Are we bold enough to let go?

We should not confuse the pain that may be experienced as we transform on our Christian journey, with the agony of trying to please God through our efforts.

"Suffering to please God" is like banging your head against a wall repeatedly and wondering why it hurts - it's not an honorable pain, it's a foolish pain that can end...just stop banging your head!

Having said this, so many "christian sects" and religious vomit have latched onto the "light yoke" offered to us by Jesus Himself, and weighed it down, sadly. The repercussions is a degree of pain that might be felt during a good old gospel purge - freedom to flush out the vile.

Purging and refining is not purposed to hurt, but the pain of letting go of "doing something", and simply entering into a promise is what many battle with - many have deeply rooted pillars keeping them "stable", but sadly it's in the wrong foundation (legalism and the traditions of man), giving them a false sense of hope.

I like how someone once put it:

"Pain" is the friction between the lies that we have embraced - that have become our prison - and the truth that is revealed to us in Jesus, by the Holy Spirit.

The gospel is a declaration of freedom!

Are we bold enough to let go? :-)

Your purpose is predestined for you, not commanded of you

"The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: “The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that’s the real life.” Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: “The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them.”

Let's TRUST, that the life that God "expects from us", He ACTUALLY HAS for us.

When Moses went up to have a chat with God on the mountain, those left waiting eventually occupied themselves with a gold calf, which, while I'm sure a difficult decision at first, became the accepted habit within the community.

How many personal and community based traditions and habits are we engaged in, that have become a distraction to our ACTUAL life in Him...distractions that we've convinced ourselves and each other, are good! (I would list many here, but I'll choose to postpone controversy)

Jesus said, "It is finished."

The "work" is done.

The purpose is DISCOVERY and GROWTH.

Discover who you are...and grow in the knowledge of it.
There's no prescribed cost to follow God. Even persecution is a fragrant aroma in the revelation of freedom.

What offends God, is us believing that our actions and omissions offend God.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. It is impossible to feel the release from the law if we don't understand the gospel and our freedom in its finality.

The gospel is a constant call...Both TO God, and AWAY FROM ourselves.

Continue in the freedom of His love and grace.