Jesus told a parable about a servant who was forgiven a great debt. This man found grace and mercy with his master, but he took it all for granted. Immediately after he was forgiven, he went out and began to choke a man who owed him a small, insignificant debt.
Even if you lived to be five hundred years old, you would not live long enough to please God by your own design. Perhaps the devil has convinced you that you have disappointed God and will never be able to please him. But that is a lie because you have been saved and forgiven.
If God’s Church today is righteous, it is only because of the blood of Jesus Christ, and not because of any goodness or morality he has seen in us. His sheer mercy came to us and pulled us out of judgment.
The glorious truth of the gospel is that if we die with Jesus, then we also come into the glory of his resurrection and into newness of life. His cross is our cross, his death is our death, and his resurrection is our resurrection, through our identification and union with him.
Talk to God — practice his nearness — and he will do great things for you. You will know the grip of his hand at all times. Hallelujah!
Once you understand the truth of God’s constant nearness to you — that he loves you and is continually near you —all fear and anxiety must go!
This truth is more than a lovely thought. It is the very key to your deliverance from every battle that rages in your soul, the secret to entering into the rest God has promised you.
All your trials are designed to throw you into the arms of Jesus, producing in you the sweet aroma of trust and faith in your Lord. We have a tendency to forget all the good things God has done for us, so it is good to remind ourselves of past victories and divine intervention.
Looking back over my life, I am amazed as I recall the sorrows, deep waters, and flaming fires I have endured. Even the memory of some of these experiences is painful. Yet, I can say with assurance, “God’s Word is true. He brought me out of every trial and I praise him!”
God certainly has the power to keep us from all afflictions, but he allows us to go through certain things. Every trial God allows is an investment he is making in us, a training exercise behind which is a divine purpose.