As we wind down the 31 Days project I have a confession to make--it turns out this was all about me. Don't get me wrong. I set out to spend 31 days encouraging other people, and I certainly hope that I have. And I hope that by housing the project on the blog, people will continue to be encouraged by it. But the truth is that I may have been the person who benefited the most from 31 Days.
You see, the timing of this project was by design. It wasn't just the start of the new year that kicked off the project; it was a particularly trying time in my own life. I knew that December/January we would be moving Jake to Kansas. I knew it would be hard, I knew it would mean the start of a very hard season in our lives (2 years of being 750 miles apart, and even more when Jake is in Afghanistan!), and I had to do something that would take my focus off of me. As Anthem Lights puts it, I had to get "outta my mind," and really meditate on the fact that "it's not about me."
So instead, I focused on you. Lifting you up through study of my own faith. It forced me to be in the Word. It forced me to pray more, meditate more, and encourage more than I otherwise would have during such a discouraging time in my own life. And, I have to say, it really helped.
So there you go again, helping me! Helping my family through another difficult time! You were my outlet, the keepers of my sanity, and I thank you. God bless you!
"Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit
within me."
--Psalm 51:10
Let Me Give You a Lift:
Through this study we have talked a lot about redemption, renewal, and moving forward. I saved for last what might be the hardest, and yet most critical, keys to all of those things: forgiveness. The giving (and receiving) of forgiveness is what purifies our hearts. It helps us partake in the limitlessness of God's love and charity. And it gives us access to God's grace.
There's no denying it sounds amazing. But it is HARD. Sometimes, we think it is IMPOSSIBLE. Yet we know it is necessary to forgive because the Bible tells us that if we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us. Jesus said:
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Okay, forgiveness is a must, but how do we do it? C.S. Lewis (one of my favorites, as you know) wrote an essay on forgiveness that I have found very helpful. You can read the whole thing here, but let me convey the gist.
1. There is a difference between excusable and forgivable. It seems like semantics, but it's really and important distinction. Excusable means saying "based on these circumstances, what you did was not wrong." Forgivable means saying "what you did was wrong, but I forgive you."
Often we conflate the two by saying "It's okay, I forgive you." But really that sentence makes no sense. If "it's okay" then there is nothing to forgive. If "I forgive you," it's not okay, but I forgive you anyway.
2. We are not called to excuse wrongs, we are called to forgive them. Some things that people do to us are inexcusable. Some things we do to other people are as well. But God is not asking us to say "it's okay" as though a wrong never occurred where it actually did.
This is important to understand for two reasons. First, recognizing the distinction means we can identify when someone actually wronged us versus when we are simply unhappy with the circumstances. Something actually excusable does not need forgiveness, and if we hold grudges about such things, we are the ones in the wrong.
Second, it is important to understand what God asks of us, because often a misguided sense of justice is what prevents us from forgiving. We say to ourselves: 'I can't say everything is okay! I can't just act like nothing happened!' But such outrage misses the point: it's not okay. It did happened. That's why forgiveness is needed, and it is what we are called to do.
3. Forgiveness is the ultimate expression of God's love, and that is why we must forgive. C.S. Lewis said: “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” We know this is true. Jesus, blameless, died for us so that we could be forgiven. No, that is not totally correct. More accurately, we crucified Christ by our sin, yet He forgives us and wipes those sins away. If we are forgiven all of that, with God's help, nothing on this earth is unforgivable.
4. God calls us to forgive for our own good. Refusing to forgive someone really only hurts the person holding the grudge. It makes us angry and bitter, and prevents us from the kind of love and joy that God wants for us to experience in our lives. The truth is, we are the greatest benefactors of the forgiveness we bestow on others; if you can't forgive someone for their sake, forgive them for your own.
Often real, genuine forgiveness requires God's help. He knew that would be true for us, and has given us the tools to do so through Him. When we forgive, when He forgives us, that is when He makes our hearts clean.
Give it a Listen: A Very Special Treat
Today's song is really special (as the title would suggest). Matthew West has been writing and performing Christian music for many years. For his latest album, he decided he wanted to do a biography, of sorts, made of stories of real people and their real walks with God. He asked his fans to write in and tell him their stories. The song "Forgiveness" comes from one of those stories.
Trying to tell you about this myself really would not do it justice. Instead, I'll let you watch this brief video by Matt about the incredible woman whose story inspired the song.
Doesn't that blow you away? I still get chills and I've heard the song many times. My favorite line: "let it go and be amazed by what you see through eyes of grace. The prisoner that it really frees is you--forgiveness." Here is the song:
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can
be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how
will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ...For I am sure that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to
come, nor powers, nor heights nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord."
--Romans 8:31-32, 37-39
Let Me Give You a Lift:
It is very common to think of God and Christ as Lord and Savior, but how often do we think of either of them as advocates? For us? It strikes me as odd that the perfect should be defending and pleading the case of the imperfect, but that is what the Bible tells us.
We all know the story of Job. Satan was convinced that the only reason Job loved God is because God blessed Job with earthly things. So Satan took away those blessing to see if Job would turn from God. Job's "friends" kept telling him that it was because Job had sinned some great sin, but Job knew better. He said:
Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend...
John echoed this same sentiment in the New Testament, writing:
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Jesus is our advocate, defending us despite of our many faults. Despite the entire world's many faults. It's not uncommon nowadays to hear people complaining about how the world is going to "hell in a hand basket," longing for the good ole' days, and wondering why God tolerates a world full of so much awfulness. The answer is simple: he wants us all. Consider Peter's words:
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God's love for us was so great, that he allowed Jesus to sacrifice for us. Why? So that Jesus could be our advocate, standing before the father, pleading our case. And how does Jesus become our advocate? When we accept Him as such. Any lawyer (including this one) will tell you that if you have a client unwilling to cooperate, your case is not going to get very far; you won't convince a judge or jury you are right. The client has to be willing to listen and participate for advocacy to be successful.
Imagine it this way: It's Judgment Day. You come before God the ultimate Judge knowing that He sees your whole life in front of Him, and it's impossible to deny even a single sin (of which there are many for all of us). Now imagine Jesus, standing in front of you, telling God "I have taken on this person's sins and wiped them away with my own blood; therefore there is no evidence against him. He is innocent!"
And all you can think is WOW.
God wants Christ to be everyone's advocate. Jesus wants to be everyone's advocate. We have the best team on our side anyone could possibly ask for, and all we have to do is cooperate, participate, and let them do the rest. When we do, no force in existence can separate us from God in this life or the next.
Give it a Listen: Today, you get a twofer. The Unspoken song below is what I originally planned to include today (and is great), but this morning the Afters is on my heart. This song, "Light Up the Sky," is about God's deep love and ever-presence. And I love this video. The Afters, more than most, do a great job of telling a story with their songs. If you'll remember, we had a song from them on Day Five too. Enjoy. Really.
Today's other song is “Who You Are” by Unspoken, and it's another beautiful song about redemption. There are lots of them, but forgiveness and renewal are so important to hear because sometimes the hardest thing to believe is that we can always change and we can always be forgiven. "Let the ashes fall where ever they land, and come back from wherever you've been...you can never fall too far, so fast, so hard that you can't get back when you're lost where you are."
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old
things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
--II
Corinthians 5:17
Let Me Give You a Lift:
On Day Nineteen we talked about today's Word in terms of moving Forward and leaving the past behind. Today, I want to discuss what that looks like in practice. What does it mean to be a new creation? How do we do it? C.S. Lewis had a lot to say about these questions in his book Mere Christianity. I think the first thing to remember is that we don't become a completely different person overnight. Becoming a Christian is not like flipping a light switch, where one day you have flaws and the next day you don't. Our slate is wiped clean, yes, and repeatedly. But fixing the things about ourselves that need fixing requires intentional (and regular) effort. Whether it's adjusting my temper, being less prideful, ceasing to gossip, addressing an addiction, or [insert your flaw here], change can only happen if we try to change. The good thing is, now we don't have to go about change on our own; we have God. Of our effort to change, C.S. Lewis writes:
[W]e cannot...discover our failure to keep God's law except by trying our very hardest (and then failing). Unless we really try, whatever we say there will always be at the back of our minds the idea that if we try harder next time we shall succeed in being completely good. Thus, in one sense, the road back to God is a road of moral effort, of trying harder and harder. But in another sense it is not trying that is ever going to bring us home. All this trying leads up to the vital moment at which you turn to God and say, "You must do this. I can't.”
And that's the second thing we need to recognize--to be a new creation, we need God's help. Actually, we need to let God do the work. How? By listening to Him. The Bible tells us that God has given us all we need so we are "thoroughly equipped for every good work." But we can't know God's will blindly. Ours must be a knowing faith, based on prayer and study. On this point, C.S. Lewis wrote:
“Your real, new self (which is Christ's and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange? The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters. Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making... Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. The principle runs through all life from top to bottom, Give up yourself, and you will find your real self.”
The third thing we need to remember is that change is necessary; we must always keep moving forward, even when it is hard. Lewis writes:
“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for a bird to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”
Change does not happen overnight, we need God's help to be a new creation, and we have to keep trying even when it is hard. Lewis writes:
God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them.
God does not expect perfection. Just that we have the faith in Him to get back up again when we fall. And every time we do, he renews us once again. Give it a Listen:
Today's song is "Take You Back" by Jeremy
Camp. This is a song about redemption, and renewal, and the encouragement that comes from knowing that God's response is always "I'll take you back."
"Let us the approach God's throne with confidence, so that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
--Hebrews
4:16
Let Me Give You a Lift:
I have to tell you, when I think about approaching God, "confidence" is the last thing that is on my mind. And for good reason, really, because humility is such a key teaching of Christianity. How can we both humble ourselves before God and approach him with confidence? I think a helpful place to start is in the words. Dictionary.com defines "confidence" as:
Today, when we talk about someone having confidence, what we really mean is self-confidence. But that is not the kind of confidence being discussed by the Hebrew writer. Instead, the "confidence" we need when approaching God is confidence in Him. When we go to God for help, comfort, or counsel, we have to believe in His ability to provide whatever is best for us. And this kind of confidence does not conflict with humility at all; in fact, the two go hand in hand. That is why the apostle James said:
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
This belief in God is not only important in our prayers, but it is fundamental to our lives as Christians. In speaking of grace, Jesus said this:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
It is
so simple, and yet so profound. Why do we have to believe in God? Because that
is the only way that our requests to him are true, authentic, earnest, and righteous.
Even something as basic as forgiveness is only effective if we believe God
forgives. This is not true because God
is rendered incapable of forgiving by our unbelief; rather, if we do not
believe we are forgiven, we could not feel the benefit of the new
life that has been promised us.
What
does this kind of “confidence” look like? Max Lucado
once wrote“Our belief in God is not blind faith. Belief is having a firm
conviction something is true, not hoping it’s true.” And Gloria Copeland put it this way:
“You
can’t stand effectively on 'blind' faith. You must have a 'knowing' faith, and
that comes from believing wholeheartedly what the Word promises. You know God
has spoken it and declared it to be so, and you know you can depend on that.”
In
its most basic form, belief is trust that God will keep his promises. In a
broad sense, it means believing the words Jesus spoke above about eternal life
through Him. But faith can also be in
the smaller things. I love what Joni Erickson Tada said about faith:
“Faith
isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It’s simply
taking God at His Word and taking the next step.”
Finding
mercy,
grace,
and help
begins with taking our first steps toward God. In confidence.
Give it a Listen:
Today's song is "I Need A Miracle" by Third
Day. The song is about reaching out to God for help in time of need. In part, it's an encouragement that God is where you can find help. But there is also a message here about confidence: God's help comes when we approach him and ask for it.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
--Matthew 11:28-29
Let Me Give You a Lift:
There is an interesting dichotomy in the passage above. Jesus is telling his followers that if they take up His yolk, he will give them rest. How can that be? A yolk would have meant basically the same thing to Jesus' listeners as it means to us today: a heavy harness by which a beast of burden can be guided to pull a heavy load, such as a plow. So how is it that taking up Christ's yolk can actually result in rest for our souls? Let me try and paint a picture for your. Imaging that you're traveling by foot to a neighboring town. You're carrying everything you own with you on your back. For some of us that is a LOT, but even a few possessions get heavy after a while. Imagine you have been walking for days. You're tired, hungry, thirsty, and weary from your heavy load. When will you finally reach the city?? Then you meet a man on the road. He tells you that, in fact, you have been walking in the wrong direction. He says 'I know the way, and I will show you.' He also tells you 'You don't have to carry all those things with you; the city has everything you need.' Now consider this trip is a metaphor for your life. You are carrying all kinds of baggage with you--physical, mental, emotional, material, etc.--and everything is weighing you down. You are trying to find happiness--joy, abundant life, satisfaction, purpose--but because you are trying to go it alone, you are going the wrong direction. Then Jesus finds you, and says simply: 'Leave it all behind and follow me.' All you have to do is take his hand and let him lead you. You know, Jesus says the phrase "follow me" over two dozen times in the New Testament. In today's verse, he said "Come to me," but the concept is the same. I think that Jesus refers to this decision to follow Him as a "yolk" for two reasons. First, because in order for Him to lead us, we have to be willing to be led. We have to take His hand and walk with him. It sounds easy, and in some ways it is, but consider how hard it is for a small child to stay with a parent in a store when they are being distracted by shiny objects. That is what it is like for us at first; we see things in this life we are drawn to, and are tempted to let go of Jesus's hand and wander off. The good news is, when we do, we can always come back. Second, following Jesus also requires a willingness to set down our baggage. It means letting go of our past, and the worldly things that are getting in our way, and moving forward with Him. For some people, this is the hardest part. Consider the rich young ruler who wanted to follow Jesus but loved His earthly possessions too much to part with them. Mental and emotional baggage can be even harder to put down. But oh the sweet release when we finally let go of the weights and the hurts! "Follow me" is a choice that requires action, an affirmative decision to course correct, and a willingness to be led. In that way, following Jesus is an obligation; a yolk, if you will. But it allows us the freedom to let go of so much else, and to move toward a life that is infinitely better, both here and beyond. How do I know? Because Jesus said:
seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,and all these things will be added to you.
Give it a Listen:
Today's song is by Josh
Wilson, and it is called “Fall Apart.” The song is about how sometimes we feel the closest to God when we are tested to our limits. When everything is falling apart, and yet we make it through, that is when we understand the true extent of God's love and grace for us. My favorite line: "How can I come to the end of me, and somehow still have all I need?"
"In
my anguish I cried out to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free. The
Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The Lord is
with me; he is my helper..." --Psalm 118:5-7
"When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and
delivers them out of their troubles. The Lord is near to the
brokenhearted and saves the crushed spirit."
--Psalm 34:17-18
Let Me Give You a Lift:
Ever find yourself so angry/upset/hurt/confused/overwhelmed that you just want to scream? Ever find yourself directing all those emotions, and that strong desire to scream toward God? Ever been told there is absolutely nothing wrong with that? Expressing yourself to God, I mean? I grew up always kind of feeling like if I gave voice to my frustrations God might smite me on the spot. But you know what? That was not giving God enough credit. He made me, emotions and all. God knows all of our thoughts even if we don't voice them. I now think it is better to be authentic in bringing my upset, confusion, and frustration to God rather than offering Him superficial praises when that's not what is on my heart. Why do I believe this? Because many great people of faith have had this kind of frank conversation with God. Abraham questioned God concerning Sodom and Gomorrah; Moses told God he was too afraid to speak for Israel before Pharaoh. Both of these men were great servants for God, and obeyed Him, but that doesn't mean they were never worried, scared, or confused. Nearly half of the 41 chapters in the book of Job involve Job anguishing, angry, and questioning God! C.S. Lewis wrote an entire book (A Grief Observed) about working through his anger with God after his beloved wife died of cancer. But perhaps the best example of a person pouring out their aching heart to God is Jesus himself. When Jesus was in the Garden on the night he was taken away to be crucified, His prayers to God were filled with sorrow. The Bible says:
"He fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.'"
Jesus was not shy in letting his Father hear the sorrow he felt about the task ahead. And when Jesus was hanging on the cross, the Bible says:
Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Having taken on the world's sin, Jesus feels separation from God for the first time, and cannot contain His sorrow. Here, Jesus chose His words carefully, quoting from a Psalm written by His ancestor David 1,000 years before. It is a Psalm that foretells the Messiah's anguish, and anguish is precisely what the words would have evoked in the mind of any learned hearer. Jesus knew God's plan, and accepted it, yet in the moment it was simply too much to bear alone, He cried out to His Father. I think it is important to remember that the Bible also says that "in every respect [Jesus] has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." Hear that? It is not sinful to express ourselves to God; quite the opposite. God wants to hear from us when we are joyous and praising him, when we are angry and questioning him, when we are hurting, when we are confused, and when we are at a total loss. All those things are part and parcel to an authentic relationship, which is what God wants from us.
God
is not offended by what we are going through; feelings are part of being the humans God made us. If you feel like screaming or
crying, journaling, hiding under your desk (not that I would know anything
about that...) or just babbling incoherently then do it. Sometimes clarity of perspective only comes on the other side of catharsis. ("I cried out...and he answered by setting me free..."). God did that on purpose
because He knows that working through our emotions is necessary to our healing. So feel your feelings.
Give it a Listen:
Today's song is
“Need You Now” by Plumb. This song is about crying out to the Lord when you just
can't take it. It's the kind of song you crank up loud and sing along to.
And if you like her Evanescence-esque sound, she has a really beautiful
album of lullabies you should check out.
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails...And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
--I Corinthians 13:4-8, 13
Let Me Give You a Lift:
Today's Word might be the most well-recognized passage in the whole Bible about love. It's taken from an entire chapter on love written by Paul to the Corinthians. In fact, perhaps the most powerful statements in the Bible about the importance of love are in the verses right in front of the ones listed above:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,but have not love, I gain nothing.
Without love, we are nothing. Why is that the case? Simple. God is love. Love is the cornerstone of everything. In fact, the two greatest commandments, on which "all the law and prophets hang," tell us to (1) love God with everything we've got, and (2) love other people the way we love ourselves. I love Paul's statement:
"And now abide faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love."
That is such a profound statement; faith and hope are no small things to God. But Paul is saying, yet again, that you can't have either of these pillars without the foundation of love underneath them. How can we believe in a God of love without loving? How can we hope in a Savior who loves without loving? We can't.
So how do we love? Well, in the verses above Paul gives us some of the mechanics: patience; kindness; not being proud; not being rude; not delighting in the failings of others, but encouraging them; persistence; perseverance.
Notice that all of these attributes are actions--ways we temper ourselves, or ways we help others. As we discussed in the post on Charity, the kind of love God calls us to is not a warm fuzzy feeling about everyone around us. There are some people we will never feel that way about. Some days, I don't even feel warm and fuzzy about myself! I'm sure that some days, God doesn't feel warm and fuzzy about me either.
But that's not the point. Love is a choice; a series of decisions and actions that builds an enduring relationship. It's the sincere desire for the good, for what's best for others, and actions where we can help to achieve either. It's the kind of love that requires practice, and it's the clearest evidence of grace on this earth.
Two important thoughts to close on. Anything we do in the name of God should be motivated by love. If your "religion" (or any actions toward others, really) is motivated by something other than love, then I would urge you to reread Paul's words above. Anything but love is missing the point.
Secondly, often Christianity (faiths in general, but I'll stick with what I know) gets a bad rap because people have practiced (and preached) their "religion" based on things other than love (hate, greed, envy, conquest, pride, self-righteousness), or with an approach that could not be considered loving. But the thing to remember is this: love is the foundation of the entire faith. If you see people doing hateful things in God's name--remembering there's a profound difference between hatefulness and respectful disagreement--please don't consider that person as characteristic of the lot. He can't be, he doesn't reflect our Savior. God is love. Living well is living loving. That is the beginning and end of it.
Give it a Listen:
Today's song is "Live Like That" by Sidewalk Prophets. The song is about living love, plain and simple. A verse I love, and an important question to ask when self-evaluating: "Was I love when no one else would show up? Was I Jesus to the least of us?"
"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide us, nor will he
keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the
heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who
fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our
transgressions from us."
--Psalm 103:8-12
Let Me Give You a Lift:
Infinity is a hard word to grasp. Man's most brilliant scientists and mathematicians have difficulty describing it, and poets only do by simile. That kind of poetic simile is precisely what the psalmist was trying to convey in today's Word. King David wrote Psalm 103, and the Bible describes David as a "man after [God's] own heart." Now let's be clear: David was far from perfect. He committed adultery with another man's wife, and when he found out the woman was pregnant he had her husband killed in battle to cover it up. These are the biggest--though not the only--ways in which David displeased the Lord. But then, perfection is not what God meant when he said that David shared His heart. We get a glimpse of what God meant from another of David's Psalms, in which he said:
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
There it is. David's Psalms are filled with praise for the wondrous things he was able to do on this earth. But here's the thing--David understood that every last one of those great works belonged to God. God his counselor, God his peace, God his protector, God his Lord. David gave himself completely to God, and through him God did wondrous things for His people. God even sent His son into this world through David's lineage.
But circle back for a moment to David's imperfections. The most heinous ones are recorded in the Bible, although I am sure there were others; he was human after all. I think the reason that the "big" sins were recorded is to show us that God is not looking for perfection in His people. God is looking for the right heart, willing to hear God's will and rely on Him.
David was grieved to his core when he disappointed God. There are many poems filled with sorrow and lamentation from David over his sins. But in every instance, David grieved his failings, asked God's forgiveness, and then continued moving forward. David understood the very thing he tried to put into words in Psalm 103 above: the infinity of God's love and forgiveness.
God has no limits; that is why we can be imperfect, and fail, and do the wrong thing but still please Him in the end. It is our willingness to pick ourselves up and try again, leaning on Him to help us be the beautiful beings He made us to be, that makes us people after God's own heart.
Give
it a Listen:
Today's song is by Casting Crowns, and it's called “East to West.” The song is taken from the verse above, and talks about how we can get very discouraged by how often we fall, until remember that we are allowed unlimited chances to get back up again. The imagery here is beautiful: "Jesus you know just how far the east is from the west...from one scarred hand to the other." This version of the song is live, and the band offers a speaking introduction. The song starts at :35.
