"The lovingkindness of God our Father is that He moves on us again and again to prompt us to do some good thing. When we finally act, He lets us reap a hundredfold as though it were all our own idea. He sends servants on earth and in heaven to persuade us not to do some bad thing; but when we do it, He moves heaven and earth to cause us to repent and confess so He can reap all our evil for us in His Son Jesus on the cross!" - John Sandford
I love this quote. It is a true representation of how loving and awesome God is. All I can say is that I love my Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart, mind, soul and strength and you'll hear it in the music.
It's funny - I used to think that I was in a bunch of hopeless circumstances. Coming from a church going family, I grew up hearing about Jesus, but I didn't know Him for myself. I was full of condemnation, judgment, manipulation, misery, anxiety, doubt, discouragement and so much more. I was in many circumstances that I thought were hopeless. There was no way that I could overcome the ways that I thought about people, the horrible choices that I made that continued to make me miserable or the guilt, shame and frustration that bombarded my life. I didn't think that I could truly love anyone without some kind of selfish ambition or manipulation behind it. I could laugh with my friends every so often, but I never had a joy that stayed. I never had a peace that was consistant through the bad times...I always worried and feared. But then God used some people in my life to tell me the TRUE message of Jesus Christ. And the message is this - - -
Any hopeless circumstance that you think you are in has been overcome if you trust in the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 15:57) The salvation of Jesus is NOT just about heaven or hell, it's about God wanting to save you from the garbage that you face in life. He wants to release the discouragements, doubts, distractions, deceptions, fears, anxieties, pain, shame, guilt and hurt from your life. He will take that burden. Do you trust that?
How do you receive this salvation. For all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. (Rom 10:13) If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead then you will be saved. (Rom. 10:9)
Some of you might be struggling with living a life for Jesus and you want to know how you can have this salvation to the fullest. The answer is simple. Perservere. Don't give up when times get rough. (Phil. 3:14-16) Keep striving to see the Lord. Sometimes, we get discouraged, because we SEE bad fruit coming from our lives. We see ourselves making the same wrong choices over and over again. We wonder if our heart has really ever been turned over to the Lord. Sometimes, we try in our own strength to overcome these things by enhancing our Bible reading in which we go through chapter after chapter never really accomplishing anything accept a page turn every now and again or we try in our own strength to set aside more time to pray prayers that we don't even believe. God's will for your life is that you would not make anymore decision based off of what you SEE or what you HEAR or what you PERCEIVE ever again. Do not be transformed to the patterns of this world. (Rom. 12:2) Stop doing things out of routine.
God wants you to walk by FAITH believing His every promise. When you read the Bible, either believe that God is going to use it to speak to you or put it down. When you pray, either believe that the things you pray will glorify His name and therefore they will happen (you can pray these prayers in His authority) or just do something else.
If your heart's desire is to see God clearer now, know that He is always ready to grant you repentance. Meaning, He is ready to give you a fresh start. But we must be yeilded before Him...knowing that no routine...no "good" deed...nothing will satisfy our Creator until He has our hearts fully yielded in His hand. Beyond the garbage, disruption and chaos that you see in life, you can trust the Lord and believe these promises and many more.
Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you - Matt. 6:33
If we pursue the Lord, we will find the Lord - Jer. 29:13
If our heart is for the Lord then no weapon fashioned againist us can prosper - Is. 54:17
When we ask in faith believing, it will happen - Mark 11:22
God gives to all who ask - Jam 1:5-8
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