Am I Doing Enough?

At some point in our walk with God, we find ourselves not feeling Christian enough. We make the decision to have a relationship with God by confessing that Jesus is our Savior. Initially, we are excited, but we soon realize that things are not changing as quickly as we thought it would. We assume that we will no longer dabble in the sins of the world, but instead, participate in more Christian-like activities. Unfortunately, turning away from sin does not happen instantly. In fact, seeing the results of the monumental decision which was made takes time.

It is in those moments that we begin to feel that we not good enough to be a Christian or to make God happy. We begin to put pressure on ourselves thinking that we must pray more, read the Bible more, go to church more, and be interested in more Christian-like activities.

I remember feeling this way when I was in college. I had made the decision to have a real relationship with God and answer the calling on my life. At first, I was consistently pursuing a close relationship with God, and I was changing. But after a few months, it was not as easy as it had been prior.

I was at a point where my spirit wanted to chase God, but my mind was still being renewed.

Therefore, my flesh was not disciplined to restrain from the things I formerly did. Many of you may find yourselves in a spot like this, where you are torn in two on a daily basis. And at this point, one of two things can happen. One, you decide to stay in that spot of being torn, resulting in you being double-minded.

Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. (James 1:8)

Or, you begin to do things out of obligation instead of willingness. And this is what I was tempted to do. I knew I did not want to be of two minds as the Bible says;

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

(Revelation 2: 15-16)

I felt that I was not doing enough for God to be pleased with me, and sometimes, even get into heaven. I would spend half of my time talking to God, listening to sermons on YouTube, and going to church. On the other hand, my time was being spent at “kick-backs” drinking with friends or dealing with a “situation ship” that God already told me to leave.

And because of disobedience, there was an open door for the enemy to come in and begin to mess with my head. The enemy began to tell me that I would not get into heaven. He began to say that the ministry that God has placed in my heart (Church Girlz) would never manifest. He even began to tell me that I would not have a happily ever after with the man of my dreams. But the biggest lie that the enemy told me was that I needed to work harder for God.

When we begin to think that we must be doing something to get into heaven, or for God to love us, we do not understand what Jesus did on the cross. And if we do not understand it, we cannot truly receive it either.

I remember one day when I was spending time with God and He told me to study righteousness. At first, I was afraid to because of the fleeting thoughts that were in my mind telling me that I was not righteous. But I studied righteousness as I always strive to be very obedient to what God tells me.

I started by looking up the definition of righteousness. According to Merriam Webster, righteousness is defined as: free from guilt or sin; morally right or justifiable.

Then I looked up scriptures about righteousness, such as:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4)

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. (1 John 3:7)

I then asked God for a deeper clarification. I understood with my mind what the scriptures were saying, but in order for us to truly understand the things of God, we must understand it with our spirit. Or in other words, get a revelation from God, which is “seeing” spiritually.

I kept reading these same scriptures and the text around them for days. Every day, I sat down with God asking Him for clarity on the verses. Then one day, I began to see what God was showing me.

I am currently in right standing with God! I cannot do anything else to be in better standing with Him than I am now. I cannot pray more, read more, go to church more, get people saved, start a ministry or anything to be in a better position than I am right now.

And there is nothing I can do to be in bad standing, besides turning my heart from Him and making the decision to not accept Jesus-Christ.

I had to understand that because of what Jesus did on the cross, we do not have to do anything other than making the decision of accepting that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. That is it!

Now the question comes up: why do we pray, read the bible, and go to church?

That is for our own selves, not for God. God does not need us to do those things. We need to do those things for our benefit. Actually, we get to do those things.

I do not have to pray, I get to pray.

I do not have to read my Bible, I get to read my Bible.

I do not have to go to church, I get to go to church.

I do not even have to do Church Girlz, I get to do Church Girlz.

So, when we begin to see the gift that God has given to us, we are then able to joyfully have a relationship with God, leaving our pre-Jesus selves behind us. We will see the instructions that God has put in the Bible, not as rules and regulations, but as a love letter to us. He wants us to follow what He says because we are still in a world where the devil is trying to kill us, steal from us, and destroy our lives. God wants us to use the tools He has given us so we can begin the process of becoming who God originally created us to be; before the sin and iniquity.

Once I began seeing what Jesus truly did on the cross so that I could be in right standing with God, I was then able to recognize that those thoughts were from the enemy. Once I commanded him to leave my thoughts, I was able to relax and enjoy my journey with God. I was able to declare the word of God over areas of my life where strongholds were present, such as the "kick-back" environments and that "situation ship". I believed that they would no longer have a hold on me. I was able to be okay with seeking the things God promised me, while understanding that there are places in my life that I am not seeing. But most importantly, I understood that there will always be an area in my life where I will need God to help me grow. Yet, that does not mean that I am not doing enough to be accepted by God.

Article Assessment

Faith: Reread 2 Corinthians 5:21

How does it make you feel knowing that Jesus took care of all your sin and all you have to do is receive your right standing with Him by faith?

How do you think God feels when refuse to receive what Jesus paid for with His life?

Fashion:

Wear your sunglasses/glasses this week and say out of your mouth "God help me to see myself the way you see me."

Share a picture of you with your glasses on at #churchgirlz#Iamenough

Fabulous:

Try Seeing yourself as a child of royalty. For example: Do not talk down about yourself or others this week, instead say good things about yourself and others.

Share with us your experience with seeing yourself how God sees you at #churchgirlz#Iamenough

Aha Moment: If you never do another good thing and do a million bad things God's love for you will not change. It's set on Unconditional forever!

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