Quit Trying So Hard

So it seems the theme of this passed week of my life has been to just quit trying so hard. The Lord has over and over in my life in big ways been showing me just how desperately we need to quit trying to please him. He is already pleased in us and in who we are because he is pleased with Jesus. We are all chosen by him, we are all beloved and all forgiven and when we realize that He loves us with a love so pure and true all the time and is never ashamed, disappointed or scorned by us then it frees us up to live and love. His greatest pleasure is to just see us, hear our voices and see our faces. Jesus paid a debt he didn't owe because we owed a debt we could never pay. All our sins are washed away, past, present and future in the blood of the Lamb. But here I want to talk about rest. We can go day to day, spend time with him, worship and do good works and yet still feel completely empty. Why is this? It's because when we are constantly trying to please God we can't, and when we quit trying to please him he is pleased. Sounds backwards right? Think about it. God says to "cease striving and know that I am God" and to come to him. When we strive we aren't operating in faith. Strife and Faith are in opposition to each other because strife says "I can do this and I will because God wants this of me" Faith says "I cannot defeat this, do this, or conquer this because I cannot do anything in and of myself. God you fight this battle for me and let me just rest in the fact that you love me...that is enough". If we don't believe that God sees us as perfect and spotless beloved children that can do no wrong in his sight because he forgave us, knew us from the beginning and foundations of the world and loved us knowing what we would choose to do, then we will never live victorious lives that revel and bask in his victory that was obtained, not attained. Every aspect of Jesus life: his prayer life, his thought life, his obedience, his compassion, his faithfulness, everything has been transferred over to you by His Grace and not by your own works or because you deserve it. I like to think of it this way. Imagine yourself in a building. You are sealed in, and secure behind these doors. However you don't believe that you are in the building. Will you live like you know you are in the building? You see the signs, you see the people outside but frantically run around and think "maybe if i do enough around here i can someday feel like i'm in the building. Maybe i can hear the owners voice and he will let me in. But the truth is that you are already in because you were brought in by the owner Jesus and need to just let go of trying to get in the building and accept that you are there and theres nothing you can do to change that. Just take your hands off of your life and let Him love you right now where you are at and quit trying to change yourself. Quit trying to please a God that is already pleased with you and doesn't regret a single thing about you.

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