The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength, right? Well...No wonder I was growing weak. Lord, where is the joy I once had when I first believed?
As I left that service feeling numb, I remember how shocked I felt when all of a sudden a Scripture popped into my head. Galatians Chapter 5. A spark of hope was ignited within me because I knew at that moment that the Lord had not stopped speaking to me and I had not completely grown deaf to His voice.
It is true that God will not allow too much to come upon us that we cannot bear. I knew for me, that day just had to be the day for this major trial to end. I felt a sense of urgency and hurried to my car and opened my Bible.
Galatians Chapter 5 is where God led me when I came to the place where I had so much junk happening in my life and I did not understand what was happening and why. It just seemed like my spiritual growth had ceased and I was constantly on this "spiritual treadmill" that never seemed to end. It was like I was running and running but getting nowhere. I was so tired of the frustrating life that was suppose to be a life of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. My question was...what had happened?
As I began to read in Galatians Chapter 5, God's Word ministered to my heart and the Lord began showing me that "Christ had become of no effect unto me, and I had fallen from grace". But what did all of this mean?
My eyes welled up with tears and it was like a dam had finally broken as the tears began to flow with full force down my face. I sat there for a few minutes, got myself together and headed home. I had to find out more of what the Lord was trying to tell me. Again, I wondered...what did all of this mean?
When I arrived home, I continued seeking God through His Word and began praying for more understanding. I found myself then reading the other writings of Paul and found it interesting how in I Corinthians 9:24 he likens our walk with God as running a race and in Hebrews 12:1,2 he says to "lay aside every weight that so easily besets us".
From my experience during my walk with God, through some of the teachings I had allowed myself to receive, it seemed like my life had become a very frustrating one and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Serving the Lord was suppose to be about joy and hope, not of frustration and a race going nowhere.
When I began reading more in Galatians and felt that God was telling me that I had "fallen from grace", I was shocked and a bit confused. I didn't understand. What did Paul really mean here? I had thought Jesus was everything to me!! I was so blinded to what was actually happening to me after I had gotten saved. It was like this deceptive blind was over my eyes. I didn't see it.
As the Lord began giving me understanding, I could see now that after I had been saved, somehow I had fallen into the mind set that it was up to me now to work to keep my salvation. I was turning back to self instead of keeping complete dependence on Jesus. I had gotten all caught up into works and pulling away from true faith.
Have you ever been there? You're placed into the line up, you begin "running the race", then it seems along the way, your focus has become blurred and your eyes have left the finish line and before you even realize it, because it happens so subtly, you've resorted to another road...the road of self dependence.
I could see now what Paul might be saying here. A person can still be "in the race" yet veered off the path somewhere along the way. At least it seems to make sense comparing it to what I had experienced. I don't actually think that a person is lost or losing out with God when they have "fallen from grace" but from what I see and experienced, living a legalistic lifestyle which causes one to depend on their own works instead of God, won't help a Christian grow. It HINDERS maturity. It SUFFOCATES freedom and it OBSCURES the grace of God. It makes "the race" more frustrating and long.
Paul even says in Galatians 2:21, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."
The person becomes bitter and never knows the peace of God that they are to have. "They will know nothing of the REST which remains for the people of God, which can only be entered into by ceasing from their own works.". (Hebrews 4:9-10)
Let's look at verse seven of Galatians 5 where Paul says, "Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?" Paul is saying, you started out okay, but someone or something has hindered your walk now. If I can put a picture to this...it's kind of like a Christian gets saved, starts running the race for Jesus, then an obstacle is thrown in front of them that cuts their stride, hindering their progress. With knees and palms skinned, they leave the track. They strapped on a yoke of "works" and only grunts and groans can be heard now where joy and hope once filled the air. Instead of running free now toward the crown of life, they are laboriously tilling the fallow ground of fruitless endeavor.
There are some who suffer many injuries (hurts and offenses) along the way because of their running alone and thinking that their way is the right way. Christ can't work with someone like that and will continually try to get the person back on the right path with Him.
In other words, Christ can't be effective in a person's life who does not depend on Him, but are only depending on their works to get saved and to keep them saved. They follow the rules of man but have no relationship with the Ruler of their spirit. That is why it may seem like they are so loaded down in this race for Christ. That is why so many can't or maybe don't know how to make decisions for themselves. They never stop being babies in the Lord. They never mature or grow up in God!
Until a person turns back to God...depending only on Him and not their own works for justification, they will continue to live a frustrated Christian life and never grow to maturity and continue being spoon fed by the pastor and most likely running in circles and finding themselves on the same path day after day, going through the same things over and over, running but getting nowhere.
It's hard to "run the race" that is set before us when carrying all that "weight that so easily besets us". We need to "lay aside every weight...looking unto JESUS, the Author and Finisher of our faith."
Cry out to HIM and He WILL answer! He will bring healing to your eyes that you may begin to see again, and heal the heart and mind to help you begin to believe once again.
If you are viewing this from email, please visit Waiting At The Window Website to listen to the video: HEAL ME by Aaron Jeoffrey!
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