Far too often in my walk with Christ, I have found myself losing sight of what the Gospel means for me. The very foundation of my faith, the thing that my entire life hinges upon, is so easily forgotten in the shuffle of my day to day. It is easy to share Christ’s love and the good news of His life with others, but how many times has shame come to steal your intimacy with Him and tell you that you aren’t good enough for His love? I know that in my own life, it’s nearly a daily battle to remind myself that He already chose me, that He already saw every sin I would ever commit, and He still sent His only Son to die for me. This is a deceptively simple concept, but one that is absolutely vital to understand and to remind ourselves of daily. So, I want to take this opportunity to share some scripture that has carried me through moments of shame and moments of fear where I have forgotten that the truth of the Gospel applies to me today, tomorrow, and forever.
Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.” From this passage, we understand that God saw each of us before we were even created beings, and He saw each of the days that we would live. This includes every good day, every bad day, every heartbreak, every celebration, but most of all, every sin.
Isaiah 53:10, a prophecy about Jesus, says that Jesus had “done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him". These two passages, when taken hand in hand, take on a whole new meaning. God knew each of the days that we would live, and everything we would do during those days. He knew deeply the ins and outs of our hearts and our sinful tendencies. However, “it was the will of the Lord to crush him”. He still chose to send his Son for us, knowing that we would never be able to commune with Him otherwise. What a precious gift!
Finally, Romans 8:1-4 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.” Romans 5:1 tells us that “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and we each have peace with God because of Christ’s sacrifice for us.
My encouragement and prayer for you is that the next time shame or fear or whatever it is that separates you from the love of Your Father comes around, you will be able to look back on these verses and be encouraged that you are chosen, you are loved, and you have peace with God because of Christ Jesus.
Prayer Tip #32: Pray for a deep and personal understanding of the Gospel.
Prayer Points:
Lord, please renew my understanding of the Gospel and allow it to become real to me in a new way.
I pray for freedom from shame and disconnect from Your loving heart.
Father, help me see myself the way that You see me, washed by the blood and free of sin.
Lord, I love You. Thank You for the sacrifice of Your precious Son that atoned for my sins. Thank You for seeing me, for knowing me, and for desiring deep intimacy with me. Bring renewed understanding of the truth of the Gospel to my mind and heart today, and help me to walk in the freedom that the blood of Your Son has paid for.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
In Him,
Rachel Crites
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