This question has been asked time and time again.
It’s a valid question that deserves a valid answer.
Different people approach it in different ways.
… Getting an upgrade for their iPhone 4.
… Finding a relationship that would make them feel significant.
… Relaxing through a nice movie with people you enjoy being with.
… Eating chocolates and ice cream. (haha, that’s me!)
… Receiving a promotion at work.
… Finally conceiving and having their first baby.
The list goes on and on and on AND on.
The problem though, which I myself have discovered, is that it doesn’t last very long.
Soon, there’s a new upgrade
… the relationship you’ve longed for isn’t working out so well.
… the movie didn’t turn out as nice as rottentomatoes.com says.
… you feel bad because the chocolate and ice cream gained you a few more pounds (haha, that’s me again)
… the promotion was great but soon enough, you want a better job.
Satisfaction seems elusive. Contentment becomes noncommital.
I was reading Colossians 2 this morning and it all went back to the basics of life.
Sin has always and will continue to be the problem.
Greed. Pride. Lust. Selfishness. Doubt. Unbelief.
These will continue to plague us unless we deal with it.
“But how”, you may ask.
Listen to what the Apostle Paul says,
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13-15)
Key thoughts on this…
1. YOU WERE DEAD
Sin has a way of ending life.
2. BUT GOD MADE US ALIVE.
“BUT GOD…”
Two amazing words.
Only through Jesus can this happen. He is the resurrection and the life. Whatever is dead in your life, He is able to make it come back to life.
3. HE FORGAVE US ALL OUR SINS
The greatest need of man today is not more stuff, more friends, or more money.
The greatest need of man is to be forgiven.
We owed a debt we couldn’t pay.
He paid a debt He didn’t owe.
4. HE CANCELLED THE CHARGES AGAINST US.
Imagine if you were in debt 20M pesos. Then the bank says, your debts have been cancelled.
How would you feel?
Our debt was more than 20M pesos. It was going to cost us our very life… life in hell for eternity.
5. HE NAILED OUR SINS ON THE CROSS.
The offended paying for the offense of the offender?
Unheard of.
But it was done.
6. HE DISARMED THE POWERS AND AUTHORITIES.
There’s stuff we don’t see. There are those happening behind the scenes we don’t observe with our naked eyes.Jesus disarmed all these. No longer do these have power over us.
7. HE TRIUMPHED.
We are no longer victims but victors.
We are no longer whiners but winners.
We can now believe burdens to become blessings.
We are able to turn trials into triumphs.
All because of Jesus.
Jesus.
Yup, Jesus.
To feel good?
Well, that’s not the right question to ask.
Ride in the wave of His grace.
Nothing you can do but all about what He has done.
Feelings will just follow.