"Stop Struggling"

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18

Mankind seems to always be struggling when it comes to religious/spiritual matters. The Lord recently spoke something to me on the subject. He said, "The struggle stopped at the cross". At the cross Jesus took the "struggle" as well as the punishment for our sins.

The cross did away with our struggle to be accepted by God. Our struggle to be good enough for God stopped at the cross. Our struggle to be right with God stopped at the cross. Our struggle to prove to God our love for Him was stopped at the cross.

We could never be accepted by God on our own merits. There aren't enough good works that we can do that will make us good enough. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves no matter how religious we might act. We could sacrifice a million sacrifices, spend our days doing religious deeds, read the Bible through from cover to cover everyday, be kind to everyone we meet, and we would still fall short.

At the cross we went from law to grace. We went from works to faith. We no longer have to sacrifice goats and bulls, we no longer have to confess to the priest, we no longer have to bring an offering to make atonement for our sins. The law made us work for something that we could still never achieve. The cross gave us something we never could have achieved on our own. The cross stopped law and works, and gave us grace and faith as the way to be right with God.

At the cross, Jesus provided the way for us to be accepted by the Heavenly Father. In His cross was the satisfactory payment for all our sins. We spend our time struggling to be right with God through our own efforts, when there is only one thing we can do to make that happen-- faith and trust in Jesus' atoning work on the cross makes us right and good enough-- that is the grounds of our righteousness.

If you are struggling to be good enough for God and accepted by Him, your struggle is in vain. You are struggling for nothing. All your efforts are no good. You can only be accepted and good enough as you put your faith in what Jesus did at the cross. Mankind's struggle was stopped there because the victory was won there.

Have a great day. The struggle stopped at the cross.

For further reading:

Galatians 6:14
John 19:30
Ephesians 2:8,9
Romans 8:1-4
Hebrews 9:11-15

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

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