Letter from David C., shared with his permission
There is something incredible about being totally, utterly, completely accepted by the Lord. We are accepted because we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ and our sins are forgiven and we are filled with the Holy Spirit and adopted into His family. I don’t merit or deserve what God gives me. It is a wonderful and rare thing when you also experience acceptance from another person.
62+ years walking with the Lord and I am realizing that I will carry my brokenness into the kingdom. It is a fantasy and an illusion to think that I can clean my life up, deal with the problems, get my act together, stop sinning, etc. I tell believers sometimes that sin does 2 good things in my life. It keeps me grateful for the mercy of God, and it allows me to identify with my fellow broken brothers. We are either ok as we are now or we will never be ok.
In my daily prayer list and time with the Lord there is a section where I am asking God to grant 3 things to me. 1-that I would not be wise in my own eyes. 2-that I would offer to God the sacrifices that are pleasing to Him—a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. 3-that I would walk and live in the shoes of the Tax Collector in Luke 18 (God be merciful to me, the sinner).
I have one of those head colds. Congestion, sore throat, cough, headache. Not bad enough to seek medical help and not good enough to function well.
I am grateful that joy and happiness are very different. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and we can express it regardless of the way that we feel. It is independent of our circumstances. It doesn’t mean it always works well for me.
It is funny but, in my experience, emotion rarely supports faith. Faith is a willingness to hear the Word of God and obey it. Faith always involves God speaking and us obeying. It is almost never a matter of “feeling like it”.
The foggy head is having trouble wrapping this up well. Imagine that. When all is said and done, may our Lord be praised! May His name be magnified and may we speak of His glory, power, coming kingdom, and nature!
Your brother,
David
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