"Which Will You Believe?"

"Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand." Psalm 37:24

There is a God in heaven who loves us and remembers that we get weak at times and don't always do the right things. Because it's not His will that we perish, He makes a way where we aren't totally cast down- or destroyed if we do fall. When we slip, when we mess up, when we make a mistake, when we sin, He graciously and lovingly provides forgiveness and restores us. He desires to pick us up. He desires to bring us back. He desires to give us another chance. He desires to bring us close to Himself. He doesn't want us to continue to go further and further down the path of regret, remorse, condemnation and guilt. He wants to forgive and cleanse us and set our feet back on solid ground and give us a hope and a future because He loves us.

But then there is an enemy of our soul (the devil) who goes about seeking whom he may devour. He hates us and wants to keep us held down in guilt, condemnation and shame. He wants to make us depressed and suffer and think that there is no hope for us. He wants to taunt us with our mistakes, bringing them up as accusations before us day and night. He is doing his best to make us want to give up and turn from God. He lies to us and deceives us into believing that God won't forgive us-- we are too bad or have gone to far.

This may describe where you are-- you have "messed up". You are sensing God's gentle love and mercy reaching out to you, but you also feel the guilt of your mistake beating you up and convincing you that it is too late. You are hearing the voice of the accuser louder than you are hearing the voice of God. Therefore you are feeling torn-- which is correct, which should you believe, is there really forgiveness and hope, or is it too late and you might as well give up? If that is you, I want to say this-- what you are going to believe is based on a choice. It is a choice to either believe the One who truly loves you and proved it by dying for you, or believe the one who cares nothing about you but wants more than anything to see you destroyed. The choice now should be easy-- believe the One who loves you.

Have a great day. When you make a mistake, are you going to choose to accept the Lord's forgiveness, or the devil's condemnations?

For further reading:

Psalm 103:14
1 John 1:9
John 3:16,17; 10:10
Jeremiah 29:11
Romans 8:1
1 Peter 5:8