He Is With You

 The question to reflect upon in the midst of the darkest of the dark wrestling struggles with temptations and addictions we may have is:  "What difference would it make for you to believe that God, our Heavenly Father, is with us even in that darkness?"  Can you, can we, wrap our minds around that thought? He has said, 

"I will never leave you nor forsake you..." (Hebrews 13:5 NIV).

He is with us wherever we go whether on the mountain tops or in the valley, deep and dark, below.  In our shame and self-disgust, believe this truth - our God is with us (Genesis 28:15).

Satan may smirk and feed us the lie that we've gone too far this time, God will never want anything to do with us ever again.  This is simply NOT true!

This, even if we had been molested and/or raped as a child or become a prostitute through human trafficing or otherwise, and suffered nightmarish things at the hands of evil men.  Or, had been steeped in pornography and those images had been tattooed upon our minds, there is hope.

If we have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior then we can never, ever be separated from God from that moment onwards.  No one can separate us from God's love.  Look at what was written in Romans 8:38-39 NIV,

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons...will separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Not even demons (and/or Satan) can tear us away from God's love.  Certainly, our relationship with the Lord will be affected until there is genuine repentance and confession as we will still feel the shame of our wrong deeds stemming from our own evil desires or the evil desires and actions of others, and rightly so.  However, 1 John 1:9 reverbrates, 

"If we confess, He'll forgive and purify from all unrigheousness" (NIV).

Did you get that?  "Purified from ALL unrighteousness" [emphasis mine].  God makes slates, not just clean, but He also scrubs out any tiny residual stain of our guilt and shame. 

On the other hand, God's grace is costly grace so He does not wish us to be cycling up and down like yo-yo's saying, "Ah, I can do this sin, nevermind, the Lord will forgive me - again."  To me, this smacks of insincerity.  Yes, we do stumble and fall, even with the same sin but if we intentionally do wrong because we say flippantly, "Oh, God will forgive me" - well, would you trust a son or daughter who purposely (in your opinion and deduction) and perpetually committed the same infraction time and again?

God our Heavenly Father wants a better life for us than the...

 "...fleeting pleasures of sin for a season" (Hebrews 11:25).  

He wants us to have abundant life in Him.  We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).  Know that He is with each of us in our darkness even of repeated sin.  However, He wants to bring us up out of the deep pits of miry clay we often get ourselves mired in but can't get ourselves out of....unless, unless, of course, we completely trust Him to help us.  

Put your hand in His because He is right there beside you, with you, even in those flames that are blazing around you (Isaiah 43:1-2).  Cut out the self-pity and let's wrap our minds around these facts.

Just say the word - ask - from a humble, repentant heart.  He doesn't force us but is ready and waiting to aid when we cry out to Him.  He will bring you back to seek His light today.

Thanks be to God!  He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

                                             ~ERC  July 2022~

Based on the Heart of Man - YouVersion Devotion

Sing, No Condemnation, along with Anthony Evans.