Romans 4:25
25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Justified
When you do something dumb, wouldn't it be cool if you could rewind the tape of your life so that it never happened? When God justifies us, it's just as if our sin never happened. It's gone. Vanished. Good thing we don't have to work for justification because no amount of work would ever outweigh our mound of sin. Being justified is a gift from God that we get when we believe in Jesus.
- Zondervan Teen Devotional Bible
Justification in this case means to be free from guilt or penalty of sin. So when you repent, God forgives you and does not hold your sin against you.
About 2 or so months ago, the Youth Pastor of Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene preached a message on the ministry of reconciliation, forgiveness. He said that forgiveness is restoring the person who sinned against you back to the place where they were before they committed the sin. Basically, if you were my close friend and you hurt me terribly, forgiveness would require me to be your close friend again. The Pastor said that you are not trusting that the person will not hurt you again, but that God's grace is sufficient. I still don't understand what he meant by that. But I think he was ultimately saying that when you forgive someone, you don't treat them in light of what they have done to you. You do what God does and wipe it from memory.
And it sounds outrageous. Even typing this now, I'm questioning this belief because it sounds so ridiculous. But how can we expect perfect forgiveness and perfect mercy when we are not forgiving and merciful? The see-saw has to be balanced. And I have to keep on reminding myself that the spirit of forgiveness is not a quality that you obtain overnight. It takes time. But God's cool with that, He understands our humaness. But He still calls us to do our best. And in truth, the Holy Spirit in us, the God in us, is the one who's doing the work. He is the one forgiving our foes and living the Christian life for us. More on that tomorrow.
Love and Jesus <3
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Real Love
I believe that these few verses fully embody the reason why I am a Christian.
Romans 5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Praise God. Thank You Jesus. That is absolutely crazy. Even though we spat in His face and flogged Him and cursed Him, He died for our salvation. I mean, who does that? I believe with all my heart that God is insane. I know that He knows what He's doing, but the reason He does what He does will forever boggle my mind. I'm not worthy of this love! It's insane. Really and truly. Love is the driving force behind all that God does. Love and His glory. But then, maybe those two are synonymous? I don't know. All I know is that God has a real, deep, passionate love for me. And that's crazy.
One part that is idealistic, but hard to put into practice is verse 3, where we are called to rejoice in our sufferings. One thing that I am glad to God about is the fact that suffering draws us nearer to Him. But man, suffering is not fun. And I believe that I'd be strong enough for whatever comes my way, just me and God toughin' it out, but I don't how I'd be if I lost someone close to me. I don't know what that's like yet. My grandparents died, a sister in the church died, but I was never intimately involved in their lives. I miss them, but I don't cry when I think of them. It crosses my mind what I would do if my sister died. And when I think about it, it scares me. Because I don't know what I'd do. I don't know what I'd do! I go to her for EVERYTHING. And I doubt I'd run away from God, but I would be angry at Him and cling to Him at the same time. I'd def. probably do that. And things unexpected always happen to test your faith and I always worry that because I believe that the death of my sister is the worst thing that could ever happen to me, it will happen. God, please take that spirit of fear out of me. You said that You will never give me more than I can bear, so if Nicky dies, it means that I'll be able to bear it. You and me together. So when suffering comes, I will rejoice anyway. I will rejoice. Holy Spirit in me, give me the strength to rejoice through the pain.
These verses are so rich, I can go on and on. But I won't :3
Dad, thank You for sending Jesus to redeem mankind. And Jesus, thank You for reconciling us with the Father. I pray that Your message of hope and peace and eternal life will reach the people of the world and will transform it. For those in despair, those who are depressed, I pray that You will reveal Yourself to them and that they will be a first-hand witness of Your goodness and of Your mercy and of Your friendship and of Your love. Heal the world God, and may the Church, may Your people, be sharp and effective tools in the winning of souls for Your Kingdom. Thank You Jesus for who You are. I pray this in the name of Christ Jesus, Amen.
Romans 5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Praise God. Thank You Jesus. That is absolutely crazy. Even though we spat in His face and flogged Him and cursed Him, He died for our salvation. I mean, who does that? I believe with all my heart that God is insane. I know that He knows what He's doing, but the reason He does what He does will forever boggle my mind. I'm not worthy of this love! It's insane. Really and truly. Love is the driving force behind all that God does. Love and His glory. But then, maybe those two are synonymous? I don't know. All I know is that God has a real, deep, passionate love for me. And that's crazy.
One part that is idealistic, but hard to put into practice is verse 3, where we are called to rejoice in our sufferings. One thing that I am glad to God about is the fact that suffering draws us nearer to Him. But man, suffering is not fun. And I believe that I'd be strong enough for whatever comes my way, just me and God toughin' it out, but I don't how I'd be if I lost someone close to me. I don't know what that's like yet. My grandparents died, a sister in the church died, but I was never intimately involved in their lives. I miss them, but I don't cry when I think of them. It crosses my mind what I would do if my sister died. And when I think about it, it scares me. Because I don't know what I'd do. I don't know what I'd do! I go to her for EVERYTHING. And I doubt I'd run away from God, but I would be angry at Him and cling to Him at the same time. I'd def. probably do that. And things unexpected always happen to test your faith and I always worry that because I believe that the death of my sister is the worst thing that could ever happen to me, it will happen. God, please take that spirit of fear out of me. You said that You will never give me more than I can bear, so if Nicky dies, it means that I'll be able to bear it. You and me together. So when suffering comes, I will rejoice anyway. I will rejoice. Holy Spirit in me, give me the strength to rejoice through the pain.
These verses are so rich, I can go on and on. But I won't :3
Dad, thank You for sending Jesus to redeem mankind. And Jesus, thank You for reconciling us with the Father. I pray that Your message of hope and peace and eternal life will reach the people of the world and will transform it. For those in despair, those who are depressed, I pray that You will reveal Yourself to them and that they will be a first-hand witness of Your goodness and of Your mercy and of Your friendship and of Your love. Heal the world God, and may the Church, may Your people, be sharp and effective tools in the winning of souls for Your Kingdom. Thank You Jesus for who You are. I pray this in the name of Christ Jesus, Amen.
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