Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that there is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus.  We are bid to remember that faith, hope, and charity, or love, are what remain…”but the greatest of these is love.”

“Remember now abideth these three, Faith, Hope, and Charity.  Faith is your attitude towards Me. Charity your attitude towards your fellow man, but as necessary, is Hope, which is confidence in yourself to succeed.” -from the message in God Calling.

The really powerful revelation in this is that it’s not over when we falter, fall, or even fail.  There really is no such thing as failure in Christ Jesus.  It stops being falter, fail, and failure, the instant you get back up.  The very instant you begin to get up, or turn around, or cry out to Jesus to take it off of you, it’s gone…as far as the East is from the West…it’s in the past…and you’re still in the race.  Isn’t that awesome?!

I can’t tell you how many times I tried to quit cigarettes, because I lost count sometime after about 20-30…maybe even more than that.  But I can tell you that I never heard Jesus say, “well, you wouldn’t be hooked on ’em if you’d never started smoking them.”  He never said, “It’s about time you got smart.”  He never even said, “Finally!  I wondered how long it would take you to realize you can’t do this without me.”  You know what I did hear?  I heard, “I love you, Marina.”  I heard, “I am the truth, the life, and the way.” -yes, the way.  I heard, “Daughter, your faith has saved you; go and sin no more.”

Sometimes, I think I’ll probably get to Heaven, and Jesus will ask me if I want a cigarette just to see the look on my face.  I’m kidding-Jesus wouldn’t ever do that.   Oh, my God! -That last cigarette…I can just imagine what my face looked like.  I lit up a cigarette right after walking out of church where I’d prayed, not a half hour earlier, and asked the Lord to help me.   It tasted so nasty…but I smoked it to the filter.  My very last cigarette, I lit later that day.  I couldn’t get past the second puff because it tasted so bad.  You see, I’d told the Lord, “You know me, Jesus.  You’re going to have to make them taste and smell so nasty that I can’t smoke them.”  Do you all know that God answers prayer?  I’m sure Jesus and I will have a great laugh when we talk about my eyes being big as saucers -and that “deer in the headlight look,” when I realized Jesus really did it.  But there was no condemnation when I lit up the second to the last cigarette, or the very last one.  That’s what we need to realize, and put into practice whenever we’re struggling, faltering, falling, or failing!

Don’t beat yourself up; pick yourself up by lifting yourself up.  Lift yourself up to the feet of Jesus.  It’s there you’ll find the mercy and grace, and the fierce, fierce love of the One who’ll get you across the finish line – Victoriously! -No matter how long it takes!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, June 26, 2019, 3:10 p.m.