I used to worry about the strength of my faith and whether or not it was enough for God to let me in.  From the brokenness and junk I dealt with in my life and some of the decisions I made in my sin and brokenness I used to feel like I would never be good enough to come out of it.  I would try my damnedest to, but I was so caught up in myself, my sin, my wounds, my brokenness, that I didn’t know if there was a way out.  Have any of you felt or do any of you feel this way today?  Well, if so, there is some really good news, Jesus will take us as we are.  Not because of what we do, but because of His grace and love that is unending.  As Paul wrote in Titus 3, we are given new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit because of God’s mercy, not for what we do.

If you study the Gospels you see that nature of Jesus and the many, many times we healed people who came to Him.  The blind, the leper, the lame, and many more.  What did not those that he healed do.  They to Him in faith and Jesus would tell them they are healed because of their faith.

You see, there are many all around, especially in the church that believe you have to get all of your junk in order.  You have to fix yourself before you can come to Christ.  You have to learn how to be faithful first and how to follow Jesus.  You have to learn to be a good Christian and follow the religious code.  You have to clean up your act.

THIS IS WRONG!

Look at those that Jesus healed.  We they came to him in faith, He healed them.  What does that mean?  We turn to Jesus in faith and give our lives to Him and then the healing and the cleansing takes place.  Yes, we have to confess our sins.  You can’t not confess your sins.  If you hide it, you are never going to get away from it and move forward.  What does Jesus say? Go and sin no more.  Turn away from what we done, confess it, and leave it at the cross.  Then you can be set free with a new birth and new life that Jesus came bring.

It’s so simple folks.  Get past all of the religious fluff.  All of the hoops that churches make you jump through to become what they deem to be a Christian.  Just turn to Jesus.  Isaiah 61:1, he came to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free.  What we have to do ourselves and know that Jesus loves us.  He absolutely unequivocally, unconditionally loves us.  He loves us so much, He was willing, though he suffered greatly, to be brutally tortured including being hung on a cross to die so that we can return to the Father and have the life we were always meant to have.  With that, if we turn to Him in faith and open the door of our hearts to Him, then through the power of the Holy Spirit, He will come deep into our hearts, help find and confess the sins we have, forgive those that wounded us, and we can then have our hearts restored to a new life.  We don’t have to jump through religious hoops first.  It’s all a matter of our own willingness to turn to Christ and let Him in.  He’s banging on the door, we just have to be willing to let Him in.

I can share this because I speak from my experiences.  Remember I said I didn’t know if there was a way out.  I was stuck behind the stained glass.  Behind the religious fog.  It was not until my mid-30s that I realized that the religion was a part of the problem.  Once I did, I turned from religion, which I despise, and opened my heart to Christ.  It’s unbelievable the revival that has taken place in my heart.  I say revival, because Jesus revived the me that was dead.  I restored me to a new life and I found the way out.  It was right there the whole time.

Folks, Jesus will take us as we are.  I am unashamed of my faith in knowing this now and will teach and counsel on this healing and freedom that is available to us all.  Get past the religious fog and open the door so that He can go to work on your heart.  He’s not even done with me yet.  This journey is just beginning in my new life through Christ.  Jesus took me as I was, junk and all, and He will do the same for you.  Just wait and see what happens when He does.