It’s fun to plan things and then look forward to those times of relaxation at a resort, on a beach, or camping somewhere in the woods. It is always fun to get away with the family or friends and spend quality time with one another.
It is becoming a reality for people to live such a hustle and
bustle lifestyle that some feel all they do is work and sleep. Too many times I’ve said, “I can’t believe
another week is gone,” as the hectic day I just had slips by and tomorrow comes
too quickly. Such is life if we fail to
stop and smell the roses.
Planning vacations and having fun is certainly necessary, but
we need to ask ourselves, “What am I doing for the Lord? Where does He fit in my plans?”
I pray that the following thoughts will congeal enough to
reveal helpful hints that can enlighten areas you’ve not yet explored. Perhaps they can motivate you to challenge
yourself to venture out into deeper experiences with the Lord.
I believe, number one and foremost, that God loves us beyond
anything that we can comprehend or reasonably expect from Him. A full understanding of God and His love is
beyond one’s wildest imagination.
No doubt the depth of God’s love is unfathomable and the
breath, unmeasurable, because He gave His only Son to die for our
transgressions. What greater love is
there?
(John 3:16), “For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.”
I try to comprehend the intensity and majesty of God’s love,
but the abundant capacity of His love escapes my finite thinking. It is hard for me to understand just how much
He truly cares for me.
I have been saturated from my youth on that God’s love is the
real thing and that I can count on Him for all my needs. But in my limited thinking, I wonder at times
how Almighty God, an infinite being who is full of mercy and grace, could love
someone that spurned Him for years, while sinning and doing my own unrighteous
things.
How is it that He knew me in my mother’s womb and had a plan
for my life before I took my first breath?
I read in the Bible that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of
humanity, yet it is hard to reason, logically, why He chose to suffer such a
horrible death for this ole sinner boy.
Love is the bottom-line reason.
The Bible says that we must worship God in spirit and in
truth, because our natural thinking and ability to understand the depth of His
love struggles. It is hard to receive
and comprehend His sacrifice when we try to logic, why.
(1 Corinthians 2:14), “But the natural man does not
receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
This is where faith must rise to the top and allow God’s love
to manifest itself, like enjoying the cream that rises to the top of whole milk.
(Hebrews 11:1), “Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
As we read more about Jesus and His compassion for mankind,
we will more so understand this love. I
hope one day that I can comprehend, in full, God’s love for me. But wait!
I have experienced His bountiful love when He saved my soul from sin and
is now fulfilling His plan in my life.
To understand what He did for us on the cross can only be
realized when we surrender our life to Him and experience, for ourselves, the
joy, peace, and hope that comes through the born-again experience. I believe a new birth takes place in a
person’s soul when sins are forgiven. This
miracle will only happen through Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
An understanding of God’s grace reveals itself as we get to
know Him on a personal level. It becomes
a One-on-one relationship with our Creator.
Even with this knowledge, I am sometimes bombarded with guilt of my past
sins that can deplete the joy inside me if I allow my mind to dwell on such
things.
It is difficult to realize the full relationship we can have
with God when our heart and mind are divided with worry of past sins. When we surrender our heart, mind, and soul
to Jesus, there is no reason for memories to haunt us, trying to come between
God and us, because God set us free from the bondage of our negative memories.
Yes, I am very much aware of my past failures and
shortcomings, and I know that Satan tries to capitalize on them. He tells me that I am not worthy to be called
a child of God, because He is righteous in every way, and I am nothing more
than a pile of rags to Him.
The devil reminds me of my history of running from God, which
makes it difficult for me to think or justify that a holy God could love a
wretch like me, but the Bible says, unequivocally, that He does!
At times it is hard to kick the memory of past sins out of my
mind even though it has been reformed with a new sense of worth at the very
moment I invited Jesus into my heart.
Satan would have me live in past degradation and self-condemnation if I
allowed him to do so. He uses fearmongering to keep children of God on the
defensive, defeated, and feeling inadequate now that they are in the family of
God.
Satan is seeking whomever he can devour with lies, deception,
and intimidation. Fear is the result of
not forgiving ourselves of things we cannot change. This is when the Holy Spirit reaffirms who we
are in Christ Jesus. He encourages us to
stand fast in His strength and reminds us that God is omnipotent (all
powerful).
As we sense God’s presence when we call upon the name of
Jesus, He brings victory to a vacillating mind and casts out all doubt and
fear.
The devil is not only an accuser of the brethren, be is an
accuser of you and me, because of past sins that God has thrown into the sea of
His forgetfulness when we asked Him to forgive our sins.
(Isaiah 59:19), “…When the enemy comes in like a
flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”
When our adversary, the devil, buffets us and tries to bring
up our past by cruelly shoving it in our face and accuses us of being
hypocrites, we can rebuke him in the name of Jesus and resist his accusations
and claim victory, because of Jesus in us.
(James 4:7,8), “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
(v 8) “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…”
You and I cannot do anything within ourselves to merit God’s
forgiveness and eternal life in heaven.
It is only by the grace of God, through the blood that Jesus shed on the
cross for our redemption that true and complete salvation is ours.
(Zechariah 4:6), “… ‘Not by might nor by power, but by
My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
(Acts 4:12), “Nor is there salvation in any other, for
there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Please allow these thoughts and Bible scriptures to impact
areas that will help you to forgive yourself of past wrongs that you have done,
and believe that Jesus saves completely, without any residual sins to bind us
from worshiping the true and living God.
As I have said, there is nothing we can do within ourselves
to be saved…not our good works lest we boast of self-sufficiency.
(Ephesians 2:8,9), “For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” (v 9) “not
of works, lest anyone should boast.”
It is only through the name of Jesus that God recognizes us
as His sons and daughters. Forgive
yourself and don’t dwell on the past, from this moment forward, because Jesus
paid the full price for your salvation.
We must believe and accept only Him, otherwise His sacrifice for us was
in vain.
Be strong in the Lord!
Be of good courage and thank God for His forgiving power that sets us
totally free from a heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh.
To put it simply, we can continue with self-destructive
condemnation or surrender our all to God’s plan. This means we can release our grip on sins
that God forgave, and close the door on reserved, hidden areas that Satan keeps
replaying in our mind. We can forgive
ourselves.
God has a perfect plan for each of His children. Believe it and live it! I leave you with this thought. The next time Satan attacks and tries to
condemn you with past sins, plan on resisting him and turning his accusations
over to Jesus. God’s plan for you will
continue as you allow Him to reign supreme in your life.
Written by,
Papa Boyd
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