Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. Romans 3:27

If you are anything like me, you can often catch yourself striving for God’s approval. But trying to gain worthiness is the way of Hell.

I am hard on myself, so much so that my friends and family worry about me from time to time. While I’m not nearly as hard on others, I hold myself to a ridiculously high standard. That is one of the reasons I believe that God has allowed an autoimmune illness to come into my life. It has been creeping in slowly, beginning with migraines at age two. I’ve never known what it’s like to not be exhausted and in pain. To compensate, I’ve pushed myself above and beyond to become an over-achiever. I do not have the time of day for laziness and whining. So, some of this is good. Very good, even.

But, do you smell the sulfur of legalism here? I do. I’ve lived it. Illness has forced me to be so dependent on God that I am daily aware that my heart can’t beat even once without Him. While my life didn’t turn out the way I thought it would, I have joy and know that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. There has been very little room for me to get off the right path, but there have been times when somehow I’ve managed to veer off anyway. Through it all, I have come to know that my Heavenly Father boxes me in out of love. I have nothing good to give Him. I have less than nothing because all I have is flesh.

I was grieving in prayer the other day that I didn’t have lovely things (like gold, frankincense, and myrrh) to give the Savior, the One who gave me everything. Then I heard the softest, sweetest reply in my spirit, “Just keep giving me what you have. Trade in and I will give you something better.” The point is that if we give Jesus the soul junk that we harbor, that makes room for His heart to connect with ours. The fact that we care at all means that we belong to Jesus Christ, the ONLY originator and definition of goodness.

Heavenly Father, I look up out of the mire to Your glory. I praise You and am so thankful that You clean me up to be shiny and new. You live in me, making me precious. Being unworthy makes my spiritual adoption all the more lovely.  In Jesus Name, Amen

Journal:

Do you have parts of your life that look holy but are just legalistic?

How do you discern the fine line between disciplined holiness and fleshy legalism?

Write out a prayer thanking God for His adoption, through Jesus, our big brother.

DIFFICULT GIFTS

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial…Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above… James 1:12a and 17a

Have you ever received a gift that you did not want? Have you ever been given a gift that required great responsibility from you?

I became a follower of Jesus at a young age so my spiritual gifts surfaced at this time. It became very evident early on that one of my gifts is discernment. I’ve always been able to see people and situations, especially in a ministry setting, clearly. Motives (both good and bad) were rarely ever hidden from me. Even at age 8, I could often tell what was driving people to make certain choices. This did not make me popular. Kids are pretty blunt and I was no exception.

Eventually, I learned that it was more important to see and listen instead of see and speak. While all of us are all called to cultivate a deep prayer life, it is crucial for those with a discernment gift. If we walk closely with Jesus and know His Word then we will know when to speak up, because timing IS everything. Continue reading “Difficult Gifts” →

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe her. Mark 16:11 (ESV)

Has God ever come through for you, but you found yourself just not believing? Did you know that this can be a huge roadblock ~ keeping you from a deliverance in your life?

After Jesus’ crucifixion, His followers experienced such grief. The very man they saw raise Lazarus from the dead, and many others, the very man who made the blind to see, the very man who saw into their hearts and accepted them, died the most gruesome death imaginable. This lead them to a crisis of faith. Were they imagining things? Was what they saw and experienced real? Continue reading “Too Good To Be True” →