wewontbequiet:

Dude. This is kind of EXACTLY how I felt like these past few weeks! I felt like I was failing God, and I constantly felt that He was done with me—or if He wasn’t, He’s not impressed and He’s annoyed and He’s mad and that He doesn’t really want me, or love me, or cherish me anymore. I just felt like God is up there, frowning, shaking His head at me. And with all of that going inside my head, how can I come to Him?

Here’s one key word from all of that: felt. “I FEEL like… I FEEL God isn’t happy with me… I FEEL like God is mad… I FEEL like He hates me now…” But feelings aren’t truth and they never will be. They are deceiving, manipulating, and—simply put—lies. The devil likes to trick us into thinking that God doesn’t want us anymore. He likes to play with our minds so that we will refrain coming to the God who so yearns for us—so that we will be stuck in our sin, in our pit, in our hopelessness. But do NOT listen to what that little voice in your head that is saying that God doesn’t want you. He wants you, He loves you, He desires you—MORE than you and I can ever even begin to imagine!

I know what you felt like because I had been in that place. I had read Luke 15:11-32 a few months ago, and I was just struck by how beautiful and heart-moving this parable is. Because this isn’t just a mere parable or story, this is the heart of God. And I kept thinking about how the prodigal son just simply asked his wealthy father for his share of the estate, and once he was given it, completely left and abandoned his father. He lived his life wasting his wealth and ended up eating pig food, and during that part, he remembered his father. So imagine this guy—dirty rags and tatters, messy hair, filthy body. And imagine his father—he was rich, with gold rings, and an expensive coat. And this is my favorite part. It said,

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

This just moves my heart every time, because we are the prodigal sons and daughters, and the father is God. We are messy and dirty because we have turned away from our Father and left. But no matter how far we have come, no matter what we have gotten ourselves into, whatever mess we had created—He is still there, yearning for us, desiring us, waiting for our return. Because it said, “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him…” and that just only means one thing: He was patiently waiting for the return of his prodigal son.

No matter how far you had gone, God is still a prayer away, beloved. Does God love you any less when you commit sin? No. But do you need to repent so that you can have a clear slate before God and for you to receive His forgiveness, and to have your relationship with Him restored? Absolutely.

He loves you, He loves you, He loves you! God has not forgotten you—you are never once out of His mind. You are so loved by God.

Please turn to Him. Cast off any sin that is hindering you from having this relationship with Him—because you will not want to miss out on this beautiful fellowship with the King of the universe. Repent, it is never too late, there is no sin too dirty, too “serious” that God cannot forgive you of. Jesus Christ had poured out His blood in sacrifice for YOU.

God isn’t shocked by your sin. He knew it—He knew it as Jesus hung on the cross paying for its penalty. He knows and understands. I wish I can put into words how truly beautiful He is. He is so gracious and forgiving.

He wants you to come back to Him. He isn’t mad. He will not push you away. He will not ignore you. The Lord said that He will not cast out anyone who calls upon His name, and that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness once we have confessed our sins to Him.

Confess your sins unto Him, repent, forsake all of the worldly lusts and your flesh, and follow Christ. Crucify your flesh, beloved, with all of its passions and desires and begin a journey to fully press on, fully seek Him, to fully devote yourself to seeking His face.

It will be a decision you will never regret.

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”