Tap play to listen. May the boundless love of God and His mercy and grace uphold, heal, strengthen, renew, refresh, restore, and revive you. In Jesus name, Amen.
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Dear Christian pilgrim, You have read countless stories of the triumphs and victories of faith. But I hope you know that faith does not always roar in confident assurance. Sometimes, and perhaps most times, faith is the quiet, troubled, weak even bruised and injured assurance that keeps pressing forward towards the Cross of Christ in spite of the bruises of life inflicted by loss, sadness, sorrow, regrets, hurts, discouragement, disappointment and shame.
The reason why many journeys of faith have been stagnant or abandoned is that many suppose that they have to first heal of their bruises before pressing forward towards the Cross of Christ. That is a mistake, a fatal error in the journey of faith. Are you bruised and scarred by discouragement, because of unanswered prayers and delays? By fear, because what confronts you is truly challenging? By regrets, because you’ve made appalling errors and mistakes? By hurts, because you have been mistreated by many in the body of Christ? By sadness and sorrow, because of loss and bereavement?
Don’t suppose that you have to deal with or overcome these bruises before moving forward in your journey of faith. Come just as you are, saying:
Just as I am, though tossed about
with many a conflict, many a doubt,
fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Charlotte Elliott
See, your Lord is not looking for the strong, the healthy, the perfect, the fully-fed, or those who have arrived and have it all figured out. They do not need the Saviour.
Jesus calls out to the sin-sick and guilty, saying, “I came not for the righteous, but for sinners.”
He calls out to the thirsty and the poor in spirit, saying, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”
He calls out to the sick who reach out to touch just the hem of His garment, saying, “your faith has made you whole.”
He calls out to the one made weary by the troubles of this world, saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Our Lord says, ‘come just as you are’ because He knows that you cannot heal of those bruises and scars on your own or by your own power or strength. It is in Christ and in Christ alone that the guilty receives pardon, the doubtful is gently rebuked, the fearful is encouraged, the weak is strengthened, the discouraged is given hope, the sorrowful is made glad, the anxious is relieved, and the sinner forgiven. Outside of Jesus, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
So, don’t try to deal with these downward-pulling forces on your own, or think you cannot go to Jesus until you have dealt with them: Come to Jesus with them; come to Him in spite of them. He is faithful who said, whoever comes to me I will in no wise cast out. He is a kind and considerate saviour. He knows your frame. He remembers that you are mere dust. And as the prophet of old said, “He will not crush the bruised reed or put out a flickering candle.”
Don’t hide from him.
So, if your faith has been weakened by the bruises and scars of life that you are like a weak grass of the filed, He will not crush you, but will nurture and nourish you back to health and buoyancy. If the bruises and scars of life have almost made your lights go out like a flickering candle, He will pour new oil in your lamp and make you shine brighter than before.
Make this your song:
Just as I am, though tossed about
with many a conflict, many a doubt,
fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Charlotte Elliott
Let us pray. As you courageously move forward, onward and upward in faith, may the boundless love of God and His mercy and grace uphold, heal, strengthen, renew, refresh, restore, and revive you. In Jesus name, Amen.
Pilgrim’s Joy Devotional, a collection of meditations inspired by Christian hymns, is a production of GospelBellsRadio.com, a community of believers learning together, praying together, and engaging the culture with the mind of Christ.
This episode was written and read by Olufemi Oguntokun. Please leave us comments in the box below.
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