How does God see you?

 I just read about Kathryn Kuhlman, a famous American preacher. She had amazing spiritual gifts, preaching, word of knowledge and healings.

She said the secret of her ministry was complete surrender to God. Not my will, but your will be done.
I feel I should be inspired by this, but I feel overwhelmed and intimidated.

As a new convert, I was in a church that preached complete surrender and absolute obedience, week after week, sermon after sermon. The pressure was unbearable and I had a complete nervous breakdown.

So what do you do if you know your trust in God is not at this level? The preacher tells you that if you don’t put your whole life on the altar without reservations, God will not bless you or use you.
So you feel guilty, unloved, a spiritual failure, or even condemned and afraid of God’s judgement.

So if you read testimonies of great faith heroes, and you feel discouraged rather than inspired, what do you do?

Firstly, don't compare yourself with other believers.

What if Luke compared himself with Paul? There is no record in the bible of Luke healing the sick, preaching to crowds or raising the dead.

Luke knew he did not have the same gifts as Paul. He knew he could not do everything Paul did, but he did not let that stop him doing the things that he could do. 

He researched and recorded the history of the earthly life of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke.

Secondly, ask God how He sees you right now?

Does he want you to give up something? Or maybe not. Does he want you do do something new? Or maybe not.

Does he want you to keep doing what you are doing? Or maybe not.

Does he want you to dedicate your life in a new way? Or maybe rather rest in his love and mercy just as you are.

Ask God how he sees you right now. You can be sure he will show you his love.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Rom 8:1 NIV

So now, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith in his promises, we can have real peace with him because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

For because of our faith, he has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all that God has had in mind for us to be. Rom 5:1–2 The Living Bible, Paraphrased

Don't let what you can’t do stop you from doing what you can do.

Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 1 Cor 12:14–17 NIV

Old Age

 Retirement and old age can be a curse. Are you full or regrets over your failures and bad choices? You can look back at so many mistakes in your life. You wish you had made better decisions. What would have happened if …

You can look at the horrible things people had done that hurt you. You wish you had not allowed this or that person to dominate you and rob you of your independent thinking.

I saw my father in his eighties, as his health and his intellectual brilliance deteriorated. He went to bookshops and bought piles of books that he would never read. He so much wanted to keep thinking, although he knew his brain was ageing and his mind was fading and failing.

He progressively slipped into despair, just waiting to die and disappear into nothingness.
But old age can also be a time to rethink, to reconsider, to be open to another dimension.

As my father became helpless and bedridden, he could not read or watch television, but there was an openness to something he had pushed away from his mind when he was mentally and physically able.

My wife and I asked him if we could read the bible to him. He was happy to listen. We would read a chapter to him and ask him if that was enough. As time went by, he even asked to hear more.
Then there came a time when he was happy for us to pray for him.

Eventually he was 88 and my wife asked him if he would like to believe in Jesus and make peace with God. She prayed for him and he squeezed her hand. From that day he was never the same again. The black cloud of despair left him.

I talked to him about his mother and brother who were already in heaven. I told him they were waiting to see him again. Now he listened with positive expectation. Eventually my father died in peace at the age of 91.

Never stop praying for your loved ones. Many people in old age become more difficult, more irritable, more negative, but that does not have to be the end of the story.

Death can be a dreaded departure into darkness, or it can be a wonderful release into a better world with a good God.

I am now 75. Every year is a year closer to heaven. I am learning to let go of negative attitudes that I learned in past years. I am learning to be more tolerant, less critical, less judgemental, although that it still often a challenge.

Old age can be a time of hardening or a time of softening, a time of resignation, or a time of learning and teaching others with the wisdom of reflection.

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; Eccesiastes 3:1–2 NKJV

Friendship with Jesus

 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. Jn 15:15 NIV

Those who see God as a harsh judge will see themselves as unworthy servants. We are certainly unworthy servants. We are flawed and we must always acknowledge our sins and failings and receive God's forgiveness.

Our sin is not insignificant to God. Jesus had to take a terrible punishment for our sins, but Jesus has taken away all our guilt. Now he wants to look at you and me very differently, as his beloved children.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Rom 5:1 NIV

Anyone who still sees God as a harsh judge has never grasped this wonderful truth of grace.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— Jn 1:12 NIV

If you see God as a judge watching you from heaven, you have either never entrusted your life to Jesus or you have never really understood God's love since your conversion.

God is not far away. He dwells lovingly with his children.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NASB95

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Jn 15:7 NRSV

How can you live in this close personal relationship with Jesus if you fear him as a harsh judge? You can't.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:1 NRSV

Overcoming Bad Thoughts and Feelings

 You try to focus your thoughts on God, to pray with reverence and love, but you are constantly distracted by negative thoughts. You want to love God, but in your own eyes you are a failure.

You force yourself to praise God, to read the Bible more, perhaps to fast, but it often doesn't help.

What is wrong? What is holding you back?

• Financial worries?

• Unworthy sexual thoughts?

• Anger at difficult neighbours or relatives?

• Ashamed of your many shortcomings and misdemeanours?

• Anger about abuse?

Perhaps you're building on the wrong foundation.

You are not saved because your repentance and reverence are deep.

The foundation of your salvation is your redemption through the death of God's Son on the cross for you.
God redeemed you from sin and shame through the sacrifice of His Son.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:16–17 NIV

When we feel shaky, we need to look to our foundation, God's saving love.

Because Jesus died for you, you can come to Jesus as a broken person who needs understanding, like a troubled soul sharing your feelings with a good therapist who is not judging you.

You can tell God how you feel and ask him to help you to untie the knots in your life.

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jer 33:3 NIV