Who Will You Believe?

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3, NIV) How long is everlasting? Your answer to that question could be an important exercise, so contemplate your response for a few moments. Come up with some synonyms. Then think a few more moments of the implications of those words. God promises to love you with an everlasting love. He promises to draw you to Himself with unfailing kindness. Let me repeat that for emphasis: God *PROMISES* to love you and to draw you to Himself with an everlasting love and with unfailing kindness. How often in your life have you failed God? And how often in the recent past have you failed Him? Listen, Satan wants you to define yourself by your failures. But God says your failures DO NOT have to define you. Instead, He wants your failures to open your eyes to how much you need His everlasting love and His unfailing kindness. “Yes, but . . . .” The devil will quickly counter God’s promise: “How many times do you think God’s going to forgive you of the same sin? And God’s answer? He will forgive you as often as you truly repent and humbly approach His throne (for example, see Matthew 18:21-22; 1 John 1:9). Satan wants you to define yourself by your failures. But God says your failures DO NOT have to define you -- if you allow your failures to lead you to repentance and a new direction. Who will you believe?