Practical spiritual advice /2/ – The assurance of forgiveness
God’s Word convicts us all of sin: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23) But, on the other hand, it also convinces us many times of the forgiveness of sins. The First Epistle of John reads: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1Jn 1:9) We can compare it with verse 7 as well: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” So there is a condition: to walk in the light as He is in the light. It concerns God’s presence. There is no need of a vision or apparition; I just realize that God sees me and focus my attention on this truth. I can do so at any time during the day too when I face a difficult situation. I stop, realize God’s presence and ask God to give me the light because I don’t know what to do, or I call on Him to intervene in this difficult situation Himself and to give a solution.I do not have to kneel or be alone in my room; wherever I am, faced with a concrete problem or suffering, I stop and make contact with God. In this way I enter into God’s light.
“If we walk in the light as God is in the light…”
Another place in the Scripture says that Jesus is the light: “I am the Light…” (Jn 8:12). It does not mean light as visible radiation but spiritual light, i.e. the divine truth and divine presence. To walk in the light means to walk in union with the spiritual Light – Jesus who shows us the meaning of our life, our sin and divine truths which lead us to salvation.
“…we have fellowship with one another…”
To have fellowship – interior fellowship – is no simple thing. If Christians want to live together in unity, they may even be converted sincerely, but suddenly they quarrel about a foolish thing or feel envy, the whole community breaks up and no one even knows why. The devil can so easily break a community. Why? Not even two people under the sun can have a true community unless at least one of them has learned to die spiritually to his own good. What does it mean? If I want to create unity with someone for the sake of Jesus, I have to let him humble me and I accept his view though I consider it foolish at the moment: “Lord, You see that this proposal seems to me a perfect foolishness, utter nonsense; of course, it’s not a sin but he seems to have lost his senses… Well, out of love for You, Jesus!”
Or in the family: husband sees something rationally and wife emotionally, so they need to learn to die to themselves together with Jesus and for the sake of Jesus: “What he/she wants or is doing now is not a sin but it’s foolish. But I’ll do it out of love for You, Jesus.” And if you do it, God will show you that He used this so-called foolish thing to work a miracle, so that the result is even better than if we did it according to my logic. This is walking in faith – to the limit of sin. If it is a matter of sin, I cannot do it, of course, nor even agree with it.
How do I practise it? If someone proposes something foolish, I say: “Oh yes, that’s one alternative, and there are two more alternatives…” You should say: “Yes, that’s a good alternative.” This person is in dead earnest but I can’t understand how he can have such a foolish idea. This is his point of view; I wouldn’t be 1% sure about it but it doesn’t mean that I am right. So we present 3 alternatives and seek what is right and what is God’s will. It will do no good if I insist stubbornly on my point of view and press my logical arguments. Such behaviour breaks up communities, families, relationships between parents and children… We need to give our all to God in faith. It’s not just a question of renouncing our will, our truth or our feelings, but we need to learn to live by faith. “The righteous man shall live by faith.” Let us turn to God in concrete situations. Let us say to Him sincerely: “Lord, I don’t understand it… Such a foolish idea will come to no good end. Lord, You must work a miracle. I will do this foolish thing but only because I don’t want our community or family to break up but I want to keep it in unity, although I feel like a fool.” But if you make this step, pray, give it to God and ask: “Lord, give him the light…”, God will enlighten both you and him and make you see things in a far better light than you could see it before.
But if you insist on your own way: “I want it this way!” or “I see it differently!”, it will lead nowhere. You will break up the relationships and finally God will reveal to you that you made a mistake. And how often it is a cardinal mistake. You spoil one thing and through this small thing the whole building falls. God’s Word says here: “Walk in the Holy Spirit…” or “The righteous man shall live by faith…” or “I am crucified with Christ…” Stand before God in such situation and say: “Lord, I am powerless. What can I do in this situation? I trust in You, You are almighty!”
There are moments in our life when we stubbornly insist on our own way but without success, and then we indulge in self-pity or even burn with hatred, and it leads nowhere. The old self in us reacts like this and is ready even to die for its own truth. But this all is a deceit. Right in these situations we need to learn to stop and ask ourselves: “Where is God in this situation, where is Jesus?” Well, this is my truth but I give it to God and He has 1000 possibilities of solving what I view as impossible. He has alternatives which I have no idea about. He can solve my problem through people, through angels, and, moreover, He can even change natural laws and intervene Himself. For example, we pray for something and ask for a miracle. Let us say: “Lord, let it come at the right time. I know that it’s not possible without a cross.” It would be dubious if we achieved the result immediately. We have to be crucified on a concrete cross. Of course, we have to do what we are to do, and wait for God to work a miracle. But how and when will He do it? It can last for years. Maybe God wants to purify us. And then He will give us what we are asking for. Sometimes we ask for something and He gives it to us immediately, but sometimes we ask for many years because God wants us to persevere in faith, to keep up motivation and to believe in His almightiness. And even if we were to die without seeing our prayer answered, God wants us not to doubt but to believe that He is almighty. How He will do it, I don’t know, but He can do it and I do believe in Him; He is almighty.
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