Standing In My Own Way...

I saw this on Facebook recently. I immediately emailed the photo to myself (as you do) and wrote the following:

Standing in my own way.
Not remembering His promise of redemption.
Taking the world's word over God's, etc

We are told many times in the Bible that through the blood of Jesus we will be washed whiter than snow. That our sins are forgiven.

Heather King reminds us here that "we are promised a new identity in Christ". We are made new.

It's an amazing promise.

But do you have times when you just don't feel like you've been "made new"? I know I certainly do, and seeing this quote from Heather King has made me really think about why.

My number one enemy (next to Satan, of course) is me. I stand in my own way. I cause myself many of the problems that I encounter. I am not good to myself. And I need to be. A friend's number one quote is "Be good to yourself". I understand why he says that. And I must remember to be.

Speaking of remembering, I must remind myself that I have been redeemed. Jesus didn't die on the cross for no reason at all. He didn't commit any sin. He died on the cross for a purpose, which is you and me. To die in place of our sins. To receive promise to spend eternity with Him.

I am redeemed. I am redeemed. I am redeemed.

And because I am redeemed, I have full access to all that God promised His people. That includes God Himself, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It includes the ability to pray at any given moment about any given thing. To have a conversation with Him. To be in an intimate relationship with Him.

It also includes inclusion into God's family. Adoption into a heavenly and holy family where peace and love and kindness and forgiveness and grace are normal. It means never having to be alone again. Never having to feel like we don't belong.

The privilege of having access to God's Living Word, the Bible. His book. His words written down over thousands of years by men who loved God, who knew Him and who saw first hand the amazing works and miracles He performed. The Word that speaks to us as we study it.

One thing that I know I as a Christian battles with the most is ignoring the world and its lies. Fighting a spiritual battle that wages between God and Satan with our souls as the prize. The battle that rages in our hearts and souls and will not end until after Jesus returns.

We must not stand in our own way.
We must remember our redemption
We must trust in God's Word only.

Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us that "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Amen.