We all have the areas in our life that are frustrating, enduring....seemingly beyond our abilities to overcome. I have them. Repentance or turning from them, well....I am deeply sorry for the persistent sin,, bat attitudes and the not so nice way I react sometimes, but the turning away part seem beyond my reach. Emotions overtake, excuses come, forgetfulness plagues....all of the above and then some. So impossible!! I take solace in the fact that even the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7:14-25: 14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. Oh, how I can relate to this. How I can mirror Paul's words in my own life and heart. Save me from myself Lord!!
So as I cried out once again in sadness and frustration to my Savior for saving, He flooded me with verses to claim as my own. To personalize and internalize and carry with me as I go through my journey each day. It is so important to be in the Word, studying...even memorizing. I am a firm believer that you don't have to have it memorized perfectly either. Getting the gist and most of the words right so that it makes sense for you and serves as a reminder is enough to bring God's Word into your heart when it's needed most. I don't always have things memorized perfectly, and a lot of time I can't remember exactly the "address" where the verse comes from...but I can know and remember enough to get the Father's concept into my heart and into the situation and into the moment that I am struggling. He sees our hearts and He sees our desire to be renewed according to His desire, His Word and His Spirit that He will use even our most feeble efforts at remembering be fruitful. And my efforts at memorizing are quite feeble! LOL
So I want to share with you the verses He gave me. I have them personalized so you can easily read them for yourself, in the first person. To me that makes it more my own and therefore better able to become real in my life.
1 John 4:4 But I belong to God (I am His dear child). I have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in me is greater than the spirit that lives in the world.
Ephesians 6:17 I put on salvation as my helmet and take up the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
Revelation 12:11 I have defeated him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by my testimony.
Isaiah 49:23b I trust the Lord and will never be put to shame.
Isaiah 49:25 But the Lord says the captives (that's me) will be released and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For the Lord (who's my loving Father) will fight those who fight me and He will save my children.
Psalm 108:13 With God's help I will do mighty things for He will trample down my foes.
Psalm 108:1 My heart is confident in You, O God; no wonder I can sing Your praises.
Ephesians 2:6 For He raised me from the dead along with Christ and seated me with Him in the heavenly realms because I am in Christ Jesus.
There are so many verses to encourage us to victory. These are just a few, just the ones the Lord gave me to work with when I was feeling so low a few days back. He's so tender and caring with us, never leaving us in our mess, but willingly, lovingly, continually working with us and making us into the beautiful believer we are meant to be.
Take these verse and read them everyday until they become so familiar, until they become "habit." Get with the Lord and see if He has some other Scripture that is personal to you...He knows exactly what will touch your heart, what is needed to "fix" you. Print out verses, and carry them with you to meditate on frequently throughout the day, especially if you are like me and have trouble remember. Or take breaks during the day to reread the ones God puts on your heart. He is so good. And as always I am in awe of His unbelievable and inexhaustible care.
Thank You again Lord, a million times, thank You again. Your patience and tenderhearted love is so amazing and blows my heart away. I am beyond words to describe how blessed and in awe I am. Lord, let us make Your Word our own, bring it to our minds moment by moment, renew us and change us and make us into Your reflection so that we may be a blessing and a glory to You. I love You Lord.
Make God's Word personal every day.
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