2 Co 5:21 AMP

21 For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [[a]endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].

Part 1

God loves and accepts you as much on your bad days as He does on your good ones. In a performance-based society, that’s easy to forget. But you mustn’t! God’s acceptance is based on your standing in Christ, not the state of your life at a given time. “For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His (not our) goodness].” Think of the cross as a trading post. There God took every sin you’d ever commit and laid it upon Jesus. And the moment you place your trust in Christ, God takes all of Christ’s righteousness and wraps you up in it. From that point on He sees you only one way – in Christ. How liberating! Liberating, because now you realize that your worth isn’t based on what you do but on who you are in relationship to Christ. God actually assigned value to you by allowing Jesus to die for you. “But I can’t believe that God doesn’t care about what I do.” You’re right! And your rewards in heaven will be based on your stewardship here on earth. God wants you to do good works, but He doesn’t want you to depend on them; He wants you to do them out of love for Him. Once you understand your position, who you are in Christ, you begin doing the right things for the right reasons.

Part 2

The world tells us that our value is connected to our “doing.” Growing up, we’re constantly compared. When asked why we were not doing as well as our brother or sister, we felt we were doing our best and we had no answer. So we determined to try harder, but no matter how hard we tried somebody still wasn’t satisfied with us. We were still getting the message, “Something’s wrong with you.” This leaves us burned out, confused and turned off. It drives many of us into therapy, when all we need is the assurance of God’s unconditional love! Your wrong behaviors won’t be changed until you know you’re loved by God apart from what you do. And that’s what Jesus made possible through the cross. Why is this important to believe? Because until you know who you are in Christ, you’ll stumble along believing that your acceptance with God is performance-based. Your acceptance with God is based on performance, but not yours- Christ’s! Jesus loves you unconditionally and is committed to working with you. And the best part is, He doesn’t condemn you while He’s doing it! He understands your temperament, your struggles, and even the faulty foundation upon which you’ve based your self-worth. He not only understands – He cares. Once you enter into a personal relationship with Christ He begins a process of relieving your pain, revealing your true value, and releasing your gifts. Bit by bit, He restores everything Satan has stolen from you. And while all this is happening, you are positioned securely “in Christ.” Therefore you’re always acceptable to Him.

“Who are you?” Jn 1:22 NKJV

When asked, “Who are you?” John the Baptist replied, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord” (v. 23 NKJV). After listening to John for a while, his disciples left him to follow Christ. And that was okay with John, because he knew what he was called to do. Do you? You can only go on for so long “trying things.” At some point you’ve got to discover what God’s called you to do and give yourself fully to it.

Apparently Paul wasn’t a particularly great speaker: “I came to you…timid and trembling…my message and my preaching were very plain” (1Co 2:3-4 NLT). But what Paul lacked as a speaker, he more than compensated for as a writer. He wrote the inspired word that enabled others to preach! Something so powerful was released through Paul’s writings that even when they threw him in jail he didn’t ask for a lawyer or a gourmet meal because he was tired of prison food. No, he wanted paper so that he could keep writing. In fact, Paul wrote all the way to the end of his life. And because he did, lives are still being changed today. What a legacy! And all because one man discovered his calling and devoted himself to it. So the question is: have you discovered your calling and devoted yourself to it? George Bernard Shaw wrote: “Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I get to hold for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before turning it over to future generations.”

Romans 8:31-34

Throughout life, there will be times when our sins and failures lead us to conclude that God is disappointed or angry with us. How can He still love me after what I’ve done? If I’m really forgiven, why do I still feel so guilty? At such tiimes, we need to fix our eyes on the truth of Scripture and ask the questions Paul posed in Romans 8.

If God is for us, who is against us
(v. 31)? Our heavenly Father proved His loyalty to us when He delivered His own Son over to death in order to save us. Without Christ’s atoning death on our behalf, we would face eternal separation from God.

Who will bring a charge against God’s elect (v. 33)? No accusation against us can stand, since at the moment of salvation, the Lord justified us. This means we were legally declared righteous, while still in our sinning condition. No one can reverse this transaction and make us guilty again. To doubt our blameless standing in Christ is to declare His atonement insufficient to cover our sin.

Who is the one who condemns (v. 34)? Although Satan rails against us, Jesus’ death and resurrection are proof that we are right with God. Christ took our condemnation and gave us His righteousness in return. Now He sits at the Father’s right hand, interceding for us.

When doubts about the Lord’s love and faithfulness arise, focus on truth. If we judge His loyalty to us by our circumstances or feelings, we will never get an accurate view of God. True security lies not in our good performance, but in our relationship with Christ, and no one can take that from us.

Ephesians 6:10-14

Every believer faces temptation. Take a moment to recall a particularly enticing situation involving something that would displease God. Did you realize you were involved in a satanic battle?

The Devil is real. Scripture reveals that he leads an army of fallen angels and is prideful enough to think he can gain victory over God. By definition, a satanic attack is a deliberate assault upon an individual, which is designed to cause spiritual, physical, material, or emotional harm. Satan desires to thwart the Lord’s purpose in believers’ lives, to rob them of joy and peace, and ultimately to deny God the worship He receives through yielded followers.

As in any war, knowing the enemy’s plan helps us prepare for the attack. First, be aware that the battlefield takes place in our minds. To walk in a godly manner with Christ, we must first be sure that our thoughts are in submission to His Spirit. This takes daily surrender and time in God’s Word. Second, Satan tempts us during vulnerable moments. Be cautious when you are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (This is often known as the H.A.L.T. warning). Third, he is deceptive; we won’t recognize the trap as an evil scheme. Instead, it will seem good, and we’ll likely wrestle with some sort of doubt.

As Christians, we should walk closely with Jesus. Satan desires to lure us into destructive actions that rob us of God’s plan for a good, full life. Stay connected to the Savior: read the Word, pray, and fellowship with other believers. These are weapons we use against the Devil in spiritual war.

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mk 9:24 NIV

Here is another question to consider: What is “walking by sight”? (See 2Co 5:7). It’s living your life based on how things look to the natural eye. It’s deciding and acting in accord with your perceptions and circumstances, rather than God’s Word. It’s being dictated to by your feelings and thoughts. Your thoughts and feelings are – yours! Examine them. Don’t let them hijack you. Use your spirit-controlled temperament to bring them under control. Too often we are sandwiched between faith and doubt, in a “catch-22” between what our transformed spirit says and what our carnal mind says. One day a distraught father brought his son to Jesus for healing. Jesus told him, “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mk 9:23 NIV). At that point the boy’s father said, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” At times we experience both faith and doubt. This man was honest about his doubts, yet Jesus still worked a miracle for him. If he had needed correction, Jesus would have corrected him. If his faith was not genuine, the Lord would have known it. But Jesus accepted his declaration of faith, despite his doubts. There are three lessons here for us: (1) Don’t be afraid to acknowledge your doubts. (2) Don’t let your doubts overrule your faith. God’s Word in the matter is God’s will for you; stand on it. (3) Hand your doubts over to the Lord and say, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” How long does it take to learn to walk by faith? A lifetime!