Why Would God Want a Failure Like Me

I'm a big screw up. I've made a mess of my life because I let false idols get in my way. And now there's this one idol I just can't shake. It makes me selfish, doubtful, and depressed. I keep telling myself to let it go, lay it at Jesus's feet, but I keep carrying it around. So why would Jesus bestow mercy on me? Why does He even bother with me?

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead" Philipians 3:13

This line is so significant when you understand where Paul was coming from. What was behind Paul? Only the persecution of early Christians. As Saul, Paul was as evil as Hitler. He brutally murdered people because of their religious beliefs. Yet today, I quote Paul's writing out of the Bible. God developed Saul/Paul into a Bible hero and writer.

Nothing in my past is as bad as Paul's past. So if Paul is able to forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, why can't I?

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14.

I press on, looking constantly forward and forgiving myself for the past. God's already forgiven me because I've admitted my sin, confessed it and am daily trying to turn from it, with the strength of the Lord on my side. Jesus paid for the sin. Now I have just got to move beyond and towards the goal that the Lord has set for me.

Thank you God, for forgiving my sins. Thank you for Your Word that reminds me I'm forgiven. Thank you for Paul and the example he is for me of the greatness us sinners can achieve when we have faith in You. Please bestow your mercies on me today and fill me with your grace as I move forward. Amen.

Turning Away from a Life I'm Embarrassed About

Dear God,

I remember my mistakes and my aimless wandering which made my life useless and without meaning. Such memories make me wince with embarrassment and shame. As I remember them, my soul is downcast within me.

Yet, this I call to mind and therefore have hope. Because of Your great love I am not consumed by my past, for Your compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. And so each morning I start with a clean slate to rebuild my life in the image You have set through Jesus Christ and the new covenant.

You are good to those whose hope is in you and to the one who seeks You. So it is with all my heart that I hope in You and seek You. Please don't let me be distracted by earthly treasures. I pray to keep my eyes on You, O Lord, God Almighty.

I ask for the assistance of the Holy Spirit this day, and each day. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Based on Lamentations 3:19-23, 25...

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I will remember them, and my soul is down cast within me. Yet, this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.
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The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks Him.