A lot of people struggle with shame. It can be hard to be hopeful regarding one’s relationship with God while feeling full of regret.
However Yeshua said, “Two people went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself with these words, ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like everyone else—crooks, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of everything I receive.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn’t even lift his eyes to look toward heaven. Rather, he struck his chest and said, ‘God, show mercy to me, a sinner.’ I tell you, this person went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. All who lift themselves up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be lifted up.” Luke 18:10-14
We can see that only people that lack hope are the people who don't feel their need of God. One Jewish prophet wrote the words of Yehusa, "For you keep saying, ‘I am rich, I have gotten rich, I don’t need a thing!’ You don’t know that you are the one who is wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked! My advice to you is to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich; and white clothing, so that you may be dressed and not have to be ashamed of your nakedness; and eyesalve to rub on your eyes, so that you may see. " Revelation 3:17-18 Which is interesting because during his time on earth "Yeshua looked at his disciples and said, 'Blessed are those who are poor. The kingdom of God is theirs.'" Luke 6:20
Yeshua was not making a simple reference to material poverty but those who see their spiritual poverty because those are the ones God can give the kingdom to, because they don’t feel satisfied with what they already have. Job states "Yet he knows the way I take; when he has tested me, I will come out like gold." Job 23:10 So gold represents the preciousness of a character that has been refined by God. And regarding the white clothing Yeshua wants us to buy again the Jewish prophet John states, "And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints" Revelation 19:8. So God wants us to be people of value, with precious hearts pure and righteous. But how do we buy this when we are poor in such things?
That is where faith comes in. It is through the Messiah that we can have the white clothing of God's righteousness, for ourselves. It is not our poor state of being that holds us back from the gift of God, but not receiving what God has given us. "Abraham serves as an example. He believed God, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abraham’s approval by God. You must understand that people who have faith are Abraham’s descendants." Galatians 3:6-7 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in that the Messiah died on our behalf while we were still sinners." Romans 5:8. "For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." Hebrews 10:14 Note, we can be viewed as perfect before God as long as we are willing to accept God in our lives. We can have the Messiah’s righteousness during the process of spiritual growth, not just when we are mature in faith. We are not made right with God because we are good enough but because God is. "God made this sinless man be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with him we might fully share in God’s righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
And to grow remember we are not to depend on our own power or efforts "for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." Philippians 2:13 We need to pray for God to help us overcome sin. "My children, I am writing you these things so that you won’t sin. But if anyone does sin, we have Yeshua the Messiah, the Tzaddik, who pleads our cause with the Father." 1 John 2:1 "A righteous person may fall seven times, but he gets up again. However, in a disaster wicked people fall." Proverbs 24:16. It is not about the falls you have made, it is about the general direction of your life. Are you seeking after God? Even if you are holding on to your faith by a thread, keep on holding.
