Captive to Something How?
October 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
“Therefore it says, When He ascended on High, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men” (Ephesians 4:8).
So many of us, at some time in our Christian lives, believe ourselves to be enslaved to something. It is either a returning habit or a new one, but the slavery seems very real. We have said it before but God cannot, as a shepherd, lead someone that is sitting. We must move to be led, and that means that we must move into a truth to discover the reality of the truth. He has taken captive everything that could have held the believer captive. We are free! Growth for Christians does not comprise a series of efforts to make us free but a series of revelations that make known our freedom. We look at our Red Sea and wonder how WE will part it to obey and go forward. In reality, we step into it and discover that HE is the one that parts it, but only so far as needed for us to place one foot at a time in it. That is the life of faith. It is a lie that we are enslaved or captive to anything but Christ. However, the voice of sin, Satan, the world, and flesh are so loud that sometimes we sit in the chair and bemoan a condition that we do not even have. The glory of God is in choice, and there are none freer to make a choice than the believer. I have counseled people in a variety of situations, among which are several prisons, orphanages, alcohol and drug treatment centers, and with couples in troubled marriages. I have given them information and witnessed some miracles, but it was not the information that ever set the people free; it was their choice to act on the information and to walk in the freedom Christ had already given them. The one dispensing information can never take the credit for a changed life; it was simply that the believer chose to walk in a freedom that was given by Him. I am happy that being obsessed with Betty long before she knew it, that upon her discovery of my love, she chose me. I chose her first, but she responded by choosing me. I am happy that she was not forced to marry me but responded to my choice with her choice. God has chosen you, He chose to set you free, and now you will thrill Him by choosing to walk in it. It is a hard pill to swallow, but if you can choose not to go shopping naked, you can certainly as a believer choose not to walk in what you believe to be a behavior to which you are held captive. Admit where you are so you can leave where you are. Admit that you are choosing to stay in your state and let God work with your honesty.
Spiritual Frankenstein!
October 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
Revelation 21:9 “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’”
Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus (1818), is a combination of Gothic horror story and science fiction. The book tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student of natural science who created an artificial man from pieces of corpses and brought his creature to life. Though it initially seeks affection, the monster inspires loathing in everyone who meets it. Lonely and miserable, the monster turns upon its creator, who eventually loses his life. I think that Shelley was on to something as a low, worldly contrast to the picture of a spiritual reality. God at this very moment is putting together the Bride of Christ. It will be a beautiful combination of all the believers from around the world. It will not resemble the hodgepodge Frankenstein but a beautiful Bride that needed every believer to make it the most beautiful bride ever. You are needed! Period! One day I was talking to the Lord and made a request (remember, all of His sheep hear His voice, and one day we discover that our thoughts of Light and Life actually came from Him). “I want to know all there is to know about Jesus in this life. I want to know all that a man can know.” He spoke, and at first I was not happy with His remarks. “In My house there are many treasure chests; none of them are exclusive to one man. There is a chest with your name on it, which you will open, but you will not open all the others. I am too big for one man, and each man will have his own chest. My treasure is too much for one man to describe, so it will take millions to do that. My bride is not made up of one but of many, and it will take all of those that love me to describe Me.” Well, I was discouraged; I wanted everything for myself. Yet, I could see that He is bigger than what I could describe, and we needed every member of the body of Christ to begin to express Him. There are not great men of God, but only weak men and women with a great God. There is something about Jesus that can only be expressed through you. Beautiful! Press on, for the rest of us desperately need to know what you know of Jesus in heaven.
Divorce and Bitterness
October 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
When I talk to a brother or sister contemplating divorce, I immediately explain how he or she is presently feeling. The response most often will be, “How did you know exactly how I was feeling?” Quite simply, I say, I just described the characteristics of a bitter person. The mate’s behavior is not dictating how the person now feels, although he or she believes that it is. Bitterness is the true dictator, a most divisive and destructive force to which many believers have succumbed. “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:15). “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31, 32).
What are some of the common signs of bitterness in a relationship? The bitter person is responsible for them, remember, for it is not the actions of others that cause bitterness, but rather a hard heart and ears attuned to the enemy’s voice, providing the soil bitterness needs to grow. There is a difference between being offended and being bitter. We do not find Jesus, the one Man in all of humanity who was offended the most, ever bitter. Blame must rest squarely on the shoulders of the person who is bitter.
Bitterness is an attitude that grows until its roots are entangled throughout the person’s mind, will, and emotions. Any attempt to remove this poisonous plant will be met with resistance through desire, intellectual arguments, and the feeling of hopelessness. Bitterness can even be considered an addiction. There is a soothing inner calm for those who have become accustomed to it, for though everything outside of them seems out of control, they can at least control their bitterness and make others pay for the perceived wrongs they have done. The majority of believers under emotional stress will either have an outer or inner explosion (which normally converts into depression), and with the passing of time all is forgotten. However, the bitter do neither of these; their explosions do not pass. They accept a lifestyle, a path that allows them the luxury of avoiding personal responsibility for the remainder of life. A child grows embittered toward the parent, and the more the child fails in life, the more anger he exhibits toward the parent. This is living in a distorted reality, a neurosis. When events begin to pressure the bitter people into accepting blame, they immediately recall all of the wrongs that have been done to them, once again avoiding responsibility. An interesting thing about Christians is that they often maintain their bitterness under the guise of being extremely spiritual, “so spiritual” that God has called them to suffer and be cut off from others, and yet the proof of carnality is that everyone who has disappointed them is covertly punished for the perceived failure.
Bitterness becomes a compulsion, the opposite of which would be the passive blame-taker, whose first response whenever life circumstances get the best of him is to roll over, play dead, and accept all responsibility. Each morning there is the comfort of the known that will take him through the day with the assumption that whatever happens, he is to blame. There is no fear of change. Similarly, but conversely, the bitter can be assured that no matter what, a problem is someone else’s fault.
Yes, bitterness is an addiction that can be likened to smoking cigarettes. When someone starts that habit, he can smoke when he desires: after dinner, at a party, or during leisure times. However, soon enough something very interesting happens. Instead of exercising free will, the smoker heeds the domineering command of a cigarette and goes whenever it calls. At this point, there is addiction. A glorious creature created to listen to the Father above listens instead to a cigarette below. The creature is a slave to a new master. When the misery of this revelation sets in, the smoker begins to make a series of vows and smokes hundreds or even thousands of what become known as “the last cigarette.” Soon there develops frustration, anger, and even depression.
At first bitterness is used as an excuse, but with the passing of time, bitterness uses its holder. The fact most evident, yet rarely discerned by the bitter, is that whoever they are bitter toward has become their god. While in the wilderness, Jesus heard Satan make the request to “fall down and worship me.” The word “worship” means to give attention. Jesus said no! Only God, the Father, would have His attention. Most of us have been hurt by others, but is making those others our gods by continuing to give them our attention not a greater tragedy? Do we want to worship those who offend, abuse, use, and neglect us?
Jesus gives commands not in order to make us more acceptable to God but to make us happy. Forgiving makes any person happy! When we forgive, we rule! When we do not forgive and become bitter, others rule us! The command to love is not for the good of others, but for our own good. What a deception the enemy imparts, that to obey will hinder our happiness. A paramedic once made the observation that he had never had an emergency call from a Bible study, yet he had received many calls from bars and parties. Does the disregard of the commands make us happy?
Bitterness is oppression. The embittered person is oppressed by the enemy, who has invested many hours of whispering about the supposed misery caused by others. The most predominant trait of the bitter is that he considers himself a victim, having had to suffer and go it alone without help, support, or respect. He is isolated, forced to a place of self-sufficiency. No one even cares, and he is angry.
This attitude of bitterness can begin with a dislike, or even hatred, of one’s mate, but soon turns into hatred of the opposite sex. Women are complainers, impossible to please, picky, manipulators, non-submissive, rebellious, and dominant; they only care about seeing a paycheck, they lack respect, and a man never knows what he is coming home to. To a bitter wife, men are proud, insensitive, arrogant, passive know-it-alls who only care about themselves, sex, and having their egos continually stroked; they are slow to fulfill their responsibilities and cannot do things right. Soon, both decide that they can live without sex, communication, approval, or support from their mates. I have personally discipled couples that mutually decided through bitterness to withdraw sexually from one another for periods of more than twenty-seven years, and some were pastors, at that! These attitudes will often be communicated to the children of the couple through various overt or covert messages, resulting in many today being fearful of the opposite sex.
The addiction of bitterness takes surprisingly little time to become a person’s comfort zone. It is actually easy to withdraw and put the mate under the magnifying glass, waiting for the next word or action that will confirm the negative assessment of the relationship and the hopeless state of the mate. I have been amazed how frustrated a bitter believer becomes at the suggestion that his mate may not be as bad as he believes; he hates to hear such a thing! And as I draw attention to the bitter one’s inability to love in spite of offenses, the conversation is immediately turned away from his failure back to the inexcusable behavior of the other. I can only ascertain that this type of person has every intention of remaining bitter.
Finding the way out of bitterness requires the revelation that the person toward whom we are bitter has become, through inappropriate attention, our god. Where there was one problem–the other person’s despised behavior–now there are two, for self-hatred also arises when worshipping someone that caused offense. The third problem occurs when the actions of the one toward whom we are bitter begin to control our actions and even our personality, making us a distortion, no longer ourselves. The behavior of the one that “made us bitter” is blamed for all behavior. “If only you knew what had happened to me, you would be acting even worse than I am right now.” “Of course I am not sleeping with you; do you not understand my pain?” “Of course I am in a bad mood; under similar circumstances you would be in a bad mood, too.” The person that caused the bitterness is in control of every aspect of the “sufferer’s” family and relationships. However, Jesus tells us to love an enemy and pray for those that persecute; by so doing, the enemy will remain the same, but we will walk away free.
I was told of a man who, upon hearing of the hurricane in New Orleans, immediately got in his truck to bring a family to his state and help them get started in a new life. He had trouble finding a black family that wanted to live with a strange white man from the north, let alone in his basement (they do not have basements in New Orleans). At last a pastor persuaded an old woman, her daughter, and granddaughter to go with the man. They arrived to discover the white man lived in a mansion, and the basement had been completely redone for them; it was a walkout basement with a beautiful view. The family had never been in such surroundings. Six weeks later, the white man found the old woman in the kitchen weeping. He approached her, put his arm around her, and said, “I am sorry! Are you homesick? I know it had to be hard to leave everyone you knew! Is there something here that you want changed that is making you uncomfortable or unhappy?” The old woman looked up with tears flowing and said, “None of those things are bothering me. See, I was raised to hate white people, and all my life I have done a good job of it. Yet your kindness has proven me wrong, and I am so sad that I would have acted and talked that way.” His love had broken the stronghold that bitterness had on her. Now her family is settled on the east coast, and the two families take turns annually hosting one another for Thanksgiving dinner!
I must repeat myself over and over again: Anything that can be done without Christ cannot be Christian. We cannot love an enemy but must ask Him to love the enemy; we receive the victory that He gives by simply walking across the room and loving. Often I will be in a place where someone has developed hatred toward me. Inviting Jesus along, I go over and start talking to the person, asking his opinions, what work he does, what about his children, his take on the government, and more. At first his head appears to be spinning with a real look of confusion, for on the one hand, it was settled in his mind and emotions that I was some kind of deceiving monster. On the other hand, I cannot be completely hopeless, because we have found common ground. This is Christian life; the first person to lose is the first person to win. Take up your freedom and walk away from bitterness.
The Curse of Self-centeredness!
October 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
Matthew 23:25, 26, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”
Who among us has not experienced self-centeredness? By the very nature of man, we were created to be other-centered, but we are self-centered. As we look at the creation of the world and God’s desire for man as a bride for His son, we see selflessness. We are made in His image, and nothing but selflessness will suit us. I remember a frightening experience in Malaysia when I went for a walk and a pray, and the “pray” was to play much more into the day than the walk itself. I went close to the shipyards and stumbled across over thirty dogs that encircled with the intent to attack me. As I slowly backed out of the place and surrounded myself with people, the dogs retreated. The point is that though there is nothing positive in the Bible said about dogs or men, most people love a dog, but it is only a blessing when it gives itself to something greater. Dogs are made to give themselves to man and thus become a blessing. Man is made to give himself to God and in that way be a blessing. Man simply is not made to be self-centered, which causes him to shrink and become animal-like; he is meant to be God-centered. Often I have challenged the oppressed to go find someone in great need and help him. The results have been consistent: The helper grows happy! The world says that there is a way, and Jesus says that He is the Way, a Way of giving, of sacrifice, of loving. Those who follow Him on the Way can become so happy as to feel that they might explode. There is no happiness in building for one’s self. We need to realize that we will die, and so for what will we live? Our life can be given to something greater than ourselves, to our loving Father and His people, not exalting self-centeredness, but preferring to despise it.
Male Validation
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
I Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”
Peter’s statement that “a woman will be saved in childbirth” is confusing until the word saved is properly defined. The term saved, as used in the Bible, refers a majority of the time to deliverance in the present. Nothing hinders daily victory and joy as much as selfishness. Experiencing childbirth, a woman’s self-life is given a severe blow as she devotes her own wellbeing to the good of another, her newborn child. This very loss of self-centeredness allows her to be more susceptible to daily victory in Christ.
Peter’s statement is not meant to be a dig to women who have not borne children any more so than to men, who also have never borne children. He is pointing to a greater truth, and that truth is that selfishness needs a deathblow in order for mankind to find life. Childbirth seems to validate a woman’s existence (not all women, but many) in the sense that once a woman is a mother, the course of her life is believed to be set, and she therefore has validation and purpose. Men do not have such an experience, and I find that many are looking for purpose and validation. However, we seek for the things that can only be found in Him.
I have collected several suicide notes from men over the years (more men successfully commit suicide than women). The notes are predictable and often carry the same theme: “I am sorry that I did not amount to more”; “I should have done more with my life”; “I am a disappointment.” In short, they never found validation–or, rather, a fulfilled purpose–in living. Within the context of discipleship I often play a suicide game. I pretend that I am the person sitting before me wanting to commit suicide, and the person must take the name of Suicide. I say, “Suicide, why do you want to kill me?” The answer comes in various forms, but always with the same general thrust: “Because you are worthless, you have not accomplished anything with your life, and you have not lived up to your potential.” I then respond, “Exactly what is my potential? How will I know if I have accomplished enough or lived well enough to fulfill my potential? Will it be when I have made a medical discovery, become popular, obtained my own television show, gained the praise of my family, or memorized the whole Bible? The problem is that I know of men who fall into the previous categories of accomplishment that have all committed suicide, therefore proving that your definition of validation is faulty.”
Something very depressing to many is that they have “made it” in the world’s sense and wake up in the morning being their same old selves. Validation from yourself, the world, or others is like taking a dry dishrag and wringing it for a full, thirst-satisfying, glass of water. When man cannot find validation, he will live to the world, others, and self in an attempt to justify his existence on the earth. I have not mentioned the things that we do that actually, in our minds, do the opposite of validating us. There are the outbursts, the deeds of the flesh, the old habits that return, the failed marriages, and more. Men more than women need to stop looking for validation in any place other than the Lord. Naked you entered the world and naked you will leave. Frank Sinatra died and Las Vegas dimmed its lights for a short time. Wow! What a tribute. They then turned them back on full blaze and went on gambling.
If the Lord validates you, you no longer must live to the world, yourself, or others. You will be free, free indeed. He validates every man with a simple statement, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” That is enough. With that statement echoing in my heart, I am as happy sitting on a tractor turning up the grubs and watching the seagulls eat them as I am preaching before five thousand. I am as expectant in defeat as in victory. I am not watching myself obsessively, nor does the affirmation or rejection of the world or others change my day.
Got a Word?
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
“Peace, peace, where else could I go for peace but Jesus?”
Sadu Sundar Singh had one word that kept him at the feet of Jesus, something that every Hindu seeks, in vain, to find. It is the Hindu word for peace. In Jesus he had found peace. When questioned about his faith by the Hindus, he would often say, “Peace, peace, where else could I go for peace but Jesus?” The old man in Eastern Nepal, the one God worked through to bring Christ to that remote area, had a different word. His word was revelation. Jesus had brought him revelation, and nowhere else could he go to find revelation. Revelation (knowledge of the heart instead of the head) was something that could only be found in Christ. Upon being beaten and left for dead for preaching, he would not surrender his preaching and acknowledge any but Jesus. His reason: “Where would I go for revelation?” I was traveling with one of my Indian teachers, told him of the two men, and asked what word did he have. Without hesitation he spoke, “Because! Because He went down, I have gone up. Because He died, I live. Because He experienced hell, I will experience heaven. Simply because. The word because is keeping me near.” So what is your word? What is the word that keeps you at His feet? My word is “welcome.” I remember being in His presence, and there was so much going through my mind for which I was thankful, for which I had been forgiven, and all that He had done through me. Before I could say a word, He spoke to me, “Welcome.” I didn’t have to say a word; I was welcome! Everything was okay! Then He said it a second time, “Welcome,” but the meaning was different. He was welcoming me into His presence, into participation with His Son, and into the revelation of His Son. Again, I was “welcome!” It is a little word but it means so much to me. He is happy to say, “Welcome,” to me. “Welcome” keeps me at His feet. When I asked Betty, she had one word, “here.” He is always “here,” wherever, and will never leave nor forsake us. Because He is “here” we have everything. Well, there are many words that believers have sent me. What is your word?
We are all doing better than Jesus!
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God.”
Is. 53:3
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4Surely our £griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5But He was £pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
I suppose that after all the years of traveling in what is referred to as the Third World, and having observed and participated in the affliction–and, let me add, attempted to relieve some of that affliction–I have come to two conclusions. First, none of us, by ourselves, have all the resources needed to cure all the world’s ills or to bring equality of ownership. Second, God is using poverty and suffering in the world to drive men to Himself. Third, we all, even the poorest, are doing better than Jesus ever did. Hundreds of stories about what people need have been told to me, often during time alone with people who have used pretense to gain time with me only to ask for money. However, I can see they still have more earthly possessions than did Jesus. He has not let them starve to this point, and, more importantly, they have not yet learned to live out of their own faith; they trust in man’s provision more than God’s. A person can get by on very little and be happy with that. Sometimes I think that we cheat people by giving too much. “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God.” You are doing better than Jesus.
You Are Dying For The Sins of Others!
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
None of us have flesh that wants to die for the sins of others.
II Cor. 4: 7-12, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12So death works in us, but life in you.
Col. 1:24, Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
What an odd thing for Paul to say, “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions,” and yet every believer should be able to say this very thing. In the fullness of time, Jesus came and died for all sins past, present, and those in the future. We are now in Jesus, and Jesus is in us. Therefore, we share in Him in every way. His salvation is ours, His victory is ours, and the fellowship that He has with the Father is ours. But so is His suffering for sin. There are many days in which a believer will die for the sins of others. We experience the death that has come from the sins of those who have long ago passed away from the presence of the earth. I can’t walk about Africa or India without seeing and experiencing the sins of those who hundreds of years ago oppressed the people. We wear those sins. In the present, we suffer because of the sins of those in our society. The disgruntled teen shoots a gun in your window. And one day we will see the sins of the future. In a simple practical illustration, an automobile driver cuts in front of you and is cursing you. Your response is to bless those who curse you, so you just wore the other’s sin. Someone in your family offends you, it is unmerited, and you take it, die, bury it, and say nothing. You have suffered for that one’s sin. The rebellious child sneaks out and in pride is quite happy, and yet the parent hurts and wears the sin. We don’t want to die for the sins of others. We don’t want our flesh to share with His and come under the cross. We want to rebel against the injustice. But we must, and we must learn to do it in Him joyfully. Until His return, as long is He is on this earth in the form of His body, the Church, the eternal now will bear in His body afflictions. We are that body and must bear these afflictions. I remember the man in Africa and the story of his vision. He was in heaven, invited to eat at Jesus’ table, where there was food that wasn’t exactly food. There was a bowl of Christ’s righteousness, a plate of Christ’s love, or a bowl of Christ’s holiness. He sat down, intending to eat, but instead looked at Jesus and immediately began to curse Him. He thought to himself, I must have a demon! However, Jesus knew what was in his mind, looked at him, and said, “You don’t have a demon, it is your flesh not wanting to come under my control. Sit and eat; it will be quieted!” None of us have flesh that wants to die for the sins of others. However, it must if we are to rejoice. When we are offended unjustly, we must bear that sin, that affliction, and that suffering. It is all part of being in Him.
Hating Your Sin is a Revelation!
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
Romans 13:14, But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
If you hate your job, it is because you have emotionally quit it. It appears obvious that once you hate something, it will soon follow that you want nothing to do with it. Let’s apply this simple principle in a different way. If you hate your sin, it is because you’ve emotionally divorced yourself from it and want nothing to do with it. The next step is to acknowledge the fact of it and embrace your freedom. Many people would rather do what they want to do and beat themselves up in self-hatred later than do what the Lord is asking them to do and be happy. Why? Why do they spend a lifetime doing this?
Have You Felt Separated From God?
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
He will never leave nor forsake me, and He understands everything about me.
Is. 59:2, But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
I hate the fact of separation. I invite in sin, so the glue (Jesus) that is holding me together begins to retreat from my mind, my will, and my emotions. I sense that I am losing something. I am out of sync. It is terrible. He doesn’t leave me but only retreats to give me what I thought I wanted: freedom from His will. The break between mind, will, and emotions and Him is really a state of neurosis. My life that is bound up in His attempted to break away. It is sickening, but it does work for Him, because eventually I can’t stand my will and cry out, “Thy will, not my will,” and invite the sin out. I invited it in; I can invite it out. Next He returns and I am complete once again. Well, all of that is of my own doing. Jesus has experienced the very same thing, but by our doing, not His own. The sins of the whole world were cast on Him to the degree that it drove His life out of Him. I am so happy that He has identified with me, that He knows this sick feeling that comes from separation, that He works and moves me back to Him, and that He always floods back through my whole being the moment I repent. He knows the joy of reconnecting with the Father, and He wants for me the same joy. He will never leave nor forsake me, and He understands everything about me. Though Jesus’ experience of being separated from God did not come by way of sin, it did come through the cross, and therefore He knows the feeling of separation. He has entered into our humanity completely.
