God's Not Done With You

When was the last time you messed up? For most of us, we don’t have to think back very far. It was within the last ten minutes, or earlier today, or yesterday. i know it most certainly has been for me. If your answer is more than a week ago, i want to challenge you to rethink your answer, and reconsider all of your thoughts, attitudes and actions over the past week. I think you’ll find that it was more recent than you think.

As I said, for most of us, the answer will come more immediately to mind. We know we messed up. But some of us haven’t done anything about it. We’ve just continued to feel bad about it ever since.

David, the shepherd king and psalmist, knew exactly how we feel when he wrote:

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.(1)

As a matter of fact, he believed so strongly that we all have that propensity to do wrong that he wrote the exact same words in two of his Psalms.(2) And just in case we missed it in the Psalms, the apostle Paul repeated the same words to us in his letter to the Romans.(3) Then a few verses later, he said it again using these words:

… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.(4)

The question is not whether we have sinned; the question is what we have done in light of our sin. We can try to ignore it. But the truth is, sin is an unyielding taskmaster. Left unchecked, sin wants more. The news headlines are filled with the results of unchecked sins that have led to greed, hatred, bigotry, physical violence, and the like. As a matter of fact, Paul described it as a road that leads to death:

… the wages of sin is death.(5)

But God is gracious – He made the way for us to be cleansed of our sin! This past Easter weekend, we celebrated the great cost that He paid – the death of His Son – so that our sin can be forgiven. Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for our sin. And because He did, the apostle John tells us:

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.(6)

The greatest news of Easter is that Jesus’ body did not remain in that tomb. He arose from the dead. If He had remained in the tomb, we would have been left to our own devices – and left without hope. But we have a living Savior. A Savior that defeated sin and death, and sent His Spirit to live within us and walk with us each and every step as we follow Him in our journey of life.

Because the reality is that we don’t stop “messing up” once we confess our sin and surrender our lives to Him. The reality is that we continue to sin. And He graciously and mercifully continues to forgive us and cleanse us if we confess our sins. There is a continuing work He is doing in each of our lives. It begins at the point of our salvation when we enter into a relationship with Him … but, it doesn’t end there. God is at work in our lives conforming us into the image of Jesus,(7) just like clay in the hands of a potter. And if He is making us into the image of Jesus, He is making us into something beautiful … despite the dents, blemishes and chips we have placed into our image every time we have messed up.

He is working all of those out. He is removing them one by one, if we don’t try to ignore our sin, or try and hide it, or run from it, or deny it; but rather, if we confess our sin. So the question is not “if” we mess up; the question is what we do “when” we mess up.

The fact is God’s not done with any of us. We’re all a work in process. The enemy would like to convince us that we can never be good enough. And that’s partially true – without Christ we can never be good enough. But with Christ, we are more than good enough – we’re cleansed from ALL unrighteousness. If we’ve confessed it, He’s forgiven us … and He has removed our sin from us as far as the east is from the west.(8)

So don’t run from Jesus, run to Him. Confess it to Him, leave it with Him and trust Him to finish the work He has begun in your life. God’s not done with you … or me.

i borrowed the title of this post from a worship song that expresses this same truth. Below are the lyrics and a link. Take a few minutes to listen to it and be reminded of God’s faithfulness.

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(1) Psalm 14:2-3 (ESV)

(2) Psalm 14:2-3 and Psalm 53:2-3

(3) Romans 3:10-12

(4) Romans 3:23 (ESV)

(5) Romans 6:23 (ESV)

(6) 1 John 1:9 (ESV)

(7) Romans 8:29

(8) Psalm 103:12

Photo by Miah Oren on Lightstock

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God’s Not Done With You

Standing in your ruins feels a lot like the end
So used to losing, you're afraid to try again
Right now all you see are ashes
Where there was a flame
Truth is that you're not forgotten
'Cause Grace knows your name

God's not done with you
Even with your broken heart and your wounds and your scars
God's not done with you
Even when you're lost and it's hard and you're falling apart
God's not done with you
It's not over, it's only begun
So don't hide, don't run
'Cause God's not done with you

There's a light you don't notice
Until you're standing in the dark
And there's a strength that's growing
Inside your shattered heart

He's got a plan, this is part of it
He's gonna finish what He started
(Repeat)

He's not done
God's not done writing your story
No, He's not done
God's not done with you
God's not done with you

God's not done with you

Even when you're lost and it's hard and you're falling apart
God's not done with you
It's not over, it's only begun
So don't hide, don't run
'Cause God's not done with you

No, He's not done
God's not done with you

Songwriters: Bernie Herms / Tauren Wells / Emily Weisband

God’s Not Done With You – Tauren Wells (Lyric Video)

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