{"id":17590,"date":"2014-02-05T00:01:12","date_gmt":"2014-02-05T05:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=17590"},"modified":"2014-02-05T00:38:19","modified_gmt":"2014-02-05T05:38:19","slug":"longer-condemned-chapter-18-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/02\/05\/longer-condemned-chapter-18-2\/","title":{"rendered":"CHRISTLife — Eighteen: No Longer Condemned"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Why is it so hard to accept His forgiveness? \u00a0Why do we automatically think that He is condemning us for the sins that He so readily forgives and forgets? \u00a0I remember watching each one of my babies begin to walk. \u00a0I remember the praise, the clapping, and oh the hugs! \u00a0Yes, they stumbled; and yes, they would fall\u2014but did I ever condemn them? \u00a0No…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.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t you see? \u00a0Your Heavenly Daddy does the same thing, except He has the ability to actually forget the sin. \u00a0When you accepted Jesus as your Savior, you were made new. \u00a0Your name was written down in the Book of Life by the God who created you and the pencil He wrote which has no eraser! \u00a0So no matter what you have done or will do, you can never be separated or condemned for your sins. \u00a0You may feel a nudge sometimes to repent, but once you have asked forgiveness, you are set free from your sin.<\/p>\n

The enemy, however, loves to condemn us and speak lies to us; but that\u2019s what they are\u2014just lies. \u00a0The condemnation that you may feel is from him…the same enemy that tempted man to sin in the first place.<\/p>\n

At the end of this chapter, Mrs. Myers asks her readers to reflect on a few verses. Let\u2019s read them together shall we?<\/p>\n

But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed.
\nYou will silence every voice raised up to accuse you.
\nThese benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord,
\ntheir vindication will come from me, I, the Lord, have spoken.
\nIsaiah 54:17<\/p>\n

You are His servants…He\u2019s talking about you! \u00a0No weapon against you can stand! \u00a0He 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. \u00a0He cleansed us with His blood. \u00a0We are forgiven, made new, cleansed from our filth.<\/p>\n

God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save it.
\nJohn 3:17<\/p>\n

To SAVE it, not to CONDEMN it. He let His only Son die a horrible death, and couldn\u2019t even look at Him because of all the sin that was cast on Him. \u00a0Jealousy, addiction, pornography, oppression, murder, robbery are all sins that were on God\u2019s Son when He died. \u00a0All that we would do would be undone by Him.<\/p>\n

There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him.
\nBut anyone who does not believe in Him<\/em> has already been judged
\nfor not believing in God\u2019s one and only Son.
\nVerse 18<\/p>\n

If this (\u201canyone who does not believe in Him…\u201d) is you, stop now and take a minute and invite Him in. \u00a0If you don\u2019t know how, I suggest you reach out to one of us, or a pastor or a friend that you know is saved. \u00a0This is the most important thing you will ever do. \u00a0And we celebrate with you this day that you become new.<\/p>\n

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law.
\nWhen He was hung on the cross, He took upon Himself the curse for our wrongdoing.
\nFor it is written in the Scriptures, \u201cCursed is everyone who is hung on the tree.\u201d
\nGalatians 3:13<\/p>\n

He has rescued you! \u00a0You are promised everlasting life! \u00a0This 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\u2019s grace we are saved. \u00a0He promises us that all we have to do is trust, receive, and just rest in Him. \u00a0So I leave you with a question from this chapter:<\/p>\n

What makes you most grateful for your new identity in Christ?<\/span><\/h3>\n

(You can leave your answer in your comment under this blog\u2026I look forward to celebrating with you!)<\/p>\n

Let us pray:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 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. \u00a0You are patient, long-suffering, our Stronghold, our Provider, our Comforter and our Redeemer. \u00a0Thank You for meeting us right where we are and not expecting us to be anything more than who we are. \u00a0You 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. \u00a0Forgive us when we try to control things around us, for You are in the drivers seat, and we are so grateful. \u00a0Gently nudge those today who need You; let this be for someone out there today who needs a Savior. \u00a0It’s in Jesus name we pray, amen.<\/p>\n