How do you perceive your
relationship with God? Did you know that your faith depends on how you perceive
your relationship with God? A person may have no trouble believing God's Word
when it tells us that we have authority to lay hands on the sick, and see them
recover, but where that person may have a struggle, is when they doubt their
worthiness to walk in such manifestation of God's Spirit. If a person has a
problem with feeling worthy, then they need to understand the power of the
Blood of Jesus, and what difference it makes to their relationship with God. It
is absolutely essential that you
perceive your relationship as if it were
washed clean with the Blood of Jesus. God's Word tells us that if we walk in
the light, then the Blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all our
failures along the way:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin.1 John 1:7
Are you walking in the light and
forgiving / loving one another as Christ has loved you? If so, then your under
the constant protection of the Blood of Jesus, which washes away your failures.
It is no ticket to continue living in sin, but it is an opportunity to grow in
Christ. Perceiving your relationship with God depends on how seriously you take
what He says about your being made right with Him through faith in Christ
Jesus. If He says that the Blood of Christ has washed away your sins, but you
still see yourself as guilty and shameful, then you're not really standing on
that promise in His Word. You're not taking what God says seriously, and
therefore it is causing you to see your relationship with Him in a way which is
not true. Such perceptions greatly affect our faith. Satan wants you to feel
like God is somehow angry or less than satisfied with you. It is one of Satan's
biggest lies that he tells the children of God that even if God isn't
"angry" with them, he wants them to feel in some way, that they have
failed God and now He isn't as thrilled about them as He once was. God's Word
tells us how His heart is towards those who repent and turn back to Him. If you
question God's heart towards the repentant backslider, then you need to read
the entire chapter of Luke 15, where Jesus uses a parable of the lost sheep,
the lost coin, and the prodigal son, to illustrate the heart of the Father
towards those who return to Him. Although I highly recommend reading the entire
chapter, here's a few verses I want to point out:
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet 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 unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father
said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a
ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and
kill it; and let use at, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive
again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Luke 15:20-24
That is just ONE passage in
scripture that shows the heart of God towards those who are coming back to Him
with a repentant heart - there are MANY other examples in scripture! Jeremiah
3:11-22 is another great passage. Some people feel that God is a cruel distant
taskmaster, because He would allow His people (the Israelites) to come under
heavy oppression and slavery. This is a perfect example of not considering
God's side of the story - the Israelites were some of the most rebellious
people we find in scripture. They were even slaughtering their own children for
the sake of demons! If you study the Bible about the rebellion of the Israelites,
you'll see WHY God allowed them to come under such heavy oppression. God's Word
also tells us of His lovingkindness and mercy side towards those who turn to
Him and who fear (respect & honor) Him.
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in
mercy.... For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy
toward them that fear him. Psalms 103:8,11
Psalms 145:8 tells us that,
"The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great
mercy."