A timely drink of a good profession

StriperAddict

Senior Member
I agree this could be my own testimony in the last few years. A great drink for burdened hearts from Mike Kapler, FB 02-08-2020. Enjoy ...
-------------------------------------------------

While seeking to maintain or improve my spiritual health, for many years I made regular visits to Dr. Theo Ology. He was located at a place he called “the storehouse” and required I make nothing less than weekly appointments.

Although I had been officially identified as a saint and gifted with the righteousness of God, Dr. Ology also diagnosed me with a chronic, sinful condition inherited from my great grandfather named Adam. He issued a daily prescription of confession in order to receive another dose of forgiveness while washing away any bad blood cells, and to keep me clean and confident. He also ordered physical therapy as needed, which he identified as something called repentance.

I became addicted to this confession drug. The more mistakes I made, the more I craved the need for a renewed forgiveness. I couldn’t afford to get low … I needed to stay high with the emotional assurance it offered me. The outward behavioral repentance therapy was on an “as needed” basis, when confessing didn’t fill the need, and guilt would begin to overwhelm—not necessarily for doing sinful things—but for feeling like I was not “doing enough for God.”

After more than a couple decades of being a misinformed Bible junkie, God directed me to seek a second opinion from a Great Physician. The hypocrisy of talking about a free gift while working to maintain it left me in a place of confusion and uncertainty. Through the Spirit, I discovered there was one confession I needed in order to receive everything God had already done for me—a confession of belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, resulting in salvation and eternal right-standing with God (Romans 10:8-13). I had been misdiagnosed.

Everything changed. I suddenly had my eyes opened and realized I no longer needed the drug of self-righteousness. God wasn’t extending another act of forgiveness towards me because there was no more blood being shed … and there no longer needs to be when forgiveness is complete (Hebrews 10:18). As a believer in Christ, why should I seek or ask for what God has already given? If forgiveness is based on my sorrow instead of the one-time shed blood of Jesus, then it’s no better than any animal sacrifice from a weak and useless covenant of law. It would mean yet another sacrifice by Jesus would be required … and another one after that.

I stopped the sin confession obsession which repeatedly sought a renewed forgiveness from God. Why? Because He has already declared sin was removed, taken away, thrown as far as the east is from the west, not counted against me … and that He remembers sin no more. This is grace. This is perfect love. This makes me want to know Him.
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
Not saying don't have remorse when a choice is made to get life from someone or something that has no life (aka, not walking in faith, trust and rest), but agreeing with Jesus on the permanent sin solution. THAT brings joy and hope when all other manner of self-striving (self righteousness) takes the life-joy from the soul. Make sense?
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
One more song from Mike Q Daniel today, what a breath of fresh air ...
-----------
Neither how you feel about yourself or how others feel about you determines the Truth of who you are. God alone feels rightly toward you and defines your reality. And He is CRAZY about you!

You are His Pearl of Great Price, His lost and found treasure worth all He possesses, the rhythm of His song and the leap in His dance. If God slept, He'd stay awake out of excitement about you. He has infinitely loving thoughts toward you, all better than each of these. In fact, He has perfectly made you to be the object of His desire and the recipient of His love. You are PERFECT for the job of uniquely experiencing and expressing the Love of Your Father.

Imagine being so excited you can't keep your seat, must jump for joy, shout with glee, and spontaneously attempt the moonwalk. Yep - that's right, the moonwalk. That's God's heart toward you in Christ.

God is moonwalkingly over the moon over you.

...and He's good at it, too. ?
-Mike.
 

1gr8bldr

Senior Member
Most live their lives on a rollercoater ride of up and down, up and down, effort, failure, guilt, effort failure guilt. Draw the line graph in your mind. Jesus came to fill in every valley and every mountain made low... something like that, I can't recall the verse
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
Most live their lives on a rollercoater ride of up and down, up and down, effort, failure, guilt, effort failure guilt. Draw the line graph in your mind. Jesus came to fill in every valley and every mountain made low... something like that, I can't recall the verse

Definitely. Our soul (mind, will, emotions) can be in flux so often from the temptations and the pressures from the world. I believe we can choose truth to "restore our soul" (Psalm 23) and not have the enemy's opinion of us take root in our thinking. That old rotten accusation trial lawyer never gives up his dirty-rotten worm talk usually coming from moments of weakness. Ugh! Let's keep in mind he's all bark and no bite!!

Let us let the Lord counsel us ... "Hey! You're dead to that thought, you're alive to/in me" etc. We confront these accusations in a split second, getting our "chooser" out for such a time. Let's take heart that we can choose truth over contradiction, aka every thought into captivity to Christ. The way "out" is that Christ made His way in. Never leave, never forsake. We're on a solid foundation of His promise to Himself .... always. Counting ourselves dead to sin, alive to God, being slaves of righteousness (Rom 6) and ... that thought or temptation has no power over us.

Yes indeed, that mountain verse is our heritage in the New Covenant ...

Isaiah 40:4-5 (NASB)
4 “Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

also Hebrews 6: 13, 17-19:
13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself ...
17 God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,
18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil
 
Top