herlucidlife

Hello Naje here…Let’s talk about taking advantage of God’s love. 

Taking advantage, is to be taken for granted, not appreciated but used up endlessly for personal gain. Knowing what has taken place is wrong, I had control over myself to not do it, yet selfishly I take advantage of God’s forgiveness to make myself feel better about my dirt. 

Struggling with sin is an everyday battle, constantly my flesh and spirit are at war. I’m not talking about the sin that we don’t notice, but we should pray about that. God reveals the sin we don’t see when asked to reveal it. Yet, I’m referring to the blatant sin, the actions that we know are wrong but do them anyway for instant pleasure (whatever the act may be). 

“He opens their ears to correction and insists they repent from iniquity” (Job 36:10). Salvation cleanses the sins from us, yet we will have to answer for every behavior still. God gave salvation that we may have the freedom to not sin. Not that we would have the freedom to take advantage of His gift. I genuinely know that I take advantage of God’s love, brushing my sin off as a mistake or I got weak. God gives everything I need to get out of sin, though temptation is natural it doesn’t have to lead to sin. God gives strength to the weak, He gives a way out that we can walk through and away from the temptation, and He gives instruction. “If they serve Him obediently, they will end their days in prosperity and their years in happiness” (Job 36:11). God has promised a reward for those that stay faithful.

God has instructed me to live a certain way, the Bible is full of instruction on how to navigate this life. I’ve come to the conclusion that my dysfunction is a home of fear that has now become comfortable, and rather than live fully in God’s hands I keep running back to familiar territory. I keep forgetting I don’t belong here. Sometimes I feel like the daughter that’s always in trouble like “she into some more mess.” 

The flesh has tricked me into thinking that I’m missing out or that I’m leaving some long lost friend behind. My sin is the worst closest relationship I have; she is toxic, conniving, selfish, hurtful, pretends to be fun to kill me, and will keep driving me into the ground until my spirit is dead and gone. Satan wants me lifeless not able to do God’s work. So every time I come out the gate ready to operate for God, Satan sends my toxic self a task. “But if they do not obey, they will cross the river of death and die without knowledge” (Job 36:12). My soul was bought at a high price, the stakes are too steep to not take heed of God’s word; there is a heavy price for those that do not follow Jesus.

I can’t choose to believe in God then do whatever I want too, God has expectations and instruction for me. God is not forcing me to follow Him, rather I chose too when I accepted the gift of salvation. God knew this journey would be hard as heck, He is in my corner, so why do I continue to take myself down this path? Sinning because I believe I can just ask God for forgiveness is selfish. Using salvation and forgiveness as a “get out of jail free card” is the incorrect mindset to have. It brings God down and raises our egos up. God has a servants heart because of His love, but will never lower Himself to doormat; rather, God’s salvation is sacred and pure. 

I know God won’t leave me in this sinful place, but when will I choose to let sin go, choose to stop struggling, choose discipline over desires. Do I want to follow Jesus bad enough that I would deny my flesh? My actions often times say otherwise. My actions show fear dressed as arrogance trying to save face for being wrong; yet my spirit so longs to be close to Jesus. Taking advantage of God’s love creates bad vibes in our relationship. Shame, guilt, arrogance, and conceit have been created, while God just wants to love and care for me, so I can choose obedience in honor of His love. “Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule over me. Then I will be innocent and cleansed from blatant rebellion” (Psalms 19:13). He gives a way out every single time.

God has done the hardest work and continues to fight for me and For Me. He’s given me the power I need to walk boldly, heck I might scare myself, in a good way. I’ve been operating out of fear, not out of faith. Faith would have me to abandon what is familiar and lean on what God thinks. Fear would have me to stay with the familiar growing stagnant over time. 

I will not let God’s love be snuffed out of my life, I will keep pushing I will keep striving because guess what…God never leaves nor forsakes me, overcoming sin is most definitely possible. 

My prayer today is that God leads you and I to His heart, that we choose to leave our desires behind and follow God completely, without fear. 

*The questions below are for your personal journaling. I pray God leads you to His heart.

Discussion Questions:

1.  In what ways have you taken advantage of God’s love ?

2.  Describe the relationship you have with your sin (fleshly self). What triggers the sinful behavior ?

3. How has God shown His faithfulness in the midst of your sin ? Will His character prompt you to move closer to Him in the face of sin ?