This message will be short and sweet but extremely important:
Don’t let anything keep you away from God.
Don’t let anything keep you from receiving the gift of faith.
Don’t let anything keep you from embracing grace day by day.

There’s nothing in your past that could make God love you less.
Don’t give in to shame.
There’s no mess that big that would keep God granting you grace.
Don’t give in to shame.
There’s nothing that makes you unqualified for God’s love and grace.
Don’t give in to shame.

You truly don’t need to get your act together before you can come to Jesus.

Jesus was sent to the world precisely because we keep on messing up. Jesus came because only he can make something out of the messes we create. Jesus came because we are sinners and cannot save ourselves.

Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. (1 Tim.1:15, MSG)

Jesus did not come into the world for perfect people but for imperfect, broken people. We don’t need to fake to be better than we are. God knows everything. Yet he waits for us to come to him. Yet he loves us beyond measure. Yet he wants to make us whole.

This is the basic gem of Christianity: God loves us as we are but wants to heal us through grace. All this is a gift that we can either receive or reject. And the gift is meant for all the sinners of the world. If God welcomes everyone…why should we keep ourselves from running into his arms because we are not perfect? We can only grieve God by rejecting his gift. And we don’t want that, do we?

 

Gracious God,
We carry loads of shame and regret.
Don’t let them keep us away from you.
We are broken spirits and wounded sinners.
Make us bold to receive your gift of grace.
Thank you for loving us as we are
and not leaving us as we are.
Make us whole, Lord.
Make us like Jesus.
In His precious name,
Amen

Q4U: What has kept you away from God? What has helped you to come to Jesus?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you run to Jesus no matter of what!

Image courtesy of Jon Romero, design by Mari-Anna Stålnacke. Linking up today with Thought-Provoking Thursday, Faith-filled Fridays.