Tag Archives: forgiveness

No Guilt or Shame

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I don’t claim to have visions, but I’m a
visual learner. Maybe that’s why the Lord
put some very descriptive pictures and
thoughts in my mind in the wee hours of
the morning many years ago.

It wasn’t a dream. I was fully awake and aware of two scenes that unfolded in my mind’s eye. 

I found myself in the first scene, among a large crowd where Jesus stood before Pilate. I heard the mob shouting. “Crucify him! Crucify him! Give us Barabbas and crucify Jesus!

Feelings of guilt and shame flooded my heart and I cried out, “Lord that could have been me”!

The moment passed quickly replaced by the words  “Your guilt and shame
were nailed to the cross.”

Tears of release flooded my heart as I remembered the love poured out on
Calvary’s cross for sinners like me.

Another scene followed. A woman caught in adultery lay on the ground, fearful of the religious crowd about to stone her. I felt her shame as though it was my own and I cried out, “Lord, that could have been me.” 

Once again I heard the words, “Your guilt and shame were nailed to the cross.”

Then something like a symphony of beautiful music flooded my heart and
mind, healing my soul with a new found joy that’s hard to explain.

The following Sunday morning I was amazed when I heard the same words
spoken from the pulpit. In the midst of his sermon, Pastor John did an about
face, pretended to hammer a nail into the wall, and shared the same message that had now taken root in my heart.

“Your guilt and shame were nailed to the cross.”

How could he have known he was confirming the truth of what God had
etched on my heart a few days before? I believe it was the Holy Spirit speaking the same message through my Pastor.

If you struggle with feelings of guilt or shame over something from your past, dare to embrace Jesus and believe the good news of the Gospel.

“He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).

Prayer: Father in heaven, how can we ever thank you enough for taking away our guilt and shame when you nailed them to the Cross of Calvary? May we continue to find sweet release and forgiveness at the foot of the cross. In the Savior’s name we pray. Amen.

 

Love Saw Our Need

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Love saw our  need…
Beyond the questions of Nicodemus the teacher.
The woman caught in adultery.
The thief on the cross.
Saul the Pharisee and murderer.
The lost one in church, religious, but no relationship.
The Cross of Calvary is an invitation to all.

It doesn’t matter who we are or what we have done.
The religious teacher who seeks Jesus is born again,
and receives new life of God’s Spirit.
The immoral released from guilt and shame
now walks with a pure heart.
The thief enters paradise
and lives with Jesus forever.
The Pharisee is paroled from hell,
receives new life and vision.
The religious rebel redeemed from self-works
now walks with the Living God.

If we want to know God and live with Him eternally,
we need only look to the Jesus and believe.

Made right with God by faith in Jesus—
Peace with God through the blood of His son,
A place to stand in undeserved privilege,
A hope that does not disappoint,
God’s love poured out into our hearts.

For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten
son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish,
but have everlasting life. John 3:16

For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:40)

When we see Jesus, the foot of the cross becomes the
Amazing Throne of Grace.

Will you meet me there?

 Our Father in Heaven, we bow our hearts and lives before you, thanking you for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. May Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.  Forgive our sins. Renew our faith. Give us new songs of praise. In the name of Jesus our Lord, amen.

Perfect Savior

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de38da2b68d878776af8262acfc01422Choose for me
A Perfect lamb
First born
Without blemish
Perfect in holiness
Perfect in obedience

Choose for me
A Perfect sacrifice
Lamb of God slain
Cleanse me from
Dead works
Guilt and Shame

Choose for me
A Perfect savior
Redeem
Renew and
Restore me
Back to the Father

Reflections from 1 Peter, Isaiah 53

A Stronghold in Trouble

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If clouds are the dust of your feet,
help me lift my arms in praise,
while the grace of tears pour out,
cleansing the dust around my heart.

If clouds are the dust of your feet,
help me climb the mountain with you…
hidden from the eyes of man,
 yet seen through the eyes of my Father.

When clouds are the dust of your feet,
help me remember,
no whirlwind or storm can ever
separate us from your love.

The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and the storm,
and clouds are the dust of His feet.
(Nahum 1: 3b)

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble,
and He knows those
who take refuge in Him. (Nahum 1:7)

 

 

 




 

 

A Crown of Thorns

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They placed a crown of thorns
on His head, forcing Him to carry
His cross up Golgotha’s hill.

The perfect Son of God, cocooned
in human flesh; nailed to the cruel
Cross of Calvary.

 “If He’s the Son of God, they mocked,
let Him come down and save Himself!

Jesus could have come down that day, yet He chose to stay and
 laid down His life for you and me. Then as his life’s blood ebbed away,
the Lamb of God cried out, “It is finished! Father into Your hands,
I commit my spirit.

Look beyond Calvary’s tree to the veil in the temple, torn from top to bottom,
making it possible for you and me to enter the Holy of Holies… 
The Most Holy Place of the Living God.

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He descended into hell. But wait! On the third day, Jesus rose from the grave. Now with the Godhead’s Glory fully returned,

Jesus appeared to the disciples and more than 500 witnesses in His glorified body.

Forty days later, Jesus ascended back to heaven and left the message to go and make disciples.

The Son of God has come down to man,
revealed the love of the Father…
made forgiveness and restoration possible.
One day we shall know Him as He is.
We will gaze upon His face,
In the place He has prepared…
A place in the Father’s eternal house.
A new heaven and earth…
No more tears, pain, sorrow, or death.