Lately I have been plagued with the idea that I am a disappointment to God. The thought of disappointing Jesus enters my mind because He means so much to me, and I'm worried I will fail Him. The Lord has been asking me to do two specific things lately. He knows they are difficult, but He is asking me to do them anyway! He wants me to stop turning to sin when I'm sad; instead He wants me to turn to Him. Jesus also wants me to cut away the people and things in my life that drag me down, burden me, and take me away from Him. Both of these tasks are terrifically hard, and yesterday I was faced with both of them, and I fell on my face and failed! The first thing that I think is "now God wants nothing to do with me." FALSE! God wants everything to do with me, and He will give me another chance! God knows that I will fail when I'm trying to do something that I've never done before, or something that hurts, and He is ready to pick me up when I fall.
I feel a little bit like Peter lately. Peter loved Jesus so deeply, and followed Him closely, but Peter also messed up a lot. Peter denied Jesus 3 times, and peter doubted Jesus when Jesus called him to walk out on the water with Him. One day Peter was walking with Jesus and he asked Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who sins against him, Peter asked "Seven times?" "Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven!" (Matthew 18:22 AMP) Jesus will never stop giving me another chance to do what He is asking me to do. When I messed up again and didn't do what He wanted, I felt so burdened in my spirit, and I could not sleep. I know Jesus doesn't want that either. I know He wants me to rest easy, and be filled with His JOY every moment!
When Jesus asks us to do things, and we know that HE is asking... it is because He wants us to grow and be better, because He loves us so much! Jesus tells us so many times that He wants us to be at peace, and at rest. In Matthew 11:28 (MSG) Jesus said: Come to me, my sweet heart, I know you are tired and you carry around all this guilt, shame, and regret. Give it over to me, and I will give you rest. God wants us to be able to sleep soundly, He knows that is important! When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. (Proverbs 3:24 NIV)
When I give in, and do what Jesus asked me to do, I really do feel full of Joy, Peace, and Contentment. I can live life full of Him! The really cool thing is that Jesus says "Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is!" (Isaiah 43:19 MSG) He can't wait to see me succeed at what He is giving Me. He cannot wait to see Me dace with Joy because of the victory over sin and burdens. Jesus just says "Come to me, and I will give you rest." There is no other way but through Jesus.
So now comes the difficult step, I have to put my money where my mouth is and follow through with cutting out those people who bring hurt and pain. But I remember that Jesus is the true vine and God is the vine dresser "Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit. (John 15:2 AMP) Jesus wants me to be excellent! So, today I am making a commitment to excellence, and I am going to cut out those who God has shown me to let go of.
*Lord Jesus I pray for all of those who read this, that they would be blessed in knowing that you love us so much that you want us to be excellent. I pray Lord that you would help us to be successful in moving forward and letting go of the things and people that hold us back from you. Thank you for your help, and thank you for granting us rest in you. We love you Jesus*
I feel a little bit like Peter lately. Peter loved Jesus so deeply, and followed Him closely, but Peter also messed up a lot. Peter denied Jesus 3 times, and peter doubted Jesus when Jesus called him to walk out on the water with Him. One day Peter was walking with Jesus and he asked Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who sins against him, Peter asked "Seven times?" "Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven!" (Matthew 18:22 AMP) Jesus will never stop giving me another chance to do what He is asking me to do. When I messed up again and didn't do what He wanted, I felt so burdened in my spirit, and I could not sleep. I know Jesus doesn't want that either. I know He wants me to rest easy, and be filled with His JOY every moment!
When Jesus asks us to do things, and we know that HE is asking... it is because He wants us to grow and be better, because He loves us so much! Jesus tells us so many times that He wants us to be at peace, and at rest. In Matthew 11:28 (MSG) Jesus said: Come to me, my sweet heart, I know you are tired and you carry around all this guilt, shame, and regret. Give it over to me, and I will give you rest. God wants us to be able to sleep soundly, He knows that is important! When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. (Proverbs 3:24 NIV)
When I give in, and do what Jesus asked me to do, I really do feel full of Joy, Peace, and Contentment. I can live life full of Him! The really cool thing is that Jesus says "Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is!" (Isaiah 43:19 MSG) He can't wait to see me succeed at what He is giving Me. He cannot wait to see Me dace with Joy because of the victory over sin and burdens. Jesus just says "Come to me, and I will give you rest." There is no other way but through Jesus.
So now comes the difficult step, I have to put my money where my mouth is and follow through with cutting out those people who bring hurt and pain. But I remember that Jesus is the true vine and God is the vine dresser "Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit. (John 15:2 AMP) Jesus wants me to be excellent! So, today I am making a commitment to excellence, and I am going to cut out those who God has shown me to let go of.
*Lord Jesus I pray for all of those who read this, that they would be blessed in knowing that you love us so much that you want us to be excellent. I pray Lord that you would help us to be successful in moving forward and letting go of the things and people that hold us back from you. Thank you for your help, and thank you for granting us rest in you. We love you Jesus*