Monday, November 13, 2017

Faith or Experience?

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus.

That sentence from today’s devotional is very fitting for me. I battle a lot of moods. It is almost constant. I have accepted it as my lot in life...but it doesn’t mean I use it as an excuse. I battle through it and it’s tough sometimes. Satan continues to try to destroy me via my mood swings...and he continues to lose the battle!

We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. 

I am guilty of being in my own little world quite often. I get lost in my memories and self pity. Sometimes it launches into an all out war of unforgiveness toward others...two people in particular who I am no longer able to interact with. I have been convicted about this sin of mine and am happy to say that I am finally winning this one too. I am finally being able to let it go and forgive. They really didn’t know they were in the wrong. They hurt me deeply, but they were either reacting out of their own hurt or truly believing that something else was going on that wasn’t. (Or both) Also...the Lord ordained all of my days for me...including the deep valleys of my life. (Psalm 139:16)

Thankfully, Chambers reminds me of the following truth:
Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified.

I am profoundly thankful for that. Without that...I am hopeless...for I am too unforgiving, too self absorbed, too bitter on my own strength. My sour moods left unchecked, just fester and darken.

Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.


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