Forgiveness

The Sanctity of Life

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The sanctity of Life has been a political battle for many decades, and people from both camps have passionate views on this matter.  In reality, this is not a debatable issue because we are not the creator nor the preserver of life. Whenever human life becomes a political issue, we are on a slippery slope. The debate on this crucial issue forces people to determine whose life is valuable and whose is not! The Lord creates every human being in their mother’s womb, and shapes them uniquely according to His design and plan (See Psalm 71:6 and Psalm 139:13-15). He is the one who determines the value and the significance of every life. …

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Paid in Full!

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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,  who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46

Jesus likened the kingdom of God to a merchant looking for beautiful pearls. We can presume that this  merchant knew and understood the quality and value of  pearls. He came across this beautiful pearl, and he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to buy it even it it cost him everything!

Similarly, God is expert in humanity and knows and understands our value and our potential! Although sin had marred humanity, the Lord knew the beauty of human soul, for He created us in His image! Even though the Lord still possessed this whole amazing world with all its beauty, but God’s heart was after people! When sin entered the world, it broke our covenant with a Holy God, and humanity no longer belonged to the kingdom of God. We were no longer in relationship with God! Therefore, we had to be bought back from the kingdom of darkness. So the Lord sent Jesus to seek and save those who were lost!

In the above parable, the beautiful pearl was a pricy one, but the merchant was willing to sell all he had to buy it. The merchant had found something that was worth more than all the others things he owned, and he was willing to sell everything to pay full price and purchase this pearl of great price.

We were also pricy to be bought by God. From the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve, He called us good! Sin did not change our value before God, but it caused us to be separated from the Kingdom of God. To fix the problem, humanity had to be bought back from the kingdom of darkness. The price was very high, and the only one qualified to pay the price was God’s son, the perfect one!

Jesus’ blood paid in full the price for our salvation! He paid full price for the pearl of great price! He didn’t leave anything out to be bought later. He died for our past, present, and future sins. He died for our insecurities, shame, guilt, inadequacies, rejection, rebellion, and pain. There is nothing that Jesus’ blood cannot cover, and He cannot forgive. He washed us clean as the pearls of great price. His satisfaction is for us to be belong to Him!

For those of you who have never known Jesus, He has already paid the full price for your forgiveness and restoration! Hs saw you as valuable despite all your past, and He died on the cross to buy you back from sin and destruction and to bring you to His Kingdom of light and freedom! The invitation is yours  if you choose to accept His work on the cross on your behalf and surrender your life to Him! If you are ready to accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord, click on Salvation prayer at the top of this page and pray the prayer. I can assure you that your life will never be the same again, and you begin a journey in knowing and growing in God that will last you a lifetime!

For those of you who already know Jesus, is there anything that keeps you from Him? Is there anything that causes you to feel not accepted? The truth is that He paid the price in Full, so there is nothing that can keep you from the love of God. Talk to the Lord and lay down anything that has been a heavy burden or has caused a distance in your relationship to God or others. He paid it all, and He can restore your life when you give him the reins!

Let’s thank the Lord for what He has done for us and receive His acceptance in full! Praise the Lord for sending Jesus to the earth, and thank you Jesus for paying the full price for our redemption and restoration!

 

Image by moritz320 from Pixabay

Are You Offended?

6 Comments / Forgiveness, Offense / By

Being a Christian does not exempt us from being offended. On the contrary, it may even give us more opportunities to get offended than before. Generally, we seem to get more offended with our brothers and sisters in Christ than with the world. To some degree that is understandable. We’re the ones who are the new creation. We should know better because we read the word of God and should know how to live a life pleasing to the Lord. So when a believer does something that is out of character for a Christian, or they claim to know the truth but their actions don’t bear the same witness, we get offended.

The best thing to do with a personal offense is to follow Matthew 18 instruction in the Bible which describes going directly to the person who has offended us and settle/reconcile the matter. If we are an observer to another person’s offense, we need to remind ourselves that we don’t see/know the whole picture and let go of the offense before it develops into a root of bitterness.

However, there is another form of offense which is more dangerous. Let’s look at the scripture below:

“ And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Matthew 11:2-6

John the Baptist was the forerunner to Christ, and he was the one who baptized Jesus. But now that he is in prison, things haven’t turned out the way he thought they should. So He questioned if Jesus was really the one or if they should look for another one.Jesus had to remind John the Baptist of what had transpired in his time of ministry. However, John the Baptist was offended because Jesus did not conform to his ideas of Messiah.

This is the more insidious and dangerous offense than the normal day to day offenses. We hear God speak to us through His word or His spirit. Some may have received a prophecy about their lives, and then we wait and wait and wait a little longer. We wonder what is happening

The same Jesus who was the rock of offense for the Jewish people and even John the Baptist can become a rock of offense to a mature believer. We think we have understood God and we have figured out how He works; and when He doesn’t meet our expectations, we are offended.  We’re “too mature” to think that we are offended by God, so we don’t admit it. Instead, we project our disappointment on others and we question their integrity or their leadership.

When we look at the Biblical accounts of men and women who served God, we always find God moving in unexpected ways!! When Jesus heard about Lazarus’s sickness, he waited a couple of more days before going back to Judea to Mary and Martha’s house. By then Lazarus was already dead!! Talk about disappointment!! But Jesus had a more beautiful and powerful plan than what the sisters had envisioned. He brought Lazarus back to life! We cannot box Him in. We can read the Word and walk faithfully with God, however, it doesn’t mean that by doing right we can control God’s actions on our behalf. We do right because it pleases God, but we always have to give Him room to be God and do it the way He knows best even when it doesn’t make sense to us. The scripture says, “… the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate ” (1Corinthians 1:19b NIV).

In our walk of faith there will be times in life that we will not understand things or see things clearly. Sometimes other people’s actions or lack of action will cause great disappointment. That cannot change us. We keep doing the same thing until the Lord’s instruction changes, but we don’t act on an offense. That’s not God, and it can make us go around the same mountain over and over again without gaining spiritual ground!!

Is there any offense in your heart toward God or anyone? Repent and release people from your grip!!

Ultimately this isn’t about your relationship with the people. It has to do with your relationship to the Lord. Speak to Him about your aching heart and let Him heal you.