GOD’S EVERLASTING LOVE

“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence]. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  (Psalm 103:11-12 AMP)

The big news of the Bible is not that you love God but that God loves you; not that you can know God but that God already knows you! He tattooed your name on the palm of His hand. His thoughts of you outnumber the sand on the shore. You never leave His mind, escape His sight, flee His thoughts. He sees the worst of you and loves you still. Your sins of tomorrow and failings of the future will not surprise Him; He sees them now. Every day and deed of your life has passed before His eyes and been calculated in His decision. He knows you better than you know you and He has reached His verdict: He loves you still. No discovery will disillusion Him; no rebellion will dissuade Him. He loves you with an everlasting love. 

-- Max Lucado in “Come Thirsty: No Heart Too Dry for His Touch”

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THE GIFT OF “BUT GOD”

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved.”  (Ephesians 2:1–5 NIV)

The good news is that we are not just changed, but we are forever changed!... The transformation that God is capable of doing in your life and mine is radical and it is eternal. When we make our lives an altar and choose each day to surrender, we will forever be changed.

Paul is quite direct with his words in this letter. He tells the believers that they, like him, were deserving of wrath. That’s the nature of humanity. We were sinners and we are sinners. But God. That can stand as a powerful sentence on its own. But God did not leave us as sinners to receive the punishment we deserved. But God did not turn His back on us. But God who is rich in mercy, perhaps better translated as abounding in mercy, saved us. And this is a mercy that meets us again and again as we surrender through confession and obedience to God…

What does Paul say God does because of His mercy? He makes us alive with Christ. The beauty of being alive, just like God’s mercy, is that we can experience this daily. In another of Paul’s letters he calls it walking “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4 CEB). And all of this comes as the gift of grace we have received because Jesus surrendered His life on a cross for us. It is the only reason we can be forever changed… Rest in the “but God” that has changed us from being dead in our transgressions to alive with Christ. 

-- Susan O. Kent in “Altar’d: The Transforming Power of Surrender”

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AN INTERESTING WORD

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,… For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD.”  (Romans  3:23, 6:23 NIV)

An interesting word, sin. A century ago, our vocabulary was rich in synonyms for sin. Words like iniquity. Transgression. Turpitude. Depravity. Reprobation. And my personal favorite: peccancy. New Testament Greek had thirty-three different words for sin. Apparently we once knew our way around the concept.

You can learn a lot about a society by digging through their heap of discarded words. These days you don’t hear people worrying about their turpitude at the water cooler or sharing about their depravity during prayer request time…

We can wipe sin out of our dictionaries. If only we could wipe it out of our souls. As a culture, we can try to rub out the definition of sin, but the condition isn’t going anywhere. It cracks the whip on just as many slaves -- the entire population of the world -- as it ever did. If we fail to acknowledge its reality, there can be no mourning. And without mourning there can be no confession. And without confession we miss the richest blessing of God’s forgiveness and grace. 

-- Kyle Idleman in “The End of Me”


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AN INSIGHT INTO GRACE

“Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved.”  (Ephesians 2:4,5 NIV)

The comics sometimes have a way of expressing great and deep thoughts through the use of humor. For example, I discovered an interesting insight into grace in one of the “Dennis the Menace” cartoons. As you are aware, Dennis is indeed a menace and pest to his neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. Yet Mrs. Wilson continues to be kind and gracious to Dennis. In this particular cartoon, Dennis and his little friend Joey are leaving Mrs. Wilson’s house with their hands full of cookies, and Joey says, “I wonder what we did to deserve this?” Dennis answers with great insight, “Look, Joey, Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we’re nice, but because she’s nice.”

God loves us and seeks us not because we are lovable but because God is love. That’s grace! 

-- James W. Moore and Bob J. Moore in “Lord, Give Me Patience!... And Give It to Me Right Now!”  


#4459

CHOOSING TO FORGIVE

Forgiveness Is a Choice: Jesus puts forgiveness on the level of personal decision, not emotion. "And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions." (Mark 11:25) This is a command, made to the will. Emotions, feelings, cannot be commanded. I must choose to forgive even when all my feelings cry against it. Often when I have struggled with forgiving someone, I've stood in my office and said audibly, loudly, "I forgive him, I forgive him, I forgive him." When I have set my will and heart in that direction, feelings of forgiveness follow and I can then say to the person involved, "I forgive you." It may take a while for all the hurt to leave but your choice releases the hold and time begins the healing process.

-- J. Alan Peterson in “The Myth of the Greener Grass” 


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THE STATE OF EVERY HUMAN BEING

“There is no one righteous, not even one;… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:10, 23 NIV)

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, made the premise that as good as some of us might be, we are all sinners and we must recognize that fact. He concludes his point by saying, "Such is the state of every natural [human being] whether he be a gross, scandalous transgressor, or a more reputable and decent sinner, having the form, though not the power of godliness."

-- Quote from John Wesley's Sermon "The Spirit of Bondage and Adoption"


#4395

THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT GOD’S FORGIVENESS

“When we were overwhelmed by sins, You forgave our transgressions.”  (Psalm 65:3)

Although we may feel overwhelmed by the multitude of our sins, God will forgive them all if we ask sincerely. Do you feel as though God could never forgive you, that your sins are too many, or that some of them are too great? The good news is that God can and will forgive them all. Nobody is beyond redemption, and nobody is so full of sin that he or she cannot be made clean.

-- from “The Life Application Study Bible”

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