Seven: Looking at the Flame of Love

The many times of failing God. How can He possibly still want to use someone like me? I do well, then I fail. I get up and go for and with Him, then I stumble. I get into things that I know deep inside is not where I need to be, but still yet, I dive right in and go there anyhow. In so doing, I then afterward knew, that what I did, was totally against all that His Word has told me, it was against what I knew I should have done, and still I went there. How can He love someone like me? How can He want to keep working with me?

Sound familiar?

Even though, in this slip and slide life, if we can call it that, is there still deep down within a desire to serve and love God? Is there this one place within you that wants to do right? Is there a “want to” still in there, to do all that is possible to try, at least, and please God? Does it seem like even though the fire of our heart may have seemed to calm down, there is still something inside that burns for the Lord? If so, then I have some news for you!

“A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not quench.” (Isaiah 42:3)

One other translation of this verse says it in this way: “…. a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish…” If there is a small, tiny fire still burning on the candle of life, it says He will not extinguish, rather He will keep it aflame. Listen, we are talking, even down to small sparks! If there is a tiny something there, it is enough for Him to kindle it back into full flame!
We never need to worry that when we humbly come to Christ for forgiveness or restoration or strength or wisdom, that He will despise our weakness and refuse our request. He treats the bruised and the scorched with tenderness.
Our God is a God of love, of grace and mercy. Our God is a tender God. He loves us even when we fail Him. What is needed is our willingness to allow Him to complete His work within us, for Him to mold and shape us, for Him to correct, forgive and restore our lives. He tenderly loves us and desires our full restoration.
In my own personal walk, I have made many mistakes. I have made decisions that was wrong. I have stepped into situations that I knew before I even stepped, I was wrong in thought, deed and heart. Now, I also know that as a minister of the Gospel of Christ, I am to be an example. Well, news is, I try. And news is, I have succeeded sometimes, but there has also been times where I made a big mess. Now, news is also, so have you!
But the one thing I can assuredly say and know, God is a loving God! He is forgiving, and still desires to make something of me, and even the mess I made. Reason being, He has shown me, that past all my stuff, and deep inside my heart is a candle, that at times, yes has become a “dimly burning wick” but in His tenderness, He restores that flame to a healthy fire. Now, I must also get something inside me as well. That is, I must do all I can to learn and NOT repeat my failures. I must strive to keep inline with God’s Word and Will. But also understand that even this area of “want to” comes at times from a “dimly burning wick.”
All of us have one major theme in common. Sin. We have the thread of sin that twines and wraps around us fast and furious. We also have a common enemy. This is the one who does not care in any shape, form or fashion about who we are, his only concern is that whatever it takes to stump our growth, to stop us from exceeding in God, then so be it! But, too, this enemy is under our feet in Christ Jesus, he was defeated at the cross!
So one may ask then, “So why do I still mess up? Why do I still fail God?” One may add to this, “Is there a point that God will give up on me?” There are answers to every one of these question!

1) So why do I still mess up? Why do I still fail God? If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, then you are one with Him. His likeness and holiness are present within your life. The very power that enabled Jesus to resist all temptation dwells within you.
Still, there remains within your mortal body an impulse to sin, a “sinful nature” that MUST be surrendered to God. Paul writes, “For I know that in me )that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Romans 7:18). Yet we are not stranded in this barren place, for Paul also says, “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). Through faith we access God’s power to overcome our sinful impulses. Paul also said it in this way: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).
We receive Jesus’ gift of freedom only by exercising faith in God. We must believe that He can remove ungodly strongholds within our hearts and that He continuously works to make us free from all sin and bondage. Our responsibility is to say “no” to sin and “yes” to God as we trust Him to provide the all-encompassing liberty that our souls crave.

2) Is there a point that God will give up on me? NO! It doesn’t matter who you are, what you have done. He will NOT give up on you, He desires that you come to repentance and His forgiveness, and growth in Him.

As long as there is breath in your body, as long as your heart is beating, as long as you are alive, right now! He will not give up on you! As hard as it may seem to believe and understand God sees the good that can be brought out of the lives of all people. He will never give up even on a seemingly “disaster area life.”
We are the ones who give up! We give up on ourselves. We give up on God. Now understand this is just what the devil wants you to do! When we give up, we are giving up on the faithfulness of God, which never changes, which is always the same. His faithfulness never gives up or caves in on anybody!

The Strength of Love and Forgiveness in Failure

A story from the Scriptures, tells us and shows us the strength of love and forgiveness when we fail. This story you may have heard many times, but allow me to point out a few things that show this one fact of His loving and forgiving heart.

“The He said: ‘A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with then pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, “how many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against haven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found…..” (Luke 15:11-24)

Read this again if you need to.. ALLOW it to get into your spirit! For in this story is great understanding that we have need of.

Have you ever noticed that before we jump off into a failure to obey God, we will allow it to get into our spirit what we are fixing to go do. While it is “brewing” within us, we travel to a “far” land. Now, I am not speaking of getting on a plane and flying somewhere, or even get in your car and going somewhere, even though it could be 20 miles away. The “far” land is that area of failure we are heading for. It is that area of guilt which we will soon find ourselves in. It is Guilt, because maybe even before we stepped out, we knew where we were going to wind up being.
As we travel to this “far” land, we may even play out all that we are wanting to do, how we are going to totally enjoy this “venture” of life. We go over all the pleasure that is involved. Now, let me remind you, this is not inline with God’s Word or Will. This place we are driving so hard to get to, once there, once the act has been done, once we fail, and once we find ourselves totally without peace, without what we had with God. In that area of failure, is where we failed God, and “did” our own thing. This land we traveled too, usually travels back to forbidden territory, forbidden waters, those things, places and even sometimes people we need to break “ties” with are part of this “far” land.
At this point, we find that “citizen” of that country, a citizen whose name is “guilt.” Whose wages is nothing, whose wage only leaves our spiritual stomach hungry and without. Whose wage brings a torment to our soul, a despair because of our actions. This citizen, we feel can help us, so he gives us that job of “slopping” the pigs. We find ourselves feeding the “swine” of our own pleasure. We even will get down on our knees and eat away at the “slop” we have made. We eat at the rotten, stinky food of sinful living. It will be this way until we “COME” to our “SENSES“ and realize that as a child of God, this is NOT where we are destined to live!
It is here that we know, it is way better at the Father’s house. That even the servants of His house have it better than this. We even go through our “Eeore” speech, “I am not worthy anymore!” We go on to say: “I have sinned! I am no longer worthy of anything!” We always try to bid God for second best, because we failed at the first. We will say; “Father, let me be reduced to a lower standard, I am no longer a child, just let me be a lower than average child, if you will.” It is possible that we may have been here before, struggling in this “mess” we are in, this mess we have made. Here we also have found ourselves thinking, “He will never use me! I have failed Him!”

But let me ask you this. “How many robes, sandals and rings do you suppose God has?” How many fatted calves does He own? Be assured, it is enough to cover all the mess you made! How does He rejoice when we learn our mistake and come to Him and repent and ask for forgiveness? Scripture tells us that ALL of heaven rejoices when a soul is turned around! I believe that this rejoicing is not only for sinners who come to Christ, but is also for the Christian who finds that he has fallen into failure, then repents and asks for cleansing and forgiveness of God.

“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7)

Now, understand this in no way gives license for sin!!!!!!

The point here is that His love and forgiveness, His restoration and rebuilding is huge! It is massive when it comes to our walk with Him. He desires so much for us to grow, and He loves so much, that when we fail, He picks us up, cleanses us off, and says, “Come now, let’s try it again.” Hear this! He can and will bring good out of our failures! Allow Him His way in rebuilding who you are in Him!