It’s Free Friday! Today is the day you let go of the things in your life that keep you down or hold you back from all God has for you. To celebrate, I’m giving away an autographed copy of “What Happens When Women Say Yes to God” by Lysa TerKeurst. Keep reading to find out how to enter.
I heard something this week by Tullian Tchividjian, author of “One Way Love”, that challenged me. He said, “Because Jesus succeeded, you are free to fail.” Think about that for a second. Because Jesus was successful at the cross, you are free to fail. You don’t have to live a perfect life. Now before you start going nuts, I’m not saying you should go out and do whatever you want because He will forgive you. Paul addressed that in Romans 6:1-2 when he said, “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”
What I’m saying is take the pressure off to constantly be perfect. You are an imperfect person who can’t live a perfect life. I know the pressure that comes from trying to live every day as perfectly as God described in scripture. I also think of three people who tried that as well. One was the Pharisees. They were so caught up in living by the law, that they couldn’t see when the law was fulfilled. They not only lived by the law, but they forced others to live by it as well. You don’t have to live by someone else’s personal convictions. Don’t live a life in sin, but also don’t live a life bound by so many rules you lose sight of the creator.
Another person that tried to live perfectly was the rich, young ruler. In Matthew 19:16, he asked Jesus, “What good deed must I do to have eternal life.” Jesus responded that he should keep the commandments. He looked at Jesus and said, “I’ve obeyed all those. What else do I need to do?” In verse 21 Jesus said, “If you want yo be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor… Then come and follow me.” He left sad because he had a lot of money and didn’t want to give that up. If you listened to his question, he thought doing good things got you in to Heaven. They don’t. Only the grace that Christ gives from His death on the cross can do that.
Finally, I think of Paul. In Philippians 3:3-4, he said, “We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could.” He goes on to say how strictly he lived according to the law more than anyone else, but then verses 7 and 9 come along. He said, “(7) I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. (9) I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.” There is nothing you can do to earn God’s love. So stop trying to live like you are earning His love and live a life out of love for Him.
When we grasp that, truly grasp that, the pressure of being perfect is lifted. There is freedom in being able to fail. I tell people all the time, “You learn the most when you fail.” I’ve got a PhD from the School of Hard Knocks. I’ve failed miserably in my life and have been embarrassed by it. I don’t have to be perfect because Jesus was. I don’t have to be successful because Jesus was. I don’t have to live up to the letter of the law because His grace makes up the difference between its standard and my failure. I am free to fail and so are you. Live in that freedom today. Be set free of trying to be perfect and let God’s grace make up the difference in your life.
If you would like to win “What Happens When Women Say Yes To God” by Lysa TerKeurst, all you have to do is go to my Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (April 12, 2014) who has liked my page. If you have already liked my page and enjoy reading these daily devotionals, you are already entered. Please invite your friends to like my page so they can receive encouragement from God’s Word too.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 
Test Day
I’ve never really liked tests before even though I’m pretty good at them. Any time the word “test” comes up, I think of one of my high school teachers, Mr. Hart. He loved giving tests. He would wear a red contact lens, the ugliest tie he could find and eat a bag of chips while you were taking it. He’d ask, “Is this bothering you,” and then give an evil laugh. He’d ask questions that would earn you a Nobel Prize if you could answer them. His “bonus” questions came from movies like “Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail”. Maybe my memory has added to his legend, but that’s how I remember taking tests in his class.
I remember doing a lot of studying for tests to make sure I passed. I read back through the chapter, looked at my notes, made flash cards and quizzed other classmates to prepare. You knew the subject matter, but not what to expect on the test. As a person who played sports, there was extra pressure to pass since the “No Pass No Play” law had gone into effect. I wouldn’t have let myself down by failing, but my team too. So I put a lot of time and energy into making sure I knew the material.
All those memories came flooding back when I read what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in II Corinthians 13:5-9. He said, “Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. (MSG)”. Paul was saying to do with our faith what I did for tests in school. Read the book (Bible), look at notes (commentaries), make flash cards (memorize scripture) and quiz other classmates (have accountability partners to help you learn and grow).
Just like we had to prepare for what Mr. Hart might throw at us, we need to be prepared for what might challenge our faith. Times of testing shouldn’t come as a surprise to us. They shouldn’t scare us either if we’ve prepared beforehand. If you can read this, you’ve lived enough life to know that you’re going to be tested. If you’re a Christian, you should know your faith will be tested. It’s not so that you will fail, but to make sure you know what you believe. When I give tests at work, I jokingly call them “celebrations of knowledge” to relieve the stress. I’m not trying to get you to fail, I’m trying to showcase how much you’ve learned.
God does that with us too. He’s not up there trying to see if you’ll fail when He tests you. He’s wanting to show you how much you’ve learned and what you need to work on. Paul understood this and encouraged us to test ourselves ahead of time so we could pass with flying colors. When we do that, we won’t take our faith for granted or drift along. We’ll know what we believe, be able to confidently speak God’s Word when the enemy comes against us and live out our faith with a purpose and a passion. What will you do today to prepare for the testing of your faith?
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