01 Mar He understands! – Mar 12

By: Abigail Tju

I would have to say that personal discipline is one of my weaknesses. I will make plans to discipline myself, whether it is in my daily life or in spiritual life – and fail to keep them.

I will wake up early to have morning devotion. I will come to University / work / church on time. I will not lose my temper. I will have self-control in eating. I will follow the church daily bible reading plan. I will not say bad things about others. I will not dwell in my negative thoughts.  And the list goes on. And I failed.

I come to a realization that I cannot do this alone, that I need God and I need His grace to help me with my weaknesses. It starts with humility and giving all that we are to God – including our weaknesses.

Hebrews 4:15-16

“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

I am so glad that we serve a merciful God! That our high priest understands our weaknesses. HE UNDERSTANDS. But the verse doesn’t stop there. It continues to encourage us to come boldly to the throne of our gracious God!

Often time when we fail, we turn AWAY from God – when we should actually be running TOWARDS Him all the more. God is not surprised when we stuff things up. Our God knows everything about us – yes, everything (Psalm 139:1-4).

This song “From the inside out” reminds us of the above. A thousand times we might have failed, but His mercy still remains. And should we stumble again, we are still caught in His grace. Wow! It then continued with an outpouring of what is in the heart, a desire to give God control and wanting Him to consume us from the inside out.

2 Corinthians 3:18

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

“You become what you behold [see]… You become like what you constantly behold.” – John Piper.

Don’t beat yourself up when you fail. Instead, come boldly to His throne of grace and receive mercy. Behold Him, fix your eyes on Him, focus on Christ, and you will become like Christ. You will be transformed into what you see. Behold Christ.