Grace, Guilt, On the Journey Together, Words of Endurance

On the Journey Together

I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
PSALM 51:5-6 (THE MESSAGE)



My heart’s cry to God has always been “Lord, please change me from the inside out.” Sure I can put on a mask and change my outside appearance but what about my sinful desires? What about the part of me that still sins – that I don’t dare let others see? I know that God sees that sinful part of me so what good is it to appear to be holy on the outside when my heart still desires sin on the inside?



I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. ROMANS 7:24-25 (THE MESSAGE)



Dave was convinced that the path to pleasing God was to “fix” his own sin. And he was also convinced that he needed to fix our children and me. He had high expectations of himself and us. While his heart motive was to please God he always fell short causing him much frustration and shame.



Being the codependent that I am, I tried hard to please Dave (and God) by attempting to live up to Dave’s expectations but I always fell short – causing me much shame. My shame contributed to my low self-esteem and depression.



But thanks be to God, five years ago, Dave discovered a new path with God. He learned afresh the path to trusting God because of His Grace. His life began to change not from the outside in but from the inside out. Little did I know how Dave’s new path would answer my heart’s cry and would begin to change me, too, from the inside out.



Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people
by what they have or how they look.
We looked at the Messiah that way once
and got it all wrong, as you know.
We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore.
Now we look inside and what we see
is that anyone united with the Messiah
gets a fresh start, is created new.
The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!
Look at it! All this comes from God …
2 CORINTHIANS 5:16-18 (THE MESSAGE)



On The Journey With You,
Jan Dravecky