While I might not appreciate some of the profane language Tom uses in a lot of his songs, I have appreciated his honest view of life and his courage to stand against the onslaught of cancel culture. Many times, standing for values that Christians should be standing for but are not.
His latest song sounds like a cry for help, and from the personal, real, raw responses in the comments appears to have struck a chord with many listeners. While it is seeking answers, I heard the heart of the Father crying out that He is listening. That He is hearing the prayers of those bound by addiction and the darkness of depression.
One of the comments posted the verse “Without Faith it is impossible to please God.” One day, I felt the Holy Spirit rephrase the verse just a bit that really spoke to my spirit and provided me with hope. Please be encouraged as you consider the below. God is for you! You are worth it!
“Without Faith it is impossible to ever see yourself as pleasing to God.”
“Without Faith, we will never be able to see ourselves as pleasing to God. It is impossible.”
What if God is pleased, but without Faith we never enter into the peace and joy of His pleasure? Does He see the demons we see? Does He hold our past against us or do we allow our past to give Him a reason to not hear our prayers?
If by faith we can come boldly before the throne of grace, why wouldn’t we come? Maybe because our own perception of who we are discredits our coming and deems us unworthy? We come with no confidence because we’ve got a thousand reasons why He shouldn’t answer our prayers. Because we know what we did. We know who we are.
It takes Faith to believe that because of what He did, He calls us sons and daughters. Not based upon our own works. Based solely upon the “Finished Work.” He said you’re worth it. That’s why He gave His son. Not because you were a sinner, but because He knew you were created to be a son. You can only enter into that place through faith.
Without Faith, you will never be good enough.
Without Faith, you’ll never have paid enough penance.
Without Faith, you’ll always see yourself as less than.
Without Faith, you will never be worthy.
Without Faith, you’re questions will always go unanswered.
Without Faith, He will never hear your prayer.
Because you will always cut yourself off. You will always give Him an out as to why He wouldn’t or shouldn’t hear. If we were Him, we wouldn’t help ourselves after the choices we’ve made.
But that’s not the Good News.
The Good News is – FAITH.
By Faith I can enter in.
By Faith I can be called His son.
By Faith I can be clean and whole.
By Faith I can be restored.
And the awesome news is that it is totally dependent upon His work – not mine. I can’t earn it. I can only receive it by FAITH.
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