THANKFUL

Chatting with Jesus

Thursday August 17, 2023

Lord, you are aware I do not always live up to my end of our agreement. Here is the deal: you went to the cross to redeem me from the penalty of my sins. You give me a new life by changing me on the inside. No disputing that when you rose from the grave on Easter Sunday, you sealed the deal.

My part of our agreement: commit my life to follow you and share this Good News of redemption from sin by trusting what you did on the cross. In my humanity, in my too-often weaknesses, I fail to completely keep my end of the agreement.

When I do something foolish, and bring embarrassment to your values, the devil jumps all over this. “You are not a good Christian! You claim to be a Christ follower and act like that? Really?”
Regretably, there were times I agreed with him. “You’re right. I’m not a good Christ follower,” and just beat myself up for failing you—again.

You quietly roared to my inner man. “Stop this Nonsense!”

Lord, you strongly disagree I’m a bad Christ follower.

Without a doubt, for all Christ followers, you see our flaws, our struggles with sinful issues and addictions, our yielding to temptations. You see how our “flesh” fights to replace you as center of our lives and take our focus off you. We may hide our ugliness from others, but it is not hidden from you.

Heavenly Father, what do you see? To paraphrase Romans 3:22, by your grace, you see only Christ’s righteousness all over us, not the ugliness of our sins. Those failures and sins, along with our shame, have been erased from our record, paid in full by Jesus Christ Himself.

Another one of Satan’s lies is debunked. How can any believer be a “bad” Christian when all you see, Lord God, is Christ’s righteousness in us?

Big time AMEN!