He Knows I am Dust And He Likes It!!

The more I get to know God and the longer I follow Him and listen to Him... The more I learn to hear Him... One thing has become plain to me:  He has made provision for my weaknesses, which are many.

The strength of my relationship with God doesn't depend on my ability to do anything except learning to be honest about who I really am and learning to fully want (pray) to be faithful and obedient to Him.

All God wants from me is an open, and honest, heart.

Religion is the enemy of relationship.  It puts the weight of abiding in God on what we do, rather than what we want God to do.  God isn't pleased by my anxiety about my righteousness. He hates it when we teach others to be anxious about their sin and need.  Anxiety is incompatible with the Gospel, but most evangelists operate in the flesh and teach man's ways, not God's.

Philippians 4:4-8 NKJV — Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

No one earns grace, or learns righteousness from teachers or Bible studies, etc.  We can only open up and receive grace.  If Bible teaching doesn't lead us to give up striving for righteousness and instead learn to sit at the feet of Jesus for righteousness, it's false teaching.

Anxiety says one thing in a million ways, " I don't really trust you, God."

God likes FAITH not our sincere anxiety about our Spiritual maturity.  Our broken minds think the more sober and troubled we are about our sin, the more God sees we are "good people", and then He is pleased because we are pained.  This is the lie at the base of all religious and false spiritual activity.

God is a Father.  He doesn't enjoy our anxiety about how we aren't good.  He knows we are weak.  He likes our dependency on Him.

Psalm 103:8-14 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,

Slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He will not always contend with us,

Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor rewarded us according to our guilty deeds. For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our wrongdoings from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children,

So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our form;

He is mindful that we are nothing but dust.

God believes we are dust.  We are supposed to believe the same thing about ourselves.  This is true freedom.  If I have to be a good person, I'll always and forever be frustrated.  I'll never truly be a good person until I truly embrace I am nothing without God.  He is the only good. 

No. Good people don't exist.  But, If I can be a weak and needy person with a really gracious and generous God who just wants me to acknowledge, embrace, confess, and repent of self leadership, HE will become my leader and my sin will begin to evaporate.

The more God leads me, the less I sin.

Religion gets this exactly backwards and lies to me by saying, "the less I sin the closer I'll be to God." This is the root, and the fruit, of religion and it leads to self righteousness and eventually hell.

No one believes they are self righteous, but most are.  The road of true righteousness is narrow and few find it.  

My true understanding of righteousness is easy to see, though.  To see if I believe in self righteousness, I just need to consider how I think about other people.  If I wish, hope, or help others "get it together for God," then I truly believe in self righteousness and I am not in agreement with God.

No one can get it together for God.  We come to God, weak, dust, and want Him.  That's it.  We are still sinners when we come to God.  We are immature. We are broken.  That is the simple truth.  The more we learn to be honest and not strive... To really believe in the miracle of righteousness, rather than the religion of false religious striving... The more dependent we grow.  The more dependent we grow,  less good we believe we are!

We must be true about who WE are, true about who God is, and true about His miraculous way of saving people from themselves.

Self leadership expresses itself in several ways   I can be self led and live my life for pleasure, or I can be self led and live my life for God.  It's the self leadership God hates... not the pleasure. 

Being ok to stay self led isn't coming to God. He didn't make us for a miserable and corrupt life.  There is no grace to just be self led and happy about it.

No.

There is grace to be real about our weakness and believing about HIS strength.  That's the real narrow road that truly changes everything about my life.  

This truth, that I am dust without God, fills me with gratitude and hope.  It takes my eyes off of sin, both mine and others,  and puts them on God.  

John 8:7 NKJV — So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

The hope that comes from gratitude cannot be sunk.  It's a hope rooted in the truth of my absolute weakness... It leaves me closer... More dependent on God and less led by me.  You can know the language of this hope and still feel ashamed, though.  All shame is rooted in pride.

God wants me free of pride. That is what He's always wanted.  God wants me dependent on Him in a way that leaves me feeling vibrant and excited, not concerned about sin... Honest about it and what it really comes from. The fear of the Lord isn't fear about my sin someday leaving me far from God, it's a fear of missing out on His goodness today...

The fear of the Lord is what Adam walked away from, and Jesus walked into.  

I want to follow Jesus into the truth.

John 5:19 NKJV — Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

John 5:30 NKJV — “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.