FORGIVEN: Now Is The Time

https://img.youtube.com/vi/XzyvnX4yGVw/0.jpg

Listen to FORGIVEN by Crowder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUiwA1JNDig

As I drove to my Bible Study Fellowship this morning, this song slammed into my heart. My responses to the John 19 lesson fresh in my mind, I listened to these lyrics, picturing Jesus's Crucifixion with a fresh perspective.

SLAM! Right between the eyes. Crowder's lyrics hit me with the facts:

I held the nails.
I pounded MY SIN upon His flesh hanging from the Cross.
I fell to the ground with a hammer in my hands.
My lips once denied God, even in their silence.

My mind returned to that time, to that season of life, when God came down to me in the middle of a massive mess created by disobedience and unbelief. He lifted up my chin to gaze upon HIM on that very Cross where He hung, bearing every one of my horrible sins. Bearing the sins of others who hurt and shamed me. Bearing the sins of the broken world that could care less about Him hanging there, beaten and bloodied for their cause. Jesus looked down upon me from that cross, arms open wide, and cried: FORGIVEN! IT IS FINISHED!

I felt His Spirit take up residence inside me, and my life has not been the same since--no turning back! A fire burns inside of me to know and love God more and more every single day. The fire heats up my testimony and sparks me to share God's love everywhere I go. I know how much I have been forgiven, and the weight of it overshadows any intellectual doubts that arise. Even when I wrestle with my finite ability to grasp the infinite grace, goodness, and mercy of God, the reality of the knowledge I cannot escape pins me to the solid ground of faith in Jesus Christ.

Girlfriends, if you have not nailed your sin to the Cross, not crucified your fleshly and worldly desires, not asked God for freedom by His gift of forgiveness, THIS IS THE WEEK! Wait no longer!

Give it all up, Girlfriends; all the striving, all the searching, all the seeking. Give up the appearances, the appeals, the aspirations to conquer the world. Jesus already did the work. He conquered and brought His Kingdom down so He can give it you without worry and with peace. He suffered and died so YOU DON'T HAVE TO! He wants to give you freedom and new life, one without fear, guilt, shame, or lies. Yes, you will have to give up your sin, but what you gain is eternal glory and the unconditional love of the Father. You join forever the family of God, the Creator of the Universe and Sustainer of all life.

Do not be fooled into believing you are without sin. Do not think you have it all together and don't need God. Nor should you believe you need to have it all together before you can go to God. We all have fallen short of the holiness and glory of God--successful or struggling, solid or shaky, shining brightly or silently suffering--it does not matter. The only place your life matters is in God's economy, in His Kingdom. This world and all you have or have done will fade away. You will die. But will you LIVE? Girlfriends, CHOOSE LIFE NOW! Jesus conquered death on the Cross and rose from the tomb so that we can start eternal life now. Right now. Today.

I pray you will listen to this song and feel the conviction I felt this morning. Yes, I want you to feel guilty so that you can be set free! I want you to pick up that hammer and nail your sin to the cross. I want you to fall down in submission at the foot of the Cross, then look up and see His arms open wide for you. I want you to die with Him and come back to life with His Spirit living inside you, so that all of us Girlfriends can enjoy eternal life together, now and forever.

Girlfriends, what are you waiting for?

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!

Lyrics to Crowder's Forgiven:

I am the one who held the nail
It was cold between my fingertips
I have hidden in the garden
I have denied you with my very lips

God I fall down to my knees
with a hammer in my hands
You look at me
Arms Open

FORGIVEN. FORGIVEN. Child there is freedom from all of it.
SAY GOODBYE.
TO EVERY SIN.
YOU ARE FORGIVEN!

I have done things I wish I hadn't done
I have seen things I wish I hadn't seen
Just the thought of your AMAZING GRACE
I cry JESUS, FORGIVE ME.

God I fall down to my knees
with a hammer in my hands
You look at me
ARMS OPEN

FORGIVEN. FORGIVEN. Child there is freedom from all of it.
SAY GOODBYE.
TO EVERY SIN.
YOU ARE FORGIVEN!

I could've been six feet under
I could've been lost forever
Yeah I should be in that fire
But now there's fire inside of me

Here I am a dead man walking
No grave gonna hold God's people
All the weight of all our evil
Lifted away, Forever Free.

Who could believe? Who could believe?
FORGIVEN. FORGIVEN.
You love me even when I don't deserve it.
FORGIVEN. I'M FORGIVEN.

JESUS, YOUR BLOOD makes me INNOCENT
So I will say goodbye
to every sin
I AM FORGIVEN.
I AM FORGIVEN.

Greatness of Knowing

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:2-3 NIV

Hello Girlfriends!

I have to tell you that I am in touch with my nerdy inner self today! I decided to share some of my favorite websites with you, but I wanted them to have a permanent home in my blog. Determined to conquer my insecurity and i.t. ignorance (or ID10T as I am affectionately referred to often at home), I plunged into the sea of Google on a search mission. I emerged from the depths with the tools to establish a link list on the left side of my blog page. A small celebratory dance around the kitchen ensued. Shortly after publishing my operational index, the perfectionist in me emerged: the links did not open in a new tab as I desired. Time to go swimming again...and I am proud to say, I did not drown nor cry out for a lifesaving flotation device. No, Girls, I did not call my tech savvy husband at work begging for help; I called him to gloat! I managed to rewrite (well, copy and paste actually) the HTML code and complete what I set out to do. So, go ahead, give it a try. Check out some of my favorite "friends" and see what you think! (Sorry, mom-in-law, but I cannot bring myself to link to the Chicago Cubs; I am afraid your grandchildren would disown their mother. But I am with you in spirit!)

Did you notice the beautiful color change of font when you hover your mouse above each link? Isn't that too cool?  My understanding of coding and all the other technological terms related to the function and operation of computers and the internet is rudimentary. I am nonetheless fascinated and amazed at the tiny amount I am able to grasp and incorporate into my life, adding joy and even beauty, to my pragmatic moments.

Girlfriends, this morning's experience is a microcosm of life. Our God, in His infinite and unfathomably expansive wisdom and creativity, spoke into existence a world brimming with artistry, intricacy, delicacy, and complexity. When I ponder the depth and vastness of all creation, invention, and knowledge, I stand face to face with my relative insignificance and limited abilities. I entertain doubts and questions which tear at my longing and faithful heart. Fear of failure and helplessness threatens to paralyze me. I empathize with the man whose child was mute and possessed by seizures:

But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Mark 9: 22b-24

In the midst of my weakest moments, God whispers. Nudging me to gaze upon His face, I peer into His eyes which reflect the absolute certainty that He created me with originality and meticulous craftsmanship:

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Psalm 139:13 NLT

He created me with intention and purpose:

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 NLT

He created me to discover Him through His creation:

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:20 NLT

He created me for relationship with Him and with mankind:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 

Matthew 22: 37-40

He created me to walk with Him in goodness and righteousness:

 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV

He created me to seek, search, and find His bountiful treasure and to share with others:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7:7-12 NIV

Yes, ladies, God created me just as surely as He authored every aspect of life--the ones I comprehend and master as well as the incomprehensible and mysterious elements which elude my understanding. In Him I place my trust, my doubts, my fears, my successes, and my failures. I love Paul's words in Philippians 3:8, (and especially love when Mac Powell sings them but that is another page called Song of the Day):

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...

Yes, even my small victory today over the computer programming world is a loss in comparison with my immensely valuable love of Christ. I admit I will never in this life fully realize the answers to every question of faith, of nature, of science, or of mankind. Yet I do not allow my inabilities nor my ignorance to overshadow my devotion to the One who holds the key to the storehouse of all illumination and divine intelligence. I looked into His face and saw Love....that sight, for me, is enough!

I pray today that you too will seek and find the face of God, reflecting back to you His message of creation and His plan for your life. Know that you are made with a purpose, and you are loved! I pray you will open a Bible and read the passages I have quoted. I can only choose a line or two, but His message for you goes on and on and on in grace and elegance. Find a quiet time this weekend and spend it with Him.

Blessings to all!