An Easter post...

I killed Jesus.

My sin put Him on the cross. He died for my sin just as much as anybody else's in the world. I'm no better than anybody else, and the guilt for my sins was laid upon me. And then it was lifted off of me by a Savior whose ability to take away our sins is so large that He could take away the whole world's. The love of our God is all-encompassing. Why should we pain Him anymore with sins we know are wrong? He hurts for us when we sin. We need to ask Him for His help to take away the temptation and the wrongs we commit. And then we can run to Him, and be enveloped in His strong arms.

I killed Jesus.

A few thoughts

Due to the new influx of visitors coming to my site, thanks largely in part to my brother linking to me (thanks, Arie), I guess I'd better post again. : )

I think it's great how God can use someone that keeps falling away from Him. The prodigal son keeps walking away, and Jesus keeps welcoming the sinner back every time.
Jesus is enough. A sermon that my dad taught last month about the prodigal son is helpful in our never ending procession to and from God's side. He talked about the prodigal son, who, after receiving his father's forgiveness, departs again from his father's side, and returns to his previous lifestyle. What then? Does his father then reject him, disown him, and leave him to his own life? NO. When the prodigal humbles himself yet again, and returns to his father, his father sincerely accepts him back. No matter how many times that happens in our lives, that's the way God is with us. That's something so amazing about our God. He loves us, no matter what we do. And we can always go back to Him. Jesus' love is sweet and wonderful.

Tomorrow is Good Friday, the day on which Jesus died and was buried for the world's sins. I'm contemplating that this week. The amazing grace and love of our blessed God and Savior, Jesus Christ, is wonderful.

"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."

Perfectly planned, divinely inspired, lovingly accomplished. THIS is our God.

A break in the silence, and an opening of my heart...

Nothing has changed, and it never will in any hugely noticeable way: God's grace and love will always be amazing, and my sin will always be discouraging. However, God's grace will never stop flowing, and never stop giving. I'm like a baby bird, with an open mouth always discharging sin and taking in God's love. Sometimes my shame will force me to close my "mouth," but God's love will pry it open again, reminding me of my absolute need for Him.

And then our love for the things of the world can take over sometimes, and God gets put on the back-burner. We start to pursue our horizontal love, our our love towards people, and our vertical love is forgotten, or ignored. We choose not to let God direct us, and we wander. And we wander, through trials and difficulty, through life, through hardship. Until God steps back into our life again...and we see God. He can't stand the people and idols we replace Him with, so He inserts Himself back into our conscious circle, and shakes us awake.