Welcome to “Going Deeper with the Word.” In this segment, we welcome people of all backgrounds, religious or not, to review the Word of God. The Word of God provides guidance, direction, and instructions for living our lives and walking with God.
Today, we examine how God’s Word provides clear guidance and direction about walking into His loving and open arms.
Let’s review examples from God’s Word that can lead and guide our steps and back up the principles we learned in today’s message. I will read scripture today from the Amplified Bible.
If you are watching this message online, we invite you to share your comments as we review each verse.
Here is our first verse.
“So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, this thought of your heart may be forgiven you.”
Acts 8:22
In this verse, we witness Peter’s suggestion to a man named Simon to ask the Lord for forgiveness. It is a simple truth that God will wipe the slate clean when we ask for forgiveness of our sins.
I can confess that when I was battling addiction, I was embarrassed to re-approach God over and over after each relapse, asking Him for forgiveness. It seemed bewildering to me that God would actually wipe the slate clean after each time of me asking for forgiveness, but the truth is, He did. Even if I felt disgust, guilt, and shame, and even consequences from my relapses, in God’s eyes, He wiped the slate clean the moment I asked Him to forgive me and the blood of Christ paid for my sins.
There is nothing that can separate us from God’s love. We need only approach Him with a heart of confession and repentance.
“Is there an activity in your life that you know is not of God but you do it anyway? Do you ask God for forgiveness from this activity? Do you ask for the strength and means to turn away from this activity?” “Let us know in the comments”
Let’s have a look at another verse.
Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment]
Hebrews 4:16
The Apostle Paul explains that anyone can approach God with confidence and without fear.
There can be many reasons that we hesitate to approach God. It may be because our actions bring shame and embarrassment. It may be that we have never spoken to God and don’t feel confident that He can actually help us.
The important thing to point out here, I believe, is that when we decide to turn to God, when we decide to actually walk toward Him step by step, we will find His mercy and grace and His unfailing and boundless love. It simply doesn’t matter what we’ve done; He is willing to embrace us just as we are, even if there are areas of our lives that must change in order to truly have a full relationship with Him.
“Can you recall a time or moment where you felt too ashamed or embarrassed to approach God and ask for forgiveness? What was the reason? Have you asked for forgiveness? Why or why not?” “Let us know in the comments”
Let’s look at one last verse.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
In this verse, we see that God has prepared beforehand the works in us that we should walk within. In other words, God has literally planted a plan and purpose in all of us and we are created in Christ. We can ask God to give us guidance and direction about our purpose and our plans in life, and know that we will be led to what has been crafted and reserved just for us.
Have you accomplished your life goals? Do you believe you know your God given purpose? Would you pursue God’s purpose for your life if you have already achieved your personal life goals? Why or why not? “Let us know in the comments”
It certainly is reasonable that in a society that values education and career goals, we determine our interests early in life. We pursue higher education that allows us to find a future with things of particular interest to us, and ultimately find a career that allows us to make a living doing the thing that we truly enjoy. While this path is not always the case, it is successfully achieved by many.
Independent of this, God has a perfect plan and purpose for each of us. This plan may or may not be aligned with our interests. It may so happen that we have stumbled upon our God-given gifts and therefore are very close to alignment with God’s ultimate plan for us. But it may also be that we have pursued a path that makes us very happy, but is not aligned with what God would have us do.
The truth to remember is that God knows all, and God knows best. God knows every single gift within each of us, and we need only turn to Him to learn of His perfected plans and purpose for our lives. If we do ask Him to help us pursue His plan and purpose, He will equip us with what we need to carry out that plan.
I, for one, did not learn of my plan or purpose until I was middle-aged. In just a few short years, I feel like God has accelerated events around my life to get me back on track to this plan because I asked Him. I actually cannot wait to see His plans for me unfold, because, so far, they are so much more fulfilling than any plan I could have ever imagined on my own.
Today we talked about ways to turn toward God and walk into His loving and open arms. God will accept us as we are, even if we have made mistakes or have dwelled in ungodly actions in the past. We need only ask for forgiveness. We need only turn to Him to learn of His plans for our life and decide to seek to serve Him according to His will.
Doing so, walking in the light of Christ, we can have an incredible impact on the world around us. We just need to make that first step.
Thank you for your time in reviewing these verses with me today. Please be sure to share in the comments how these or other examples of God’s Word have helped you step into God’s open arms.
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God bless you, and we look forward to joining you on the next message.
