Climb that Mountain One Step at a Time!

 Sometimes life gets difficult with a myriad of things happening all at once. The temptation is to get overwhelmed and feel defeated. Have you ever felt this way? Whether it is losing a great amount of weight or packing up a house to move or scratching your way out of a deep grief - the answer is to take baby steps – conquer one tiny portion of your mountain, one step at a time.

This scenario can also be used in the spiritual realm. When a person comes to Christ, he or she is a new babe in Christ. They don't understand or comprehend the fullness of living the christian life. So they take baby steps in obedience. Jesus calls us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” II Peter 3:18

Philippians 2:12-13, “What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should keep on doing what you've been doing from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I am separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God.” That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you; God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.” -The Message

Romans 5:12, “The free gift is not like the trespass (sin). For if many died through one man's trespass (Adam), much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ, abounded for many.” Verse 17, “ . . .much more with those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”

Philippians 6:1, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! Verse 11, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

The burden of my heart is for people that think they are a failure in obedience. What should they do? Just give up on God? Give up on themselves? But there is grace for all of us when we fail to live the Christian life. You are not the only person held hostage by the quiet whispers of self loathing and guilt. Jesus is right beside you, calling you back to himself. If there is a pattern of ups and downs, it is the enemy (the devil) speaking lies into your mind. He is the one telling you to give up, that you are a hopeless case. He wants to hold you hostage in fear and defeatism.

But God calls us dear children in I John 2:1 when he says, “My dear children, I write this to you that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”

Romans 5:20 tells us, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased grace abounded all the more.”

Kara Tippetts wrote in her blog, “I believe we all hold onto the lies we believe, we protect them, we use them to confirm the loathing we feel in our lives. We protect the hurts instead of exposing them to light and enjoying freedom in Christ. If I am a child of the King, I need to live in the light of His goodness, His grace, and His truth. I need to live in community that helps me expose the lies I hear and live in the love that has been lavished on me. I get to share honestly my weakness, I get to repent my pride, I get to be reminded of the gospel: the passionate, reckless love of Jesus.
Think on the whispers, the lies, the untruth that tag along in your day. Shine the bright light of the truth on them and seek the freedom you were meant to be set free for this day!

And my question: what are the lies you are holding onto? What would shining light of Jesus on them and letting them go mean for you? Can you admit to enjoying the lies and walking in unbelief to confirm the lies you enjoy believing?" Mundane Faithfulness blog

Mark 1:15,” The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” The gospel is the passionate, reckless love of Jesus!

My dear friend, are you trying to live the Christian life in your own strength? Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” And as we continue in our walk with the Lord we need to remember it is a gift. And we need to comprehend the heart of God who is constantly within us and by our side, ready to help us to live for Him. And if we fail, he “is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9

So if you have been fearfully looking at a mountain too hard to climb, take one step toward Jesus and He will meet you! James 4:8 tells us, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

My prayer is that you repent, believe, trust in faith for the grace freely given by Jesus and that you will then be able to say with the psalmist, “for me it is good to be near God; I have made the lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” Psalm 73:28

“The flood of grace will always far surpass the flood of sin and darkness.” Kara Tippetts