I’ve been listening to Joseph Prince’s “Secrets to Divine Success” (as well as a few of his other monthly CDs he offers on his site) and it’s hitting real close to home. It talks about how we can’t give into the guilt or self-condemnation of our sins, but we are freed from them by the grace of knowing God’s love for us. I feel like that’s been the ongoing theme all week for me.
I feel so testy lately, like I snap at the most fragile touch, and I don’t know why, but Prince’s theory is when we’re giving into sin (in my case anger u.u) that there’s self-condemnation in our life. So what am I feeling condemned over, I wonder? This is just me sorta, thinkin’ out loud via blog, but it really got me to thinking, bout what Prince said. When we’re falling into sin, it’s not because we’re bad, because God says we’re holy and blameless (eph 1:4) rather, because we’re under the belief that we have to make up for it, or that we can’t escape it. Augh, so what am I angsting over, I don’t even know!
This has just been one of those weeks, where I’m in the word, I’m hearin’ great revelations, I’m feeling enlightened, yet I’m stumbling over every tiny little thing, and being tested on what I just learned! I feel like it’s the pop quiz at the end of every class day! “Good, you’ve studied and learned LETS PUT IT TO THE TEST!” And I feel like I’m failing these tests, but that’s exactly the problem I have to learn to avoid! We can’t give into that feeling, because the moment we do, that’s when we actually failed….
So I’ll do what pastor Prince suggested, and when we screw up, confessing “I am the righteousness of God.” It feels so awkward coming from a mouth that two seconds ago was spouting anger, but I have to say it, because it’s the truth in the word (Phil 3:9)
Man… Actually, how quickly God gives insight to those who seek! (luke 11:9) In trying to google a good scripture to back that previous paragraph up, I came across the phrase in relation to our righteousness: “Given by grace, and received by faith” (Daily Rhema)… Man. That pretty much answers everything I need to know. The reason I don’t feel it, is cuz I’m not believing it enough. I ‘know’ it, but I’m not receiving it, because I haven’t written that on my heart enough.
Funny how something can be so simple, yet SO hard to keep on our hearts? “Jesus loves me this I know,” such an overused and contrite little song, yet how much power is in that song… That’s really the answer, but that verse in the song isn’t enough. Perhaps it comes off as so contrite, because of the nature of the verse “Jesus loves me this I know.” How much more would we have benefited growing up instead, with “Jesus loves me, this I receive”? Then again… that makes for a rather wretched rhyme scheme ._.
