Tag: Inspiration

When You Feel Like You’ve Failed God

We’ve all had these moments, days or even seasons where we feel we have failed God. When we go through these times where we feel like we are “less than” in God’s eyes, He still loves us. He doesn’t have the ability to stop loving us. His love for us endures forever.

pexels-photo-1161268When we fail, it can cause us to want to draw away from Christ, but instead of drawing away, He desires for us to draw closer to Him. He always fully accepts us, just as we are. Remember His love perseveres through our setbacks, our anger, our disappointments, and even our rebellion. His dreams for you don’t go away because you have failed. He never gives up on you. He is a perfect Father who loves you perfectly.

When we fall into sin, it breaks His heart if we choose to ignore His love for us and go the other way. He wants us to know Him intimately enough to understand that even in our sin, His love for us still persist. After all, Jesus died for us while we were sinners.

Romans 5:8 (NLT), “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.“

Does He desire for us to repent and refocus on Him? Yes He does. He wants us to abandon our sinful ways the same way we want our loved ones to do better when things are wrong in their lives. God really, really loves us. If need be, He will discipline us to get our attention when we insist upon disobeying His instruction. Hebrews 12:6 reminds us that the Lord disciplines those He loves, just like we as earthly parents discipline our children.

One thing is for certain, God’s discipline will always be done with unconditional love. His discipline is intertwined with His mercy, and is measured out according to what He knows will benefit us most. I’ve been on the receiving end of God’s discipline. Although it doesn’t feel good, it is good for me. I’m thankful for His discipline, because it has helped me to become a better woman. I want to be all He wants me to be, and I know you do too. Part of us walking in our purpose is submitting to God’s divine discipline in our lives.

Thank you Lord for your loving discipline and your sweet mercy!

 Are you feeling like you’ve failed God today? Maybe it’s something that you did last night or last week. Maybe it’s something from your distant past that you can’t seem to shake. Whatever the case, God loves you and regardless of how you may feel right now, He has never stopped loving you. Just repent, receive His forgiveness and allow His love to begin healing your heart. His healing may happen instantly or it may happen slowly, one day at a time. Which ever way The Holy Spirit of God chooses to work in your life, He will bring healing and restoration if you will only trust Him.

 

A Look at Psalm 37 (verses 5-7)

Psalm 37:5-7 (NIV), “5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”

Verse 5 reiterates the importance of committing to and trusting in the Lord. One thing I will say about commitment and trust is that they both take time. Neither one of them are easy to do, especially depending on the circumstances we are in. However it all starts with a decision. Just like our faith in Christ started with a simple decision to accept Him as our Lord and Savior, so does learning to commit to Him and trust Him. Growth in our relationship with Christ will happen in stages and be a lifelong process. As long as we have hearts that are willingly saying “yes”, then the Holy Spirit will empower us to live for Jesus.

Have you ever felt as if you needed to be vindicated? Vindication is not only needing to be cleared of some type of blame or suspicion, but it is also when someone or something is finally proven right. As Christians we often do suffer just for trying to do what is right. Mostly because we live in a world that tends to call wrong right and right wrong. So when we aim to do what’s right by God’s standard, someone will often come along and try to tell us that we’re doing wrong. They may also try to convince us that our godly ways are ludicrous. Verse 6 comes to the rescue by assuring us that our righteous reward will shine like the dawning of a new day and our vindication will shine like the noonday sun. The Lord will expose the darkness of evil by shining His Light on it. He will bring us the needed vindication when he clears us of blame and proves us right.

Just like with commitment and trust, we must also rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to teach us to be still, wait patiently for the Lord and not fret/worry. It really all goes back to trust. Do we trust God to show up for us? If we don’t trust God, chances are we will struggle to be still and wait for Him. After all, who waits for someone that’s not coming? We will feel pressure to take matters into our own hands if we think God is going to stand us up. However, there is nothing sweeter than when God shows up on our behalf and fights our battles.  I have had plenty of times where I worried about stuff only to find out God had already taken care of it. My worrying was completely in vain. Yeah, there are situations we can fix, but some situations are way beyond us. Only the power of the Holy Spirit can cut through the foolish and wicked schemes of ungodly people who are trying to work against us. We just need to make a decision to sit back and watch Him work. Will you make a decision to commit to Jesus and trust Him just one day at a time?

Previous Reading: A Look at Psalm 37: (verses 1-2)

Previous Reading: A Look at Psalm 37: (verses 3-4)

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A Look at Psalm 37: (verses 3-4)

Psalm 37:3-4 (NIV), “3 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

When we dwell with the Lord we find true safety. Abiding in Him is a covering for our lives. He will care for us and provide what we need to have an enjoyable life.  The word pasture comes from the Latin word “pastus”, which means to feed or nourish.  God assures us that he will “feed” us all we need to live successful and meaningful lives. His love will keep us well nourished spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. He promises to grant us our hearts desires when we delight ourselves in Him. Delighting in the Lord means to find great pleasure in Him and to enjoy being with Him. When we delight in the Lord, we will find ourselves having a hunger for the things of the Lord. Getting to know the Lord and loving who He is will lead us to want to live in obedience to Him.

I think it pays to ask ourselves often, “Am I delighting myself in the Lord?” It’s easy to lose focus due to the fact there are so many distractions in daily life. I thought about Luke chapter 15, where Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep. He said that if there are one hundred sheep and one is lost, the shepherd should leave the ninety-nine and go after the one to find it. That is how He feels about us when we are not abiding safely in the pasture He has prepared for us. He longs for us to return to Him. He is our loving Shepherd who takes great delight in watching over us.

Previous Reading: A Look at Psalm 37 (verses 1-2)

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A Look at Psalm 37: (verses 1-2)

Psalm 37:1-2 (NIV), “1 Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.”

Psalm 37 is my favorite Psalm. Since I really love it, I read it often. It always encourages me to keep moving forward in Christ. We do see a lot of evil going on today. We also see many who seem to be getting away with their evil acts. There is much harm being done to innocent people both young and old. It seems as if the foolishness is never ending, and that some people live just to make others miserable. However we must hold fast and not give up. We must not adopt their evil ways. Although to us it may seem that God’s justice is slow in coming, He said in 2 Peter 3:9 that He is not slow. He said He is just giving people time to repent because He does not want anyone to perish (another example of His loving nature). Those who choose evil and do not turn to Jesus Christ and repent, will soon wither and die away. So when it comes to evildoers…Do Not Fret.

Next Reading: A Look at Psalm 37: (verses 3-4)

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No Weapon Formed Against You Will Prosper

Isaiah 54:17(KJV), “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”

Recently I was watching one of those animal programs on TV. In this particular episode, a pride of lions were attempting to take down a giraffe. The pride’s strategy was to create a circle to surround the giraffe. Once surrounded, the mother lion would lie in wait until the giraffe reached a certain point. Then she would attack. As I watched the pride close in on the giraffe, I felt certain that they were about to win the battle and have a feast. Suddenly I saw the mother lion lunge out! She threw all of her body weight against the giraffe in an effort to knock her down . Much to my surprise, the mother lion just bounced right off the side of the giraffe like a beach ball and hit the ground. The giraffe seemed completely unmoved by the incident. She barely even missed a step. She gave the mother lion a quick glance as she continued on her way, galloping through the field.

This giraffes run in with the pride of lions reminded me of the protection that God gives to us. When evil tries to come against us, the Lord surronds us with His favor and the weapons that were trying to form against us will come to ruin. They bounce right off of us like the lion did with the giraffe, and we will walk away unharmed. We don’t have to walk in fear. God is faithfully watching over us day and night.

 

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Freedom from comparison

changedbyhim's avatarChanged by Him

Stop comparing yourself to others.

Stop.

I know you can see how dangerous it is, how completely pointless it is, so you need to stop.

You know what, it’s not going to get you anywhere.

You’re never going to be like them, like all those people you so want to be like.

You’re never going to be like them, but that’s okay, because, lame as it sounds, you’re you,

And that’s all anyone will ever want you to be.

Do you doubt His sovereign will?

Do you doubt Him who created you, He who knows you by name?

No matter what you think, He had a purpose in creating you the way you are.

Don’t try to change who you are because you think you’re not good enough.

Don’t try to change who you are so others will like you better.

Don’t try to change who you are because of…

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Do you dwell in The Secret Place?

Do you dwell in The Secret Place?

https://drawingclosertochrist.com/2018/03/05/do-you-dwell-in-the-secret-place/
— Read on drawingclosertochrist.com/2018/03/05/do-you-dwell-in-the-secret-place/