Father, I would ask that You would enable me to speak what You have laid upon my heart. It mulled about in my mind all morning and there just wasn’t enough time to write it out this afternoon…so here I humbly sit, waiting patiently for the inspiration that only You can give. Amen.
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God hates sin. Truth.
God loves each of us. Truth.
Who we have been, who we are, who we will be,
what we have done, what we do now, what we have yet to do.
Do these factor into God’s love for us?
Does God love us more or less because of them?
God loves us because of and in spite of all of those things. Truth.
Ephesians 1:4, yet again!
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. NLT
Let that sink in. We can do absolutely nothing that will make God love us any less or any more. Before God took the nothingness of space and made the world and everything in it – including us! – He loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes!
Every single one of us is born separated from God. Truth.
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Romans 3:23 NLT
Are we loved any less because of this? No. Truth. (see above)
Can we stay that way and have an eternal relationship with God? No. Truth.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NLT
For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT
Sin separates us from God. We are all guilty of sin. We cannot fix ourselves. Only God can fix us. Only God can save us from our sin.
Sin is sin. It is our undoing unless it is dealt with – unless it is eradicated we are damned.
There are no lesser or greater sins. Honestly, we are all works in progress. Not a single one of us has to get to a certain point before God will accept us. He knows us and loves us right where we are.
No matter how we try to twist it, God’s word is solid and I, for one, hold it to inerrant. Society may change but God’s word does not. And I firmly believe that that is true on all sides.
Sin is sin, and we have no choice but to be held accountable for ours, but…
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 NLT
Sin must be dealt with but I am no better than anyone else. I have sin with which to deal. It may not be the same as that which with you struggle. You may be further down the path than I, but for those of us who are a part of the body of Christ, again we are all a work in progress – we are all in the same boat.
Love, don’t judge – love deeply! Embrace, comfort, accept, go above and beyond. Do as God does for us each and every day! Forgive. Forget. Don’t keep count. Move forward – one…step…at…a…time.
This past Sunday I concluded my sermon with a quote from St. Teresa of Avila, who lived from 1515 –1582. This is what she had to say.
Christ has no body on earth now but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which
he looks with compassion on the world,
Yours are the feet with which
he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands with which
he blesses all the world.
Be Christ to the world – oh, how we need it!
Feb 27th, 2019, Wed, 6:18 am
