Hope for the Person Who Has Drifted from God

September 20, 2023

Have you messed up? Either in a big way or you've just slowly drifted

away from God? How do you mend things? What do you do with your guilt?

Romans 8:1 "There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."

There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

To be clear: This is NOT a promise for everybody. It's NOT saying

anybody can do whatever they want to do and there's no condemnation. It

says for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you are a genuine believer in

Christ, you've put your trust in Christ, accepted His grace, there is

no condemnation.

Notice it also does NOT say there are no consequences. It says no

condemnation. There are a lot of consequences. When I get out of God's

will for my life, when I blow it, when I intentionally don't do what God

wants me to do, when I ignore His will there are major consequences.  

Same thing for you too. Every time you disobey God, every time you

ignore His will, every time you don't follow His instruction you lose.

You hurt yourself and you hurt other people.

That’s one of the big regrets a prodigal faces. Decisions are made in

selfishness that hurt others in our lives. It would be great if only we

had to pay the consequences of a Prodigal Path but it doesn’t work that

way. Husbands pay, wives pay, children pay, parents pay when we travel

down the wrong path. We hurt ourselves and we hurt other people. We lose

big time. 

When a Christian sins, what happens? We lose our fellowship with God.

We lose our effectiveness on earth. We lose rewards in heaven. We lose

our joy here on earth. The miserable people on earth are not unbelievers

but believers who know better and are acting like unbelievers. 

What should I do when I sin? RETURN! Come back TO CHRIST.

It's that simple.

Jeremiah 15:19a "If you return to Me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve Me."

Return to Christ. He will restore you. Lay your sin at the foot of the cross. He will accept you. 

Isaiah 1:18b "Though

your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though

they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool." 

It doesn't matter what you've done.

"with great compassion I will take you back.”  Isaiah 54:7b

You may think God's forgotten you. He hasn't. The good shepherd leaves the 99 sheep to go after the one.

Return, as you are. He will accept you back.