Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the LORD God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Psalm 73.25-28
Since January, I have been taking an evangelism course from “Perspectives.org,” and I still have a few weeks remaining until I complete it. Taking this course is why I have neglected my writing over the last few weeks, and it is not because I have run out of ideas or subjects to express, and writing what I learn from Scripture never gets dull.
I am reading the Bible (in a year) two times a day using two different reading plans. I am not writing this to give myself kudos and self-congratulations. I am writing this to say, “It is doable for anyone that wants to learn about my LORD, maybe yours.”
I was speaking to Coleman, a friend, this morning about relationships. I mentioned that I was divorced twice. Something as a Christian I thought would never happen to me. And, it happened twice! I described the time after my first divorce about my deep depression and how I could not physically move from the bed at one point.
My divorce mainly caused this depression, but another cause was a sentence Pastor Ed Young made during a message he gave while I attended Second Baptist Church in Houston. He said, “You cannot have faith without obedience.” This statement profoundly affected me, and it still comes to mind quite frequently. I could have faith in God and still do what I wanted! The Holy Spirit told me otherwise. Pastor Young was correct, but I did not want to accept it.
After being bedridden for three or four days with this depression, not eating, missing work, and having no one to call, I heard the LORD’s voice speaking softly to me. He said to look up what He says about “grace” in a devotional I had on my nightstand. I might be remembering this wrong, but I think He gave me the chapter or page number. I remember I did not have to hunt through the book for what the LORD wanted me to read.
GRACE: a gift given by God to those who mess up. Forgiveness came with the grace God showed me that day. It has taken several years and another failed marriage to realize that grace from God is never too far away. I have to remember to quit hiding from the LORD and pray. He is there with you in any situation. As the Psalm states:
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the LORD God my refuge,
That I may tell of all your works.
During my conversation this morning with Coleman, I mentioned that we tend to talk at a surface level with everyone in our lives, even our spouses. (I am still single, by the way.) We are what we believe deep down in our souls. Both the good and the bad in our lives make up who we are, and it is what we do with it, especially what God does with it to turn it into good. I’m writing this message today because I am tired of talking at the surface level. Let’s have honest and pure conversations with each other. We can disagree, that’s okay but let’s stop with the “I’m fine” answers when we’re not.
