Tag: forgiveness

Refunds and Exchanges

01/03/2014Gospel, Sharing the Gospel, , 12 Comments

Don’t you just hate the refund and exchange lines after Christmas? Sometimes it’s easier to keep something we don’t like rather than stand in that line. Maybe that’s why we work so hard to find the perfect gift for those we love.

Although, there are moments when we fall victim to a great marketing plan, salesman, or impulse and pick up the worst possible gift. Then we pay for it twice: once at the cash register and again when we stand in the returns line.

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, made a purchase that I’m sure they’d like to return.  When they succumbed to the serpent’s persuasion and ate the fruit sin and death entered Eden and remains with us today. They would one day physically die, for the wages of sin is death. (Genesis 3)\

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.” – Romans 5:12

They also experienced spiritual death. When they chose to sin, they were separated from God who is holy and cannot abide sin. We are born spiritually dead, separated from God, and living under the influence of our sin nature.

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins… By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.” –Ephesians 2:1-3

It may look fun, living apart from God, after all, who wants the continual conviction of falling short of God’s holy standard? We all want freedom to do what we want. But true freedom is not being able to do what we want; true freedom means not living with fear, guilt, worry, or shame. True freedom is being able to stand in the presence of God cleansed and forgiven.

We can’t return to Eden, nor can we return the sin nature that’s born in each one of us, but we can exchange it! And, amazingly, the line is not long, nor is the process difficult.

Actually, you are the only person in the line, and Jesus is waiting for you to step up to Him. When you come to Jesus, it’s as easy as saying “I have nothing to bring, I cannot clean myself up, nor change my own heart. I believe that you are the One and only way to the Father, and I ask you to wash away my sin and enter into my very being. I freely choose to submit to you as my Lord and my Savior.”

You were dead because of your sins and because your sin nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” – Colossians 2:13-14

What a way to start the year! Cleansed. Forgiven. Spiritually alive. Freed from sin’s power. Freed to live for God. Have you made the exchange? If not, why not today?

Decorating the Whole Tree

12/17/2013Gospel, Holidays, Sharing the Gospel, Spiritual Walk, , , , , 5 Comments

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 When our grandsons, Jacob and Matthew, decorated their Christmas tree all the ornaments were hung on the bottom. When they decorated our tree, with help from their taller cousins, Abby and Emmy, they reached a bit higher, but the top third was still bare.

After everyone went home, Brian and I moved the ornaments over the entire tree so that it was balanced and perhaps more pleasant to look at.

Christians don’t just decorate trees; we have ornaments with which to decorate our personalities. God calls us to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love.

Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

We enjoy putting these virtues on, and like ornaments they are nice to observe; but are they balanced? Do they cover every bit of our lives?

Sometimes, like Matty’s ornaments (all on one branch in the back of the tree), we reserve kindness and compassion only for those who are the closest to us.

And, like Jake’s ornaments: Our gentleness and patience abound, but we only interact with people directly in front of and close to us and we don’t consider those who are out of sight.

Occasionally, we’re like Abby and Emmy’s ornaments, we are humble, loving and forgiving for the most part, but there are some situations and people just beyond our reach and we don’t really want to go out of our way to touch them.

In the grocery store, at church, at the mall, on the phone with customer service, in the morning before coffee, at the end of a very long day, in the hospital room, in the office, in the classroom, or on the road, would you say you reveal these virtues all the time? Are they spread throughout your life evenly and consistently?

Acting Godly in every situation is difficult and exhausting. And some might even say it’s hypocritical or fake. It surely isn’t natural.

And that’s true, it isn’t natural; but when we trust God for salvation, by believing that God came down at Christmas, died on Good Friday, and rose on Easter morning to save us from our sins, he begins the process of changing us from the inside out. He changes us from who we were to who He created us to be.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Is this Christmas season the time to believe, to be born again, and let God change you from top to bottom and enable you to live a life that displays his Godly virtues throughout your entire life? You can’t do it on your own, but with God, all things are possible.

Gift-giving Season

11/15/2013Spiritual Growth, , 4 Comments

As I was out this morning, I passed a “Salvation Army” truck, and I was reminded that when I was little, about this time every year, we’d go through our toys and donate those we no longer played with to the Salvation Army.

I don’t ever remember asking why we had to give our toys away; we just knew we did. We understood the reality that there were other little boys and girls who didn’t have toys and we had enough to share. That was reason enough. I don’t ever recall fussing about it, though my mom might recall things differently.

We didn’t have tons of toys, but we were never, ever without something to play with. I played with my brother’s guns… and well, I won’t say he played with my dolls, because I don’t ever recall him playing with them, but I played with his GI-Joe tank! And, I never had a baseball glove of my own, but when all the kids in the neighborhood played baseball, there were always plenty of bats, gloves and balls. And, we all had bikes (with baseball cards clipped to the spokes).

It wasn’t a big deal to give away toys we didn’t play with anymore.  Plus, we all knew the verse: … Acts 20:35 “…remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

The Bible says that giving is a gift from God, and if we have this gift, we should give generously. Romans 12:6-8 “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is giving, then give generously.”

What does ‘generously’ really mean? I looked it up: abundant, magnanimous, bountiful, not selfish.

It’s easier to not be selfish with ‘things’ than it is with my life. Am I willing to give away time? Am I willing to give up half an hour to chat with a friend who’s hurting? Am I willing to babysit in the church nursery and give up time with my family? Am I willing to lead a Bible study and give up my TV time in the evening? Am I willing to give up a child, or grandchild to the mission field? Am I willing to give up vacation to serve on the mission field?

I also looked up magnanimous: generous in forgiving! I never really thought about giving forgiveness as a gift. I have plenty of forgiveness, I won’t ever run out.

God always forgives me when I confess my sin, but am I willing to be generous with my forgiveness? Or do I hold onto it tightly?

What has the Lord put on your heart to give this time of year? Is it time to clean out the toy box? Garage? Storage room? Your closet? Your heart?

I’m going to go through this toy cabinet; the grandsons probably won’t notice! And, I’m also going to search my heart and get rid of any unforgiveness that’s hiding there.

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