Another lie exposed!

I was watching Joyce Meyer yesterday morning on the TV broadcast "Enjoying Everday Life". She made a point that was a new thought for me. What Joyce said was, something along the lines of, we may mess up Plan A, but God can turn Plan B into far more than Plan A ever would have been... That's an exciting and freeing thought for someone who is (at least) on Plan D!

For years, I've been convinced that I would never experience God's absolute best plan for my life because of mistakes I've made. I knew that God would take my mistakes and work them out for my good, but I still believed that I would never experience the BEST of what He had originally planned for me. I've made that comment in Sunday School settings and no one ever challenged it as being wrong.

Why did I think that? Because I was listening to another one of Satan's lies. Satan wants us weighed down in a spirit of condemnation and not fully understanding God's grace.

I knew I deserved punishment for my sins and did not deserve to receive God's best...That was only for other believers who hadn't messed up as badly as I... Well, you know what???? That was a LIE.

Yes, there are consequences of sin. But they are NOTHING, repeat that, NOTHING, in comparison to God's power to redeem. The scripture in Romans 8 doesn't say "Therefore, there is only a little condemnation... It says there is NO CONDEMNATION for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS. Hallelujah!

Read it out loud with me:

Romans 8:1-4 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

God is more powerful than our failures. He is merciful in forgiving. He will thwart the enemy and turn our weaknesses into victory. His grace endures forever and His BEST is for every believer. You. Me.

Zephaniah 3:14-17 Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."