So many times we go to church and we think, "that was an awesome message." And it usually is. The question is, "What will we do with it?" It steps on our toes, it challenges us, it inspires us...but is that enough? Did it change us? Did it spur us to action? Did it grip our heart so deeply that we have to do something more than we're doing? Or will we simply file it away and forget about it?

Over the years I've heard some pretty amazing things said from a pulpit. Some brought me to tears. Some caused a stirring in my heart, a conviction so strong that I knew something had to change. But often times, change can be hard. We're so stuck in our ruts and routine. I don't want to get to the end of my life and wonder if I did enough. I don't want to regret the opportunities I missed. I don't want those awesome messages to go in one ear and out the other.

I wrote a song once and one of the verses said, "What would it mean if I listened to Your word, but nothing changed inside my heart after all that I had heard...and what good would it do if I said I worshiped You, yet my life wasn't showing that worship to be true?" When we hear the Word with our hearts, not merely our ears, it will be life changing. And that change will cause our lives to be a reflection of the love of Christ, living out our worship in tangible ways. I've often seen that people are more willing to listen to the gospel when they are having their emotional and physical needs met.How can we preach of a loving God and do nothing while people are hurting? How can we sit in our ivory towers and look down at the poor and downtrodden? How can we sit idly by while people are dying all around us? Sometimes it's easy for people to go in and tell someone about Jesus, maybe even offer to pray for them, but then turn and leave them in their misery. Where is the love in that? Would this be Jesus' response? I can't say that I've always shown the kind of love that Jesus would. I can't say that I've taken every opportunity to share His love with others. What I can say is that I want to be better at loving those who God loves.

When I was young, I was under the impression that even a Christian who sinned was doomed to hell. I grew up in the hellfire and damnation era, and many preachers seemed to be trying to scare you into obedience. And those who veered off course were often times humiliated by being pointed out to the church. It made it appear to those watching and listening that Christianity was far too difficult, and that acceptance was easier to find among sinners. Who could live up to the standard of perfection? No one. But, being a child, I didn't realize that this message wasn't entirely true or that the person preaching this message was probably sinning themselves. Well, here I am years later and I still have to remind myself that Jesus came so that we didn't have to live up to the law without error. Let's face it, absolutely no one could do that, other than Jesus himself.And that is the reason his blood had to be shed. That's when grace came into play. Our salvation is not dependent on our works. We can't be good enough. We can't do enough. And it's refreshing to know that we don't have to be perfect.

Yesterday, I had a bad day. I'm sure that my actions (or more accurately, my reactions) didn't quite live up to the standard of Christian behavior that I desire to have. Some may think that my actions weren't that bad or that they were justified, but I want to be better than that. I don't want anything questionable about my behavior to be a stumbling block to others. Anyway, I don't know why I find it so difficult to just ask forgiveness at the onset, but I ended up going to bed with this unresolved issue playing out in my head. Eventually, I prayed some quick little, "forgive me, Lord" prayer and finally fell asleep. But this morning I woke up to this feeling that perhaps my prayer wasn't enough and then that guilt came creeping back in. But I got to thinking about that verse in Lamentations 3:22-23, which says:

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

1 John 1:9 tells us,  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

So if God's mercy is new every morning, and he is faithful and just and will forgive us when we repent, then we can come boldly to the throne of grace and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:6). So, even though my prayer may not have been this long, drawn out, wordy prayer, if I was truly repentant (and I was), then it was enough. And I don't have to keep dwelling on the sin, but rather, I can dwell on the faithfulness, the mercy and forgiveness that God has given. And I can move forward and put this behind me. And nobody can throw guilt and condemnation on me, not even myself. If I keep rehashing this and feeling like it hasn't been forgiven, then I'm ultimately saying that Jesus' blood wasn't enough.