Accepted.
This is a word that The Lord has continually put on my heart since I have been here in The Philippines, I’m 100% accepted by Christ. With all my flaws and all, He still loves me. Even when I don’t act like a lady and make fart noises with my mouth, even when I don’t feel like going out and doing ministry that day, even when I ate way too many brownies, even when I curse, even when I didn’t listen to His voice and go pray for someone to get healed, he still loves me. All of me. And I’m completely accepted by Him.
For the longest time I struggled with breaking free from the mentality that I have to do a number of good things for God to fully accept me or be proud of me, or I have to act or talk a certain way for God to really, really love me. I was always striving for the approval of God. Little did I know I already had it. And I’ve had it since I was born, when I messed up the most, and I still have his approval right now, and whenever I do the nicest thing in the world and whenever I do the worst. Because that’s who God is, He is love. We don’t have to DO anything to win God’s favor. We simply just have to be. He accepts us, all of us and now we have to learn how to accept THAT and walk in that acceptance and when you do, there is such a freedom that comes with it.
I’ve always known that it’s not by works that you get into heaven. But I’ve never truly walked that freedom out, there’s always been something telling me to do more or be better, or act a certain “christian like way” and then you’re really, really loved by God. But that’s not it at all. We are already really, really loved by God and we have been and we will be even on our very last day here on earth.
I’m not saying that because we are totally accepted by God that gives us a right to do whatever we want to do, whenever we want to do it because God will love us anyways… We still have “rules” to follow and live by, but we follow those “rules” because we love God and we want to obey Him and honor Him, so it comes naturally. But now, since we know that we are totally accepted by Him no matter what, we have a new freedom and mentality to live by and walk out. We don’t have to live a life feeling condemned for doing something wrong or thinking a bad thought, because now we know we have a LOVING God looking down at us ready to sweep us up and comfort us when we fall, not a God who is looking down at us waiting for us to mess up and ready to strike us with lightning bolts, because that’s not who God is and that’s not His character. God is love. And He accepts us, all of us. Exactly how we are. We don’t have to wait another day for God to accept us when we have all of our stuff together, He accepts us fully today and every other day, now we need to accept His acceptance and walk it out.
Give this a listen, it will rock your world… it rocked mine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgzXXKjaPZA
