Innocent and Without Fault

"For our Lord is so good, so gentle, and so courteous, that He may never assign default [in those] in whom He shall ever be blessed and praised."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 53)

God isn't standing over us looking to find fault, critically judging our performance to condemn the first wrong move. He is looking at us with delight and love, with joy and pleasure. How is this? It is because God is not judge but Father, and He is such a good, kind and gentle Father with us, his sweet little babies. God sees us, His little children, innocent and pure. He sees us fair and lovely and fresh as a new Spring morning. He sees us clean and pure and unsullied, like the summer afternoon after a cooling rain. This great God is our Daddy, who holds us in His arms in gentleness, looking on us with the love that a new parent has towards a newborn baby. We are simply His babies, pure and sweet. We are perfect in His eyes, without a single flaw. We couldn't be more lovely or beautiful to Him. He is the Perfect Dad, so gentle and good to us. He is so overwhelmed with love for us, His dearworthy babes, that He could never see a flaw in us, never see a fault or defect anywhere. We can do no wrong in His eyes. We can never be a failure. We look at our lives and see all the ways we have shipwrecked our faith, our relationships, our expectations. We see all the ruin we have made in so many areas. But God sees His perfect innocent children, His little toddlers who "don't know what they are doing." 

There is such an innocence about you. No matter what you have done or where you have ended up, there is a little child still there within, and you will always be that innocent little child of God, held in His arms like a tiny infant that He is always rocking to sleep, always singing a lullaby to, always looking at with awe and wonder, saying, "You are My beautiful baby, My very own, and I love you with all the love I have to give. There is nothing I wouldn't do for you. You mean everything to Me. And I will never stop loving You. You will always be my sweet little child."

"The Holy Spirit makes God's Fatherhood real to us as He whispers into our innermost being, 'You are God's beloved child!'"

Romans 8:16 (TPT)

"Because of His great love, He ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in His eyes with an unstained innocence."

Ephesians 1:4 (TPT)

A Prayer: You are the Perfect Daddy. And I am Your innocent child.

Resting in Love and Joy

"For in the lower part are pains and passions, mercies and forgiveness, and such other that are profitable; but in the higher part are none of these, but all one high love and marvellous joy: in which joy all pains are highly restored."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

Outwardly, we can be struggling, failing, hurting and doubting. We can feel the need to be reminded of and experience the reality of mercy and forgiveness. But in the depths of our inner person, our spirit is always at peace with God, gazing on the face of God in awe at His love, full of the joy of the Father that He has in His own child. No matter how many times we fail or crash and burn on the outside, our inner spirit is held by God in steadiness and trusts in God, loves God, looks upon God. No matter how many times we forget or get confused about God, our inner spirit remembers God, knows God, and is at one with God. No matter how scared or lonely or hurt we feel, no matter what emotional or mental turmoil we experience, deep inside God keeps our spirit at rest, quiet and safe, enjoying God and experiencing His love. God is bringing that inner experience to our outer awareness, and He will do it as often as needed, as often as we get in trouble or forget. He will continually bring us to the stillness of that inner union we have with God. It is always true, even if we don't always see or feel it. It is a permanent union, and that union with God in Christ upholds our whole life, even the parts that forget or struggle. And it is the joy of that union that has already healed every forgetfulness, dissolved every struggle, by grace. So no matter what, we cannot be shaken. We stand before God righteous and perfect, one with Him and pleasing to Him. No matter what, we are upheld in "one high love and marvelous joy" by the power of His indestructible life in us!

I am at rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will never be shaken.

Psalm 62:2 (CSB)

A Prayer: I am at rest in You.

Life in the Spirit

"For the life and the virtue that we have in the lower part is of the higher, and it cometh down to us [from out] of the Natural love of the [high] Self, by [the working of] grace."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

We can see weaknesses and things lacking in our thoughts, words and actions. These are all part of the outer life of the self. But in the deep or high inner part of the self, there is no lack, nothing amiss, no struggle. Our highest part, our spirit, is one with God's Spirit, and is naturally full of His love, goodness and strength. We sometimes feel we need to try somehow to "get" the love and goodness and strength of God to flow into us, but it is already in us, by His very presence united with our spirit. And from that holy and sacred place of stillness and union, all the goodness, love and strength we could ever need are flowing into our whole being and through our whole being. We are to "be" filled with the Spirit, because in the deepest sense, we already are. We are full to the brim of the fullness of God and nothing can keep that fullness from flowing into and through every part of our life. We may be weak outwardly, but He is strong inwardly and we are strong in Him. We may be lacking outwardly, but He is whole inwardly and we are whole in Him. And that wholeness and strength and love of God's Spirit are what carries us through and will carry us through to victory, for that Spirit of life within us has trumped the law of sin and death that has trapped us. Like the law of buoyancy keeps one afloat on the water, Life continually buoys us up and death cannot pull us down. We may falter at times or even feel as if we are drowning in confusion or failure, but the law of the Spirit is always there pulling us up and we pop right back to the surface and breathe the fresh air of life once more. That is the power of the Life in us; it is the power that raised Christ from the dead and it raises us up in life forevermore, and it happens fully and completely by grace, meaning God does it all and nothing is required of us. We are floating in life and nothing can sink us!

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Romans 8:2 (NASB)

A Prayer: Thank You for filling me with Your Spirit!

Sin Doesn't Change our Relationship with God

For it belongeth to man meekly to accuse himself, and it belongeth to the proper Goodness of our Lord God courteously to excuse man....And right thus willeth our Lord that we accuse our self, earnestly and truly seeing and knowing our falling and all the harms that come thereof; seeing and learning that we can never restore it; and therewith that we earnestly and truly see and know His everlasting love that He hath to us, and His plenteous mercy.

Julian of Norwich (ch. 52)

Grace doesn't ignore sin, it simply puts sin in its place as nothing compared to the love and goodness of God. We humans tend to accuse ourselves. We can shame ourselves and hate ourselves for the wrong things we've done. But God always excuses our sin! It is all completely forgiven, forgotten, take away and gone! God isn't seeing the sin that we are seeing. God is only seeing His innocent and perfect child held in the life of Christ. God never wants us to look at any of the wrongs we've ever done in our lives without in the same moment looking at His grace and love that have already overwhelmed and erased those wrongs. It is wonderful how grace lets us know we will never be rejected or punished by God no matter how we fail, for we are not under a law system with judgment and punishment but under a grace system with the free gift of life and righteousness in Christ and the security of knowing that our place in God's family is permanent. 

So because grace lets us know that we don't have to measure up or be perfect, we are accepted as we are, we can be real and honest about the times we fail. We can admit we are not perfect, for we don't have to try to wear a "perfect" mask to cover up our flaws. But even in those moments of being able to be honest about our mistakes, God wants us never to think or speak of them without in the same breath thinking and speaking of His grace and love. When we fall on our face, He wants us to look not at the failure (which was already taken away by Christ) but at His love that holds us and accepts us no matter what. He wants to remind us in those moments especially, that nothing has changed in our relationship with God. No sin can undo the grace that is over our life. 

It is ok and a relief to admit we sometimes fail. It is ok and a relief to realize we don't have to be perfect to be loved. And it is most important to remember that we are safe in the grace of God and never under the pressures or condemnation of law. No matter what we do or don't do, there is no condemnation for us in Christ. There is only love and acceptance! We are not to be down on ourselves or shame ourselves, because God never does. We can simply feel joy that we don't have to "measure up" or "be sinless" to live this life with God. This life with God is all by grace, never by performance.  We are not being judged or scrutinized, condemned or punished. We are only being loved and embraced and delighted in! God delights in us, those who mess up and fail. God sees us as perfect, even when we blow it. God calls us righteous, even if we never change or improve. God is in perfect friendship with us, even at our worst. That is the wonder of grace! It is love that we don't have to earn and that we cannot lose. It is love for those who can be unlovely at times. It's unconditional love, it's what Jesus and the gospel are all about, and it's ours forever!

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1 (NIV)

They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.

Hebrews 8:12 (MSG)

Praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One he loves.

Ephesians 1:6 (NCV)

I am sure of this. Nothing can stop God from loving us.

Romans 8:38 (EASY)

A Prayer: Thank You for always accepting me even in my failures..especially in my failures! I feel safe with You because I know I can't ever sin my way out of Your arms!

Weak but Kept by His Strength

"Acknowledge our feebleness, finding that we may not stand a twinkling of an eye but by Keeping of grace."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

If it weren't for God's grace, we would fall and not be able to stand in righteousness at all. This is not because we are evil, rebellious, always wanting to sin, or naturally sinful. It is because we are feeble, or weak. We are just humans, just "dust." Christ came to save us, the weak and feeble humans who needed rescue from sin and death. Christ called us poor, brokenhearted, captive, blind and weak, not evil or rebellious. He knew that we had been captured by sin and lies and had been blinded to the truth of God's love and His indwelling. We are weak and easily swayed by sin and lies, and we are not powerful enough to live rightly or perfectly. God doesn't expect that of us. We are under grace, not law, which means we are not being judged on our performance, and thus we can make mistakes, we can fail, and we're still with God, still accepted by  God. We are not expected to live a perfect life or measure up, by our strength or trying, to some impossible standard of conduct. We are not the strong ones, God is. We are simply humble, weak earthen vessels, but we hold in our human containers the presence and glory of God Himself. 

God lives in us! By His keeping of grace, Christ within us keeps us in righteousness and life at all times. So even if we fail or fall, we are still right with God, still righteous, because Christ who is in us hasn't changed, Christ is still righteous in us and for us. And He is the One who lives the Christian life in us. This is sensible, since we are not Christ, so how could we live the Christ life? Only Christ can live it, and He will live it in us. We are off the hook to produce anything or do anything. Christ is our keeper, and He will keep us in His life and His life will prevail in and through us. Our failures will not stop this. Our failures will simply remind us that this life is really not about our perfect performance but about His. The focus isn't on us at all but on Him. He has taken over our case. He is the One responsible for being perfect and righteous in us and living this Christ life through us and He cannot fail!

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised..

Luke 4:18 (NIV)

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.

Jude 1:24 (NLT)

A Prayer: I am weak but it doesn't matter because You are strong on my behalf!

Seeing and Feeling Love

"And therefore the creature that seeth and feeleth the working of love by grace, hateth nought but sin."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

Seeing and experiencing the grace of God, the unconditional love and acceptance of God, has a beautiful effect on us. When you find out that God is not judging or condemning you, you find that you don't feel judgmental or condemning towards other people. When you find out you are accepted, just as you are, with all your mistakes, you find yourself less irritated with others and more likely to accept them even if they aren't perfect, either. When you find a love that is permanent, that you can't lose no matter how badly you act, you find yourself extending love and kindness towards others who act rather badly. When you find that there is no measuring stick, no impossible standard you must live up to, that you are allowed to be real and honest and even fail and still be okay in God's eyes, it makes you feel more sympathetic to those who feel burdened by high standards they can't keep. When you find God is loving everyone equally and bringing everyone home, you start to see the all people as one big family of God, rather than dividing people into "us" versus "them." You find yourself loving the whole world, hating only one thing - unlove towards others. 

Law could never have such an effect within us, for Law only brings brings frustration and condemnation. But grace, the unconditional Love that asks for nothing in return and can't be offended, no matter what we do, that Love naturally brings out love in us. Love naturally brings out love because Love is the strongest thing there is, and Love never fails. It always wins out over every negative attitude. With grace, all you want to do is love, because all you are is loved with no possibility of being unloved.

"We love because He first loved us."

1 John 4:19 (NIV)

A Prayer: Your love and acceptance melt my anger and hatred and make me just want to love everybody!

Christ Did All

"And thus in the Servant was shewed the scathe (injury) and blindness of Adam's falling; and in the Servant was shewed the wisdom and goodness of God's Son. And in the Lord was shewed the ruth and pity of Adam's woe, and in the Lord was shewed the high nobility and the endless worship that Mankind is come to by the virtue of the Passion and death of His dearworthy Son. And therefore mightily He joyeth in his falling for the high raising and fulness of bliss that Mankind is come to, overpassing that we should have had if he had not fallen.—And thus to see this overpassing nobleness was mine understanding led into God in the same time that I saw the Servant fall."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

In the Parable of the Lord and the Servant that God showed Julian, we see Adam in the Servant's falling, but then we never see the Servant Adam again. Instead, the focus shifts to Christ as the Servant who succeeds in rescuing Adam, bringing Adam to a place of nobility higher than if Adam had never fallen. So we see that humanity's part in this Story is simply to fall and get hurt. We don't have any part or work after that. Christ has the main role, the only role. Christ does all the work of saving and restoring and blessing and glorifying. We do nothing but fall down and need rescue. This salvation is all up to Christ, not us at all. That means this salvation is secure and perfect. If it were up to us in any way, there could be doubt over whether it was good enough or done well enough. But it is all up to Christ. Therefore, it is perfect, it is complete, it is well done! 

Christ has already saved us, delivered us, raised us up to the heights, brought us to high nobility, and brought us to fullness of bliss. It is finished! And this high nobleness that humanity was raised to by Christ was seen in God from the very moment Adam fell! For He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. When humanity fell, Christ already fell and retrieved Adam and did all that it took to bring Adam back and raise him higher than ever. Salvation has been ours, secure in Christ the dearworthy Son of God, from the foundation of the world. God has left nothing in doubt. We have never really been lost from Him. We have always been in His care. And we always will be!

[Christ] was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

1 Peter 1:20 (KJV)

The Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

1 John 4:14 (GNT)

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to completely finish His work.

John 4:34 (AMP)

A Prayer: It is a relief to know that I don't have to work for my salvation. It is a relief to know that You did all the work to save me and "it is finished!"

Holy Assent

"We assent (agree with, consent) to God....truly setting our will to be with Him, with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our might. And then we hate and despise our evil stirrings and all that might be occasion of sin, spiritual and bodily....by virtue of Christ which is our Keeper, we assent (agree with, consent) never thereto, but we groan there-against..."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

Our God-given inner will is good, but we are not strong enough to live on this earth according to good intentions, to live as we know we ought to, as we truly want to deep down. We often fail to love, often get caught in negative emotions, often struggle with selfishness, often find ourselves judging instead of accepting others. But Christ preserves our holy intent inside us, that goodwill that agrees with and consents to God's way of love, that goodwill that doesn't agree with or consent to sin and hatred. Even if we don't always act right, think right or talk right, deep down we are choosing right every time and choosing against wrong every time. We are choosing to and intent on sticking with God and His way of love. We don't have to worry about that intent ever faltering, because it is the holy intent and goodwill of Christ Himself in us, as our intent, and thus it is never going to lapse or fade away! Christ is living in us, and Christ always chooses God in us, always chooses love in us. And even though we don't have the strength to carry out that inner intent of goodness, Christ has the strength in us and Christ will carry it out in us. So God has made us good deep down and this goodness is Christ Himself in us. You cannot get any more perfect goodness than that!

"I have the will to do good."

Romans 7:18 (PHILLIPS)

A Prayer: It is a relief to know that deep down, I only assent to God's will of love and never to sin.