If you’ve struggled with a sense of failure, of falling short of what a Christian should be like, then you can understand what I’m about to say. Awake in the wee hours after midnight, I wrestled with condemning thoughts that wouldn’t quit.
After we’ve confessed all the sin we’re aware of, what explains the continued piling on of such thoughts? Too often, I’ve mistaken them for the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Wrong! The Holy Spirit will bring conviction to lead us to confession and repentance. But after that point (with our sins forgiven), the Holy Spirit will not bring those charges up again. So the explanation must lie elsewhere.
The Bible describes the devil, as the “accuser” the one who accuses us day and night. In other words, his accusations can reach us anytime, 24-7. He disguises his accusations by dressing them up in our thoughts. Like arrows, these thoughts stab into our hearts and minds and consciences. The only way we can overcome his assaults is to stand on the ground Jesus won for us by his death, resurrection and ascension.
Last night, the Lord helped me do just that by reminding me of a song I’ve known for decades. Those words became for me a riverbed through which God’s grace flowed back into my heart and mind. Here are the words. Take the time to pause on each word and phrase. It’s possible you may need these words, too—now or in the near future:
AT CALVARY
Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary!Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary.
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