"Return
to Jehovah your God .... Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah. Say
to Him, 'Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously.'"
(And God responded)
"I will heal their backslidings; I will love them freely; for My anger
has turned away from him."
- Hosea 14-1-4
When I was a young Christian I had two
false impressions about "backsliding." The first one was the idea
that "backsliders" where those who had wandered of into horrid
sinfulness and where indifferent to God. Twenty nine years later I
understand that backsliding really means that a person is just not as
close to God as they once were; they "went backwards" in their
relationship, closeness, devotions and commitment. I also
discovered that many backsliders don't want to be, but don't know how to
get back. The second false idea I had was that every backslider chose to
do so of their own free will. Today I understand that there are a
number of reason why people are not as close to God as they once were,
and SOME of those reason are not really the fault of the person who is
backslidden. The other lesson I learned is that if I don't
continue to "frontslide" I will eventually backslide. Every living
thing grows or withers. Nothing alive stays the same for very
long. This is so true of our Christian lives. We must get
regular spiritual nourishment or we will start to die.
Your
eternal soul is the most precious thing you have. If you need help
contact us
and someone from our ministry will be glad to answer your questions and
talk with you about what is going on in your life.
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Short articles to help you connect
with God again . . .
Click a title to
read online or print
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Things to Know
and Steps to Take Towards Restoration
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The first step in restoration is
admitting you're backslidden and verbally expressing a desire to
come back to, and even go beyond, the place were you once were
in the Lord.
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Accept the truth that God loves
you and that His love is NOT based on your performance, but
rather the eternal value He placed in you by virtue of His
creation. It doesn't matter what you've done - you are valuable
to God and He is willing to work in your life.
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Believe that God is willing to
restore you. He has already said, "I will heal your
backslidings." Put more faith in His word, than your sin.
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Backsliding requires at least some
spiritual healing. This means that, while you have your
responsibilities, there is a part God must play. The stuff in
your life that contributed to the backsliding needs to be
addressed and dealt with. let Him do it.
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Your are correct in saying, "I
don't deserve forgiveness." No one ever will.
Forgives is a free gift to be received or it is nothing.
Get over it!
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God requires "words" (see the lead
scripture at the top of the page). Do not promise to "make
up for your sinfulness or willful wanderings. Forgiveness
is not about "paying for it." Jesus has already paid your
debt. God wants words of repentance, words of faith, words
of praise for His worthiness and words of thanksgiving for His
faithfulness and mercy.
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Forgiveness is a spiritual issue
based on faith, not an emotional issue based on feelings. If you
are looking to FEEL forgiven before you believe it probably
won't work, because true faith accepts God's word, it is not the
result of feelings.
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"My little
children, I write these things to you so that you may not
sin. And if anyone sins, we have an
Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
1 John 2:1
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Copyright 2009 Steve Highlander and
C3M Ministries, Inc. Permission granted to print and for personal use
only as long as the content remains unchanged and the copyright and
contact information remain on the copies. For reprint rights please
contact the author at www.c3mministries.com.
