September 20
God Hasn’t Changed His Mind About You
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ––2 Corinthians 10:3-5
I did not grow up in a home that followed Jesus, but I have a lot of friends who were raised Christian and can’t remember a time when they did not follow Him. One of the humorous stories I hear a lot is from folks who were “serial altar call responders.” You know, when you are 8, feel bad about something you did during the week, so you respond to the altar call during church service—again, and again. Just to be sure God hasn’t changed His mind about you.
We laugh when we share these stories as adults, but how much have things really changed for you (and me)? It’s no secret that we live in a highly transactional world—we work in exchange for money, pay a mortgage or rent in exchange for a roof over our heads, and use our personal funds in exchange for food. That’s all well and good—until that transactional mindset starts seeping into our spiritual life. For example, when you have an especially great quiet time, do you feel God is more pleased with you than when you don’t? Or the converse: If you skip your quiet time for a few days, do you believe God is disappointed in you?
I want you to carefully think about that … it’s something that definitely creeps up on me from time to time. This subtle works-based mentality sees God holding judges’ cards for my behavior. (Kenny forgot to tithe last week … I give him a 6 out of 10 this month.”) It’s not so much that we believe we need to earn our way into heaven. We know we are saved by grace, that Jesus already paid the price for every sin we will ever commit, and that nothing we “do” on Earth will make God love us more. So if we know these biblical truths, why do we beat ourselves up when we sin, or deep down feel like we’ve lost brownie points with God? (Well, I do sometimes. If you don’t, that’s fantastic.)
Remember the last time you were on fire for God? Where you walked in victory with Him, felt close to Him, and had certainty about His plan for you? Life has a way of beating us up or making us believe that God is far away. We know He’s there, but we begin to wonder if we’ve fallen out of favor with Him.
Man of God, the Lord has NOT changed His mind about you. He loves You as much today as the day you were conceived in your mother’s womb. This truth is seemingly so basic that we can take it for granted. It can be especially hard to accept the fact that God’s love is unconditional if we didn’t grow up in a home where we experienced it. Add to that the fact that the world operates full of conditions—it’s a quid pro quo approach for most people.
How do we solve the dilemma, then, of feeling far from God, or that He’s changed His mind about us? The first step is to stop and ask the Holy Spirit to change your mindset. Paul reminds us that that is the battlefield: we take every thought captive, because that is where Satan attacks us—in our minds. (See today’s opening verse.) Acknowledging that we are in a battle is step one. Step two is to bathe yourself in the truths of His Word on the subject. And step three is to bring your thoughts and fears into the light with trusted brothers.
God has not changed His mind about you, brother! He loves you dearly, and wants you to know that “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
Lord, I surrender my mindset to You, and ask that you change my thinking so I might fully embrace Your unconditional love for me. I don’t want to strive, but instead want to be fully aware that You love and accept me.