December 26, 2024

CHRISTLife — Eighteen: No Longer Condemned

February 5, 2014 by

cl no longer condemned

Why is it so hard to accept His forgiveness?  Why do we automatically think that He is condemning us for the sins that He so readily forgives and forgets?  I remember watching each one of my babies begin to walk.  I remember the praise, the clapping, and oh the hugs!  Yes, they stumbled; and yes, they would fall—but did I ever condemn them?  No…I ran to them, exactly where they were in the exact spot that they fell and I picked them up, held them in my arms for a while, sat down a minute or two just holding them and just being still, enjoying every moment with them.

Don’t you see?  Your Heavenly Daddy does the same thing, except He has the ability to actually forget the sin.  When you accepted Jesus as your Savior, you were made new.  Your name was written down in the Book of Life by the God who created you and the pencil He wrote which has no eraser!  So no matter what you have done or will do, you can never be separated or condemned for your sins.  You may feel a nudge sometimes to repent, but once you have asked forgiveness, you are set free from your sin.

The enemy, however, loves to condemn us and speak lies to us; but that’s what they are—just lies.  The condemnation that you may feel is from him…the same enemy that tempted man to sin in the first place.

At the end of this chapter, Mrs. Myers asks her readers to reflect on a few verses. Let’s read them together shall we?

But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you.
These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord,
their vindication will come from me, I, the Lord, have spoken.
Isaiah 54:17

You are His servants…He’s talking about you!  No weapon against you can stand!  He has promised that we will live eternally with Him if we just ask Jesus to be our Savior! He died with our sins on Him.  He cleansed us with His blood.  We are forgiven, made new, cleansed from our filth.

God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save it.
John 3:17

To SAVE it, not to CONDEMN it. He let His only Son die a horrible death, and couldn’t even look at Him because of all the sin that was cast on Him.  Jealousy, addiction, pornography, oppression, murder, robbery are all sins that were on God’s Son when He died.  All that we would do would be undone by Him.

There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him.
But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged
for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
Verse 18

If this (“anyone who does not believe in Him…”) is you, stop now and take a minute and invite Him in.  If you don’t know how, I suggest you reach out to one of us, or a pastor or a friend that you know is saved.  This is the most important thing you will ever do.  And we celebrate with you this day that you become new.

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law.
When He was hung on the cross, He took upon Himself the curse for our wrongdoing.
For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on the tree.”
Galatians 3:13

He has rescued you!  You are promised everlasting life!  This is the heart of our Christian faith, that we cannot get right with God on our own works but by His blood…and by God’s grace we are saved.  He promises us that all we have to do is trust, receive, and just rest in Him.  So I leave you with a question from this chapter:

What makes you most grateful for your new identity in Christ?

(You can leave your answer in your comment under this blog…I look forward to celebrating with you!)

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, thank You that You love us enough to let Your own Son, Who knew no sin, become our sin and die a horrible death so that we may live forever with You.  You are patient, long-suffering, our Stronghold, our Provider, our Comforter and our Redeemer.  Thank You for meeting us right where we are and not expecting us to be anything more than who we are.  You created us to glorify You and oh, how we fall short sometimes but You take us back, just as we are, You pick us up from our many falls and You hold us and love us.  Forgive us when we try to control things around us, for You are in the drivers seat, and we are so grateful.  Gently nudge those today who need You; let this be for someone out there today who needs a Savior.  It’s in Jesus name we pray, amen.

Filed Under: CHRISTLife Bible Study Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Esther – Chapter 2:21-23

September 13, 2013 by

HeAlone_Wk_Spring

I would like to believe that I would be like Esther.   Although, I cannot promise I would.  If my own life  was on the line, would I be willing to stand up for my people, God’s people?  Of course, as a mom, I would lay down my life for my children and family.  But what about His kingdom? What would you do?

Esther, chapter 2, is a story about redeeming grace and like us, the king is searching vainly for something or someone in this case to fill the vacuum of his life. We are always seeking something to fill our hearts. Here is where Mordecai and Esther enter in:

Mordecai’s most important. His name means “little man,” humbled and laying aside his glory to save the king’s life.  Does he remind you of Someone else?  Jesus maybe?

Philippians 2:5-8

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God
something to be used to His own advantage;
rather He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death.

Mordecai resembles the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, whose task is to exalt the One Who came to redeem man.  His specific work is to restore our fellowship with God, which has been lost. Mordecai does this throughout the story.

Our verses for today are Esther 2: 21-23.   This chapter closes with the account of how the king’s life is about to be spared because of Mordecai and Esther being brought into his life.  He is then delivered from a plot to end his life.

Evil enters the picture, as it does often from time to time.  It invades the minds of men.  This betrayal is a perfect example of how the enemy is at work, trying to impress evil into our thoughts and into our minds.  All the while, completely trying to destroy the glory of God’s purpose in man’s life.  We all know this force too well, unfortunately.  This force is at work right now in your kingdom and in mine.  Aren’t our souls the prize in this spiritual warfare?  The enemy tries to strike, but Mordecai hears about the plot and the ones who had planned it are carried out and hung on a tree.

Colossians 2:12-14

For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized.  And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, Who raised Christ from the dead.  You were dead because of your sins and because  your sinful nature was not yet cut away.  Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins.  He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

We know the evil one threatens to overcome us—and we know how this will end for him.  We are all Christians and we’ve all known what it’s like to live restless and to live without God.  We have all searched for something to make us happy and to satisfy some need or emptiness.  And now we know, He alone satisfies and He alone breathes life back into us.  We, too, have been delivered, just like the king.  Our lives have been spared because the One was nailed to the tree and was made a public example for all of us. We, too, will begin to experience the deliverance that God has intended for our lives.

Have you begun to experience this yet? If so, would you be so courageous as to share?

 

Let’s Pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for this study and for the work You are doing in each of our lives.  We thank You for delivering us from our own death by sending Jesus to die on the Cross in our place.  He took the fall for us.  Lord, keep revealing to us anything that may divide us from You and keep us from clearly hearing Your voice.  Bring to the light whatever it is and may we lay it at Your feet and be free, so that we may not have any distractions.  We love You and we praise You.  In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen.

Filed Under: Women's Ministry Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,