There is no pain quite like the sting left in the wake of self rejection. Yet, our own failures open the door to the possibilities discovered in the feeling and knowing of regret and guilt. It is bravery of the highest degree to plumb the depths of our secret war with our self. "To thine own self be true."
Freedom is sweetest once we are released from the dark dungeons of denial and depression. It begins while allowing pain to push us toward the light found only in the brutal, honest, fearless, inventory of our self. Beyond that veil we begin to discover the boundless realities of Grace! And after such glorious discovery we begin to move toward the bright light of who we truly are in Jesus!
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, BUT shouts to us in our pain." C. S. Lewis
God shouts Grace, Grace to us in our pain! Only the shouts of Grace drown out all the other voices. Beginning to listen more to the shouts of Grace, "we find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise."
We discover in the midst of all these shouts of grace that "He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway...God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him." (Romans 5, Msg.)
Christ’s unconditional love and acceptance arrives right on time, in the midst of our failure and deepest denial. "And that's not all. We throw open our door to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us." And in the open door of Grace, we are flooded for the first time with the light of true self discovery!
What follows is almost too good to be true. This constant Grace awakening reveals our authentic identity in Christ. We really are Sons and Daughters of Heavenly Father and that adoptive position is tethered only to His righteousness—not our performance!
1Cor 15:10 While my own doing completely disqualified me; his doing now defines me. I am what I am by the grace of God. I am because he is! His grace was not wasted on me; instead I am inspired to labor beyond the point of exhaustion, more than anything I ever did under the law of performance; whatever it is that I accomplish now has grace written all over it. I take no credit for it. (Mirror Bible www.mirrorfriends.com)
"Through him (Jesus) we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ!" (The Message) Here we also discover our true meaning and purpose.
Our faith in Jesus transfers God’s righteousness to us and he now declares us flawless in his eyes. This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, has done for us.
Our faith guarantees us permanent access into this marvelous kindness that has given us a perfect relationship with God. What incredible joy bursts forth within us as we keep on celebrating our hope of experiencing God’s glory!
But that’s not all! Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressures will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!
For when the time was right, the Anointed One came and died to demonstrate his love for sinners who were entirely helpless, weak, and powerless to save themselves. Now, would anyone dare to die for the sake of a wicked person? We can all understand if someone was willing to die for a truly noble person. But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly! And there is still much more to say of his unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in my sight.”
And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God. So if while we were still enemies, God fully reconciled us to himself through the death of his Son, then something greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, and because we share in his resurrection life, how much more we will be rescued from sin’s dominion! Romans 5:1-10 TPT
There's something bigger going on...but; that is the rest of our story! Ron Ross
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