Living Under God's Favor

Current Mood: Blessed & Anointed

I am not perfect. 

Actually, now that I think about it and the more that I think about it, I realize that I actually am perfect.  I am perfectly imperfect. 

Like many of us, I’ve made a myriad of poor choices and mistakes throughout the years.  Even now at this point in my life, I know that I have the propensity of messing up even the most simplest task God gives me, so I must continually pray for His abundant wisdom!  I also know that there are occasions when my heart is so in the right place but my actions seem to go in a different direction; so I must constantly ask God to order my steps.  I could keep going on and on, but the bottom line is that I am perfectly flawed.  Sometimes I want to lift my head to the heavens and say, “Lord, are You sure You chose the right person?”  “Maybe I was a mistake?” however, I know that God does not make any mistakes, and even that can cause bewilderment; for how can One who is completely perfect dwell in someone who is absolutely imperfect?   How can One who is free of sin dwell in someone who’s been guilty of it?  There is no doubt that the depth of God’s love and generous mercy is incomprehensible to mere man, and this solidifies the truth found in I Corinthians 1:27 where the Apostle Paul says, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”  As I sigh with great relief, I must take this opportunity to say Thank You Jesus! 

Regardless of how long you’ve followed Christ and despite your theological training or profound knowledge of Scripture, we all miss the mark at one time or another.  We may give in to fleshly desires and lusts or make an honest mistake; but either way, we can bank on two things: 

1. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9); 
2. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1) 

This is good news!  When we make a mistake we can receive God’s forgiveness and cleansing when we confess our sin(s) AND continue our walk with Him without condemnation.  Condemnation is of the devil and not of God, and I tell you we serve an AWESOME GOD!  Though He is purely perfect, He knows that we are extremely imperfect, and if it wasn’t for Him sending us Christ to die for our sins and Christ then sending us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us (as believers), we would not be able to live holy for 5 minutes!  And let us not confuse holiness and righteousness with random acts of kindness or being moderately “nice”; for the Bible makes it crystal clear that it is by grace that we’re saved (those accepting Christ), through faith—and this not from ourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Thus, we ourselves cannot obtain salvation, righteousness and holiness on our own.  These are gifts from God that requires our acceptance by receiving Christ as our Lord and Savior and following the leadership of His precious Spirit. 

One thing you must realize and even embrace is that imperfection transcends color lines, social status, wealth or lack thereof, educational background, age or anything else you could imagine.  Short and sweet, if you are human, you are imperfect.  It doesn’t matter how many letters you have after your name (education/degrees), or how many committees you serve on, or even how often you go to church on Sundays; we are all flawed. 

One thing I’ve learned in my Christian walk is that the more I grow in Christ, the more imperfect I realize that I am.  And you know what?  I am finally OK with that.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I don’t purposely make mistakes and use the excuse, “I’m only human.”  Au contraire!  I say this because I was once a perfectionist, and though I knew logically that I could never reach perfection while on here on earth, I still strived for it anyway.  Boy was that frustrating!  I’d put super-pressure on myself to achieve unrealistic goals, and then when I didn’t reach them, I’d come down hard on myself.  Oh, but thanks be to God who is doing a great work in me!  The realization of this work actually became crystal clear one Sunday when I returned home from church.  I don’t remember exactly why, but I came home feeling frustrated with myself because I felt as though I wasn’t making progress quick enough.  I began beating myself up again until God interrupted me by leading me to read Philippians, and there is where I read a Scripture that changed how I viewed things. 

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 1:6 NASB

Halleluiah!  That Scripture was and is liberating.  As I began to read and meditate on this Scripture, I began to realize that God started the work in me (not me) and that He will continue that work in me until the day I am face to face with Christ.  Therefore, my confidence should be in Christ, remembering that He is the Author and the Finisher of my faith.  I also learned to have more patience with myself.  After meditating on this Scripture, I remember experiencing such a strong sense of peace as the Lord continued to minister to my spirit.  My goodness, how awesome is God!  How wondrous is He in all His ways!  I am blessed to even have the privilege to serve the One who was and is and is to come! 

As I begin to close this entry, I would like to leave you with two other Scriptures that have also helped me to view my perfect imperfections in the proper perspective.  Remember that the Word of God is the perfect weapon to use when you’re in a battle; for it is alive and with power, sharper than a 2-edge sword.  Once you’ve completed reading this entry, I encourage you to write down one or more of the Scriptures we used today and begin meditating on and confessing those Scriptures throughout your day.  I cannot express enough how much power there is in the Word of God and you begin to release that power into your life each time you confess His Word while having your heart and mind in agreement with His Word. 

May the peace of God be with you and strengthen you in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.

II Corinthians 12:9-10 (New International Version)

Note – This is the Apostle Paul talking about a conversation He had with Jesus

But He said to me “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  

Galatians 3:2-4 (Message Translation)

Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!

© 2010, Living Under God's Favor. All rights reserved. This site is part of NWC Ministries.