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By Billy Holland

Columnist

Since you were conceived, God has wanted your attention. He has never neglected or ignored you. If you wrote down all the blessings and victories He has given over the years, they would prove He has been guiding and helping you all along. How could any of us even consider we were created by chance? The truth is that God specifically called you and has many wonderful things planned for your future. You are His masterpiece.

I’ve noticed in my life that even though I know these things are a reality, it does not prevent the enemy from picking a fight with me. We know there will be battles when our faith will falter. We feel lonely, empty, exhausted, or just plain sad. Emotions are feelings that contain powerful persuasions. However, they cannot force us to be depressed. There will be moments where discouragement wraps its tentacles around you and attempts to pull you further into the darkness, but this is where you have a choice to submit and wave the white flag for another pity party or to stand strong in your faith and embrace God’s truth that can set you free.

God’s love is the best news in the history of mankind! In trials of fear and anxiety, we can find redemption and power in His name to help give us a true perspective of reality. If we choose to trust in God’s written word and obey His still, small voice, He will either guide us away from the valley of the shadow or He will walk with us through it. There is no one greater to hold hands with than the Almighty. Will we follow the voices that mock and entice us to give up, or will we humbly give God our heavy burdens and boldly expect Him to demonstrate His amazing grace in our lives? “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor His ear so deaf that He cannot hear” Isaiah 59:1.

Our God is bigger than any misery or embarrassment we may experience, any rejection we may face, or hardship that tries to break us. The Lord is bigger than any doubt, fear, or failure, and when you feel like your world is spinning out of control when you’re unsure whether you have the strength to continue, remember Isaiah 49:16, as it promises that God never takes His eyes or ears from you. “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; the condition of your situation is continually before me.” You might believe that you’re going through this alone, but this is just another example of evil voices that try to confuse and deceive. God knows your thoughts and the warfare you are dealing with and is ready to make you more than a conqueror!

The greatest message that anyone could proclaim is that God loves you so much that He gave His Son to be tortured on the cross for you. Jesus died and shed His blood for those who will accept Him as their Lord and Savior. There is no greater love. Some days, you may feel undeserving, blemished, and bruised, but God does not want His precious child to be controlled by negativity. He knows exactly what you’ve done and what others have done to you, but more importantly, for those who call on His name, He sees you forgiven. He wants the best for you, just like you want the best for your children. He sees you as a holy vessel that can be used for His glory and is trying to get you to see it. God has more faith in you than you have in Him, and there is nothing you can do to remove His hope in you to be victorious.

Romans chapter five talks about how God’s followers are justified and redeemed by faith through His grace and the blood of Jesus, which is the foundation of our eternal salvation. No sin, failure, or mistake is more powerful than His desire to forgive and forget. Once sins are sincerely repented they are erased, and the only one that will ever remind you is the accuser of the brethren. When you have a moment, listen to the encouraging hymn, “Grace that is greater than all our sin.” May we place our complete trust in God’s grace to wash away our shame and guilt and be filled with His righteousness and peace today.