"So I messed up & made mistakes, God forgave me"
After having my blog made fun of by my critics yesterday, I thought it would be perfect to address "messing up." We are all sinners, we were born into sin, a sin filled world to sin filled parents who live in sin filled lives not by our control but as a means to find God in our lives.
We strive hard every single day to learn from our sins, recognize them and repent, but we still sin, we still mess up & we are still accepted & loved by Christ. If we are courageous enough to seek the Lord in everything we do, ask for forgiveness & let our sin go, then Jesus promised to erase our mistakes for good. If God erases our mistakes, holds nothing against us and loves us the same, then how can we as complete sinners hold grudges & pass judgment on others mistakes?
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
"You messed up yesterday. But you'll mess up more if you let yesterday's mistakes sabotage today's attitude. God's mercies are new every morning. Receive them." Excellent quote on how we should not accept the judgments of others, but remember we have critics everywhere. We are not always going to make every single person happy all of the time, but who are we here to please, others or God? I choose God, above all else. I don't know how many of you have heard of the story of the Footprints in the Sand, and that story says that when a man was walking on the beach and he only saw one set of footprints in the sand, when other times he saw two, he thought that God had abandoned him, but God said, during that time He was carrying Him. So many of us don't feel worthy of God's love. That we are so bad and so unworthy of His love, but He must of thought we were worthy because He wouldn't have died for us. My life has been a roller coaster of bouncing back and forth from my calling. I have run from God more times that I can count, because running is easier in a sinners mind. Following Christ is a daily attitude, it comes with a huge responsibility of holding yourself accountable for the things you do and say. However, you cannot convince those that don't believe in you from seeing you are different. You may have had a way that you used to do things and since you are born again you do things a lot differently. A Christian follower will see the good in you, the road you have traveled and how amazing you shine in God's love now. A non-practicing Christian will find the smallest fault in you. They will not see the improvement in your life, they will continue to pass judgment on your past mistakes and never practice forgiveness.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom
Among God's warnings to us in scripture, there are none more somber or serious than His warning to not become a stumbling block to His followers. (Matthew 18:6). There's an old saying that "We tend to judge others by their actions, and we judge ourselves by our intentions." The truth is, we cannot rightly judge anyone else, because we do not know the contents of their heart. We should be content to judge only ourselves and seek to bring our own lives in alignment with God's Word (1 Cor. 11:31). Walking in the light of the Lord is not an easy walk. Every single day I have to get up and pray and pray some more. I drive to work and I listen to sermons in my car instead of the radio. I arrive at work 30 minutes early to spend time in devotion, lunch is spent in His word and I write at night. I could not keep my feet rooted on solid ground if I did not make these critical steps of devotion to God daily.
If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged
Our initial response to any hurtful or harmful situation is to attack back. When we do something wrong and we fill remorse and apologize for our sins to God we are forgiven instantly. God sees our mistakes no more, but with people that is a different story. When they live a life devoted to Gods word, forgiving comes natural, we forgive over and over again, as many times as it takes. The bible tells us that Peter came to Jesus and asked him how many times he should forgive his brothers & sisters who sin against him. Peter offered 7 times to Jesus, and Jesus answered him with, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:22)." There is not a set number that you and I as followers of Christ can place on a person's head as to how many times they are allowed to hurt us and not be forgiven. They will always be forgiven, but will they be allowed to continue hurting us? I am sure we will all have different views on that, but for me personally, if a person is hindering my walk with Christ and is not building me up spiritually, I have no desire to communicate with them. I will pray for them, but I will not continuously put myself out into a fire to be burned. Even Jesus shut the door on doubters.
But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
God knows our weaknesses, and He has promised to provide the power we need when we do not have the strength to do what He asks us to do. So the good news is that if you don't know how to love this enemy, God will help you. The promise of 2 Timothy 1:7 offers great hope to you: "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." God will give you the power to love your enemies the way He wants you to love them. The best place to start is the list of love characteristics given in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Over 15 different expressions of love are listed here, and not one of them talks about romantic warm feelings for the other person. The first love trait relates well to enemies-"love is patient." How can I express patience in relating to this enemy? Let's look at it from the other end-when you show patience toward this person, you are expressing God's love. So does this mean I let this person keep on abusing me-and I respond by showing patience as they abuse me? Not at all!! As much as it is in our power, we need to put in place boundaries that keep us safe from the damage our enemies try to bring into our lives. We need to seek help from others who can assist in providing this safety. Sometimes protecting ourselves may mean removing ourselves from the hurtful situation, seeking safety and praying for that person from a distance.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
Whether you have been hurt or are doing the hurting, God loves you the same. God cares for each one of us with an unconditional, overflowing love. He needs us all to come together to one common ground of biblical understanding, reach out our hands to one another, let the strife fall to the ground and unite around the same cross that holds us together. I may have done something wrong, but God loves me just the same. I may have made some horrible decisions but I was acting unclean in God's word and very selfishly. I cannot be expected to make the right decisions when I was not clothed in the proper Godly wardrobe. Sometimes I think we look for non-seekers to produce a type of humility and sorrow for the sins they commit against us that are truly not there. Until they seek the Father and repent, bring God into their lives and dedicate their every waking moment to living by His teachings, they will not get it. As we deepen our walk in God's love, we realize that the way we used to be was pretty darn bad, because we were not saved or practicing a full time walk with Christ, but once we realize that our mistakes and sins are forgiven we let down the walls of inner bashing and we step out on a leap of faith, being led by Christ alone. We are not alone! We all have sinned and not one person's sin is worse than another, sin is sin! Forgiveness is forgiveness as a whole, washed away, can be seen no more. Once you forgive, you do not bring that topic up again. If God can wash our mistakes clear from his mind and love us the same today as he will tomorrow, we have a lot of maturing to do. Try for just a moment to think about where you are at with your life. You follow God, but did you always? You trust him completely, but did you always? You lean on him for understanding and direction, but did you always? You forgive everyone who wrongs you, but did you always? The answer to all of those is "no!!!" Once God became the shining star and guiding light in your life then you started living for Him, and what He states is the Christian way to live. Your old self died, you were reborn in Gods eyes, washed clean. Who are we to be better than another, who are we to beat ourselves up about mistakes others make or the mistakes we make ourselves. The truth is GOD LOVES YOU NO MATTER WHAT!!!!
Remember this, the Bible doesn't promise peace to those who dwell on the faults of others! It says that the Lord will keep them in perfect peace, whose minds remain on Him!
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Whatever you have done, where ever you are at this very moment in your life, God knows. He knows your weaknesses, he knows your pains, and he knows who you have wronged and who has wronged you. He does not know your past mistakes if you have asked for forgiveness, because when you asked you were washed clean. Don't let another person declare your future based on your past. You stand up, courageously truck forward in the amazing love of Jesus Christ and if you are mocked, then let them mock. Turn the other cheek.
But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.
God speaks to each of our lives daily, will we hear him, and it's up to us. Will we take his words to heart and live them throughout our life, it's up to us. Will we be bold enough to carry forth Gods love when others slam the door, it's up to us. Will we be courageous enough to stand up for someone in the name of Christ, it's up to us. Will you be able to let your past go after confessing it to God, it's up to you. Will you be brought down to defeat by someone that doesn't believe in what you do with regards to Christ, it's up to you. You and I are responsible for ourselves, in what we believe and what we accept about ourselves. We are held accountable for ourselves, not the lives that others lead. God makes it real clear that you are not to point fingers at others, blaming them.
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye
Plan and simple, don't worry about where you have been, have faith in where you are going. So you sinned, we all do, daily, but those that choose to pick up their Cross confess their sins and repent will have everlasting love and eternal happiness. Make your choice today, will you follow the crowd that does what is comfortable or will you stand out on a limb by yourself, knowing God is there to catch you fall. I already made my choice, so join me. I will not stop doing what God is calling me to do just because some choose to hold me accountable to my past. God loves me more than that, and I have let it go! Onward march to happiness only God can provide.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father in heaven, I choose to trust in You. Even when things don't go the way I planned, I know You are at work in my life. Thank You for Your perfect love which casts out all fear. I love You and surrender every area of my life to You in Jesus' name. Amen.
In all things, great and small, God loves us all,
Kylie Davis
Note:
Tell me what you think, honestly, please!!
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