I've crossed the line...

Lie:  I’ve really blown it this time. God will never love me again.

Truth:  There is nothing I could do to make God not love me.

Scripture:  Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

How many times have we heard this lie whispered in our ears? It may not be as bad as “God will never love me again”, but equally as twisted as “God will never be pleased with me again” or “God will never trust me again”.  It could come in the form of “God will never use me again to bless others”. Have you heard any of these? I’ve personally heard all of these lies whispered in my ears. Why would the devil want us to believe this lie? Because if we do, we just might give up and drift away from God and his word, believing there is no hope. We will fall into despondency and discouragement. Even more – the people that we could have ministered to or encouraged will not receive that touch from God through us.

Let me relate an incident that happened yesterday at work. I became very irritated with something that happened and the other person involved knew I was irritated – I displayed a bad attitude. Afterwards I was so angry with myself. I knew better. What kind of example of being a Christian was I?  Then not only was I irritated with the situation, I was even more irritated with myself. Five minutes later one of my dear Christian colleagues came along. I told her what had happened and how mad I was at myself. Here is what she said:  “Mary, I’m going to let you in on a little secret… (I waited for the rest of the sentence)…you’re not perfect! Only God is perfect.” Well, I laughed and replied “Yes, I know, but I hate it when I’m not”. What did I do? I went back to the person and apologized and everything was put right.

“Yes, but Mary” you say, “I have done terrible things, shameful things, not merely a display of a bad attitude. Can he still love me after what I have done?” Yes, he can and he does!! I have done far worse things too. Here is what we have to come to terms with:  is the Word of God true, or is God a liar? If we believe that the Word of God is true then we must accept it, stand on it and affirm it in our lives. What does our verse for today state? - that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.   I think the mistakes we make and the wrong or terrible things we do are covered in the “nor anything else in all creation” part. We are included in all creation, are we not? Therefore nothing we can do can separate us from the love of God. He is not giving up on us, so don’t give up on yourself. Here is a true saying, “He can take your mess and turn it into a message”. Whatever your mess is, talk about it with Jesus today.