Do you disqualify yourself from receiving God’s blessings because you feel you are not good enough? Do you feel that you have not worked hard enough, been holy enough, prayed long enough, or attended church often enough for God to save your soul and bless your life? If so, then this message is really for you. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT) Please note what those verses say. “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done.” This means God does forgive our sins, heal our bodies, give us His Spirit, fight our battles and supply our needs because He has seen something good enough in us to deserve His blessings. No matter how hard we try, we can never produce enough holiness on our own to overcome our sinfulness and balance the scales of justice. “By the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.” (Rom. 3:20 KJV) If we can never be good enough to merit even one blessing from God, then are we doomed? Under these circumstances, how can a person ever be saved and blessed? How can God even hear a single prayer? Here is what the Apostle Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has to say to these questions: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8 NIV) Wow! Instead of trying to balance the scales of justice with our good works (which would have been impossible), God balanced it with the sacrificial death of His Son. Jesus’ death, not our good works, is what satisfies the righteous requirements of justice and makes it morally possible for a holy God to bless fallen man. Now, what motivated Jesus to do such an indescribable thing–to take the sinner’s place and to sacrifice Himself to save His enemies? What accounts for such “recklessness?” Love, pure love, prodigal love, God’s love! “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Rom. 5:9-10 NIV) What you need to see is that qualifying for God’s continual blessings today does not depend on your good works any more than receiving God’s initial blessing of salvation did. We are not blessed because we are good. God blesses us because He is good. God is love. All of His blessings are undeserved and unmerited. Child of God, stop disqualifying yourself from receiving unmerited favor and blessings from God. Instead of thinking God won’t bless you because you are not good enough, release God’s grace towards you by believing and saying, “If I have been reconciled to God through the death of Jesus, how much more will I be saved (forgiven, healed, prospered) through Jesus’ life in me now.” Does this mean you have God’s permission to live in sin? “God forbid! How can we who have died to sin live any longer therein?” (Rom. 6:2) What it does mean, however, is that your ability to walk in God’s blessings and favor is not based on the amount of self-effort you exert, but on the amount of dependence you demonstrate in His love and grace. Never forget, it’s not about the strength of your works, not even about the strength of your faith. It’s about the strength of God’s love and the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice. Receive His love and grace freely and then respond to His love by walking in the good works He has ordained for you to walk in. Written by Bishop Darlingston Johnson. Senior Prelate of Bethel World Outreach Ministries with headquarters in Silver Spring Maryland. Read more of his inspirational write-ups on bwomi.org and click on Bishop Johnsons blog
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 02:42:41 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015