Release from Self-condemnation

Devotions for those who are weary of feeling not good enough, regardless of the source of those feelings.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

All Our Hope Is in You

Week 2  Abide and Adhere

Day 8

All Our Hope Is in You

I pray…that He would, by whatever means, make the multitudes of His dear children who are still living divided lives, to see how He claims them wholly for Himself, and how the wholehearted surrender to abide in Him alone brings the joy unspeakable and full of glory.[i]
Andrew Murray

 ~~

W
hen we finally begin to do things right, it may seem that everything goes wrong. This may be due to the devil’s hatred of any freedom bid, but the Lord is the sovereign authority over all roadblocks in our path, some quite depressing or frightening. It is difficult not to cry out “Why?” 

Perhaps God allows frustrating setbacks because He does not want us living, as Andrew Murray says, divided lives.[ii] Our heavenly Father wants our hopes set fully on His cleansing grace, not even partially upon some earth-bound future in which we pray to finally have our kingdoms come according our own specifications. God has sculpted our future with Him according to His blueprint and not ours, and the small doses of suffering we face as we turn from sin and set our hearts on obedience challenge our motives. Have we placed our hope fully in Him? Do we trust the Lord’s sovereign purposes even when our efforts to obey do not seem to be rewarded?

Our Lord has so much love and compassion for us. He hasn’t left us without comfort and help; it’s just that He knows we can’t find lasting happiness apart from Him. We are allowed moments of transient joy that are a foretaste of Heaven, brief seasons of time when we bask in the light of ecstasy that has it source off-world, but for now we can’t keep these pleasures as our own. We are homesick, and we misinterpret this feeling as being due to some failing or lack in our current circumstances.

We may blame God, but we are even more likely to blame our loved ones for letting us down: if they would just make our happiness a priority, then we could have what we wanted and things would be like they ought to be. This thinking is earthbound and thwarts the flow of love for these precious others God has entrusted to our care.

God asks us to place our hopes for the future upon Heaven and not the earth. One of the biggest deterrents to obeying this request is the erroneous thought that we can attain some earthly place of peace and happiness through our own hard work and determination. 

Earth is where we live for now, but Heaven is our home. 

Pray: Lord, please show me the places I would keep for myself and the dreams I’ve nurtured that don’t include You. Forgive me for my desire for things of this earth, and change me so that my heart is completely Yours. When I look at You I know that there is no better Comforter or beloved friend, no god more powerful than the one true God. You are the Almighty, the Eternal, and I worship You. Amen.

 ~~

be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ…
1 Peter 1:13 NKJV



[i] Murray, Abide in Christ, p. 7. 
[ii] Ibid.

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