Because He Loves Me

Elyse Fitzpatrick: My name is Elyse Fitzpatrick, and we are going to spend the next hour talking about the gospel.

Pray with me. Father, we ask that You would now by Your Holy Spirit illumine our hearts that we might know and believe the love You have for us. We pray that You would give us fresh wind for our sails, that You would fill us with joy, in faith, in believing that You have done everything for us that needed to be done.

And Lord, would You grant our bodies, which are weak and tired, strength to hear and believe what You have done? We pray this in Christ's name, amen.

We are going to talk about this book, Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life. There are handouts. I trust you got them. If you didn't get them, raise your hand. I'm assuming there's some women in the back who have some handouts, yes? Okay, so there are women who are coming who will give you some handouts. You're going to want those.

Just while that's going on, let me just tell you, my daughter who is young and cool and knows all about social media, says, "Mom, you always got to . . ." So I'm on Facebook. We can be friends. (laughter) Whatever that means. Facebook, Elyse Fitzpatrick. Twitter, @elysefitz. And I have my own website, which is the only time in my life that I was ever happy that my first name was Elyse. Because nobody else has it. So my website is www.elysefitzpatrick.com.

I have to tell you a funny story about my name. Last weekend, or the weekend before, I was doing the Faith Life Women's Conference in Texas. And when we got to the airport, there was a driver there waiting for us. And he had my name on the window of the car, and he had spelled my name "Alose"—but this is the best part—"Sixpatrick." (laughter) So my friend said, "It's really too bad that it didn't have 'Sexpatrick,' because that would be really funny!" (laughter)

I don't know what's hard about Fitzpatrick, but there's something hard about it.

So here we go. Second Peter 1:5–10, and we're going to go and read that whole passage in a bit. But let's just start here.

"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith" and you all know how that passage goes, with virtue and knowledge and self-control, on and on the list. And so "make every effort to supplement your faith (with all those things). For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins."

Now, I will tell you that as a biblical counselor, as someone who has used the Scripture in my own life and in the lives of others for many years, when I would come to the part of that passage where it says that he was cleansed from his former sins, that was like white noise to me. I had no idea what that phrase was doing in that passage about the list I was supposed to make. So I'm going to unpack that for you right now. And we're going to progress through that.

My suspicion is that we are all suffering from a form of spiritual amnesia. We think that our life, our acceptance before God, His pleasure in us depends on something within us. Let me tell you the really good news. If you came here for something other than good news, if you want some more bad news, I don't have any for you. All I have is good news. Here's the good news. Are you ready for some good news? The good news is your relationship with God the Father is forever secured by the love, forgiveness, perfect life, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the God-Man. Forever. Forever. (applause)

What I want to do for you now is to give you some wind for your sails. You can have the nicest sailboat that there is. It can be fitted out with every kind of good navigational gizmo. But you'll be stuck in the water trying to get from point A to point B if you don't have wind for your sails. What I have for you today is not a map of how to get from point A to point B. I'm not going to give you a map. I'm going to give you wind for your sails.

Now, the problem is that most of us think that we already know this message. I was doing a video interview a couple of hours ago and the interviewer asked me, "How many people do you think really understand the gospel?" Well, if I said to you, "What's the gospel?" What would you say? You would say, "Well something like Jesus Christ died for my sins." Right?

I'm telling you that the truth you need, not just at the beginning of your Christianity, not just at the beginning when you first come into the faith, but the truth you need every day to have wind for your sails so that you can do all the things that you're being told to do here, so you can do all of that, what you need is wind for your sails.

Have you forgotten that you've been cleansed from your sins? Have you forgotten that before God in His sight you are—if you believe, if you believe this truth—completely justified in His sight? Do you know what the word justification means? Yesterday, we had some kind of fun at the preconference. So you ladies who were with me yesterday when we talked about justification, you're going to help me now.

Justification. How many of you all have heard the word justification? All right. Good. Almost all of you. Wonderful. Justification is one of those theological words that we throw about from time to time but it's sort of emptied of content. What justification means is not simply just as if I had never sinned. Not just—just as if I'd never sinned.

You see, that passage we just glanced at, Peter's saying "One of the reasons that you're not growing is because you've forgotten that you've been forgiven." You've forgotten you've been forgiven. How many times today did you forget that you've been forgiven? And you carry with you a backpack full of bricks of all of the things you're supposed to do to get the train on down the road and then all of the ways in which you failed to do that.

Can I just tell you if you believe the gospel message, the good news, if you believe it right now the word that is written over your life is "forgiven"? Is that good news? Okay. Forgiven. I'm not going to talk to you today about what you need to do. I'm going to talk to you about what He's done for you.

Forgiven. You are forgiven. Think back to that sin, whatever that sin is, that you can't believe you did. Well, first of all, you can't believe you did it because you don't really believe the gospel, because the gospel says you're a lot worse than you think you are. So you think about that sin, that sin you did, that sin you always struggle with. When God looks at you, He has one word for you—forgiven. Forgiven. Look at the person next to you and say, "I'm forgiven." Look at the person next to you and say, "I'm forgiven."

Now some of you are starting to smile. See, when you leave here today what I want you to do is to be smiling, because I've got no bricks for you. All I have are smiles. You are forgiven if you believe. You have to believe. If you believe, you are forgiven. We're back to justification. Justification is not simply just as if I had never sinned, it is also . . . oh, and this is going to make your little brain go "pcheww". . . just as if I had always obeyed. Whoopee!

When God looks at you, He's not saying, "Oh, there's Sally. I wish she'd get her act together." He's not saying that. Do you know why? Because you have the righteousness of Christ. Jesus got His act together for you in your place. He lived thirty-three and a half years perfectly, always loving His neighbor, always doing the things that are pleasing to His Father, always speaking the truth, never lusting, never being greedy, always laying down His life. He lived that entire life for you.

Jesus could have come down to earth as a grown man and just died for your sins. But He didn't do that. He's incarnate. He is born as a baby and He lives an entire life of righteousness. Do you know what He's doing that whole time? The whole time He's there in His home, being a carpenter, submitting to His parents, loving His brothers and sisters, building things in His hometown of Nazareth. Do you know what He's doing all that time? Fulfilling God's law in your place. Do you know why? Because you don't do it.

You might be saying, "Oh yes I do, I fulfill God's law." Okay, so here we go. Two laws. What are they? Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Have you ever done that? Don't raise your hand. Have you ever done that? No. No. Not for a millisecond, because just as soon as you think in your little heart, Oh, I'm being really good now. I'm loving God. You are done. (laughter)

So there He is. Think of this. He's lived this perfect life, loved His father. His earthly father died fairly early on, at least sometime after the time when He was twelve, His father died. We never see him again. So He's supporting. He's the eldest brother. He's the elder brother. Wow. He's supporting the family in the home as the incarnate God-Man, working in a mundane job for eighteen years. And His cousin, John, who's kind of the crazy person in the family, John is then out at the Jordan. He's baptizing people for repentance for sin. And where does Jesus go? Out to the Jordan to John to be baptized.

And John already knows. He knows who He is. He looks at Jesus, and he says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." He looks at Jesus and he says that. And Jesus says, "I'm here to be baptized by you."

And John says, "Oh, no. Huh-uh, because this is a baptism for repentance for sin, and I'm not even worthy to mess with Your sandals. You don't need baptism for repentance for sin."

And Jesus says, "Permit it to be so now because I must fulfill all righteousness." Here's the good news. He was being baptized in your place. He had to be baptized, because you need His righteousness in your baptism.

I have grandchildren, and I have the microphone, so I get to talk about them. (laughter) My two eldest grandchildren who are very soon going to be fourteen and twelve, about a year or so ago they wanted to be baptized. I don't want to get into a discussion about baptism, but they wanted to be baptized. We live in southern California. So they go to the ocean to be baptized by their pastor. Groovy.

But the eldest of the two who is in every way the elder brother, we asked him one day, "Honey, in the story of the elder brother, kind of the Pharisee, and the prodigal, who are you?"

He said, "I'm the elder brother, and I'm proud of it." So, he gets it. So he's always nervous that he's not doing stuff quite right. He's got one of those hearts. Do you know what I mean by that? It's like I want to be obedient, but it's never quite good enough? He's one of those.

So he was in talking to his pastor before he got baptized, because the pastor had said, "I'm going to interview you a little bit before we actually baptize you." So Wesley said, "What if I say the wrong thing?" And his pastor, in wisdom, said to him, and this is such good news, "Honey, Jesus was baptized in your place. Even if you said the wrong thing it's okay."

That's good news. You see, because as serious women—and you wouldn't be here at this conference if you weren't a serious woman—you need to know that in all the ways you've failed and in all of the ways you've succeeded and were proud about it, Jesus has been righteous in your place. Is that good news?

See, the pressure to perform is off. I mean, do you feel like you want to just go, "Whew!"? I mean, we carry this backpack full of bricks of all of the things we're supposed to be doing to move the bus of God's Kingdom down the road. Now, that's not to say God doesn't use means. Yes, of course He does. But frequently, the means He uses are not the means you're going to figure that He'll use.

For example, God wanted to move the bus down the road so that He could demonstrate His power in the land of Egypt. So He used the sin of Joseph's brothers. He uses the sin of Joseph's brothers to accomplish His goal of delivering His people from Egypt. Now, let's be very clear. I am not saying to you, "Okay. So let's all go sin." I'm not saying that.

What I'm saying is, "You do sin because you don't love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you don't love your neighbor as yourself." And so if God could only use people who had their act together, He couldn't use anybody.

Sometimes, not always, but sometimes God uses even your sin for His glory just like He used the brothers of Joseph. So Joseph says to his brothers, "You meant it for evil." See, did they sin? Yes. Were they responsible for their sin? Yes. Did God use their sin? Yes. "You meant it for evil. God meant it for good."

Think about Calvary. The very worst sin that was ever committed on this planet was committed according to God's foreordained plan. Isn't that what Acts says, like Acts 4? According to God's foreordained plan. Now, again, I want to come back because I don't want anybody to misunderstand me and come to me and say, "Elyse, do you care if we sin?" I'm not giving you a license to sin. I'm saying that you do sin. God will use your righteousness—your faith acts—He will use that. And He will also use your sin to accomplish His glory. Is that good news? See, that's good news—not depending on your obedience. May God be praised forever.

I was not raised in a Christian home. How many of you were not raised in a Christian home? Raise your hand. I want you all to look around and see how many hands are up. Keep your hands up. Does God need you to be a good parent in order to save your children? Answer me. [Audience answers: No] Is that good news? I mean, isn't that good news?

Okay, now am I saying to you, "So, be a really crummy parent because . . ." Is that what I'm saying? I'm saying, "No. Seek to be obedient." But God will accomplish His will whether you do well or not.

I grew up in an unbelieving home. God used the sin of my father and my mother to draw me to Himself. I'll tell you what. That's frequently how He works. You're justified, which means just as if I had never sinned. Think back to the last time you yelled at your children. Never sinned. Perfectly forgiven. Just as if I had always obeyed. That's your record.

Now, in light of that, do what God calls you to do. And in all the ways you failed to do what God calls you to do, take yourself right back there again over and over and over again. Take yourself back there. Take yourself back there.

I write books about the gospel. I'll be in a situation, and I'll say, "I've got no clue what the gospel has to do with this." We wrote a book called Give Them Grace, which is how to give the gospel to children. I'll be with my grandchildren. They'll do something, and I'll think, I ought to say something about Jesus here. What I want to do is say, "Go get in the car, you little moron." But I don't say that.

Now, you guys are laughing because you've never said that, but in your heart you've said it a thousand times. So I say, "Sweetheart, I know I should say something about Jesus here. I just don't know what it is. So go get in the car. And if I think of something, I'll say it." (laughter)

See, here's the reality. All of us are suffering from spiritual amnesia. You don't know who you are. And that's because we think that God's kingdom depends upon us. And moving the bus down the road. And Jesus is nice for people who are coming into the kingdom.

How many of you got saved as adults? Do you remember when you got saved as an adult? Like, you were happy, right? Oh, whoopee! I remember. I didn't get saved until right before my twenty-first birthday, and I can remember there was this very strange thing called joy. Within a month or so I was in Bible College, and then I was learning about all the things I was supposed to do. Then it wasn't so much about joy or Jesus anymore. Now it was about me getting my act together and becoming more sanctified.

Now, I'm not saying that we don't pursue obedience, but if you learn how to read the Bible, all of the commands, particularly in the Epistles, but Jesus said it was everywhere. All of the commands are in the context of what Christ has already done. So when Peter in 2 Peter is talking about this list of "add to your faith virtue, and to your virtue, knowledge, and to your knowledge, self-control, and to your self-control, steadfastness," when Peter is doing all of that, he's talking in a context. And the context is: You have been forgiven, so live in the light of that. Not get your pen out and make a list of the things you're going to do today, and then detach it from the context. Do you understand?

When you begin to read the Bible and understand that the Bible really is written in two categories—law and gospel. All of the law is couched in the gospel. Even the Ten Commandments are given in the context of "I am your God who has brought you out of the land of Egypt; therefore, do this."

You see, everything in the Bible that comes to you by way of law is always given to you in a context, maybe just a couple of words away, maybe several verses away, but it's always in the context of what God has done for you. Do not ask W.W.J.D.—do you know what I mean? What Would Jesus Do—until you have first marinated your soul in the glorious truth of what did Jesus do. That is what you need to hear. What that will do for you is it will give you wind for your sails.

You see, I've been walking with Christ for forty-some years. Which makes me as old as dust. Forty years, walking with the Lord.

There was a time not long ago, maybe ten years—I don't know how long ago it was. I'm menopausal. I don't know when anything happened. (laughter) When it dawned on me I had no joy.

Which by the way, I want to say to you, if you leave here today and you feel burdened, like you have more bricks in your backpack, if you don't have joy, I haven't given you the gospel.

So I remember there was a time when I didn't know what joy was. I knew I was supposed to have it, and then I felt guilty because I didn't have joy. Right? Oh, I'm supposed to have joy. I'm commanded to have joy. So I wish I had joy. I'm such a moron, I can't . . . you know, that.

Where does joy come from? And, by the way, it's the joy of the Lord that's your strength to obey. Right? Nehemiah 8:10: It's the joy of the Lord that is your strength to obey. Where does joy come from?

Let me tell you where it does not come from. Are you ready? It does not come from the rules. It does not come from obligations about what you are supposed to do to get your act together, to get your family into the kingdom of God, or your church, or this nation, on the bus, on the way to where God wants you. That is not where joy comes from.

Joy comes from what He's already done. "Oh, You mean, You love me? You mean, You forgive me? You mean, when You look at me, I'm perfect in Your sight? You mean, I'm Your beloved child? You mean, You've given me everything, everything I will ever need? Everything I need to be pleasing to You, You've already given me?" That's where joy comes from. And it is the joy of the Lord that is your strength.

Quickly, gospel message. Ready? Here we go. What's the gospel? The gospel is, first of all, the incarnation of the Second Person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ. God the Son, who was the Word, entered into the ovum of the Virgin Mary. Poink. I mean, what? Really? And gestated for nine months, and was born, placenta and all, just like any other baby. The Bible tells us that when people looked at Him, they didn't think there was anything unusual about Him than any other little baby. There He goes.

He's born, and from His first breath, from His first breath, He has an innocent heart, an innocent heart, and He doesn't sin. By the way, He's circumcised, which signifies the cutting away of sin and grace for the covenant. He doesn't need to do that. He is the covenant. He does it for you. He's circumcised. He's named Yeshua—"He will save His people from their sins." From His very first breath, He was on His way to Calvary.

But He wasn't just on His way to Calvary to die. He had to live and fulfill all the law in your life. So when the law comes to you and says, "You blew it today. You shouldn't have said what you said. You blew it." You know what you can say? "You be quiet, law. Jesus Christ has already fulfilled it for me." That's what you say.

He lived His whole life sinlessly. Then He gets to Calvary. In Gethsemane, He's writhing on the ground because He knows what's coming at Him. And what's coming at Him, primarily, is not a sword and spikes and a crown of thorns, although those things are coming at Him. Do you know what's coming at Him? What's coming at Him is the wrath of God the Father with whom He has enjoyed His entire life and before that in eternity perfect fellowship, innocent, loving, joyful communion. At that moment, on the cross, God the Father does this (silence) when His Son cries out.

Do you know why? So you would never be forsaken for sin. Listen to me. Do you think God will forsake you because you sin? Answer me. No, never. Listen. No, never. How do I know that? Because He, the Father, forsook the Son already in your place, and Jesus, the Man, cries out at the very moment when He should have been vindicated, when God should have rent the heavens and come down with an angelic force and delivered the Son. At that very moment Jesus cries, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

Why? So you can know you'll never be forsaken for your sin. That's good news. Do you know why it's good news? Because you sin all the time, and you're always sort of wondering whether or not God is forsaking you for your sin. I'm telling you, He's not. How do I know? Because He forsook His Son in your place

Then He says those three words: "It is finished." Now, He didn't say, "It's finished, but then I need you to do this and this and this and this and this. And if you don't, well, bad stuff's going to happen." Everything that needed to be done to connect you with God the Father as your Father and Jesus Christ as your Husband was finished forever.

Even in the middle of that, even in the middle of, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Jesus says, "Father." He still calls Him "Father." "Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit." He dies in your place.

You know what you deserve for your sin? I mean, not even the big sin. It's just like the sin you did today. Like the sin you just did ten seconds ago. You deserve to die. Right? Because you're not loving God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and you're not loving your neighbor as yourself. We deserve death. That's the covenant that was enacted in Eden. "The soul that sins shall die."

So you deserve to die, but there He is, He's dying in your place. He dies. And then, see He says, "It is finished," and the heavens are silent. And then His body, His poor, innocent, unstained, dead, fully dead, completely dead, dead, dead body is taken down and placed in a tomb. And three days later God raises Him from the dead as His "Amen" to the Son's "It is finished."

The resurrection is God's "Amen" to the Son's "It is finished." Then the Son spends forty days trying to help the disciples understand what's going on. Then He goes back into heaven, and the Bible tells us that He lifts up His hands, and the angels say, "In just the same way He went up to heaven, so He will return."

You know what He's doing? He's giving the benediction. "May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace." You want to know what Jesus is saying right now? He's giving you the benediction. Do you know why? Because all those things, "May the Lord bless you and keep you"—was He blessed and kept? No. "May the Lord make His face shine upon you"—was God's face shining upon Him on the cross? No. Was the Lord God gracious to the Son on the cross? No. "May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace"—did the Son have peace on the cross? No.

So you see, now, now, right now, right now, the Son can say it to you because everything you deserve, He took, and everything, every punishment you need, He bore.

Now, in light of that, serve God. Do you see what I'm saying? This is the message we need. Isn't it the message you need? It's the message I need. I need it every day because if you tell me, "Here's the forty-two things you need to do to get the bus down the road," I'm either going to be proud because I did it or despairing because I didn't.

But if you tell me, "Jesus Christ has done it all for you, Elyse, be filled with joyous zeal, run with your whole heart after Him," and I'll say, "Oh, yes, Lord. I will run. And then, in all the ways that I don't, thank You, and in all the ways that I do, thank You, and I know that You will accomplish all Your good will." (applause)

How does John 3:16—shall we say it? "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." Now, that's good news. Right?

How does that impact you, your heart's responses when you don't receive the coveted invitation? You know what I mean? You find out that all your pals are going some place, but they didn't tell you. Is it okay that you didn't get invited? Is the fact that you have been invited to the party of the ages—a.k.a. the Marriage Supper of the Lamb—is it okay that you have that even though you don't get this?

You see, I'm telling you that's where the gospel works. That's how the gospel works. If you forget the gospel, then you're going to spend your time trying to figure out how come your friends don't like you. Jesus is enough. He's enough. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is going to be the party of the ages. Right?

So you don't get invited. Does John 3:16 mean anything then? I'll tell you what. Usually it doesn't because it's not even on our radar. And then we go buy silly books about how to assert ourselves in our friendships.

What happens when your children disrespect you in front of your friends? My children, who are lovely children now because they're adults. We used to go to a church where the pastor would give a dollar to any kid who would come up and say a verse from the Bible. So I'm all about that because I want my kids to look really good, and, I mean, I wanted them to know the Bible, too. (laughter) So I would parade them up. "Come along, little Joel." Joel's in seminary now. He's recovered from my legalism. "Joel, come along, Joel. Tell the pastor John 3:16." And Joel's head spins around, and he starts vomiting, and he says, "I hate God." (laughter)

He didn't really do that, but you know what I mean. Whenever you want your kids to look really good and spiritual and like you're a really great mom—I really got my spiritual mom act together—that's when they are just like the anti-Christ. Right then is it okay that you've been adopted, and that's your identity?

You see, our problem is that our identity is wrapped up in all sorts of stuff that has nothing to do with the gospel.

Or you do something, which I hardly ever do—you actually plan a meal ahead. Say it's Sunday morning, and you actually went to the grocery store and bought a roast and potatoes, and you get your bread machine out, and you think, This is going to be really cool because we're going to get home, and we're going to have food. What a concept!

So we go to church, and the whole time you're at church maybe the pastor's preaching on John 3:16, and you're all "amening" him—in your heart, "yeah, yeah," but in the back of your mind, you're thinking, I'm gonna have roast. It's gonna be really yummy. You drive into the garage, and you open your door, and you don't smell anything. (laughter) And then you walk in, and, of course, you forgot to set the oven. At which point I get mad at Phil. (laughter) He told me once I should write a book called All My Sin Is All Your Fault. (laughter)

So I forget to set the oven. "It's your fault. If you wouldn't make me run out of the house. I'm telling you, if you ever honk that horn at me again, I'm gonna throw my Bible at you." (laughter) You see, right then, right then, right then, does John 3:16 matter to you?

Does it matter that at church Jesus Christ just set a table for you in His body and blood that He gave to you, the bread and the wine, His body and blood, and you don't really need that meal? You've had the only meal you really need, which is a meal for your soul. Does it matter?

You see, when I talk to you about it, you say in your heart, Yes, of course it matters, but we never think of it, and we don't think of it because we have amnesia. We think that the kingdom of God is about us and what we need to do, and we are wrong.

My identity, that I am one who has been loved immeasurably by God and have been made one with Him, will continually be contrasted with this statement: "My identity and self-worth is determined by whether I am popular, respected, a winner, and well-fed." And you can add to that list anything else you want to add.

Who are you? What is your identity? When everything in your life is falling apart, where do you run for assurance? "Well, I was really good; I did my list. I got up this morning and I did my devotions." I'm not saying don't have devotions—don't hear me saying that. I'm saying, what do you trust in? "I did my devotions. I read the Bible. I did this; I was nice; I made breakfast for my children . . ."

When your life is falling apart, what do you put your trust in? When you're stuck in traffic, what do you put your trust in? When you don't have money to buy socks for your kids, what do you put your trust in? When your children are turning into prodigals, what do you put your trust in?

You'd better not ever put your trust in yourself and your own ability to do anything. Do you know why? Because that will always eventuate in pride or despair. Always. So here's our verse:

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love [sounds like a good list]. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful [boy, I don't want to be ineffective or unfruitful] in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [There's a gospel hint there.] For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he's blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins (2 Pet. 5–9).

Do you want to "get on down the road"? Remember the gospel; remember what Christ has done for you. Then you will have wind for your sails. So why would it matter if I have spiritual amnesia? It matters because it will have a direct and concrete impact on your sanctification. Sanctification is that slow growth into Christ-likeness.

Peter writes that one reason we don't grow in ordinary, grateful obedience as we should is because we've got amnesia—we've forgotten that we were cleansed from sin. Listen, when you go to bed at night, you wake up in the morning and you pray, "My Father . . . Our Father . . . who art in heaven, glorify Yourself today. Hallowed be Thy Name. May Your kingdom come, and Your will be done by me today, as it's done in heaven. Provide for me what I need. Cause me to be forgiving, help me to remember how I've been forgiven, and keep me from temptation."

I pray that in the morning. And at night, then, I look back on the day and see all of the ways in which God answered that prayer and all of the ways in which He chose not to answer that prayer. God is sovereign over our sin. God is not responsible for our sin.

And I say, "Here I am again. Thank You that You are using even my sin today, in my heart right now, to be thankful for Jesus Christ. Oh, God! Change my heart!" And then I seek to grow. In other words, He's saying that ongoing failure in sanctification is the direct result of failing to remember God's love for us in Christ.

You have one thing to remember. Remember God's love for you in Christ. Remember His love for you. I'll tell you what, I used to think that if I thought too much about God's love for me in Christ, it would make me apathetic, it would make me silly, it would make me shallow.

I will tell you that is a lie from hell. Your enemy wants you to think that God is sitting up in heaven with His arms folded, tapping His toe, and saying, "I don't know how you got into the kingdom, but I guess you're already here—you might as well go stand over there with the rest of the dunces." That's not how He is.

If I think that that's how He is, then I'm going to lack the comfort and assurance that His love and cleansing are meant to supply. Over and over and over and over (I'm going to be redundant) and over and over and over again . . . He says, "I love you!" Do you know why He says it? Because we don't believe it! He says it over and over again, hundreds and hundreds of times in Scripture.

Do you know what we read? We read, "He doesn't like us." The very thing that's meant to motivate your obedience, your growth in Christ-likeness, is the fact that He loves you. Our failures will handcuff us if we lack the comfort and assurance that His love and cleansing are meant to supply.

Our failures will handcuff us to yesterday's sins. We won't have the faith or courage to fight against them, nor the love for God that's meant to empower this battle. You sin, and if you are His and the Holy Spirit indwells you, you know what your sins are.

How on earth are you going to get up tomorrow morning and say, "I'm going to serve God today"? How are you going to do that? You've got to know that you're forgiven, and you have to know that you are righteous, and you have to know He loves you. It's the only way.

Otherwise, I get up tomorrow morning and I think, I'm going to work really hard today. I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna get 'er done. So much of that has to do with my desire to approve of myself and be free of guilt and really very little to do with love for God.

I have counseled people long enough to know that I've heard this a thousand times, if I've heard it once.

"I want to get over my anger, because I don't want to ruin my kids."

"I want to get better so that I can feel better about myself."

All of that obedience has absolutely nothing to do with God—it's all about you. How do I get to the place where I offer an obedience from a pure heart, from faith? I offer that obedience to God in light of what He's already done for me—in light of love for Him, that love being responsive in nature.

How can our faith grow if all we see is the record of our failure? Our virtue or moral excellence will grow in direct proportion to our apprehension of the fact that we've been cleansed, forgiven, and loved. We'll grow in knowledge and acquaintance of Him, because we won't be afraid of Him.

How many of you are really, in your heart, sort of afraid of God and what He thinks of you? You don't need to be afraid of Him.

When I get home, I'll go see my grandchildren. When I get there, do you know what they do? They come running out the door. A bunch of them all live together, because our son, Joel, is in seminary. So five of the six all live together, and we're trying to help Joel get through seminary.

They all come running out the door, even the big ones—they come running out screaming, "Mimi's here, Mimi's here, Mimi's here!" They run and they just jump and hug me. They don't stop and look, "Do I have peanut butter on my hands?" or "Have I been being really obedient and wonderful?" They just come running out and jump. Right? You've seen that.

Do you know why they do that? Because they know I love them, so they want to be with me. They want me to hear their stories, silly stories, jokes I've heard for sixty years . . . they want to tell me. Do you get it? That's how God is with you. He loves your stories, because you're in the Son.

He sent His Son to get you, to bring you to Him. That's how much He wants to be with you.

Self-control will come more easily because the idols that used to entice us have lost their power. Who wants to eat stuff off the bottom of a dumpster when you can have a Ruth's Chris steak? We eat stuff off the bottom of the dumpster because we're starving to death, and we're starving to death because we forget Jesus.

Our steadfastness will grow in response to His steadfast love for us, especially when we face trials and suffering. When we're most tempted to give up, we won't be blinded by our pain, but will instead see Him standing there faithfully before us with nail-pierced hands and feet, making intercession for us, giving us the benediction . . . that our faith will not fail.

Finally, we'll love because we'll be sensible to the fact that we have been loved. Have you been loved? Are you forgiven? Are you righteous? Okay, then, go obey! Context! Context is everything.

One more thing. You're more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe. That's the good/bad news. Do you know what that means? That means that you don't have to pretend anymore. Aren't you done with that?

I'm done with that. No more pretending . . . "I'm Mrs. churchy-lady, and I've got my act altogether." No, you don't! And it's okay, because Jesus had His act together for you. Not only that, you're more loved and welcomed than you ever dared hope.

So I don't have to pretend to be good, because He said I'm good. Whoopee! "Be free, little birdies. Be happy, have joy." Not everything in life is happy. This is happy! Here's Paul, and Paul is talking in Romans 7, and what is he saying in Romans 7? "Everything I'm not supposed to do, I do, everything I am supposed to do, that's what I don't do."

"In my inner man, I desire to do that right thing, but every time I turn around, I'm doing the wrong thing." And he goes on in that stream of thought until he's ready to pull out his hair. And he says, "Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ our Lord."

The next verse—too bad that the chapter break is here. "I am so sinful and flawed . . . who will deliver me? Jesus Christ! There is therefore no condemnation." When? Now! "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." Whoo-hoo!

Can you say with assurance, when God looks at you, that He looks at you and He says, "This is my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased"?

(In whining voice)—"Yeah, but I didn't do my devotions."

"This is my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased." Live zealous, obedient lives, burn yourself out for Christ, pour yourself out for the mission. The only place that comes from is the gospel. That's the only place it comes from.

This is what I want you to do. I want you to look at the person next to you, and I want you to say this: "When God looks at me, He says, 'This is my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased.'"

Ooh, that's a little edgy, isn't it?

See, you could say it about the person next to you, couldn't you? You could say, "When God looks at you, He says, 'This is my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased.'" But can you say it about yourself? You have to say it about yourself if you want to have the motivation . . . wind for your sails . . . good news . . . zeal. Do it now.

This is Christ's word to you. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Go in grace.