Remember Who God Is

One who has been touched by grace will no longer look on those who stray as "those evil people" or "those poor people who need our help." Nor must we search for signs of "loveworthiness." Grace teaches us that God loves because of who God is, not because of who we are. Philip Yancey

Why do we have such a hard time accepting who we are?  God created us, but yet we still look at ourselves in a bad light instead of God’s light.  Why do we continue to deny Whose we are?

Maybe it is because we buy into what others say about us or to us and forget who God is. We place more value in someone we know on earth than in Our Heavenly Father who created us.  If we believe that He created us in His image; why do we sell out?

Other times I think we buy what others are putting down because of guilt.  We’ve done things wrong in our life and we start believing that God wouldn’t want us either. I believe God understands our failings.  He created us so He knows exactly what we are capable of, but He also redeems us.  He allows us to get back into relationship with Him. 

There are several things we need to understand when it comes to God.  God doesn’t move; we do.  God is there all the time.  Not just when things are going great; He is there always waiting for us to come back to Him.  He loves us that much.  The second thing is we need to admit our failings to Him.  The interesting thing about this is that God doesn’t need us to tell Him our failings so that He will understand what we’ve done.  He already knows.  Our admitting our sins and wrongs to Him brings us back into relationship with Him.

 

In Jeremiah 29:10-14 we see a picture of how God feels about us.  He loves us enough to want us back.  But he also wants us to be better.

   

For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

God waits for us to return to Him. Search for Him with all your heart and you will not be disappointed. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want my life to be a living sacrifice to You.  I don’t always do a good job of it.  When I fail, I sometimes turn away from You in shame because I know I have failed You.  Help me to remember how much You love me and want what is best for me.  Remind me of that when shame overtakes me in my sin so that I can accept Whose I am and return to You.     

      

Scripture: But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.  Psalm 59:16