Promises, Promises...

One of the hardest things for me to grasp as a Christian is the whole, Grace concept.

I would try and hold myself up to this unrealistic standard. I would pray, listen to Christian music, not swear, not drink or have sex and all in hopes that I'd be just a little bit better in God's eyes.

Somehow by doing all these things and living pious, I'd somehow earn salvation on my own merit.

The greatest thing about Grace is the fact that God knows we'll mess up and blow it. Since he's not constricted by time, he can be in the past, present and future all at once. He already knows we messed up before we do.

Which further blows my mind because, he's like, "yeah, you're gonna do this and I've already forgiven you.

...like before you were born."

You're allowed to mess up. Perfection is only a lie the enemy puts in your head to get you to focus off Gods Grace and shift it on to, well, you.

If your thoughts are on you then you can't really line your thinking up with Gods thoughts.

God promises us so many things... and all we have to do is trust and wait. I joke with people all the time, God's not asking you to lead an enslaved people out of Egypt. He's just trying to lead you into the life he's made for you.

God promises us that we don't have to be burdened. He actually says, I'll take your burden and you can have mine! (Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30) 

I would start by standing on that promise. I would wake up and speak those words into my life daily and whenever I have negative thoughts of my situation. Stand on Gods promise.

Or Matthew 6:26 -
      26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
      27“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
      28“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
      29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.     
      30“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
      31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
      32“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
      33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
      34“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Jesus speaks to everyone and specifically you. It's basically his way of saying, "I know you're going to worry but...I got this."

and Hebrews 13:5 says: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Or Jeremiah 29:11 - 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

My whole point is that God does speak to you! He's giving you these promises and more blessing than we can fathom. You just need to start to stand on these promises and believe in them. When life is coming at you full force, you can look back and say yeah, this is kind of crappy, but it's not the end of me. It's not going to stop God's promises or plans for my life.

The minute you accepted Christ, you were adopted into royalty! Jesus gave you his Grace. You were forgiven before you were born and given all of these promises.

I'll close on this. If you had an estranged Aunt who left you billions of dollars but all you had to do was claim it and wait for the check to come in the mail or clear the bank, you'd be both excited and patient because of what it would mean to you and how it would change the quality of your life.

God's promises are exponentially worth more than billions. And just like the inheritance... this is yours for the claiming. But you have to decide to claim it!

Stop trying to be the rock and let Jesus be your rock. ...cuz you rock!