrealistic level of performance. It's time to stop accepting these feelings as God's, and start accepting His unending gift of grace. Next time you're tempted to add insult to injury by accepting the guilt and condemnation the enemy is trying to throw on you, do this: stop, say a prayer asking forgiveness for whatever thing you're tempted to condemn yourself for, then claim the above verses as your own and thank God for His gift of grace. And then accept it! Stop that negative self-talk! God has amazing things He wants to do in our lives. I think it's time to focus on where He's taking us instead of where we just can't seem to move past. I can't wait to see what He has in store for me next!
Have you ever looked at it quite like that before? Refusing a gift from God? I mean, come on. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? It reminds me of this story I heard: There is a guy who is traveling across the ocean on this big, beautiful ocean liner. He's tucked away in the bottom of the ship, huddled in this dark, dingy room with just a cot to sleep on. When he gets hungry, he eats the stale crackers and dried fruit that he brought from home. His only source of drink is some warm water he packed away in his bag. He knows that someday he'll reach the great new "promised land" that the ship is taking him to. Until then, he knows he has to just deal with his not-so-nice conditions. Suck it up. Deal with it. This is his lot in life. After several days of being tucked away down in this room of the ship, someone opens the door and discovers him. They ask him what in the world he's doing down here. He explains that he's just looking forward to arriving at their destination and that he's making do with the provisions he has. The person looks at him with complete shock and says, "But don't you know? Don't you understand? This ship and everything on it is here for you to partake of! You need to follow me and see all the wonderful food and accommodations that are available to you. They are fit for a king and it's all for us!". Why live like a pauper when we're actually a child of the King?! I think we do it all the time.
Isn't that just what we live like when we ignore God's gift of grace? He's offering us an unending supply of grace and freedom from our strongholds. Yet we continue to hold ourselves hostage in certain areas of our life. What is that area in your life? I imagine we all have them. Something that you just can't stop beating yourself up about. Something that you know you should be doing better in, but you just can't overcome it. (And instead of shower yourself in grace and choose to do better next time, you shower yourself with condemnation and guilt.)
I think I am finally starting to get this concept. I'm finally starting to realize that none of this condemnation and guilt is coming from God. The enemy has me right where he wants me when I continue to wallow in these self-deprecating ways. Rather than focus on my areas of weakness and struggle, I will instead focus on the truths of God's Word:
Romans 8:37 - "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
Philippians 4:13 - "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."
Romans 8:1 - "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Let's stop falling for this lie! God is NOT up in heaven looking down at us and shaking His finger every time we make a mistake. He already knows every single thing we're going to mess up on from here 'til we take our last breath on this earth. WE are the ones shaking our finger at ourselves. We are the ones holding ourselves to some kind of unrealistic level of performance. It's time to stop accepting these feelings as God's, and start accepting His unending gift of grace. Next time you're tempted to add insult to injury by accepting the guilt and condemnation the enemy is trying to throw on you, do this: stop, say a prayer asking forgiveness for whatever thing you're tempted to condemn yourself for, then claim the above verses as your own and thank God for His gift of grace. And then accept it! Stop that negative self-talk! God has amazing things He wants to do in our lives. I think it's time to focus on where He's taking us instead of where we just can't seem to move past. I can't wait to see what He has in store for me next!
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