friend, Are You Running Away?

Did it happen again? Did you fall into that trap again that always brings you down? For years my trap was bulimia. It can be so easy to hide! No one saw it when it happened, so no one knew of my failure. 

But from the inside out, it ate me up, not to speak of the physical discomfort and guilt toward God. How many times had I told Him this really was the last time?

Have you experienced this kind of thing too? Again and again the same stumbling block, and again and again we fall. Can God still forgive us for that? friend, I would like to hug you—and if I see it like that, then your Father in heaven, the God of love, must want to do that even more! 

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23-24 NIV) 

friend, this is not an excuse to diligently continue to sin. Forgiveness will carry us through until we are strong enough to say no to sin! But even then, we must continue to lean on God for His power. 

Your heart's desire should always be to get out of the sin, to become stronger. You automatically will if you run right into God's arms every time you fail and don't run away from Him!

This is my personal experience with sin. You save yourself an insane amount of time and fruitless effort if you don't run away, but keep confessing your sins. (See 1 John 1:9 NIV)  

I am so thankful for the song "Come to Jesus" by Chris Rice. I have sung it many times in my performances! And many times I’ve cried while singing it, because it sums up this theme so simply and beautifully, and makes one thing clear: "friend, Jesus loves you, no matter what you've done!" 

Allow yourself this moment, close your eyes and let the lyrics of "Come to Jesus" sink in. 

friend, come to Jesus - and live!

You are a miracle!