Be Reconciled To God

Paul writes:
“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:19,20

I join Paul in this plea: be reconciled to God. What does this look like? Receive His heart for you. Accept His love for you. Believe that you are lovable and that God has given Himself to loving you. Acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you cannot do any good work without Christ. Gain understanding, knowledge, and revelation from God. Assume your true identity from Him. Believe that your sins have been forgiven and covered by the blood of Christ. This last one might be a bit confusing for some, but it takes Holy Spirit and a renewing of the mind to fully understand what it means to be covered by the blood of Christ.
When sin first entered the world, God required a blood sacrifice to cover the sin of Adam and Eve. Nothing has changed since then. This concept may seem foreign to many in the Western World, but the most obvious form in our societies is cutting by those who are depressed. In other cultures, animal, and sometimes human, sacrifices still persist. God’s plan has always been to provide the sacrifice for us. He provided a ram for Abraham when he was on the mountain with Isaac, and He provided a lamb for us in the person of Christ. Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself, and in doing so, received the due penalty for the sins of every person to ever walk the earth. His death was the most brutal occurrence in all of history. He was completely innocent, and, yet, He did not utter one word of protest. Why? Because His love for you is greater than any pain that He could ever experience. It’s so much greater; many in the world will never come close to fathoming it. So many of us choose a lesser, fleshly love of the world instead of the true love that permeates the soul and restores a person to holiness. Why would the Father give His Son to be brutalized by the world? Because He loves us. The Father and the Son are One with each other and Holy Spirit. This is not something easily grasped, and a simplified way to understand it is that you yourself are soul, body, and spirit knitted into one being. God is eternal, and the relationship He has within His being is something we will spend eternity growing in the knowledge of. It’s pure beauty and true love. All Three believed it to be necessary to draw us into the center of Their heart that we might be reconciled to God and know them intricately and fully. It’s the Triune Heart that beckons us into reconciliation and draws us into love. The Father laid the greatest rescue plan of all time, the Son is the hero in this saga of time, and Holy Spirit is the guide leading us through the adventure of life into eternity. And who are we? Quite simply, we’re the damsel in distress, except many are unaware of the distress we are really in. We’ve tried on the cloak of self-sufficiency, not knowing that it’s as chic as the emperor’s new clothes. We fear being exposed, and we live every day of our lives wrapped in unveiled treachery. We betray God and each other. Self-sufficiency leads to destruction. It’s a branch of pride. Only those who seek God for their security receive life. You are nothing without Him.
He stands before you. Fiery eyes lit with passion; pierced hands outstretched. His face glows with love. What will you do? Will you enter His embrace and receive the love He longs for you to know? You won’t find it among your friends or your family. Not the love He gives. His love takes your burdens and gives you peace. His love shares in your sorrows and brings you unending joy. His love is a fortress around you and a light in dark places. His love is an all-consuming fire. His love never fails. Will you accept the life He so freely gives you? It costs nothing. It’s free. His desire to be reconciled to you is much greater than any desire that drives you. Your need to be reconciled to Him is greater than any need you’ll ever encounter in the world, whether you know it or not. Be reconciled to God. In His arms, you’ll find life eternal.

Freedom in His Love

God desires for us to be free. All of us have walked in bondage, and many of us still do without understanding to which we have committed ourselves. But, Jesus came that our eyes might be open to this bondage and that we, once knowing the truth of our conditions, might choose a higher way:

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. – Galatians 5:1

You might be taken aback by this statement, but consider the many things you feel drawn to without reason. Think about the habits you have formed that you can’t get rid of. What about the self-afflicting behavior in which you partake while secretly desiring to end the cycle? You don’t have to live that way. So, why do we believe that we do? We come up with so many excuses for our behaviors when we ourselves do not have a right understanding of the reason for our actions. We say, “It’s apart of my personality,” or “it’s how I was raised,” and even, “it’s not that bad if most of my friends are doing it.” All of these might be true, but they are not the final truth. The final truth that trumps our very understanding of true is that Jesus Christ is both Lord and King. How does this apply, you may ask. Well, if our Lord and King decides to set us free from such things that entangle us, then that is the highest truth and way of living: to be free. We are created of mind, body, and soul. All of these can be enslaved, and we have to be willing to submit each of these areas to Jesus that we might be free. If you have an eating disorder, you’ve enslaved your body through a mindset you’ve adopted about what’s acceptable. You may have always battled this eating disorder, but you don’t have to continue in this battle. Jesus won it for you, and He came to proclaim freedom for the captives. Be free in Jesus’ mighty Name. His highest is for you to live in freedom. If you live in mental confusion, you don’t have to live this way. You’ve enslaved your mind to confusion and accepted it as what is normal for you. His highest is for you to live in freedom. Be free in Jesus’ mighty Name. If you grow anxious when you are not in control of a situation, you don’t have to be this way. You have forgotten that God is in control, and you lack trust in Him. His highest is for you to live in freedom. Be free in Jesus’ mighty Name. If you walk around feeling rejected and always trying to live up to the expectation of others, you don’t have to live this way. God loves you for who you are. His highest is your freedom. Be free in Jesus’ Name. There are many more things to which we enslave ourselves. Some of these things are instilled in us by our parents and others by our peers and the culture around us. Just because it’s widely acceptable does not mean it’s God’s best for us. I’ve found myself battling so many different behaviors and thoughts that I assumed were apart of who I was. The truth is they were apart of who I was, but I am now a new creation in Christ. Those things are no longer apart of me. Even today, Holy Spirit is bringing to my awareness ideologies that I’ve integrated into my person that oppose my true nature in Christ and who He made me to be. They oppose Him. Once I am aware of these things, it is my heart to rid myself of them. Jesus died so I could, and I desire to honor Him with the freedom He lovingly purchased for me. You have been set free. Do not continue to live in anxiety, insecurity, or fear, because it’s normal. You have been set apart. Say yes to the freedom Jesus offers, and don’t turn back. For His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Anything else is sub-par, and it isn’t worthy of who you were created to be. In order to obtain this freedom, look to Jesus. As you catch His gaze, know His love, and be reconciled to God.