From the Inside Out
I've been thinking a lot about Peter. Peter from the Bible. He loved Jesus. Jesus loved him. Though, three times, in a not so lengthy span of time, he denied knowing his Lord.
I can identify with Peter. I love Jesus. Jesus loves me. But regularly, without giving it any thought at all, I deny my Lord.
I deny Him when I fail to be thankful.
I deny Him when I think poorly of others( and think highly of myself).
I deny Him when I am not happy.
I can identify with Peter. I love Jesus. Jesus loves me. But regularly, without giving it any thought at all, I deny my Lord.
I deny Him when I fail to be thankful.
I deny Him when I think poorly of others( and think highly of myself).
I deny Him when I am not happy.
I deny Him when I forget that He is there with me at every moment in time.
I deny Him when I seek out my own agenda rather than His.
I deny Him when I... this list goes on and on.
From where I stand this denial is, quite frankly, sin. Ugly, nasty, hide it in the back of the closet, sin. Sin that corrupts. Sin that destroys. Sin that separates me from Him. (Hey, that could be a song - Forget it. Sin has enough of it's own songs already.)
But , while we are on the topic of songs... I'd like to share the first verse and chorus of a song that has ministered to me. It is by Hillsong (Mighty To Save)
"From the Inside Out"
A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out.
We fail miserably. A thousand times (or more) we sin and will continue to (in the present -human- state we are in). Even the advance awareness that Peter would do these things, didn't stop him from doing them anyway. I guess I have advanced notice that I will sin. Knowing that doesn't stop me from sinning even though I don't want to, but I do anyway.
Will it ever stop? Will I ever not deny my Lord? This is a tough question and an even tougher battle. A battle that we will not win on our own. A battle that we must hand over to the Lord. As the song says..."Lord, I give You control". When we give Him control He lives though us. He is sinless and therefore cannot sin. That's when we stop sinning. When He calls the shots. We have to let Him have that control though. When we selfishly hold back a part of us that we don't (or won't) allow Him to control, we sin. This is the battle. The battle of the flesh. The battle of our will against His. It's Satan's favorite tool to use against us; Ourselves.
It is not hopeless though. No, no, no, no. It is never hopeless because He- Jesus Christ- is our Hope. Hope is a confident expectation. We can confidently expect that if we ask Christ to be the ruler of our hearts and consume us from the inside out that He will do just that. That He will make us more like Him. We can confidently expect to be sinless. We can confidently expect to overcome the enemy.
He is neverending, everlasting and His light will shine when all else fades.
So...don't beat yourself up if you fail. He is merciful.
The Bible says "His mercies are new every morning". Lamentations 3:23
Should we stumble again, we will be caught in His grace.
God's Word says,
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you" 1 Peter 5:10
and,
"God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. " 1 Corinthians 10:13
That way of escape is through Him. Jesus is your escape. He is waiting for you to invite Him in. He wants to heal the wounds we cause ourselves; to restore us to fullness. When He cleans us up from the inside out we are clean indeed. And then we can stop lying to the world about how "fine" we are.
Heavenly Father,
Consume me from the inside out. Heal the wounds I have caused myself and others. Forgive me for my sin. I give you control to lead me in righteousness. Be my escape from temptation. I know that I can endure it all when You are in me. You have already fought the battle and won. I am on the winning team. Help me to never forget that. ~ Amen
I deny Him when I... this list goes on and on.
From where I stand this denial is, quite frankly, sin. Ugly, nasty, hide it in the back of the closet, sin. Sin that corrupts. Sin that destroys. Sin that separates me from Him. (Hey, that could be a song - Forget it. Sin has enough of it's own songs already.)
But , while we are on the topic of songs... I'd like to share the first verse and chorus of a song that has ministered to me. It is by Hillsong (Mighty To Save)
"From the Inside Out"
A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out.
We fail miserably. A thousand times (or more) we sin and will continue to (in the present -human- state we are in). Even the advance awareness that Peter would do these things, didn't stop him from doing them anyway. I guess I have advanced notice that I will sin. Knowing that doesn't stop me from sinning even though I don't want to, but I do anyway.
Will it ever stop? Will I ever not deny my Lord? This is a tough question and an even tougher battle. A battle that we will not win on our own. A battle that we must hand over to the Lord. As the song says..."Lord, I give You control". When we give Him control He lives though us. He is sinless and therefore cannot sin. That's when we stop sinning. When He calls the shots. We have to let Him have that control though. When we selfishly hold back a part of us that we don't (or won't) allow Him to control, we sin. This is the battle. The battle of the flesh. The battle of our will against His. It's Satan's favorite tool to use against us; Ourselves.
It is not hopeless though. No, no, no, no. It is never hopeless because He- Jesus Christ- is our Hope. Hope is a confident expectation. We can confidently expect that if we ask Christ to be the ruler of our hearts and consume us from the inside out that He will do just that. That He will make us more like Him. We can confidently expect to be sinless. We can confidently expect to overcome the enemy.
He is neverending, everlasting and His light will shine when all else fades.
So...don't beat yourself up if you fail. He is merciful.
The Bible says "His mercies are new every morning". Lamentations 3:23
Should we stumble again, we will be caught in His grace.
God's Word says,
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you" 1 Peter 5:10
and,
"God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. " 1 Corinthians 10:13
That way of escape is through Him. Jesus is your escape. He is waiting for you to invite Him in. He wants to heal the wounds we cause ourselves; to restore us to fullness. When He cleans us up from the inside out we are clean indeed. And then we can stop lying to the world about how "fine" we are.
Heavenly Father,
Consume me from the inside out. Heal the wounds I have caused myself and others. Forgive me for my sin. I give you control to lead me in righteousness. Be my escape from temptation. I know that I can endure it all when You are in me. You have already fought the battle and won. I am on the winning team. Help me to never forget that. ~ Amen
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