Rinse and Repeat

I am currently embarking on a journey to improve my emotional and spiritual health after reading fellow blogger Lisa Murray's book, Peace for a Lifetime.  I HIGHLY recommend it!  She guides you through three areas to work on beginning with your relationship with God.

As I read the chapters about building a solid, deeply rooted relationship with God and answered the thought-provoking questions at the end of the chapters, I realized that I had a lot of mistrust of God that was born out of attending a legalistic church early on in my conversion.  Unfortunately, I transferred these legalistic viewpoints onto God in how He related to me and I to Him. 

As I've shared before, I will pray bold prayers for other people believing that they will be answered, but I won't pray boldly for myself because I assume that this is my lot and is God's will for me - having a very defeated attitude about it...

Or I will do what I like to call the "cheating on a diet" routine.  You know, when you diet and you cheat, you're like what's the use and then proceed to eat a whole cake and the diet is over.  Well, with my besetting sins, I tend to do the same thing.  Not that I increase my sinning, but I stop going to God asking for forgiveness because I have the "whats the use, I'm just going to sin again in a few minutes" mentality.  Or worse yet, I will not pray to God during the day because I haven't done the "prescribed asking forgiveness prayer beforehand".  That legalistic teaching really did a number on my prayer life.  I'm not saying we shouldn't confess sin, but it absolutely shouldn't be a deterrent from sending up a breath prayer to the Lord or praying throughout the day.  In fact, as I am typing this I am realizing that by not praying because I felt it wasn't the right setting or mindset, I was actually just perpetuating my sins.  Had I been praying throughout the day anywhere any time, I would be in close communion with God making it pretty hard to actively sin while seeking God in prayer.

But God, who knew my struggles in my relationship with Him, arranged a Divine appointment for me...   Through a sermon given by a Pastor at my daughter's church...

I'm going to do something maybe unconventional for bloggers, but I am basically going to share the rapid fire notes I took while listening to this spiritually life changing sermon...

The Bible is clear that we don't deserve God's forgiveness, but God... being rich in mercy and love, sent His Son to take the wrath we deserved upon Himself, dying an excruciating death on the cross, and rising to new life where those who believe in the power of the cross will receive eternal life.

At conversion, we believe God will ultimately save us, but we seem to have trouble believing we deserve His daily blessings.

In order to overcome these doubting thoughts, we must come to the cross over and over again.  

Look to the cross and hear God say, again and again, "I LOVE YOU.  YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN".  We need to wrestle with God until our hearts finally believe that God WILL bless us.

When we are in the midst of trials, we must think redemptively - God WILL redeem this circumstance!

He is redeeming our lives so that we can have a role in the lives of those around us for their redemption and to be a blessing to others.

The story of Joseph's years of enslavement and God's ministry to him remind us that God does love us even when life isn't going well.  He isn't allowing bad circumstances to punish us, but to lavish His grace and peace upon us.

We must trust in God's Sovereignty and blessings.  Don't look at the circumstances. 

We must be at peace with God and His Sovereignty.

Self-talk must lead to thanksgiving and praise to the Lord.  Don't allow what you see or feel to restate what God has said.  Remind yourself over and over,  God is Sovereign, He will bless me.

Don't doubt God's love for you.  Your story is part of God's grand story.

My basic takeaway from this sermon is that God's Sovereignty is not something to be feared.  Quite the contrary.  We are God's masterpieces.  He created us with His loving hands.  God already prepared works for us to do before the worlds began.  We are not just some random byproduct of God, but His special child who is dearly loved.  Our Heavenly Father never leaves our side and is our Provider, our Strength, our Help and our Peace EVERY STEP OF THE WAY! 

And secondly, He desires to lavish us with His blessings every second of every day.

No matter how many times you have left something at the cross and later picked it back up again - IT'S OKAY!  Go back to the Lord, drop it off and start again.  He will NEVER turn you away.  Even if you go to Him over and over again confessing the same sin - IT'S OKAY!  His forgiveness is eternal for those who are His.  Just keep going back to the cross.  Trust His Sovereignty and EXPECT His blessings.


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