Things That Are Impossible for God - Week 2

A couple of days ago we posted about rejection, and ended that blog sharing the confession that often we feel shameful when we realize that God indeed knows all of our innermost thoughts and feelings (good and bad), and every act of sin we commit that goes unseen by others.

That presented another idea we must wrestle with: shame.

Shame and guilt – they both come from the devil.

Hmm, but you thought that we were supposed to feel guilty about the things we do wrong? That’s how we know it’s wrong…right?

Not quite. See, guilt is the feeling we get when we have done something wrong. And shame is the belief we accept that there is something wrong with us because of our sin. Neither of these are of the Lord. Conviction, on the other hand, is the Holy Spirit working in us, revealing our sins to us and prompting us to repent and turn away from them.

The goal of the Christian life is not to be a better person by sinning less, thereby eliminating the feelings of guilt and shame – though, through the blessings of the Holy Spirit we are able to receive strength from the Lord to resist temptations. Unfortunately, because we live in a fallen world, we will always struggle with sin. The goal of the Christian life is to know God and to love and honor Him.

1 John 1:9 tells us “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

That should not be translated “do what you want, and ask forgiveness when the fun is over.” God will forgive us any sin we repent of and genuinely make the effort to turn away from, as a result of His incredible mercy, but we are not to abuse this privilege. That gets dangerously close to the territory of cheap grace, and we want to steer clear of that.

We know that faith without works does not give a complete picture of Christianity (James 2:14-19), but it is also important to acknowledge that it is not by acts that we receive God’s approval. It is the condition of our hearts and the nature of our relationship with Him that matter. It is that faith which compels us to act.

This also helps us realize that because there is nothing that we can do that will make God love us more, because His love is freely given to us, there is also nothing we can do to make Him love us less. This frees us from the stress of assuming God’s love for us is based on our accomplishments, and it also frees us from the possibility of feeling rejected by God if we fail to perform up to a certain standard.

God loves us for who we are, not for what we can offer Him.

And who we are is a people who were created by Him, in His image. We are God’s children, whom He loves very dearly. He made us in His image and He accepts us as His creation.

God can never reject us because God can never not love us.

And while He accepts us for who we are, He loves us too much to leave us that way.

Ever looked back on a situation that so clearly screams of the glory and blessings of God, but while you were in the midst of that situation, all you felt was confusion and abandonment, rejection and despair? That is what a dear friend calls God’s sanctification process. In order to get us to be the people He wants us to be, God allows us to go through things that may not always be favorable. As God shapes us and molds us, He uses other tools, people, and situations to remove from us what He cannot use for the glory of His kingdom. And we must remember throughout this that He always has our best interest in mind.

This is a lot to take in, but here are a couple of ways we can respond:

Accept God’s free gift of love 

• 2 Corinthians 6:1 warns us, “Working together with Him, we also appeal to you, ‘Don’t receive God’s grace in vain.’” 

Live life with new confidence

• Philippians 1:6 says, “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” 

And this frees us to accept ourselves and others

• Matthew 7:1-2 says, “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For with the judgment you use, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 
• Go back and replace the word judge with reject. “Do not reject, so that you won’t be rejected. For with the rejection you use, you will be rejected, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 

That puts a new spin on the Golden Rule.



Reflection Questions
· What feelings arise when you hear that it is impossible for God to reject you?
· How does this truth help you see God in a new light?