But then, He gives us a broken and contrite heart, ready to die to our own self and desires and become enveloped in Christ. It's a sad day when acceptance is defined by an earthly definition.
It would be so lack luster to think that we can meet with the holy God of the universe, pure and blameless while accepting our sinful desires and attitudes. Why have so many people, well-meaning people, fallen prey to this lie? The lie that reverses the truth of how it is. We were graciously given the opportunity to enter God's presence. To become adopted into His plan and His ways. It was a great price for God. His Three-in-one was broken on calvary for our sin. It's backwards now. The message that I'm hearing is that God is okay with us in our depravity. We need not worry about our inadequacies because they're what make us precious to Him. It couldn't be anymore tainted.
Our inadequacies separate us from Him. Christ, who is sinless, came down and became like us, sympathizing in our weaknesses, and died. When He raised from the dead he conquered sin and only then could we be restored to Him.
What makes us precious to God is looking down and seeing a child, once dead in sin, raised anew and hidden in His pure Son. This is where He starts us. He kind of starts us at the end. We're marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit and are now identified as one of His.
And then starts the repentance and sanctification. This is where your relationship with God deepens. It's glorious, and special, and awesome, and intimate and painful and hard and tears are shed by you and the Father (I'm sure). Oh, the sadness that is in my heart to see this "acceptance" lie ruining the real thing...
This is all from the Bible. Do we read our Bible? The story from the Old Testament to the New is the same. The epistles of Paul and the gospels are all in accord. So how can we miss it if we're reading it?
Jesus all through the gospels and then Paul carried it on, making it very clear that we must die ourselves and Jesus live through us. It's what rebirth is. There shouldn't be a hint of ourself left over in the end.
Don't worry, God doesn't lose the person He made you to be. He's given us all different feelings, concerns, looks, personalities...And I'm so sure these are being enhanced. But, we are so prideful and ignorant to think that in order for God to be fair, He needs to gaze upon our filth and be ok with it.
I know this is a strong bit of words, but the choice is to embrace the truth that God's given in His Word or not. You can't have a foot in one and a foot in the other. And for the passionate out there...would you want it any other way?
