4Given


I Peter 3:8-12
For nearly a decade a picture has been on the wall next to my desk. What it communicates I still strive to comprehend. It is called, "Forgiven." It shows a man with hammer and nail in his hands held up by a risen Christ. I am that man. My sin nailed Christ upon the cross. His love for me kept him there. When I stop and think of the shear magnitude of my own sins that his blood atones for I am amazed. It is difficult to grasp the forgiveness of my own sins let alone the sins of the elect. One word comes to my mind. Unworthy. I am UNWORTHY. I do not understand why. And yet, as amazed as I am, I am still harboring anger and a strong lack of forgiveness in my own heart. At one time I was very laid back. But today and for months I have struggled with fierce anger. By fierce I mean tearing, bludgeoning, and raging anger. Regularly verses like Romans 12:17-21 and I Peter 3:8-12 course though my mind. God's Word restrains me. His Grace constrains and sustains me. I am indeed forgiven. May I extend his grace around me because so much has been extended to me. Thank you Jesus for your continual grace.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Filth Crave

Image
I Peter 1:21 - 2:3 We are called to sincere real love. It is expected that since we have trusted in Christ's work and we are committed to following Him then that should be what compels us forward in our life. We must crave pure spiritual milk. We must be nourished by God. The problem is that we tend in action to crave filthy water. We settle for a cool refreshing liquid that is filled with particles, bacteria, and virus'. That filthy water is our acting loving, kind, and gracious in our hearts and yet being filled with deceit, bitterness, and anger. Throughout our day thousands of thoughts sweep though our minds. It is our choice to cling to certain thought processes and foster them. It is also our choice what we fill our lives with (or even who we fill our lives with). Filthy water results in diarrhea everywhere. We cannot fill our lives with filth and expect health. Likewise we cannot surround our selves with bad influences (people in our lives, those things we w...
Read more

Too Comfortable

Image
Talley's normal position!!! Exodus 1 I love our dog.  Her name is Talley.  She is a beautiful beagle/German shepherd mix.  Her fur is soft and she is very well tempered.  After twelve years of having her in our life I have noticed that she has the gift of napping.   In fact I am pretty confident that 20 hour a day are filled with naps and sleep.  Our children will play with her ears and paws and she won't even budge.  Don't get me wrong she loves walks and to play but that usually brings even longer naps.  Yeah, I totally envy her.  She is a very comfortable and comforting dog. I have been reading through Exodus.  Over the last several years I have spent a lot of time in the New Testament.  So, now I turn to early Israelite history to see myself and my God.  I recently taught through Abraham to Joseph (I am also reading that with my son).   So, now I turn to Moses. When I ready that first chapter I ...
Read more

Truely Epic

Image
Exodus 4-11 I began this quest through Exodus as an attempt to refresh myself with the Old Testament.  Throughout college and seminary I loved my Old Testament classes.  I have over the last eight years taught through the lives of many of the people in the Old Testament (OT).  My favorite study that we did in OT class was through the Kings of the OT.  A few months back I finished teaching through Genesis.  I then began to read through various epistles and and books at the end of the New Testament.  Finally, I sat and thought about how long it had been since I studied through the OT.  Here I am in Exodus.  I am loving it. My current problem is reading Exodus without pictures of Charlton Heston and the Prince of Egypt drifting through my head.  It is amazing how imprinted those visuals are in my brain.  I am working primarily from the Bible and several OT historical background books that I have in my library....
Read more