I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father, who "knows our frame and remembers we are dust.." (Psalm 103:14)
I take comfort in the fact that He reached for me in my sin, when I was in a state of enmity and death, and He drew me to Himself, without any merit of my own. If He loved me then, He will love me now; even though I fail and sin, He will not let me go, for I am precious to Him. I need to remind myself of this when I am feeling down...when Satan is whispering to me that I am not good enough and I never will be. I need to remember that all I need is to claim Jesus as my Saviour and I am free, forgiven and blameless.
Isaiah 54:10 ""For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has mercy on you."
Satan holds my sins before me....tries to burden me with guilt. But God has removed my sin from His sight, "as far as the east is from the west"! We need to be on high alert for the lies that the devil tries to pass as truths...the thoughts wandering through our minds can take root so easily if we are not on guard. In my most recent NAET treatment session, we were talking about thoughts and the power they can have if we let them. And on my Facebook feed I've been seeing, almost daily, posts or memes about how your thoughts shape you and everything you do. Proverbs 4:23 says,"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." It is vital to know and believe and remember the truth. Even in the sermon yesterday, the pastor was talking about the "helmet of salvation" (Eph.6:17), and how we need to guard our minds. I think God is trying to really make a point to me lately; that I need to get out of my head and just know and believe the truth and live. Focusing on the finished work of my salvation in Jesus produces a much more positive and healthy outlook on life, rather than giving in to the crushing guilt that Satan tries to lay on me.
But you know the best part? Even when we are down, when we are stuck in feelings of despair and guilt, the truth is that God remembers His promise and how we feel doesn't change that. So even if I get stuck focusing on how much I failed today, my gracious Heavenly Father does not.
Again, my favorite verse, John 10:10 reminds us that Jesus came to give us life more abundantly, not more depressingly, or more burdensome, or more guilty. We do that to ourselves when we take our eyes off Jesus and let the lies of the devil shape our thoughts.
The following is from my favorite daily devotional- Spurgeon & Beggs Morning and Evening :
" "I will remember My covenant." Genesis 9:15
Note the form of this promise. God does not say, "And when you shall look upon the bow, and you shall remember My covenant, then I will not destroy the earth," but it is gloriously put, not upon our memory, which is fickle and frail, but upon God's memory, which is infinite and immutable. "When . . . the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant." It is not my remembering God—it is God's remembering me that is the ground of my safety; it is not my laying hold of His covenant, but His covenant's laying hold on me. Glory be to God!
The ramparts of salvation are secured by divine power, and even the minor towers, which we could imagine being left to man, are guarded by almighty strength. Even the remembrance of the covenant is not left to our memories, for we might forget; but our Lord cannot forget the names of those whom He has graven on the palms of His hands. It is with us as it was with Israel in Egypt; the blood was upon the lintel and the two side-posts, but the Lord did not say, "When you see the blood I will pass over you," but "When I see the blood I will pass over you."
My looking to Jesus brings me joy and peace, but it is God's looking to Jesus that secures my salvation and that of all His elect, since it is impossible for our God to look at Christ, our bleeding Surety, and then to be angry with us for sins already punished in Him. It is not left with us even to be saved by remembering the covenant. There is not a single thread of human effort in this fabric. It is not of man, neither by man, but of the Lord alone. We should remember the covenant, and we shall do it, through divine grace; but the hinge of our safety does not hang there—it is God's remembering us, not our remembering Him; and hence the covenant is an everlasting covenant."
""For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts."" Isaiah 55:8-9
I take comfort in the fact that He reached for me in my sin, when I was in a state of enmity and death, and He drew me to Himself, without any merit of my own. If He loved me then, He will love me now; even though I fail and sin, He will not let me go, for I am precious to Him. I need to remind myself of this when I am feeling down...when Satan is whispering to me that I am not good enough and I never will be. I need to remember that all I need is to claim Jesus as my Saviour and I am free, forgiven and blameless.
Isaiah 54:10 ""For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has mercy on you."
Satan holds my sins before me....tries to burden me with guilt. But God has removed my sin from His sight, "as far as the east is from the west"! We need to be on high alert for the lies that the devil tries to pass as truths...the thoughts wandering through our minds can take root so easily if we are not on guard. In my most recent NAET treatment session, we were talking about thoughts and the power they can have if we let them. And on my Facebook feed I've been seeing, almost daily, posts or memes about how your thoughts shape you and everything you do. Proverbs 4:23 says,"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." It is vital to know and believe and remember the truth. Even in the sermon yesterday, the pastor was talking about the "helmet of salvation" (Eph.6:17), and how we need to guard our minds. I think God is trying to really make a point to me lately; that I need to get out of my head and just know and believe the truth and live. Focusing on the finished work of my salvation in Jesus produces a much more positive and healthy outlook on life, rather than giving in to the crushing guilt that Satan tries to lay on me.
But you know the best part? Even when we are down, when we are stuck in feelings of despair and guilt, the truth is that God remembers His promise and how we feel doesn't change that. So even if I get stuck focusing on how much I failed today, my gracious Heavenly Father does not.
Again, my favorite verse, John 10:10 reminds us that Jesus came to give us life more abundantly, not more depressingly, or more burdensome, or more guilty. We do that to ourselves when we take our eyes off Jesus and let the lies of the devil shape our thoughts.
The following is from my favorite daily devotional- Spurgeon & Beggs Morning and Evening :
" "I will remember My covenant." Genesis 9:15
Note the form of this promise. God does not say, "And when you shall look upon the bow, and you shall remember My covenant, then I will not destroy the earth," but it is gloriously put, not upon our memory, which is fickle and frail, but upon God's memory, which is infinite and immutable. "When . . . the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant." It is not my remembering God—it is God's remembering me that is the ground of my safety; it is not my laying hold of His covenant, but His covenant's laying hold on me. Glory be to God!
The ramparts of salvation are secured by divine power, and even the minor towers, which we could imagine being left to man, are guarded by almighty strength. Even the remembrance of the covenant is not left to our memories, for we might forget; but our Lord cannot forget the names of those whom He has graven on the palms of His hands. It is with us as it was with Israel in Egypt; the blood was upon the lintel and the two side-posts, but the Lord did not say, "When you see the blood I will pass over you," but "When I see the blood I will pass over you."
My looking to Jesus brings me joy and peace, but it is God's looking to Jesus that secures my salvation and that of all His elect, since it is impossible for our God to look at Christ, our bleeding Surety, and then to be angry with us for sins already punished in Him. It is not left with us even to be saved by remembering the covenant. There is not a single thread of human effort in this fabric. It is not of man, neither by man, but of the Lord alone. We should remember the covenant, and we shall do it, through divine grace; but the hinge of our safety does not hang there—it is God's remembering us, not our remembering Him; and hence the covenant is an everlasting covenant."
""For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts."" Isaiah 55:8-9
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