The lies go deep. They have been believed for a long time. Take a hard look at these issues, the lies
we’ve believed for too long. The people
of The Community Fellowship are not all alike.
I was raised in a middle class home with lots of comforts, yet many of
the people we work and serve with have had a hard life. We are a very unique group of people. We are from different backgrounds. And that is one of the things that excites me
most about our church.
Some of us have been lied to
and have bought those lies that led us through some deep dark places. Those dark places may have been by your
choice or the consequences of your choices.
It may be from someone else’s doing.
You are no good. You are worthless. You are corrupt. Have you heard those things before? Most of us have. Those phrases and what they stood for took us
to places that were painful and left deep scares in our lives. I have learned especially through the last 5
years that what we’ve done in the past and where we have been too often defines
who we think we are and how we live our lives.
Maybe you have spent time
struggling with an addiction to alcohol or drugs. Maybe you’ve spent time in incarcerated. Maybe your relationships have been crushed by
brokenness and broken promises. Maybe
there are pieces of your life that seem to be currently or in the past
spiraling out of control. You have been
told you are corrupt and nothing can change that.
Here is the truth. That’s wrong.
What you have done may have been corrupt, but you are not corrupt. If Jesus is your Savior and you trust God,
there is something new about you.
Believe this. God said it.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creature; the old things
passed away; behold, new things
have come.
Stop believing the lies that
have taken you the wrong direction and have kept you way too long. Believe what God says about you. For centuries, since the beginning of time
humans, us have battling these same things.
We’ve stepping into situations that twist, distort and corrupt our
lives.
God has something for
us. This will change us. To believe this is to believe that God is
bigger than any problem, God is able to deal with any situation, God is for me
all the time. Nothing changes that
truth. But God changes us.
Paul made this obvious as he
taught us. He had been where we
are. He dealt with lots of the same kind
of people we are around. From a
treasured upbringing to a checkered life, God used this one man to changed
thousands of lives. Listen in on some of
the things that were true that Paul taught.
Realize that they are true for us as well.
God is for us.
What shall we say about such wonderful
things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
God
is for you and me. He’s not against
us. The lies run strong and for a long
time. Jesus proved this fact as God
didn’t spare His own son, Jesus, but He put our wrong and sin on Jesus.
He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin on our behalf, so that
we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Can
anything separate us from God’s love?
Romans 8 digs in deep at this point to expose the lies that many of us
have believed. We have believed that our
situations, our bad relationships and our struggles define us and bury us so
that we can never win or get ahead or have success. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
We are overcomers.
But in all these things we
overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
That’s
the truth. In all things we win because
of Jesus. Nothing can change this
fact. Nothing is too hard for God. Be convinced that nothing can separate us
from God’s love.
I
close by giving you some awesome verses that have encouraged me big time. Read on and see what God will do as you
believe that He says about us!
Therefore,
since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. 2 We
reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone
or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are
honest know this.
3 If the Good News we preach is
hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.
4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those
who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the
Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is
the exact likeness of God.
5 You see, we don’t go around
preaching about ourselves. We preach
that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for
Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who said, “Let there be
light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could
know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 We now have this light shining in
our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great
treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from
ourselves.
8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We
are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed…
15 All of this is for your benefit.
And as God’s grace reaches more and
more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive
more and more glory.
16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits
are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and
won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs
them and will last forever!
18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can
see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things
we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
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