1 John 2:2 "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."
Our sins forgiven, our lives restored, freedom given to us by our precious Lord Jesus. And yet....how often do we fall under the cloud of guilt, the chains that have bound us in the past coming back to draw us down once again. Those sins, once forgotten and buried; our knowing that we have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, made righteous in Him; those sins come back through the smallest door, back into our consciousness. Once again, the enemy has us in a choke hold...... When this happens, what is the first thing that comes into your mind? Do you begin to feel helpless, overwhelmed by the sin, or the remembrance of it? Does the enemy begin to tell you it is a lie that you were forgiven, that you have no fear of it, that you cannot possibly be acceptable to the Lord with such in your past? NO.....NO......NO !!! We do not go there. We know satan is a liar, we have heard his lies before and we are prepared for these attacks. We know we are totally forgiven by the sacrifice of our Savior, washed in His blood and given the beautiful life that our God wants us to have. So the enemy cannot trip us up here, he cannot bring us down.
SO WHY....do we allow ourselves to feel guilty about things that happen in our lives. We all do. Yesterday, I attended church on the west side of Dallas as I had a lunch planned with a friend after church. We were to meet at a restaurant close by between 12:30 and 1:00. The time came and I was still in church, beautiful service, waiting on the Lord as His presence was just moving in and out in waves. I did not want to leave, but also knew I had an appointment. I am so time oriented, my friends know that I do not do late. It is inconceivable for me to be late. But I stayed where I was, not wanting to leave the presence of the Lord. Finally near 1:30, I knew I had to go. It was so bothering me that they were waiting for so long. So I quietly left. It began on the way to the restaurant; the guilt... first I felt guilty as I had left them waiting for so long, and then that subsided and the guilt came over me that I had left church. How foolish, the Lord showed me this morning. All that time spent on guilty feelings, when it was only the enemy trying to drag me down. To take away the precious time at church in His presence, and make me feel like I should not have enjoyed my lunch. This guilty feeling went on all afternoon and evening.
What a waste of precious time. The Lord told me that when He set me free, I was free. Free to do as I felt I needed and not to feel guilty about it. He said He knew I loved Him with all my heart, and I was not choosing to leave Him for someone else, it was set up and that I was being considerate of others. I was already late and He knew that I had chosen to be even later than to leave church. And then the beauty of my Lord poured over my spirit as He reminded me, that when I left the building, I did not leave Him, for He went with me. He said He could stay in the church with the others worshiping, but He could also go with me, as He said He is always with me. I did not leave Him. I can never leave Him, He would not allow that. He goes with me, always.
How many times do you do things you would prefer not to do, because you would feel guilty if you did not do them. Just can't say no, for the enemy makes you feel that you have to be all things for all people or you are truly not a good person, not a good Christian. If you are not in church for all activities, if you cannot do every activity for your children at school or play, then guilt sets in. How often do we run ourselves ragged just to keep up with what we think is expected of us as Christians. Again, the Lord told me, how foolish. He does not set these guidelines for us, we do that. It is our perception and that of others, of what we should be, what we should do. We need to set limits for ourselves. The Lord wants us to rest in Him, relax in our lives. We spend so much of our time doing everything expected of us that we seldom have the time to relax with our Lord, to spend some time alone with Him. Give Him part of our day.
We are free. The promises of our Lord never change. He set us free, He will not put us on a guilt trip. It is not something He does. If He feels we need to change something in our lives, He will put a longing in our spirits for more of Him, the Holy Spirit will gently convict us of what is in error, and guide us into correcting those things. But guilt will not be a part of it. We are free.
Thank You, Lord, for setting us free. Free to be who we are in You. Free to be happy, and enjoy the lives You have made for us, enjoy the blessings You have given us. We are free to say "No" when it is something we really do not want to do, when it would take away from the time we would like to spend with our families, time we would want to spend with You. We are free. Free to be just Your children, resting in the knowledge that You love us just as we are, we do not have to prove ourselves to You. You, the Father of love, the Creator of life; You have made us free.
01-23-12
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