Believing the Gospel

How thankful I am that we have a God who doesn't leave us where we are and continually fights for us and for our sanctification (making us more into Christ's likeness). Recently, I have had the humbling but wonderful opportunity to be reminded of this the hard way. This past weekend, I was made very aware of sin in my life that I had become numb to and okay with. From my speech to my conduct to my thought life, I had let my flesh and thoughts from the enemy lead me instead of being filled with the Spirit. We so easily look to this world and even our Christian friends as a standard as to how we should live instead of our perfect standard, Christ. As believers we are called to live above reproach. This means how we should be speaking and acting is clear in God's Word. Correction from the Holy Spirit, along with my sweet husband, helped me realize how the past few months I have slowly let my relationship with The Lord become a lesser priority in my life. It's so easy to let other things, even good things like serving The Lord through leading small groups, or attending worship services, take precedence over spending time sitting at Jesus’ feet. He tells us what is better in the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-32): sitting at his feet. The God of the whole universe wants to know us personally and deeply before anything else! How amazing is that? Yet we can busy ourselves to the point where we don't even have to reflect on our spiritual status. 

Having my sin made blatantly aware to me made me realize how I had stopped seeing the Gospel as good news and more like old news. I had slowly let myself get distracted and Satan ran with any opportunity he could get to add to this. I gradually let intentional time with The Lord turn to reading some verses and saying a quick prayer to mark it off my to do list. As this sin had manifested, my heart broke seeing how I had strayed, and I came running back to my Father, repentant and incredibly thankful. The gospel is GREAT news. We must preach it to ourselves daily. Our Lord paid an incredible price so that we can live in freedom and without condemnation. It is only by His mercy and grace that we are forgiven. It's easy to let guilt and shame creep in, but I see my deep need to accept forgiveness, repent, and believe that Jesus has paid for it all. It humbles me to see myself stumble, but it points me continually back to my need for the Cross and the fact that I cannot do it on my own. 

So I pray this encourages you in times of stumbling, in times of apathy, and maybe even causes you to pray and look inward and ask The Lord to show you any offensive way in you (Psalm 139:23-24). I pray for you to experience the Gospel in a real and deep way today and everyday, and encourage you to pray daily for the Holy Spirit to fill you, to experience His grace anew each day, and to turn and run from sin. He will answer and always provide immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine.

-Allison Granger