The Father Himself...
Friday, June 5, 2020 Good morning, Lord V.O.D.: O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!—Psalm 8:1 M.O.M.: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 In a year: 2 Chronicles 25-27 John 16
The Father Himself Loves You
Jesus said, "for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. John 16:17
A great tragedy is when people go to God in pain and feel a wall there-they feel as though they have been abandoned by God and ask, "Where is God now?".
I have been there. I have suffered what I considered to be great pain and could not 'find God'. It is the truth that before the pain, I was not seeking God. I had not tried to 'find God' for some time as I was feeling great self-sufficiency and pride. Then pain came and I found a wall- no voice and no help. This was all my personal perception.
I was in a place where I was going through the motions and saying all the right things-you know, looking good and smelling good-but what was really happening was that I was praying for everyone else but myself. It appeared to the world around me that I was following God. What I was doing was living behind a facade I had built-wearing a face of righteousness but I was like the pharisees Jesus spoke to when He said, 27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.Matthew 23:27-28
So, I went through a time of searching and went back to the basics. I started writing this thing ten years ago. Reading the scripture everyday and memorizing scripture and writing what God showed me that day. It all starts with humbling myself before God everyday. No one can take my stuff before God but me. I must empty myself of all things self and see my life along side the righteousness of God and face reality. I have no righteousness of my own.
…8More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. Philippians 3
So, we all have that daily choice to make. Do we seek God or self? Do we seek His real righteousness that comes from faith in Him or seek a great face based on self-faith that looks good to the world? Do we seek God and know that His joy is to be made full in us or do we seek something that is manufactured by some entity in this world?
God gives real life. Anything else is not life. It is base, empty existence.
So, I started and continued and set my jaw with God's determination and then the real pain came.(God said there would be pain and He has promised to get us through it.) I did not struggle to find God because my own sin was no longer separating me from Him. Yes, I still sin, but my communication with God stays open because I confess and keep going-not because I am a 'super- christian'-because I am chief of sinners-under God's hand.
The wall I had hit at first was my sin, plain and simple. If I could not sense God or 'find' Him, it was because my sin and pride had built a wall of self-dependence. Going before God in humble confession destroys that barrier of self and sin. Continuing with the same pattern everyday, all day, makes humility before God a way of living.
The Father, Himself, loves you. He wants us all to humble ourselves under His hand and stay there under His hand of protection and guidance-but-if we get away and into self and the pain hits hard-it is time not to scream , "God, where are you?!", but to cry out in humility, "Lord forgive me, I have let self and sin separate us".
Guilt and shame are not from God's heart-they are of the human heart. There is no condemnation for those in Christ(Romans 8:1). Forgiveness is God's heart. The Holy Spirit shows us He knows when we are wrong and invites us to confess.(We know, of course, we have sinned).
Get into a regimen-a pattern of living-a course of action. Don't worry about getting into a rut. I remember being stuck in ruts in the mud-when I got pulled out, the rut always led to solid ground.
, "for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. John 16:17
...because He loves us...
Father in Heaven, Forgive me for not being consistent and letting self get in the way. Lead me to Your rightrousness. Merciful and powerful God! In the name of Jesus, Amen