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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.
