Yesterday, on Father's Day, I remembered my daddy - who, in my opinion, was the best daddy ever! In June of 2000, the Sunday before Father's Day that year, he died of cancer. I miss him terribly. I wrote this shortly after his death.
Our family recently endured the greatest loss of our lives when my precious Daddy died. We have truly learned that God's grace is sufficient for our times of trial and the life of Christ in us has indeed been our strength. But as a result of something that happened in the midst of that great trial, God has taught me a beautiful lesson about more than just my deep love for my Daddy. He has also taught me about my deep love for Him.
On the morning after Daddy's death, we faced the horrible task of choosing his clothes to take to the funeral home. My mother selected his suit, shirt, and tie and draped them across the edge of the bed. Realizing that this task was almost more than she could bear, I offered my help. She left the room and told me to get his black shoes out of his closet and place them with the clothes.
When I looked down to the floor of his closet where he kept his shoes, my eyes fell upon an old wooden box that held his shoe shining equipment and waxes. On the top of the box was an inclined shelf where he had propped his foot for years in order to shine his shoes. As soon as I saw the box, my mind was flooded with pleasant memories of the Sunday mornings of my childhood. I remembered that my Daddy never put on a suit without shining his shoes first. One of the greatest highlights of my life as a child was when he would allow me to shine his shoes for him. I remembered feeling so needed and so "grown up" when Daddy would let me shine his shoes.
That memory was a blessing on such a sad morning and I quickly thanked God for it. I pulled his black shoes off the rack and placed them next to his suit and in so doing I noticed that they were scuffed and dull. I realized how very sick my daddy must have been to let his shoes get in that condition. I immediately knew what I had to do. I had to shine my daddy's shoes for him again. No one would see them so their condition really didn't matter, but I knew that my daddy would not want to wear a suit without his shoes shined perfectly. So with great love in my broken heart, I removed the wooden shoe shine box from the closet and began to shine his shoes. As I did, my teardrops fell on the top of the shoe and mixed with the dark polish as I rubbed. I literally shined his shoes with my tears.
At that moment, God reminded me of an account in Luke 7:36-38 of a woman who performed a similar task of love for Jesus. He came into a Pharisee's home and reclined at his table. A woman who was well known for her sinful lifestyle saw his dirty feet that were probably cracked and ragged from his journey and she reacted as I did when I saw my Daddy's scuffed shoes. She immediately knew what she had to do. She fell to her knees, weeping because of her great love for Him, and her tears fell onto his feet. She washed his feet with her tears, wiped them with her own hair, and poured expensive perfume on them. A few verses later the Bible records how Jesus explained to the skeptics who questioned her motives that she had acted in such a way because she loved Him and appreciated Him so much. She hadn't done this humble act of service to receive anything back from it. It was simply because she loved Him and she was so grateful for what He had done in her life.
I just thought that God had given me a wonderful experience that allowed me the great privilege of honoring my Daddy until a couple of weeks later. My husband and I attended a Bible study in which the leader taught about our service to God. He explained that maintaining our acceptance in Christ was no more based on our works than our salvation was in the first place. We could never do enough to earn, to deserve, or to maintain our salvation and our position of holiness before Him. It is all based on our receiving what Jesus Christ did for us. We both knew those facts already, but a question arose. If God's grace maintains our salvation and our perfection in Christ, whether we do acts of service in obedience to Him or not, then how do we as teachers and preachers motivate Christians to serve? The Bible study leader answered our question correctly. Christians should be motivated to serve God out of their great love for Him alone. Their acts of service should simply be the overflow of their relationship with Jesus and their love for Him that grows stronger and stronger as they get to know Him better. No other reason for service is needed.
As I pondered those thoughts over the next few days, I questioned God about my motives for serving Him. Were they pure? Were they totally based on my love for Him? How could I know the difference in the times when I was serving Him out of love and when I was serving Him out of a supposed obligation to serve or to get something in return from Him?
God answered me quickly by reminding me of the morning I shined my Daddy's shoes for his funeral. No one asked me to do that. In fact, I didn't know at the time that God would lead me to share this story, so as far as I knew that day, no one would ever even know that I had done it. I wouldn't get any glory or any credit for it. Yet, I wanted to do it with all of my heart. God showed me that when I serve Him with the same attitude as that with which I shined my Daddy's shoes, I was serving Him with the right motivation. I was serving Him only because of my love for Him. That is the only reason I need for serving God and the only motive for service that meets His approval.
God taught me one more lesson through this experience. I remembered that when I was a child, Daddy would sometimes ask me to shine His shoes. There were days that I asked him to let me shine them and those were wonderful, but the days that he asked me to shine them were awesome. I felt that he trusted me and that he thought I was capable of doing an important task. It brought me incredible joy as a child. Looking back now, I realize that he didn't "need" for me to shine his shoes. In fact, he probably shined them all over again after I finished and left the room. But he asked me to shine them for two reasons. He knew what joy it gave me and he wanted to be able to reward me for doing it. He was as motivated by his love for me as I was by my love for him.
God taught me by that remembrance that it is the same way with Him. He doesn't "need" for me to do anything for Him. He is God Almighty, the Creator of everything. He could just whisper and it would be done. But He gives me the privilege of serving Him for the same reasons that my daddy had in letting me serve him. He allows me to be involved in His kingdom's work because of His great love for me. He knows what joy it will bring me and He wants to reward me for doing it! He is as motivated by His love for me as I am by my love for Him. What a wonderful, loving God we serve!
Happy Father's Day!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
This is it....
Ok, after this I'm done with blogging about God's forgiveness. At least for now.
Another question that many believers have after hearing me teach the truth about God’s forgiveness is “What about heaven? Won’t I be held accountable for all my bad deeds there?”
You may even say, “What about the verses in I Corinthians that speak of the judgment seat of Christ and say that we’ll be held accountable for all our deeds on earth, both good and bad?”
Remember that you have to interpret the Bible as a whole and this verse, interpreted as many believers interpret it (that we will be held accountable and judged for our sins in heaven), contradicts the basics of grace.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. II Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV)
So what can that verse mean?
It’s important to understand that the judgment to which this verse is referring is not for the purpose of getting “into” heaven. It’s for giving out rewards. Do you realize that there are some things that you do that are not sin, yet they are also not something for which you will be rewarded? For instance, you may think that since you are teaching Sunday School, or giving, or doing some other “good” deed you will be automatically rewarded for it in heaven. But what was your motive? Was it for recognition or to get something out of it?
Teaching Sunday School is not a “bad” deed, but if it is done with the wrong motive, then you’ve received your reward here on earth. There will be no more reward in heaven. Such activity is what this passage refers to as wood, hay, and stubble and will not survive the test of fire.
The Greek word used and translated “bad” in this verse is “phaulos” and it refers to that which is “good for nothing.” It describes an activity from which no profit or gain is derived. This word stresses the lack of value that the deed contributes. Basically, the verse is talking about worthless service. It is not the same as the Greek word “poneros” which means malicious, describing what is evil or “bad”. If God had wanted us to believe that we would be held accountable for our sins, He would have used words that would clearly and without question convey that understanding.
The passages in I Corinthians that address the heavenly judgments are speaking of your deeds, both good and those that are “good for nothing” – they are worthless because they were not done under the leadership of God, you did it in your own strength, or you did it with the wrong motive. But these verses do not provide any basis for believing that we will be held accountable for our sins when we get to heaven.
I know these last few blogs have contained a lot of information, but I just believe that understanding God's forgiveness is so crucial to living in the freedom and abundance of life in Christ!
Here's why:
As long as Satan can keep us deceived about this one matter, our attention will stay focused on ourselves and what we can do to make up for the sins we commit. We will be consumed with doing whatever we can do to keep God from punishing us for them. The last thing Satan wants you to focus on is the truth that your sins have been REMOVED and WHO removed them, because if you do, a chain reaction will start. You will focus on Christ, realize that He has filled you with His Spirit, depend on Him to live His life through you and produce the right behavior you could never do on your own, and God will be glorified through you.
I once heard that a pastor responded to similar teaching about God's forgiveness by saying, "But if I told my congregation that their sins were already forgiven, they'd go out and sin all the time." Not only did he not trust his congregation, he didn't trust what God could do in their lives. My thinking is this: If someone truly becomes convinced of God's forever, far-reaching, final, full, and fail-proof forgiveness, the last thing they are going to want to do is take advantage of it by willfully sinning! They will want to respond with a new desire to live by the power of the Holy Spirit to avoid sinning against the God who provided so great a salvation!
Choose to believe it right now. You have been forgiven for your sins – past, present, and future. Here's the point. You don’t have to dwell on sin. Dwell on Jesus who bought your forever forgiveness.!
Another question that many believers have after hearing me teach the truth about God’s forgiveness is “What about heaven? Won’t I be held accountable for all my bad deeds there?”
You may even say, “What about the verses in I Corinthians that speak of the judgment seat of Christ and say that we’ll be held accountable for all our deeds on earth, both good and bad?”
Remember that you have to interpret the Bible as a whole and this verse, interpreted as many believers interpret it (that we will be held accountable and judged for our sins in heaven), contradicts the basics of grace.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. II Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV)
So what can that verse mean?
It’s important to understand that the judgment to which this verse is referring is not for the purpose of getting “into” heaven. It’s for giving out rewards. Do you realize that there are some things that you do that are not sin, yet they are also not something for which you will be rewarded? For instance, you may think that since you are teaching Sunday School, or giving, or doing some other “good” deed you will be automatically rewarded for it in heaven. But what was your motive? Was it for recognition or to get something out of it?
Teaching Sunday School is not a “bad” deed, but if it is done with the wrong motive, then you’ve received your reward here on earth. There will be no more reward in heaven. Such activity is what this passage refers to as wood, hay, and stubble and will not survive the test of fire.
The Greek word used and translated “bad” in this verse is “phaulos” and it refers to that which is “good for nothing.” It describes an activity from which no profit or gain is derived. This word stresses the lack of value that the deed contributes. Basically, the verse is talking about worthless service. It is not the same as the Greek word “poneros” which means malicious, describing what is evil or “bad”. If God had wanted us to believe that we would be held accountable for our sins, He would have used words that would clearly and without question convey that understanding.
The passages in I Corinthians that address the heavenly judgments are speaking of your deeds, both good and those that are “good for nothing” – they are worthless because they were not done under the leadership of God, you did it in your own strength, or you did it with the wrong motive. But these verses do not provide any basis for believing that we will be held accountable for our sins when we get to heaven.
I know these last few blogs have contained a lot of information, but I just believe that understanding God's forgiveness is so crucial to living in the freedom and abundance of life in Christ!
Here's why:
As long as Satan can keep us deceived about this one matter, our attention will stay focused on ourselves and what we can do to make up for the sins we commit. We will be consumed with doing whatever we can do to keep God from punishing us for them. The last thing Satan wants you to focus on is the truth that your sins have been REMOVED and WHO removed them, because if you do, a chain reaction will start. You will focus on Christ, realize that He has filled you with His Spirit, depend on Him to live His life through you and produce the right behavior you could never do on your own, and God will be glorified through you.
I once heard that a pastor responded to similar teaching about God's forgiveness by saying, "But if I told my congregation that their sins were already forgiven, they'd go out and sin all the time." Not only did he not trust his congregation, he didn't trust what God could do in their lives. My thinking is this: If someone truly becomes convinced of God's forever, far-reaching, final, full, and fail-proof forgiveness, the last thing they are going to want to do is take advantage of it by willfully sinning! They will want to respond with a new desire to live by the power of the Holy Spirit to avoid sinning against the God who provided so great a salvation!
Choose to believe it right now. You have been forgiven for your sins – past, present, and future. Here's the point. You don’t have to dwell on sin. Dwell on Jesus who bought your forever forgiveness.!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Fail-proof forgiveness....
God’s forgiveness is far-reaching. God’s forgiveness is final. But maybe it’s even more important to victorious living to understand that God’s forgiveness is fail-proof.
God’s forgiveness would not be sufficient if there was anything I could do to diminish it in the future. But He has safeguarded His forgiveness against my failures. When I received His forgiveness it wasn’t because of my performance, and God does not base the continual and continuous maintenance of His forgiveness on my performance either.
The truths of the last two blog entries may have prompted questions in your mind. You may be asking, “But what about those times when I sin? Don’t I have to go back then and ask forgiveness for it? Doesn’t the Bible say I have to confess each sin or I will be held accountable for it?”
Well, let’s look closely at the verse that most people use to teach that confession is required of Christians in order to receive forgiveness for particular sins.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9 (NKJV)
In interpreting Scripture, it’s always important to determine to whom the writing is addressed and what was going on in the day it was written. In this passage, it is likely that John was dealing with a group of people who believed that they could work their way into righteousness by doing the right things. The message of their belief system was that they could live a life without sin and therefore earn salvation. John was calling them liars and pointing out that they must confess (admit) that they are sinners, receive Christ, and then “walk” (live) in Him. Once they confessed, they would be forgiven.
In this passage, John was addressing unbelievers who must confess in order to be saved. In verses 8 and 10 that surround this verse, John refers to their claims to be without sin and he calls them liars. If someone never confesses (admits) that they are sinners, then they cannot experience salvation. That’s the point John is making.
But in the next chapter, John begins addressing Christians. In I John 2:12 John writes, “Your sins HAVE BEEN forgiven.” Now think about this reasoning logically. If John had been addressing believers in chapter one when he was talking about the requirement of confession in order to receive forgiveness, then he would have been contradicting himself to say that their sins had already been forgiven in chapter two. He has to be addressing two entirely different groups of people; unforgiven unbelievers in chapter one and forgiven believers in chapter two.
The sentence structure of I John 1:9 implies that the forgiveness that follows confession of sin as prescribed in the verse, is a one-time package deal. ALL of a person’s sin is forgiven at the point of their confession and at the same time they are cleansed of ALL unrighteousness.
How many times have you heard that you can come to Jesus just like you are, get saved, and from then on you have to confess your sins so that you can stay forgiven? Well, if that’s true then we have a problem. Are you completely forgiven or not? Was the sacrifice of Christ enough or not? Was Jesus really telling the truth or not when He said, “It is finished”?
What if you somehow miss a sin and fail to confess it? Praise God, we are already forgiven so it’s not a problem. Our forgiveness is not based on whether we confess or not. If it was, then it would be based on our works – something we have to do. Our forgiveness is based entirely on the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. If that wasn’t enough, we’re in serious trouble.
For some reason, Christians have a hard time getting over the perceived need to ask forgiveness for individual sins and they often want to continue doing so. They often ask, “Can I continue to confess my sin and ask for forgiveness?” Sure they can, as long as they fully realize it’s not a requirement for forgiveness.
Please understand the humility that comes with the following statement. I do not say this arrogantly or presumptiously. I say it in complete awe of God's work.
Personally, I have stopped asking God to forgive me for my sins because I don’t want to ever appear as if I believe the death of Christ alone was not enough to purchase my forgiveness. I often confess (agree with God that something is a sin) because if I don’t agree with Him that something is a sin, then I will never turn away from it and like all sin, it will eventually destroy something beautiful in my life.
But I now understand that I know longer need to “ask for forgiveness” because to do so would be to ask God to give me something I already have!! I And it would diminish what Christ's death on the cross accomplished in my life. When I received Christ for salvation I received His forgiveness; full, free, final, and forever. Instead, I submite to His conviction, agree with Him that something is a sin, thank Him that He has already forgiven me for it, and then ask Him to live His life through me in that area so that I will never commit that particular sin again.
God's forgiveness is so precious to me and I believe that it has been short-changed in many traditional teachings. When we teach that there is something Christians must "do" to get God to forgive their sins after salvation, then we are saying that Jesus didn't really "finish" His work on the cross.
He said, "It is finished." And I have chosen to believe Him.
God’s forgiveness would not be sufficient if there was anything I could do to diminish it in the future. But He has safeguarded His forgiveness against my failures. When I received His forgiveness it wasn’t because of my performance, and God does not base the continual and continuous maintenance of His forgiveness on my performance either.
The truths of the last two blog entries may have prompted questions in your mind. You may be asking, “But what about those times when I sin? Don’t I have to go back then and ask forgiveness for it? Doesn’t the Bible say I have to confess each sin or I will be held accountable for it?”
Well, let’s look closely at the verse that most people use to teach that confession is required of Christians in order to receive forgiveness for particular sins.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9 (NKJV)
In interpreting Scripture, it’s always important to determine to whom the writing is addressed and what was going on in the day it was written. In this passage, it is likely that John was dealing with a group of people who believed that they could work their way into righteousness by doing the right things. The message of their belief system was that they could live a life without sin and therefore earn salvation. John was calling them liars and pointing out that they must confess (admit) that they are sinners, receive Christ, and then “walk” (live) in Him. Once they confessed, they would be forgiven.
In this passage, John was addressing unbelievers who must confess in order to be saved. In verses 8 and 10 that surround this verse, John refers to their claims to be without sin and he calls them liars. If someone never confesses (admits) that they are sinners, then they cannot experience salvation. That’s the point John is making.
But in the next chapter, John begins addressing Christians. In I John 2:12 John writes, “Your sins HAVE BEEN forgiven.” Now think about this reasoning logically. If John had been addressing believers in chapter one when he was talking about the requirement of confession in order to receive forgiveness, then he would have been contradicting himself to say that their sins had already been forgiven in chapter two. He has to be addressing two entirely different groups of people; unforgiven unbelievers in chapter one and forgiven believers in chapter two.
The sentence structure of I John 1:9 implies that the forgiveness that follows confession of sin as prescribed in the verse, is a one-time package deal. ALL of a person’s sin is forgiven at the point of their confession and at the same time they are cleansed of ALL unrighteousness.
How many times have you heard that you can come to Jesus just like you are, get saved, and from then on you have to confess your sins so that you can stay forgiven? Well, if that’s true then we have a problem. Are you completely forgiven or not? Was the sacrifice of Christ enough or not? Was Jesus really telling the truth or not when He said, “It is finished”?
What if you somehow miss a sin and fail to confess it? Praise God, we are already forgiven so it’s not a problem. Our forgiveness is not based on whether we confess or not. If it was, then it would be based on our works – something we have to do. Our forgiveness is based entirely on the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. If that wasn’t enough, we’re in serious trouble.
For some reason, Christians have a hard time getting over the perceived need to ask forgiveness for individual sins and they often want to continue doing so. They often ask, “Can I continue to confess my sin and ask for forgiveness?” Sure they can, as long as they fully realize it’s not a requirement for forgiveness.
Please understand the humility that comes with the following statement. I do not say this arrogantly or presumptiously. I say it in complete awe of God's work.
Personally, I have stopped asking God to forgive me for my sins because I don’t want to ever appear as if I believe the death of Christ alone was not enough to purchase my forgiveness. I often confess (agree with God that something is a sin) because if I don’t agree with Him that something is a sin, then I will never turn away from it and like all sin, it will eventually destroy something beautiful in my life.
But I now understand that I know longer need to “ask for forgiveness” because to do so would be to ask God to give me something I already have!! I And it would diminish what Christ's death on the cross accomplished in my life. When I received Christ for salvation I received His forgiveness; full, free, final, and forever. Instead, I submite to His conviction, agree with Him that something is a sin, thank Him that He has already forgiven me for it, and then ask Him to live His life through me in that area so that I will never commit that particular sin again.
God's forgiveness is so precious to me and I believe that it has been short-changed in many traditional teachings. When we teach that there is something Christians must "do" to get God to forgive their sins after salvation, then we are saying that Jesus didn't really "finish" His work on the cross.
He said, "It is finished." And I have chosen to believe Him.
Monday, June 9, 2008
One more thing about forgiveness....
"12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”[ Hebrews 8:12 (NKJV)
"15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:15-17 (NKJV)
"Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more"... God repeated that phrase numerous times in Scripture. I think He wants us to get it! But for some reason we find it hard to accept what God has promised us clearly.
We just don't fully understand just how long lasting God’s forgiveness really is. Maybe that's because we relate God's forgiveness to our own. When I forgive someone, I usually don’t forget it. If they hurt me again, I would tend to remind them of the previous times they’ve wronged me. But it’s not so with God. He forgets because He chooses to forget. He buries my sins deep in a sea of forgetfulness. He won’t remind me of them now or at any point in my future.
If I am being reminded of and therefore feeling guilty of past, forgiven sins, then I can be assured that such oppression is not coming from God. Think about this for a moment. Omniscient, all-wise, all-knowing God made a conscious choice to have a memory lapse when He considers our sin. Even if I do something really bad tomorrow, He will not place me under a load of guilt by reminding me that I’ve done that same thing over and over before.
Does He convict me of sin? Oh yes, but it’s not to condemn me and make me feel guilty. It’s because He loves me so much and knows that sin always carries consequences. Therefore, He wants it out of my daily life. He convicts for my protection and so that I will know the fullness of joy, but the sin itself is already forgiven.
God’s grace reached all the way to me when I accepted Jesus and His death on the cross as payment for all my sin – past, present, and future. On the day I was saved, God took care of all them in advance. And that forgiveness lasts forever. That is grace at its fullest use.
You may have always thought that your salvation experience only took care of the forgiveness of the sins you had committed up until that point. But in fact, ALL of your sins, past, present, and future, were forgiven when you received God’s salvation. How many of your sins did God see on the day He saved you? Did He just see the ones you had already committed? No, He saw every one of them that you would ever commit for the rest of your life and the death of Christ on the cross took care of ALL of them.
In fact, God saw every sin that had been or would ever be committed in all of history, and the death of Christ on the cross was enough to purchase the pardon for all of them. God saw the inherent sin nature of every person throughout history, and the sacrifice of Jesus was enough to offer victory over the sin nature in every life. Once we receive Christ as our Savior and appropriate by faith what He accomplished on the cross, His forgiveness is all-encompassing and all-powerful for ALWAYS!
Never reject the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin in your life because the purpose of it is to accomplish the abundant lifestyle of holiness that God knows will bring you full joy. But never fall for your enemy’s attacks of guilt. God does not make you feel guilty. He requires no payment from you for your sin. Jesus Christ paid your debt in full on the cross. You are fully forgiven and you will remain fully forgiven forever. NOTHING will ever change that.
"15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:15-17 (NKJV)
"Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more"... God repeated that phrase numerous times in Scripture. I think He wants us to get it! But for some reason we find it hard to accept what God has promised us clearly.
We just don't fully understand just how long lasting God’s forgiveness really is. Maybe that's because we relate God's forgiveness to our own. When I forgive someone, I usually don’t forget it. If they hurt me again, I would tend to remind them of the previous times they’ve wronged me. But it’s not so with God. He forgets because He chooses to forget. He buries my sins deep in a sea of forgetfulness. He won’t remind me of them now or at any point in my future.
If I am being reminded of and therefore feeling guilty of past, forgiven sins, then I can be assured that such oppression is not coming from God. Think about this for a moment. Omniscient, all-wise, all-knowing God made a conscious choice to have a memory lapse when He considers our sin. Even if I do something really bad tomorrow, He will not place me under a load of guilt by reminding me that I’ve done that same thing over and over before.
Does He convict me of sin? Oh yes, but it’s not to condemn me and make me feel guilty. It’s because He loves me so much and knows that sin always carries consequences. Therefore, He wants it out of my daily life. He convicts for my protection and so that I will know the fullness of joy, but the sin itself is already forgiven.
God’s grace reached all the way to me when I accepted Jesus and His death on the cross as payment for all my sin – past, present, and future. On the day I was saved, God took care of all them in advance. And that forgiveness lasts forever. That is grace at its fullest use.
You may have always thought that your salvation experience only took care of the forgiveness of the sins you had committed up until that point. But in fact, ALL of your sins, past, present, and future, were forgiven when you received God’s salvation. How many of your sins did God see on the day He saved you? Did He just see the ones you had already committed? No, He saw every one of them that you would ever commit for the rest of your life and the death of Christ on the cross took care of ALL of them.
In fact, God saw every sin that had been or would ever be committed in all of history, and the death of Christ on the cross was enough to purchase the pardon for all of them. God saw the inherent sin nature of every person throughout history, and the sacrifice of Jesus was enough to offer victory over the sin nature in every life. Once we receive Christ as our Savior and appropriate by faith what He accomplished on the cross, His forgiveness is all-encompassing and all-powerful for ALWAYS!
Never reject the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin in your life because the purpose of it is to accomplish the abundant lifestyle of holiness that God knows will bring you full joy. But never fall for your enemy’s attacks of guilt. God does not make you feel guilty. He requires no payment from you for your sin. Jesus Christ paid your debt in full on the cross. You are fully forgiven and you will remain fully forgiven forever. NOTHING will ever change that.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
More about God's forgiveness.....
"7. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8. which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence," Ephesians 1:7-8
That whole river rolling thing has launched me into some deeper thought about God's forgiveness. In Christ, we experience God's forgiveness for our sins. But just how far reaching is that forgiveness?
Consider David, a boy who became a king, yet took advantage of his undeserved sovereign status to have an affair with a neighbor, resulting in her pregnancy. To make matters worse, he ultimately sent her husband to the front lines of battle where his death would be certain, thus clearing the way for David to marry the widow. Yet, in spite of his horrid behavior, David constantly spoke of the full forgiveness of God.
Or how about Rahab, the prostitute of Jericho who hid the spies sent in to investigate the city before Joshua and the army of Israelites invaded it? In later passages of Scripture we find her name in the great roll call of faith in Hebrews 11, in the Book of James as an example of a person who puts faith into action, and the most amazing miracle of all is that her name is found in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus!!!!
Or consider Paul, who was once called Saul, a well recognized Christian killer. Yet after experiencing the forgiveness of God, Saul was renamed Paul and catapulted into a career as a missionary for Christ and author of numerous New Testament books. His past life posed no limits to God.
And consider the Jewish leaders, Roman politicians, and evil citizens who stood at the foot of the cross on which Jesus hung, dying for their sins. He looked down upon the very ones who had nailed Him to the cross and said, “Father, forgive them”.
You may think that something you have done in your life is beyond God’s forgiveness. But when you consider the Biblical accounts of the people God forgave, these and numerous others, surely you must realize that there is nothing you have done that is out of the realm of God’s forgiving nature. For me, there is so much comfort in knowing and reminding myself of the extent to which the forgiveness of God will go.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, He has fogiven your sin and set you free from the bondage of sin (Romans 6:14). But to live fully free, you must fully accept the forgiveness of God in your life. Do you realize that if you are a Christian, there is nothing you have ever done or will ever do in the future that God hasn’t already forgiven? Complete forgiveness was part of the original salvation “package”. Accept that truth today and respond with me in thanksgiving and praise.
That whole river rolling thing has launched me into some deeper thought about God's forgiveness. In Christ, we experience God's forgiveness for our sins. But just how far reaching is that forgiveness?
Consider David, a boy who became a king, yet took advantage of his undeserved sovereign status to have an affair with a neighbor, resulting in her pregnancy. To make matters worse, he ultimately sent her husband to the front lines of battle where his death would be certain, thus clearing the way for David to marry the widow. Yet, in spite of his horrid behavior, David constantly spoke of the full forgiveness of God.
Or how about Rahab, the prostitute of Jericho who hid the spies sent in to investigate the city before Joshua and the army of Israelites invaded it? In later passages of Scripture we find her name in the great roll call of faith in Hebrews 11, in the Book of James as an example of a person who puts faith into action, and the most amazing miracle of all is that her name is found in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus!!!!
Or consider Paul, who was once called Saul, a well recognized Christian killer. Yet after experiencing the forgiveness of God, Saul was renamed Paul and catapulted into a career as a missionary for Christ and author of numerous New Testament books. His past life posed no limits to God.
And consider the Jewish leaders, Roman politicians, and evil citizens who stood at the foot of the cross on which Jesus hung, dying for their sins. He looked down upon the very ones who had nailed Him to the cross and said, “Father, forgive them”.
You may think that something you have done in your life is beyond God’s forgiveness. But when you consider the Biblical accounts of the people God forgave, these and numerous others, surely you must realize that there is nothing you have done that is out of the realm of God’s forgiving nature. For me, there is so much comfort in knowing and reminding myself of the extent to which the forgiveness of God will go.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, He has fogiven your sin and set you free from the bondage of sin (Romans 6:14). But to live fully free, you must fully accept the forgiveness of God in your life. Do you realize that if you are a Christian, there is nothing you have ever done or will ever do in the future that God hasn’t already forgiven? Complete forgiveness was part of the original salvation “package”. Accept that truth today and respond with me in thanksgiving and praise.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The river rolls....
"As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us." Psalms 103:12 NKJV
We're at the lake this weekend and I was just looking out the windows watching the river roll by. The view reminded me of something that happened to me one day when I was working at a hospital in Knoxville, TN. My office window overlooked the river and as it flowed by I realized that the river always flowed in the same direction. I had been contemplating this Bible verse on my drive into the office and I was reminded of it by the flow of the river. It happened again today.
God gives us a beautiful illustration of his far-reaching, long lasting forgiveness in this verse. I wondered why God said that He had separated our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. I know that He was careful to choose words that paint a clear picture for us, so I wondered why He chose that direction instead of saying that our separation from sin is as far as the north is from the south.
As I thought about that I realized that I could begin traveling from my office and drive south to the South Pole, then begin driving north till I reached the North Pole, then travel south again to my starting point. South, then north, then south again. However, I could also travel around the world millions of time going east, reaching my starting point over and over again without ever driving in any direction but east. It hit me like a lightening bolt. Though there is a South Pole and a North Pole, there is no East Pole and no West Pole.
There is no place at which east meets west. And suddenly that verse took on a whole new meaning for me. If God had chosen the words “north from south” then that would mean that there would be some eventual point at which I would meet up with my sins again. But by carefully choosing the words “east from west” God was showing me that there would never be a point in the future where I will meet my sins again.
I won’t face my sins again; not in this life and not in the life to come. After fully realizing that fact through an understanding of this verse, everything began to make sense. God’s forgiveness is truly forever. And He cared enough about my sense of security that He painted a picture that will forever assure me of that fact, especially when I see a river roll. The assurance of knowing that I am forever fully forgiven gives me peace. Peace like a river.
We're at the lake this weekend and I was just looking out the windows watching the river roll by. The view reminded me of something that happened to me one day when I was working at a hospital in Knoxville, TN. My office window overlooked the river and as it flowed by I realized that the river always flowed in the same direction. I had been contemplating this Bible verse on my drive into the office and I was reminded of it by the flow of the river. It happened again today.
God gives us a beautiful illustration of his far-reaching, long lasting forgiveness in this verse. I wondered why God said that He had separated our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. I know that He was careful to choose words that paint a clear picture for us, so I wondered why He chose that direction instead of saying that our separation from sin is as far as the north is from the south.
As I thought about that I realized that I could begin traveling from my office and drive south to the South Pole, then begin driving north till I reached the North Pole, then travel south again to my starting point. South, then north, then south again. However, I could also travel around the world millions of time going east, reaching my starting point over and over again without ever driving in any direction but east. It hit me like a lightening bolt. Though there is a South Pole and a North Pole, there is no East Pole and no West Pole.
There is no place at which east meets west. And suddenly that verse took on a whole new meaning for me. If God had chosen the words “north from south” then that would mean that there would be some eventual point at which I would meet up with my sins again. But by carefully choosing the words “east from west” God was showing me that there would never be a point in the future where I will meet my sins again.
I won’t face my sins again; not in this life and not in the life to come. After fully realizing that fact through an understanding of this verse, everything began to make sense. God’s forgiveness is truly forever. And He cared enough about my sense of security that He painted a picture that will forever assure me of that fact, especially when I see a river roll. The assurance of knowing that I am forever fully forgiven gives me peace. Peace like a river.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Love that's greater than a "quick-fix"...
I warn you before you start, that I'm totally ignoring Tim's advise to keep these blogs short! This one will be my longest one ever. But God has shown me so much today that I can't keep from sharing it. I'm like Jeremiah with a fire in my bones. (Jer. 20:9)
Last night Tim and I received some news that really disappointed us. We have struggled over the last eight months because our house in Georgia has not sold. So we have now put our “retirement” home on the lake up for sale too. We have resigned ourselves to the necessity to sell one or the other. Within an hour of putting the for sale sign in the yard on May 30th, we had a couple knock on the door wanting to see the lake house. Unbelievably, I had just cleaned the house that day, even cleaning out closets!! That in itself is a miracle. I just assumed that even my housecleaning was part of God’s plan to sell this house. The couple loved it and came back to talk seriously about buying the house on Saturday the 31st. That’s significant because I have been confident for the last few months that God was going to settle our issues with these houses by May 31st. Ever since Tim and I have been in ministry, May has repeatedly been a month in which God settled things for us.
So, with all that in mind, I had pretty much let myself get all excited that the lake house was SOLD. They were to call us on Monday to make a firm offer. We got home from a meeting Monday night fully expecting to receive good news and be released from the stress of owning three houses. When the couple called and told us that they had changed their minds for no sensible reason, I crashed. I was so discouraged that I bordered on questioning God’s wisdom and even His love for me. I was angry, frustrated, and confused. None of which were emotions that were of God. I surprised myself that I could react as I did. I cried. I yelled. I told Tim that I would never have let one of my children get all excited about something and then “pulled the rug out from under them” like God had done to me that night. I begged God to show me what He is doing with all of this.
Then today I got a devotional email from a source that has never emailed me before. Of all days for them to start communicating with me!!! The basic message of the email devotional is that God’s goal for my life doesn’t always match my own. My goal is to be successful in ministry; and by that I mean that I want God to use me to reach and teach people TRUTH – at a level by which I measure success. But God’s goal for my life is for me to come to KNOW Him better and LOVE Him more and ENJOY Him fully and to become confidently assured of His love for me.
At first my response was, “Well, You’ve chosen a really odd way of showing me that’s Your goal for me!” But then I kept reading the email. It spoke of God using our afflictions and suffering to bring us to a point of abandonment so that we could reach His goal of knowing, loving, and enjoying Him and being assured of His love. I protested that I had nothing left to abandon. Honestly, I have a loose grip on everything because I learned a long time ago, that there is nothing more important or fulfilling than being right in the center of God’s will. In my reasoning, my willingness to sell anything we own to be able to do His will was “abandonment.”
But then I had a sudden and clear understanding of what God was saying to me through the email. What if God didn’t sell either one and He instead left me in the struggle for some reason that only He knows? Have I abandoned my right to have Him work for me just like I want Him to work; to “fix” my problems in one of the ways I choose?
I started considering that what was keeping me from “enjoying” Him lately was that He wasn’t responding to me as He had always done and therefore I was confused and frustrated. I suddenly realized that the only way I can come to KNOW Him more (His goal for me) is for Him to progressively reveal more of Himself to me, which will by necessity mean that He will not always respond to me in the same way. He responds to me in different ways as He takes me deeper into my understanding of Himself and as He matures me spiritually. In other words, He deals with me in one way until I understand a particular characteristic of Himself, then as He matures me, He can deal with me in a deeper way that I wouldn’t have been able to handle before.
I also had to admit that I felt that He “owed” it to me to sell a house because I had “obeyed” Him in following His will to Sylacauga, AL. And when He didn’t sell my house, my reaction shocked even me by revealing the attitudes that had been lurking within me; attitudes I didn’t even realize existed within me. I was reminded of the process of “refining” and how the process brings to the surface all the dangerous impurities that devalue and weaken precious metals. God has made me perfect and holy at salvation, but within me there are lingering misunderstandings about God and His ways, so I still respond with emotions that aren’t so perfect and holy. And those emotions and misunderstandings lurking within me, keep me from enjoying Him fully and also keep me from being confidently assured of His love for me. So God has faithfully brought those attitudes and misunderstandings to the surface so that I am now aware of them and can let God deal with them.
My goal is successful ministry by the standards I’ve set. God’s goal is for me to KNOW, LOVE, ENJOY, and be CONFIDENT in Him. Here’s what He has shown me. Until He corrects those lingering misunderstandings, (which sometimes best occurs through the process of afflictions and sufferings) neither His goal nor my goal will be met. But when God’s goal is realized in my life, then my goal will be realized as well. Until my goal for my life matches His (until I want to KNOW, LOVE, and ENJOY Him more than anything else) then I can’t possibly be successful in ministry!!! And by the way, I couldn’t be trusted with a successful ministry with those lingering misunderstandings and attitudes.
But when KNOWING, LOVING, and ENJOYING Him becomes the most important pursuit of my life, ministry will be as natural as breathing and it will be successful by God’s standards!!! And I will be increasingly, continually, and permanently assured of His love for me.
If I saw my child hurting, but knew that allowing that child to continue in the hurt would be to their ultimate benefit, the most loving thing I could do would be to endure the pain of watching them continue hurting. If fixing their problems provided temporary relief but cost them a greater gain, then I would not be a good mother if I fixed things for them. And my love for my children doesn't even begin to compare to God's love for me. I am so thankful that He loves me so much that He refused to give me the easy way out of my problems and instead He endures the pain of watching me suffer so that I can receive the eternal benefit He wants to accomplish through my afflictions.
Last night Tim and I received some news that really disappointed us. We have struggled over the last eight months because our house in Georgia has not sold. So we have now put our “retirement” home on the lake up for sale too. We have resigned ourselves to the necessity to sell one or the other. Within an hour of putting the for sale sign in the yard on May 30th, we had a couple knock on the door wanting to see the lake house. Unbelievably, I had just cleaned the house that day, even cleaning out closets!! That in itself is a miracle. I just assumed that even my housecleaning was part of God’s plan to sell this house. The couple loved it and came back to talk seriously about buying the house on Saturday the 31st. That’s significant because I have been confident for the last few months that God was going to settle our issues with these houses by May 31st. Ever since Tim and I have been in ministry, May has repeatedly been a month in which God settled things for us.
So, with all that in mind, I had pretty much let myself get all excited that the lake house was SOLD. They were to call us on Monday to make a firm offer. We got home from a meeting Monday night fully expecting to receive good news and be released from the stress of owning three houses. When the couple called and told us that they had changed their minds for no sensible reason, I crashed. I was so discouraged that I bordered on questioning God’s wisdom and even His love for me. I was angry, frustrated, and confused. None of which were emotions that were of God. I surprised myself that I could react as I did. I cried. I yelled. I told Tim that I would never have let one of my children get all excited about something and then “pulled the rug out from under them” like God had done to me that night. I begged God to show me what He is doing with all of this.
Then today I got a devotional email from a source that has never emailed me before. Of all days for them to start communicating with me!!! The basic message of the email devotional is that God’s goal for my life doesn’t always match my own. My goal is to be successful in ministry; and by that I mean that I want God to use me to reach and teach people TRUTH – at a level by which I measure success. But God’s goal for my life is for me to come to KNOW Him better and LOVE Him more and ENJOY Him fully and to become confidently assured of His love for me.
At first my response was, “Well, You’ve chosen a really odd way of showing me that’s Your goal for me!” But then I kept reading the email. It spoke of God using our afflictions and suffering to bring us to a point of abandonment so that we could reach His goal of knowing, loving, and enjoying Him and being assured of His love. I protested that I had nothing left to abandon. Honestly, I have a loose grip on everything because I learned a long time ago, that there is nothing more important or fulfilling than being right in the center of God’s will. In my reasoning, my willingness to sell anything we own to be able to do His will was “abandonment.”
But then I had a sudden and clear understanding of what God was saying to me through the email. What if God didn’t sell either one and He instead left me in the struggle for some reason that only He knows? Have I abandoned my right to have Him work for me just like I want Him to work; to “fix” my problems in one of the ways I choose?
I started considering that what was keeping me from “enjoying” Him lately was that He wasn’t responding to me as He had always done and therefore I was confused and frustrated. I suddenly realized that the only way I can come to KNOW Him more (His goal for me) is for Him to progressively reveal more of Himself to me, which will by necessity mean that He will not always respond to me in the same way. He responds to me in different ways as He takes me deeper into my understanding of Himself and as He matures me spiritually. In other words, He deals with me in one way until I understand a particular characteristic of Himself, then as He matures me, He can deal with me in a deeper way that I wouldn’t have been able to handle before.
I also had to admit that I felt that He “owed” it to me to sell a house because I had “obeyed” Him in following His will to Sylacauga, AL. And when He didn’t sell my house, my reaction shocked even me by revealing the attitudes that had been lurking within me; attitudes I didn’t even realize existed within me. I was reminded of the process of “refining” and how the process brings to the surface all the dangerous impurities that devalue and weaken precious metals. God has made me perfect and holy at salvation, but within me there are lingering misunderstandings about God and His ways, so I still respond with emotions that aren’t so perfect and holy. And those emotions and misunderstandings lurking within me, keep me from enjoying Him fully and also keep me from being confidently assured of His love for me. So God has faithfully brought those attitudes and misunderstandings to the surface so that I am now aware of them and can let God deal with them.
My goal is successful ministry by the standards I’ve set. God’s goal is for me to KNOW, LOVE, ENJOY, and be CONFIDENT in Him. Here’s what He has shown me. Until He corrects those lingering misunderstandings, (which sometimes best occurs through the process of afflictions and sufferings) neither His goal nor my goal will be met. But when God’s goal is realized in my life, then my goal will be realized as well. Until my goal for my life matches His (until I want to KNOW, LOVE, and ENJOY Him more than anything else) then I can’t possibly be successful in ministry!!! And by the way, I couldn’t be trusted with a successful ministry with those lingering misunderstandings and attitudes.
But when KNOWING, LOVING, and ENJOYING Him becomes the most important pursuit of my life, ministry will be as natural as breathing and it will be successful by God’s standards!!! And I will be increasingly, continually, and permanently assured of His love for me.
If I saw my child hurting, but knew that allowing that child to continue in the hurt would be to their ultimate benefit, the most loving thing I could do would be to endure the pain of watching them continue hurting. If fixing their problems provided temporary relief but cost them a greater gain, then I would not be a good mother if I fixed things for them. And my love for my children doesn't even begin to compare to God's love for me. I am so thankful that He loves me so much that He refused to give me the easy way out of my problems and instead He endures the pain of watching me suffer so that I can receive the eternal benefit He wants to accomplish through my afflictions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)