Read with me, “in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”  Colossians 1:22-23

You were made good. You were made enough. He did a good job on you. Does it do your heart well to hear this? Does introspection make you uncomfortable? When you look inside, do you hear only accusations?

Truth is sometimes offensive. Specifically, truth is often times abrasive to our preconceived ideas. There is often so many opinions about ourselves we hold dear. When faced with His thoughts, our minds tend to conjure up a myriad of past actions to support the evidence of our insufficiency. His truth aggravates our flesh, because it speaks opposite of the carnal reasoning. Circumstances will argue with His truth, because we are often left with the consequences of our actions and believe these have influence over His heart towards us. Your persistent need to do and be affirmed will testify that you are undeserving. This mindset sets you approaching at a deficit. When you arm yourself with an earning mindset, you set up yourself to fail according to your own standards, ultimately.

So give it over. Have a different thought. It is God’s goodness that leads to repentance. Knowing and remembering He is good is a very effective weapon against despondency. Did you do bad, He is still Good. Did you do wrong, He is still good.

The methodology behind change involves three things; believe, confess and do. You believe His goodness, confess your desire to change, and profess His sovereignty. This leads to freedom.  Freedom to live, change and be is contingent on love. Love is inherently freeing. Love is persistently forgiving. Love is permanent. He isn’t going anywhere, even when you mess up. While the flesh inherently pursues death and chaos, the love of God leads us in the way of life, everlasting. He is inviting you to walk in freedom and peace that the mind will struggle to understand. Your flesh will argue. Your carnal mind might feel tricked, because His love is unbelievable, His peace greater than our capacity to grasp. It cannot be worked out in your mind. This being the very reason you can’t work for it; you can’t figure out how to deserve it with your functional thinking.

Your bill of deficits was nailed to the cross. You, your list of inferiorities, your unmet potentials, and your idiosyncrasies were all nailed to the cross. So, let the lies of the enemy have no place to take hold. Give him no place to hook your heart.  Live very keenly aware of how you see Him. Be intentional with your perceptions of His heart. On a Monday, expect to see Him do good things. Wake up and believe today will be good, that His arm is still not too short to reach you.

Your thoughts are reflected in your expectations. Anticipate Him, the true nature of His heart, to come through for you. Let your eyes mirror the hope of His glory. Shine in the darkness. Hold on to the promise of His words to you. Believe. Believe He is enough. The price He paid was enough. He views you as redeemed. He sees you as sanctified. He knows you as belonging. He calls you blameless. He presents you as above reproach. Believe it. Confess it.

Put your hand on your heart today, and say this with me. Put intention behind believing His words today…
“You are a good God. You is for me. I have been sanctified. I am made righteous. You have paid the ultimate price; I no longer need to indulge any mental torment for my mistakes and shortcoming. I feel you present, ready and able to assist me.  You are all present. You are all knowing. You are wise. You love. You are for me.”