SALVATION - MORE THAN YOUR FUTURE

So you've professed that you are a sinner, confessed that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, asked Him to forgive you and promised to be an obedient Christian.  What now?

Do you realize that your salvation (being saved) is not just your entrance ticket to the pearly gates, living in the glory of God for eternity, but also your salvation NOW?  

We need to look at the big picture here.  Ever since the beginning of time, in Genesis, the stories all lead up to Jesus.  When man sinned against God, he put a wedge between himself and God.  Until God forgives, people will be lost in life.  This is the reason why sinners are clouded in their existence.  There is no peace, joy, and happiness in their life.  Before I got saved, the question haunted me.  Is this all there is to life?  I remember how that felt in my life.  I was in a dead end.  All of my bad decisions previously were now piling up on top of me and I couldn't breathe.  Literally.  When I gave my life to Jesus, there was a renewal, a change if you will that suddenly my life was meaningful.  After receiving the salvation and staying close with God, you will start to experience His grace, His Love, joy in your heart and peace.

You see, God will always take you to a higher level every time you hit a plateau.  He will challenge you to learn the deeper truths in life until "He" starts to make sense.  Just because you know you are saved from eternal damnation, it doesn't mean that you can't be saved from the daily challenges of life.    Paul says in Thessalonians 5:9 that believers will live with Christ in this world (when we are "awake") and in the next (when we are "asleep").  

God chose to save us through His only Son Jesus Christ so as not to pour His anger on us!  And boy, does He have a lot to be angry about!

Hey, you know, thank God for Jesus!  Can you imagine if we were living as they did in the old testament and every time we sin we would have to make an animal offering to God in order to be forgiven?  I mean I have three dogs, and I'm pretty sure that by now they all have been offered!  What's next? My kids?  So you see how much God loves us?  His perfection enables Him to forgive His own creation, in His own image... His children.  Us.  But there is a breaking point as well.  Just because God doles out forgiveness, it doesn't mean we have carte blanche to commit sins.  We have a responsibility to achieve and attain the best possible height of his expectations of us.

Think about it.  Until my next rant.... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

The Power to Forgive

There is a wall that separates two people who refuse to forgive each other.  The wall may be paper thin but yet, it is strong enough to separate them.  Unforgiveness is irrelevant unless the two parties mean that much to each other.  They could be family members, friends, spouses, etc.  The devil is given the power to keep one from the other.  

But God has the super power that He wants all of us to have.  That power is Forgiveness.  This is a very powerful tool in our arsenal that was given to us freely by God.  To illustrate, God is the highest of all high but yet, even during the time of the old testament, when people atoned with him using a sacrificial lamb, He was guaranteed to forgive them.  Someone who holds the highest power, being able to forgive.  

As a young child, my mother always told me that I should forgive my siblings when they do me wrong.  It was the hardest thing a child who has very little understanding of forgiveness.  She used to say, "Be the bigger person."  It makes a lot of sense now but at that time, my strong will refused to do so.  It was because I believed that if I forgave someone, they would have the upper hand on me.  And that carried throughout my adult life, until I was twice born.

Forgiveness breaks the chains of bondage from our past.  Whether we are the ones seeking forgiveness from Jesus or we are the ones whose forgiveness is sought after.  It sets us free nonetheless.  Forgiveness slays resentment and hate, shame and bitterness.

Who says forgiving someone is easy?  Well, it isn't.  Not even for God.  It cost Him His only Son, Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness is not forgetfulness.  We can hold out forgiveness because we can't forget the hurt that person caused.  Let's be clear.  Forgetting is a change of memory (which of course is impossible), but forgiveness is a change of heart.

Forgiveness is not diminishing the evil that was done to us, if that is so we wouldn't need to forgive.  It does however, come in light of evil, in spite of it, not in ignorance of it.

Forgiveness is not destructive.  When one forgives, there is no violence empowered or abuse to go on, but instead surrenders the hurt up to God to handle.  God is the judge, remember?

Forgiveness doesn't mean you approve of the situation that happened.  If so, you wouldn't need to forgive, right?

So, peek above that wall and learn to forgive.  There are a myriad more reasons to do so, I'm sure you can think of some.  Above all, we are honoring God when we forgive.  We are saying, "Lord, if you can forgive the worse of the worst possible sin, who am I to hold out on forgiveness?"  Simple as that!  No, really it is simple if you make a paradigm shift in your heart. In the end, Love prevails!

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

WIP SPRINGTIME IN PARIS

Finished!

I love Paris in the Springtime- still have a few finishing touches left to do!

THE ENEMY ALWAYS LURKS

(In my sketchbook)

Getting ahead of the mind game is a round-the- clock task.  The mere profession of one’s salvation is not the end of the battle but rather, the beginning.  When our defenses our down, which I might add, often, the enemy is right there ready to pounce.  The pounce, when unnoticed, begins to fester like a wound once small and neglected leading to spiritual death.

I say this because immediately after being saved and dedicating my life to Jesus, I thought I was scot free.  After all, the Bible says that once saved we are clothed with the armor of God.   As true as that may be, it is quite important to realize that we are still mere mortals, of the flesh and hold our own will.  

My desire to get swept away by a godly man overwhelmed my awareness of the wiles of the enemy.  As a baby Christian, I thought that the man who eloquently talked about God 24/7 was truly my knight in shining armor.  Whenever a red flag is waved in front of my face, I dismissed it as one of human imperfection.  Slowly, but surely, those very imperfections became the biggest lie known to mankind (in my own opinion).  Selfishness took over.  Soon, I was someone’s property.  I was isolated from my family, especially my children, one of whom was living with us.  I have become the experimental monkey to someone’s egotistical spiritual project.  "How far can I push this woman to be under my control, my beck and call, enough to break her while I dig my claws into her that juxtaposes to her whole family?" This is how the enemy works.  he is not happy with one person, instead he must recruit the whole lot.

In Galatians 3: 1-3 it reinforces that if you have seen the vision of Jesus on the cross, that is enough for us to believe that it is the law of God that stands, not our own desires, not of our own accord.  It is foolish for us to believe that after we have started our new lives in the Spirit, we tend to revert back to our own human efforts, which is sure to fail.  

At times we forget that as mere mortals, and as Christians, we think that God backs up our own desires and arrogantly think that God approves of every self-serving thing we do just because in our own minds we believe that it is right and customized to our own ideals.  Sorry to say that self-righteousness is not righteousness.  Righteousness is striving to be like Christ.  Notice I didn’t say being like Christ?  No one can be Christ, we can only strive to be like Him.  

In everything, we have to consult God.  In every single minute detail of our lives.  Yes, if you are not sure what to eat for lunch, ask Him.  He is omni-present meaning, He is everywhere, with each and every one of us.  Never make the mistake of likening Him with us.  He lives in a different dimension, a dimension that is unfathomable in our minds.  

Remember that God hates lukewarm.  You are either with Him or against Him.   He said in His word that he will spew you out of his mouth.  I don’t know about you, but I would rather be shot out of a cannon than spewed out of God’s mouth!  I know this to be true.  When I know in my heart of hearts if what I am about to do is wrong, I hear God’s little voice holding me accountable for it.  Regardless of whether I listen to His voice or not, the consequence is quite terrifying, to say the very least.  We all must make a decision today.  Set aside our selfishness, especially pride!  But that is for another post.

And as always…. LOVE ONE ANOTHER!