~ "When I pursue You, I will be found by You."- Cindy Trimm That's it! Did you catch that?! When we give GOD an inch, He comes the rest of the mile. If WE PURSUE Him, HE WILL FIND us. He isn't hiding, we don't have to go on a scavenger hunt for CHRIST. He isn't playing "chase" or "hard to get" with us. If we just pursue Him, He'll come running to us with open arms. Sometimes, we don’t come to Christ because we feel inadequate, like we don’t have it all together enough to be able to reach God. Or sometimes we feel that we have fallen so far, that we could never find our way back to Him. Don’t give into this trick of the enemy. God isn’t asking for a perfect person, He is searching for the broken. God isn’t hiding from us, we are the ones who hide from Him when we feel we’ve done wrong (Genesis 3:8-9).
Jesus didn’t come for the righteous and the ones who “have it all together”, He came for the sick, the broken, sinners. (Mark 2:17)
Some may ask, “Why doesn’t He just come to me?" The Holy Spirit is a Gentleman. He won’t just step in and change your life until you take the step of asking Him into your life.
If we would just take that one step towards Christ, He will do the cleansing, refining and purifying.
He’ll do the molding and the shaping. He will guide us into our destiny and who we were called to be. The question is, are we willing to take that first step?
I have friends who in the past stayed away from God. They didn’t stay away from Him because they hated Him or because they didn’t believe in Him but because they respected Him and feared hypocrisy.They had encountered Christians who spoke one thing but did another and they didn’t want to be that way. My friends preferred to stay away from Jesus until they were ready for a complete commitment. They saw pastors preach a sermon but then struggle with sin in their personal lives. Now don’t get me wrong, there are many hypocrites out there, but you have to realize a couple of things here:
First, all have fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Christians aren’t perfect. Matter a fact, we are far from it. Whether saved or not, our greatest deeds are seen as filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6). For this reason, along with many others, we (Christians) have accepted Jesus Christ, because we know that we aren’t perfect and could never redeem ourselves.
Secondly, a lot of people believe that if you accept salvation but don’t have your life together then you’re a hypocrite, but the truth is, that’s why you accept salvation. Christ saved us because He knew that we wouldn’t be able to get it right on our own. He knew that we would never be able to save ourselves. If you could get your life right on your own, there would be no need for Christ. You don’t have to be perfect to earn salvation, and you don’t have to get your life right before you “justly deserve” it either. Salvation is a free gift meant for the sinner, it would be of no value to us if we were perfect.
Third, to become saved, you must confess your sins, accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and invite Him into your heart (1 John 1:9). Did you see those three words there? “Confess your sins”. Hypocrites claim to have one lifestyle tho they live another. So, if you’re truly saved, you can’t be a hypocrite because you confess your sins meaning, that though you preach the Gospel, you’re still suppose to confess your sins. By confessing your sins, you’re confessing that you’re not perfect and by accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior, you’re declaring that you’ve chosen to serve the One Who is.
Lastly, even if someone claiming Christianity appears to be hypocritical, don’t allow their character to keep you from Christ and salvation. Don’t allow someone else’s actions to dictate your eternity, focus on what Christ did to save your eternity (Matt. 27:32-56).
Now, you don’t have to broadcast your sins to the world because you aren’t trying to ruin your witness nor are you trying to mess up God’s reputation (for we carry His Name), but don’t lie or try to keep secret where you’ve been and what God has delivered you from. Your mess will be a message to those you minister to. The truth will set you free (John 8:32) and your testimony will help you overcome (Rev. 12:11).
Song that inspired this post: Tug of War by Andy Mineo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uubPjUhxAyQ
