It Was Enough

50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Mary was about to do the unthinkable. She was about to anoint Jesus feet in the middle of a group of men who would call her out and make her look foolish. They would disparage her and humiliate her. As she walked toward the house where Jesus was, why didn’t she stop and turn around. What kept her focused on the task she knew she needed to do? What made her want to thank Jesus for his forgiveness in her life?

She had not yet witnessed the one act that sealed her forgiveness. The act of Jesus death on the cross. She did not see him bowed in Gethsemane pleading with the Father to provide another way. As Jesus bowed there, crying out to God, truly not wanting to walk the path that was before him, pleading – please take this cup, this suffering that I am about to do, from me. Mary didn’t know that what caused Jesus to surrender was her. I imagine as he knelt there that he saw her face. He saw yours and mine. As he knelt there not wanting to walk the path before him, each and every one of us flashed before him.

 Mary also didn’t know what he would go through on the cross. As he hung there and our sins were being piled onto him, she didn’t see or understand the pain. Not just physical pain, which he surely had, but the separation the sin caused between him and his Father. As Jesus hung there, each and every sin was laid on him. Every single sin each one of us and every single person in the world has ever committed. Jesus didn’t look up in the middle of all that and say “Wait, this one sin that Elaine committed, I can’t take that on. And look, that one sin from Peter, Mary or Sarah, no, I won’t die for those.” He died for it all. The big ones and the little ones. But, Mary didn’t know all that yet.

As the people started talking Jesus said “Do you see this woman?” He didn’t mean physically. He meant her heart. Do you see what she has embraced about me? And then he turned to her and said “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Friends, we are not saved because we do good things.  We are not forgiven because we are sorry for the bad things we’ve done. We are forgiven only because of the utterly complete death on the cross.  That’s it.

 Like Mary, we must embrace that. We must have faith that Jesus’ death on the cross was enough. We must live like we believe that we are completely, 100% forgiven.  If we believe that, we too can live our lives in peace. Let’s not let our past sins cause us to miss out on the life of forgiveness and joy God has for us. Let’s leave our mess at the cross knowing because of Jesus death, we are forever forgiven.

Which Love?

When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do—with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Feed My lambs. John 21:15 (AMPC)

As I read this verse and contemplated on this conversation between Jesus and Peter, I began to wonder about some things. Peter had denied Christ and I am sure his heart was broken. Have you ever done something that you know was not good and felt the immediate conviction from the Holy Spirit? I have. I hate that feeling.

After the conviction and the prayer for forgiveness the feeling like you don’t measure up is overpowering. It seems like the feeling that you are not forgiven lingers.

I wondered about that as I read this passage. Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him with an agape love. Agape love is the strongest, selfless love that we can have. It is like the love that we are loved with from God. But Peter answered the question with a lesser love. He used the word phillia which means more of a friendly, affectionate love.

Did Peter answer with phillia instead of agape because after messing up he felt that he could never get to that point? Did he feel he was not worthy to even think that he could love Jesus that way? Did he doubt himself?

Jesus kept pressing and demonstrated to Peter agape love. He let him know that this was the reason he died on the cross. Because no matter how Peter messed up, he was forgiven. He does the same with us. No matter how we mess up, Jesus presses and demonstrates that we are loved with that unconditional, “I can’t believe it” kind of love. He demonstrated that when he died for us and he demonstrates it every single day when he speaks to our hearts.

Let me ask you. Do you love Jesus with that unconditional, passionate, one-of-a-kind love that he loves you? If not, what’s stopping you? Please don’t let it be because you messed up. That’s already been covered. Ask Peter.

A Minute In It - Coming Clean With God

A minute in Gods' word will change your life.  Read through the Bible text and ask yourself the questions at the bottom of the post.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
    blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
    Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
    it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
    I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
    and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—
    yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
    teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
    you have broken me—
    now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
    Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
    Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
    and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
    and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
    then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
    that my mouth may praise you.

16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
    You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
    with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
    Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Have you ever done something and then felt remorse?
Has Satan ever beat you up for a mistake that you made?
Where did you go for comfort? Where did you go for reassurance?
Have you ever begged God to restore your relationship?

What Does Grace Look Like?

I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)

As I read through the Old Testament, over and over again it says things like “He did evil in the Lord’s sight” or “They followed the sins of their ancestors” or “They refused to follow the Lord.” After a while, I start thinking “Of course they did.” It makes you wonder why they can’t keep themselves on the right path.

And then, I start to wonder why God keeps putting up with them. Sure, he let them face their consequences. And sometimes they were severe. But the Bible also tells us when Israel repented and cried out to God that he responded to them. “But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them.” 2 Kings 13:23

I began to marvel at a God who would continually step in and rescue the very people who got themselves into trouble because they ignored what God told them. I began to see the unconditional love that God has for us. Over and over again, we do the same thing that the Israelites did. We know what God wants but we do what we want instead. We get into trouble and then cry out to him. And he shows up.

Sure, we may have consequences to face because God is just and fair….until it comes to our future. What we justly deserve is death. What would be fair is that we are never rescued. But Jesus died for our sins so that we do not get what is just and fair.

As I read the stories of the Israelites and their continual failure to follow God, all I can do is praise him. I praise him because in reality, I am just like that. And when I call on his name, when I cry out to him, “The Lord is gracious to me and has compassion on me and turns to me.” He does the same for you.

Won't You Ever Learn?

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot about the Lord their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles. But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord raised up a rescuer to save them.  So there was peace in the land for forty years. Judges 3:7, 9, 11

I decided back in May to start listening to my Bible. Listening instead of reading gives a different perspective. I use the YouVersion app and picked a bible plan that parses it up into a daily structure that is easy to follow. Some days I listen to it a lot, some days not so much depending on the level of chaos each day. I highly recommend this. It's amazing to be in God's Word. 

Anyway, I am in Judges right now.  WOW!  That is a gory book. I am only up to Chapter 5 and I've had a couple of moments where I wince, groan and say ewwww. It was a very violent time for Israel. But here's is a pattern I've noticed so far. 

1. Israel does evil in the Lord's sight forgetting him and worshipping idols.
2. They are captured and forced into what amounts to slavery by another nation. After they do this for a few years they cry out to the Lord to save them.
3. The Lord rescues them and they live in peace.....until the cycle starts all over again.

I could spend some time talking about how amazed I am that they are so clueless but since I know I am sometimes clueless, I'd like to focus on the other aha moment I had.

God, even though they turned from him to fulfill their selfish desires, keeps showing up. You'd think after a couple hundred or so years of this childish, selfish behavior he would just walk away. Isn't that what we'd do?  

If we were in a relationship with someone and they kept doing stuff to hurt us and themselves and then they got themselves into a real pickle and asked us to bail them out, how many times would we bail them out? How many times before we said "That's it. You are not learning from this. I'm done."?

I'm thinking we wouldn't tolerate it for too long. But, not God. He keeps responding to their call, he keeps showing up and helping them time and time again. And this is why I worship him. Because he also does that for me.

Gone, Gone, Gone!

Where is another God like you,
    who pardons the guilt of the remnant,
    overlooking the sins of his special people?
You will not stay angry with your people forever,
    because you delight in showing unfailing love.
19 Once again you will have compassion on us.
    You will trample our sins under your feet
    and throw them into the depths of the ocean! Micah 7:18-19 (NLT)

As I stood with my great-nephew with our feet in the surf, the waves rolled in and out. Back and forth. Eventually, our feet were buried underneath the sand. We were unable to see them they were covered so completely. And, it happened so quickly. Before you knew it, we were buried.

As we moved our feet to another part of the beach, holes were left where our feet had been. As the water continued its rhythmic motion washing over the indentations we left, the holes were soon gone. Nothing was left but a smooth, undisturbed surface. 

Made me think of God’s forgiveness. When we sin, indentations in our lives are left. But, when we change our position by changing our behavior or changing our course, God wipes the slate clean. He simply says, “You are forgiven.” There are no residual comments, no lingering accusations. Nothing is held over our head until we get it perfect. He doesn’t say “I’ll forgive you if you do this, this and this.” Once we say I’m sorry, once we ask him for his forgiveness he says “Done!”

And, just like the sand doesn’t differentiate by the size of the feet or the weight of the person, God doesn’t offer forgiveness only to those that have sinned “less.”  In God’s eyes, all sins are the same. No matter what you’ve done, forgiveness is still immediate and complete.

God tells us that he throws our sins into the depth of the ocean.  How appropriate. In the depths of the ocean, you won’t be able to find it again. It is gone. Forever.

Forgiving Is Hard

As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died. Acts 7:59-60 (NLT)

Stephen was one of the people proclaiming the gospel and the awesomeness of Jesus after Jesus death. During one of those times, the people who did not believe Jesus was the Messiah became so angry and agitated they reacted with violence. They began to throw stones at Stephen and killed him.

Interestingly, Stephen was talking to God in his last moments. He asked him to receive his spirit and then he said, "Lord, forgive them." After that he died. The last thing he did was ask for their forgiveness. Jesus did the same thing. As he was being crucified, he asked God to forgive the people who were murdering him.

Sometimes forgiveness is hard. And sometimes the things we need to forgive others for are because of horrific acts. But God still asks us to do it. I am reading a book called Grace is Greater by Kyle Idleman. In the book he says two things that struck me:

Second, I wonder if Jesus and Stephen both prayed that God would forgive their murderers, instead of just offering forgiveness themselves, because ultimately what matters most, what people need most, is God's forgiveness, not ours.

Third, I wonder if maybe Jesus, and especially Stephen, prayed God would forgive them because in that moment they didn't have forgiveness to give. I said forgiveness isn't simple; it's difficult and maybe even impossible on our own. Perhaps Stephen couldn't muster up the grace to say, "I forgive you" to the men who were killing him, so instead he prayed that God would, which is what they really needed anyway.

We all know forgiving someone who has truly hurt you is hard. And sometimes we don't have it in us to do it on our own but, if we pray and ask God to forgive them and to heal our hearts, he will get us around to the place where we can forgive. Forgiveness doesn't mean that you discount what was done and throw the consequences to the wind, it means that you give it up. You give it up to God. You give it to him for your own peace and your own healing. And you stop the damage that is being done to you by becoming whole again.

It is still hard but oh so worth it.

A Better Way

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” John 8:4-5 (NLT)

When they threw the woman caught in the act of adultery onto the ground in front of Jesus, they wanted her dead. Jesus got quiet and started writing in the dust. I wonder what was going through his head. I wonder if it was that the law they mentioned required testimony from two people who saw the couple in a sexual act: lying in the same bed, no mistaking what they were doing and able to positively identify each person. The two witnesses had to see these things at the same time and place so there story was identical.  It would be virtually impossible to do this if you hadn’t set up a trap.

I wonder if he was also thinking that the law required a person to step in and help someone who was about to sin by encouraging them to walk away. This required compassion. Where was the compassion here? And where was the man involved? He was obviously committing the same act but he was excused. Then, there is the public display of the case. Why wasn't this done privately? Were they really concerned with her welfare or Jesus' response?

I wonder if his Divinity flashed as he saw their careless regard for this woman's life. And I can't help but wonder if he thought to himself "This is why humans aren't in charge of the judgement." Obviously, we as humans can see when someone is doing something they shouldn't be doing. But too often we see it with blinders on. We neglect to look at our own sin and contemplate our own situations. We are so quick to look at others and snap to judgement. We are slow to see them with Jesus' heart.

Jesus said to her "Go and leave your life of sin." (v. 11, NIV) He wasn’t ignorant to what she was actually doing. And he didn't want her to continue her sinful behavior. But how he set her on a different path was immensely different. Jesus was interested in her future, in her eternity. His heart went out to her knowing she was hurting and in need of a better way. The accusers were only interested in proving their point even if it meant destroying her life.

So who do you most take after in this story? Next time we are tempted to pass judgement on someone, we should ask ourselves "What would Jesus do?"