To succeed in this Christian life, we must be tethered to our Heavenly Father’s side. Many of us claim Christ but live like the world. Recently, I asked myself this question, “If there was documented footage of your daily interactions with others, your habits and your internal thoughts, would your life point others to Christ?” I want you to ask yourself the same. Unfortunately, I could easily answer this question in complete honesty. It led me to a low place covered in embarrassment over how I allow my flesh to lead me at times.
Fortunately for those of us who are believers, we have an extremely loving God that desires relational intimacy with His sons and daughters who come after Him. In my shame, the Lord lead me to a quiet place to communicate with Him my faults, my fears and my current failings. I did not feel chastised, but rather, I felt a flood of His love and forgiveness.
In Philippians 1:6, Paul tells us:
“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
God does not draw us to Himself for the purpose of abandonment. If you have accepted Christ and repented of your sins, your heart is no longer dead but alive. Christ has washed you white as snow.
Often, we give up on ourselves and we should for good reason. As people, we cannot be trusted, without Jesus, we will always be sinful. Temptation leads us to be swayed by the lies of the world and sometimes it can be easy to buy in. We trust the world to know our heart and judge us for our shortcomings, rather than looking inward to the one that lives inside us by trusting His perfect promises.
We accept this personal defeat and follow the lies Satan has shouted at us. We become bombarded, tempted to look for joy in other things. We wonder why we feel unfulfilled, sad and alone. TOO OFTEN we let Satan win. BUT WHY? What would happen if instead, we looked to heaven and asked God for rescue through His mighty power? What would happen if we used our knowledge of scripture to speak truth over the lies? We would push back the darkness. We would joyfully embrace our identity with confidence because of the One who created us and set us free. We would truly love God above all else.
R.C. Sproul said it best; “I like to look at it this way: I’m walking the Christian life with my hand in God’s hand. If my perseverance depended upon my holding tightly to God’s hand, I would surely fall away because at some point I would let go. But I believe that the Scriptures teach us that God is holding my hand, and because he is holding my hand, I don’t have to fear that I will fall ultimately and finally.”