Free From Sin!

We can't help being born sinners. It is our natural birthright being born human. As hard as we may try to be righteous, our own efforts will always cause us to fall short of God's glory.

Abraham chose to sleep with Hagar instead of keeping the faith with his wife, Sarah. Ishmael was born and brought dissension and resentment into his home.

Moses allowed anger to overrule his obedience to God's instructions. He missed out on reaching the Promised Land as a penalty.

David allowed lust to reign in his flesh and he committed adultery with another man's wife which led to murder when she became pregnant. The child born out of that union died as God's punishment.

All of these men were great men of faith. They believed God, followed after Him, and obeyed the Lord's commands. Yet they still sinned. They still had to deal with the consequences of those sins.

What I love about these examples is that their stories do not end with their sin. They went on to seek - and find - forgiveness from God. The Lord saw their contrite hearts and forgave them of their errors.

Abraham and Sarah eventually had their own son who went on to found the Israelite nation. Moses may have missed out on reaching the Promised Land, but he lived to witness the nation he led walking into God's promise for them. David married the widow and they had a son together who went on to be one of the wisest and richest kings in Israelite history.

Maybe you have sinned and are dealing with the consequences of your choice. Yes, you can't avoid the results of choosing to sin - every action has a reaction. But, you have God's grace and mercy with you as well. You don't have to live in bondage. You don't have to be cast down. You don't have to think that the Lord no longer loves you.

When you come to the Lord seeking His forgiveness, He is ready and willing to give it to you. He knows you're human. He knows that you aren't perfect. What's so wonderful is that God forgives and forgets! He won't hold it over your head, He won't throw it in your face down the road... It's as if you never made the mistake.

Today, bask in the power of God's forgiveness. Realize that God's grace and mercy are with you. Release yourself from the grips of guilt and gain your freedom in the Lord's love for you.

Verse of the Day: The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:8-12

Amazing Grace!

Right now I'm taking an apologetics class, and we are studying other religions. One common denominator with other religions or cults is the fact that they have to earn their salvation. In order to please their god, they have to do something. It could be dressing a certain way, eating a particular diet, saying a certain number of prayers, visiting a specific city... the list is endless! But, they all have to work to gain their god's favor.

What I love about the true and living God is that He realized that there was nothing that man could do to earn His favor... and He chose to create a way for man to be close to Him anyway. God knew no matter how hard we tried to be free from sin on our own, we would always fail. God knew that only a pure sacrifice would cleanse us, and He knew the only One who would be worthy to take on the task.

God sent His Son Jesus to die in our place. He sent His Son to bear our sins on the cross. His Son received our punishment of death and separation from God. All so that we could have the chance to be with Him for all eternity.

Jesus' atoning sacrifice gave us grace. We have God's grace! We don't have to work, we don't have to earn it, we don't have to try to prove our worthiness. All we have to do is accept Jesus as Lord. All we have to do is receive His gift of eternal life. Simple acceptance of Jesus' precious gift grants us the grace to be in right relationship with the true and living God.

That's it.

That's amazing grace!

Verse of the Day: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God... Ephesians 2:8

By the Grace of God

Yesterday, I was able to throw my two cents into a lively discussion about faith. Some folks were wondering why Christians say that they believe the whole Bible, but in some respects ignore some of the rules that God put forth in the Old Testament.

It's true. We no longer stone people for sin. Some of us don't follow the dietary laws. We don't offer up animal sacrifices. We can wear whichever fabrics we choose. There's a lot of things that were put down in the law that God gave the Israelites that we don't follow today.

Are we being hypocritical?

No.

Jesus Christ is the reason why the law no longer applies. His sacrifice on the cross ended the need for any more animal sacrifices to absolve sin. His death and resurrection instituted grace in place of rigorous rules. Because of Jesus, we don't have to worry about a laundry list of laws. Through His love, we experience an inward change and are blessed with the Father's forgiveness.

True, there are some things addressed within the law that still apply under grace. Sin is still sin in God's eyes. Yet, if we come before Him repentant and ask for forgiveness, we receive His grace and are made right with Him again.

It's so amazing what Jesus accomplished for us!

Man has a way of getting caught up in rules. We focus on what we should or shouldn't do, we judge people by what we consider to be right or wrong. But under grace, all God is looking at is our hearts. He's looking to see a love for Him and a desire to please Him.

Our Father knows that when our heart is in the right place, our actions will follow. When we desire to please Him, anything we do against Him causes us remorse and we will work to make things right.

Today, give God thanks for the grace that He has shown you. Praise your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who freed you from the curse of the law. And show someone else that same amazing grace that was shown to you.

Verse of the Day: So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life." This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, "It is through obeying the law that a person has life." But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. Galatians 3:11-13