Come to the Light

The other day, Emily Freeman posted these words:

"...may I not be surprised by my own ability to mess things up. 

May I refuse to be shocked by my own, jealousy, stubbornness, impatience and indifference..."

She went on to talk about being surprised by God's grace and delighted in His presence instead. 

Couple that post with the Bible study time happening with "Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically" by John Snyder where I'm currently studying how my own sin makes knowing God impossible without His help and you've got a recipe for something GOOD.

James 4:8 says something we're all familiar with:

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..."

What we may not be familiar with are the rest of the words that follow, that same verse ends like this:

"Cleanse your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

When God looks at humans, He assumes sin. He knows it's there and He does not ignore it. 

Why is it that when we look at ourselves we assume goodness? Why is it that we are consumed with being surprised when sin bubbles up and then quick to shift any attention it's receiving away from it? 

Talk about DUMB. 

God is in the business of exposing sin. From there He may dole out consequences. From there, He may clean or punish...That part is really up to Him. 

As Christians, we know that exposed sin ALWAYS leads to forgiveness! Sure, we'll have to deal with consequences, but what are consequences in light of the LIFE that we have in Christ?

Why do we act surprised? Why do we hide? Forgiveness is OURS! 

Ladies...You are SINNERS. You are going to mess things up with your jealousy, stubbornness, impatience, indifference, and a million other things that are all coming from that wicked heart inside of you. That's truth. The rest of the truth is this:

"Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he had not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. Fore everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God." 

When sin comes and you're tempted to be surprised and then to make light of it, remember the light that Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension have shed on it! 

Remember that because of Him and the work that God has done in making Himself known to you, that sin does not condemn you! Thank God for making a way for your hands to be cleansed and your heart to be purified and join Him in seeing to it that you are walking in the light that is His presence. 

Lately I have been captivated with the fact that the God who made ALL that exists invites His people to KNOW Him and to WALK with Him....He knows His people and leads them to become more like the Son whose name they have taken as their own. 

Christian, your life here will be over before you know it, won't you spend it in pursuit God, the very fountain of Living Water?