Slowly, I believe I am finally coming around to see even more of the goodness of our God. The depths of the goodness of our God are unfathomable, and I think to keep our minds and hearts from exploding God lovingly reveals Himself to us bit by bit. HE IS GOOD! I read through Psalm 116 this afternoon and was so thrilled to be in it. One of my life verses is Psalm 116:6, "The LORD preserves the simplehearted, when I was in great need He saved me." (NIV) Oh how I remember how I can recall the depths of my sin against the LORD. So as I was reading through this Psalm, verse 16 and 17 really got my attention. I thought, how great is our God? He has loosed my bonds (all of them). In the original language, loosed means to be open, to free. The Lord, in His love, set us free from our bonds.
I once had a dear sister tell me, "I don't need to study about being set free from sin because I've never really struggled with any 'bad' sin." My heart broke. How deceived this dear sister was, and how easily distracted and deceived we can all become, clouded by our own self-righteousness, we fail to recognize the "everyday sins." In this amazing book I am reading, the author, Jerry Bridges calls them, "Respectable Sins." The ones we tolerate...like gossip, but it's not gossip..it's a prayer request. Or irritability that looks somewhat like road rage and a short tempered spouse. Or even, dare I say complacency in our Christian life because we are simply too tired or busy to prioritize prayer and reading Scripture the way we should? I echo the words of our brother Paul, in 2 Timothy 1:15, "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all." I am foremost of all!! Oh Lord, YOUR mercy is great!!!
But God's word clearly says here, that He has loosed our bonds!! Bonds in this verse is the same word used in Nahum 1:13, "So now, I will break his yoke bar from upon you, And I will tear off your shackles." God Himself tears off our shackles. He breaks the bonds. The bonds of being a slave to the "fear of man." What will others think if I am friends with her? How will my children respect my authority if I apologize to them for losing my temper? What if she won't be my friend anymore because I lovingly offer God's word as a rebuke (and at that, am I lovingly offering it or self-righteously offering it)? FREE ladies. We are FREE from that! We are free from the worries of the world! We are free from the stresses of life.
"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36 (free from the dominion of sin in the original Greek).
So rather, I encourage us...let us embrace the freedom of Christ, to love with reckless abandon, seek reconciliation as needed, to seek forgiveness from sins, especially those "respectable sins." To apologize to our children, to model Jesus before the world without regard to what men think of us. Let us redeem the time for Christ!!
I am so overwhelmed with the love of God. I can not fathom the depths of His love, the riches of His mercy and yet...He extends it to me, through CHRIST!!!
The question then becomes..not how can you forgive someone, how can you love someone, but as a believer in Christ, the question is then..how can we NOT? Look at what Christ Himself has done for you and I!
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3
1 comment:
Amen Britt!
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