God’s View of Our Failures – Part II
Scripture Reading: Luke 23 and Luke 24
Key Verse: Luke 24:45
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
When the women of the group of Jesus’s followers went to the tomb to finish the burial preparations, they encounter an angel. This angel sent them back to the disciples to tell them that Jesus was indeed very much alive!
Though Luke’s Gospel doesn’t include it, Mark’s Gospel adds the fact that the Angel made a special note to these ladies to go tell the disciples and Peter! (Mark 16:7).
I’ve always loved that verse because it confirmed the God’s grace to all of us… even in our failures God never gives up on us! Over and over Jesus tried to get everyone to understand how much the Father in Heaven loves us all and wants us all to spend eternity with Him. We are His creation, and He sees us as His children and that is why “God so loved the world” (John 3:16).
If God had His way, everyone would spend eternity with Him. However He gives every person their free moral choice, and He will not take that from them. Unfortunately, many will refuse God’s offer of salvation and go their own way, to their own destruction.
If you are reading this, I assume you have chosen to follow God and have put your faith in Jesus. If so, don’t allow the devil to take from you the joy of your salvation. The evil one has no power to separate you from God, but he can tempt you to listen to his lies. The greatest lie he feeds us, in my opinion, is that our failures are beyond forgiveness, and we are hypocrites because of those failures.
The truth is, God sees all our failures past, present, and future. He has provided for forgiveness through Jesus; we just need to ask for it. The only way we become hypocrites is to pretend that we never blow it once we have Jesus in us. I don’t believe we have to sin, but I do believe that most of us do fail Him and need to receive His forgiveness.
If you are having trouble believing all this, read the Apostle John’s thoughts to the early Believers over and over: “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the One who is truly righteous.” (1 John 2:1).
When the evil one is beating you up over a failure, just keep repeating this verse as your way of resisting the lies of the evil one.
Don’t forget what James wrote: “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7). Rejoice that you have an advocate like Jesus on your side, and don’t allow the evil one to take your joy in the Lord!
The Bible tells us: “Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:12b). Claim it today!
Father, I claim my joy for this day, knowing you made this day and will make everything turn out for my good! In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.