Forgiveness...

The thought came today about forgiveness, and all that it means, implies...Are we forgiven...or still unforgiven?
In the prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples (which was HOW to pray, NOT what to pray), He ends it (see Matt. 6:14,15) with these words: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
I am not sure why so many Christians seem to latch on to this as something for today. It is no longer in effect. This was said BEFORE the cross. On the cross, Jesus took the sins of ALL - "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" John 1:20.
NOW, as Paul reminds us in Eph. 4:32, we are to "be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, JUST AS GOD IN CHRIST ALSO FORGAVE YOU." Past tense. Done!!
Again, in Col. 3:13 (and thus by the mouth of two witnesses),these words: "..bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has complaint against another, even as CHRIST FORGAVE YOU, so you must do."
One more after-the-cross word (the third of "2 or 3 witnesses")is in 2 Cor. 5;19, which reads "... God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, NOT IMPUTING THEIR TRESPASSES (SINS) TO THEM..."
These are the words of Christ, by/through His Spirit, to Paul, who was not taught by "flesh and blood," but by the Spirit of his Lord (Gal.1:11-12, 16-17).
Truly this IS the "good, glad, merry news that makes a man want to leap for joy!"

A parable

I recently read a "parable" about pain in the thigh and leg - the pain that comes when the sciatia nerve is pinched (very uncomfortable - rather like a bad toothache in the legs). What was interesting was that, so say the Hebrews, it was this nerve that God touched on Jacob, that made him lame; from that time on, he had to "lean on his staff."
The point of the writing was that the Lord makes lame His sons in order to have them become overcomers...and we cannot overcome if we are leaning on our own strength. The natural power must be broken, made lame, so that we lean upon HIS power, HIS strength, with every step we take.
Jacob was emptied, made lame, at the ford of Jabbock, which means "to pour out, to empty."
And so, the Lord lames us in order that we be emptied of our own strength, and lean upon Him with EVERY step we take. HE is our "Staff", so to speak.
Yes, even pain has a message, a "parable", to open our understanding of the Lord's working in our lives.

Love others as myself

The command says, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself"; but properly understood, it also says, "You shall love yourself in the right way." If anyone, then, refuses to learn from Christianity how to love himself in the right way, he cannot love his neighbour either.
Therefore, to love mysel in the right way and to love my neighbour correspond perfectly to one another; fundamentally, they are the same thing.
So many Christians say we are not to love ourselves; and yet, if I do not love myself (in the right way, of course), then how in the world can I possibly love my neighbour? The two ARE as one...
PTL!!!

Words of truth

"See that in the literal crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, God invades without

a single “if.” Not “if” you repent. Not “if” you learn. Not even “if” you believe. The Absence of the little word, “if” the uncontingent, invading nature of God’s grace, shows God to be the power and victorious Advocate of the entire race of human beings. This is Paul’s grasp of the name Emmanuel, God with us.

A mystery, the crucifixion is God’s war in our favor, the event of His powerful invading grace, uncontingent on the fulfilling of a single presupposition from our side. On the apocalyptic battlefield, Christ’s death is for those who are under the power of Sin, and that means for all of us. Paul can even say in Christ’s death, God is the one who rectifies the ungodly (Rom. 4:5). Here is the power of God’s grace: that Christ did not die for the righteous, for the morally acceptable, for the noble of heart. Indeed, Paul even sees in the crucifixion that Christ did not die for those who believe. Neither Christian faith nor faith of any sort is a presupposition to God’s invading apocalypse of love in the crucifixion of the Messiah. On the contrary, the crucifixion is God’s invading apocalypse of love in the crucifixion of the Messiah. On the contrary, the crucifixion is God’s revelation of that gift of grace that not assuming or presupposing faith, calls faith into existence."

It always rejoices my heart to read such words, words of truth, words that tell us what God did, and for whom He did it. The operative words are "God" and "He". ALL is of Him - all we can do is say, "Thank You, Lord." Amen!

God's all-encompassing love!

This quote from Karl Barth reminded me that God's plan of love and salvation really DOES include all! PTL!
"Has Christ been sacrificed only for our sins? Has He not, according to 1 John 2:2, been sacrificed for the whole world? Strange Christianity, whose most pressing anxiety seems to be that God's grace might prove to be all too free on this side; that hell, instead of being populated with so many people, might some day prove to be empty." Karl Barth
Wonderful - all summed up in a single paragraph...

Our assurance in Christ...

As I was reading through some files, I came across ths quote (by a man, Jim Minker, who has a wonderful site, The Shovel...interesting, provocative, and devoted to the truth...the Truth, Christ Jesus, our Lord). Yes, there will be those who say it is wrong, deluding, etc. Perhaps the deception lies in the other direction, to those who refuse to believe what Jesus says, what scripture says, because it does not agree with presently held doctrine (and we all remember what Jesus said about the "doctrines of man"). No matter - I lay it out for others to read, to ponder, and (most important of all) ask the Holy Spirit what is the truth of the matter:
If being "in Christ" was merely a position or a belief held to then losing it would make all the sense in the world. However, being in union with Christ is exactly that: joined to God through Christ. It is the "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me" ... rather than an agreed upon idea based upon the principle of Christ.
Don't you find it rather odd that we have to search the scriptures to find those random verses that SEEM to be calling the whole miracle of Christ into question? On the other hand, isn't it also odd that we think we have to search the scriptures to find those verses that give us an assurance of our "eternal security"? Perhaps all such searching is what we have learned according to the wisdom of the world, and not from Christ. :)
Until the next time...let us all rejoice and give thanks to Him who is our Lord, and in whom we live, and move, and have our being...

Various thoughts..

From time to time, I read something that is special and resonates in my spirit. Not always original to me, but a word that is worthwhile passing along. And so this post is of such thoughts:

"The love of God is wider
Than the measure of man's mind,
and the heart of the Eternal
Is wonderfully kind."
Faber
This is just a small portion of that beautiful poem by Faber, which reminds us of the infinite love of our God whose love "is wider than the measure of man's mind," and who is truly "wonderfully kind."

Ah, Abba Father, the walls of my being are shaken...broken...
And you answered, dear Abba, and said, "You shall not break. I have painted your walls on My hands, and you are continually before Me. I have sent strength for you; I have commanded your strength."
And so, when I am weak, then is He strong...

A good word: The longer I spend in Your presence, Jesus, the more accustomed I grow to Your face, the less adulation I will need because I will have discovered for myself that You are Enough; and in the Presence, I will delight in the discovery of what it means to live by grace, and NOT by performance. For You say: "You belong to Me, and NO one will tear you from My hand."
Yes, in Him, I am in a safe place. I am loved...His beloved.

Isn't this remarkable insight coming from such a young child:
When asked his definition of love, 4 year old Billy replied, "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Yes - and so, because we are our Abba Father's beloved, we know our names are safe in His mouth.

One last thought (for this post): Salvation is as wide as the fall! Yes, SALVATION IS AS WIDE AS THE FALL...
And ALL creation is safe with Him.