By Brenda Groves
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
Dear Readers:
Many years ago, I wrote this testimony down because it impacted me so deeply, and I knew that there were other Christians struggling with the same thing I was. Why a perfect/Holy God could/would want to have fellowship with such an imperfect me, with all of my shortcomings and failures? I have it in my heart to run this column again as a reminder to some, and hopefully a revelation to other’s the true meaning of grace. …
I once heard a man tell a story about a dog that his family once owned when he was a teen. He said the previous owners had badly mistreated the dog. Sadly, it had been beaten with chains and although its physical body had healed, the animal remained emotionally scarred. The man said the large dog was super friendly, but understandably, terrified of people.
He said when you called the dog it would come running toward you but still living in fear of how you would treat him, it would stop about ten feet short and begin to whimper and scoot the rest of the way on its side in a posture of submission, and apprehension.
The man said it was pathetic, and also embarrassing when people would come over and see how the dog reacted to them, its owners. So they felt they always had to stop and explain, “we don’t beat our dog, it was the people who had this dog before us who mistreated him. We have had him for a few years now and are really good to him.”
Now, this man was a Christian but at the time he was struggling with understanding the grace and mercy of God. And because of his previous religious instruction he didn’t really see God as His Heavenly Father but more of a stern, harsh, and critical God.
At the same time he was studying the Bible and seeing such verses as Hebrews 4:15-16.
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
But the man always felt unworthy to just approach God without first reciting all the things he had done wrong, or neglected to do, begging for His forgiveness. And then he would “leave quickly before God could tell him what He really thought of him,” as the man stated.Lol!
Now that IS a pathetic example of a relationship for anyone to have, much less with our Heavenly Father, but I believe most of us have experienced this same attitude at times. Before and after we have received Salvation.
(I know I did!! It took some time for me to be delivered from stinking thinking and begin to gain revelation of the goodness of God.)
Back to the man’s testimony, he said that one day he was sitting on his back porch meditating on these scriptures about grace and thinking, “but how can this be?”
When suddenly his dog came running up to him wanting love and affection, but again, it stopped about five feet away and began to wine and crawl on its belly in this ritual of fear and unworthiness.
Well, this time the man said instead of feeling sorry for the dog it made him a little upset with the poor creature because he had tried so hard to show the animal that he loved him. So out of frustration he yelled the dog’s name loudly, “HONEY!” I wish that JUST ONE TIME you would come to me without acting like I was gonna beat you!!!!”
He said Immediately he heard the Lord speak to him in a firm voice, “Andrew, I wish that just one time you would come to Me without always thinking that I am disappointed or angry with you.”
The man said it forever changed the way that he related to God and his relationship began to grow deeply with the Lord in love and adoration. And now he treasures his intimate times with his Heavenly Father.
The Lord Jesus said in John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
And Jesus goes on to declare in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
These are powerful truths!
We are a spirit, we have soul (mind/will/emotions), and we live in a body. And that is how we relate to God, not in ourselves, but we relate to God through our new born spirits, which are just like Jesus, sinless/pure “sealed with the Holy Spirit…” (Eph. 1:13)
In our new born spirits we are justified (just as if we never sinned), because the minute we get born again, it is Jesus’ perfect Spirit that is exchanged with our dead (to God) spirit that we were born with in the first place. (That is why we must be born again. John Cpt. 3)
We don’t have to keep atoning for our sins. Jesus paid for our sins, past, present and even future sins. He is not going back on the cross every time you sin. It’s a done deal. “It is finished!” (John 19:30)
Grace … unearned, unmerited favor, is getting what we don’t deserve, while mercy is NOT getting what we do deserve.
You know, the night I was born I had not been reading my dusty Bible, or tithing, or doing things for the Church, in fact I had only been to church twice in many years. When I got down on my knees that evening, in my living room, all I was wanting to do was to know God.
To meet Him, to have a relationship with Him, and all I had to offer that night to God … was my whole heart. So, with all of my heart I called out to Jesus, and I was met with God’s unconditional love, grace and mercy flooding my heart with joy and washing through my soul and body, wave after wave!
When a true born again believer gets a revelation of the grace of God poured out through His Son, and who we are now in Christ and Christ living in us, it will break the power of sin in their life. Not that we will never sin again, but you will find that you will live more Holy by accident, than you ever did on purpose.
I am a living testimony of how a revelation of the true message of God’s grace, poured out for us at Calvary, will deliver you from the bondage of a sin consciousness.
A consciousness of your own unworthiness will hinder your ability to approach God in full assurance of His love and acceptance for you. It’s all about Jesus and what He has done for you.
So, brother’s and sisters, true born again children of God, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled” (with the blood of Christ), “from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our hope without wavering” (crawling on our bellies), “for He who promised is faithful.”
We are free to love Him. So run into His arms, jump in His lap and let Father God …Father you.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons (and daughters) of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST …” Romans 8:16-17
(Heb. 22-23 NKJV)
Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com
