Sin seperates us from our purpose!

Well, there is good news and bad news…The bad news is that you are a sinner and there is nothing special about you when it comes to sin. The good news is that God knows that and he loves you regardless. The bad news is that you cannot do this yourself…the good news is that God has and is doing it for you. The bad news is that we lie to ourselves in thinking and living as if my world revolves around me. The Good news is that God made his world revolve around your redemption.

Romans 3:9 states, “What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.” You are a sinner and that is bad news. The bad news is all bad! There is nothing good about it.

For such a small word, a lot is packed into the meaning of sin. The Bible describes sin as the breaking, or transgression, of God's law (1 John 3:4). It is also defined as disobedience or rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7), as well as independence from God. The original translation means "to miss the mark" of God's holy standard of righteousness.

Hamartiology is the branch of theology that deals with the study of sin. It investigates how sin originated, how it affects the human race, the different types and degrees of sin, and the results of sin.

While the basic origin of sin is unclear, we know that it came into the world when the serpent, Satan, tempted Adam and Eve and they disobeyed God (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12). The essence of the problem stemmed from the human desire to be like God. All sin, therefore, has its roots in idolatry—the attempt to put something or someone in the place of the Creator. Most often, that someone is one's own self. While God allows sin, he is not the author of sin. All sins are an offense to God and they separate us from him (Isaiah 59:2).

Jesus speaks of sin and says in John 8:34-26, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has not permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

An awful lot of people in our world view themselves as being pretty good Joe/Jane and everyone else is broken over their sinfulness.  God is not partial to anyone, but that everyone needs His son, Jesus to be set free. We have to go down before we can ever go up. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. The bad news is that you are a sinner and your natural self will separate you from your true identity and your eternal destiny. The good news is that God responded. 

You know I love ya, Don

Redeemer - A Sail Boat

Isaiah 47:4 - "Our Redeemer-the Lord Almighty is His name-is the Holy One of Israel."
Job 19:25 - "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth."

There is a story that some of us heard as children. A young boy made for himself a beautiful little sailboat, sanding, painting, and gluing each of its parts with great care. It became his favorite possession, and almost daily he went to sail it on the river near his home. One day a storm came up suddenly, the string on the boat broke, and the boat got away from him. He spent many days searching for the boat along the banks of the river, and he began to fear that he would never see it again.

Months later, his grandfather took him to town, and as they were poking around in a second-hand shop, the boy spotted a familiar-looking boat, high on one of the shelves, with a price tag attached to it. "Let me see that boat, " the little boy cried. "This is it, see, these are my initials! I carved them in the bottom! This is my boat!"

"I am sorry, son. I bought that boat from the man who brought it into the shop. If you want the boat, you will have to pay for it," said the shop keeper.

Sadly the boy left the shop. For the next few weeks he worked hard doing every odd job anyone would give him, carefully saving every penny. At last he had the money. He went back to the shop and redeemed for himself the boat he had made.

The seeming injustice of having to pay for something that was one's own in the first place is not pleasant. This is a perfect illustration of what it means to be redeemed. Christ our Creator made us and stamped us with his own image. Then we became separated from him. Christ our Redeemer bought back the right to own us by paying a price so awful we cannot comprehend it.

Over the next few days, The Christian community will be celebrating Easter. May we never forget that it is a celebration of redemption.

You know I love ya - Don

Nothing can seperate me!

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”- Romans 8:38-39

Have you ever felt separated from God? The reality is that we are never truly separated from God's love. Yes, we try to pull ourselves away and separate from the presence of God and from His love. Most of the time we pull away because of our shame or pride....which are very closely related.

God offers total and complete reliance on Him as support, strength, power, and present help in the here and now, yet we pull away. There is a great scene in the movie, "Fireproof"where the main character asks, "how can I love someone who continually rejects me?" As he hears is own voice, his eyes are open to his own actions in rejecting God. God love us, yet, we pull away and reject God over and over.

What does God do in response? He continues to love us unconditionally. Did you get that? God continues to love us unconditionally! God loves you...and me. There is nothing that can separate us from that love. Notice that "nothing" is an absolute! I don't know what you may be facing today...I know what I am facing...I also know that nothing that I face will separate me from His love...I also know that nothing you are facing will separate you from His love either!

The world presses in hard, do not fear, for our God is able to get you through. Our God looks beyond the rejection we give to Him and is willing to reach out to us, embrace us and give us strength...all we have to do is trust him for the strength....Psalm 31:5, "I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God." (NLT) Jesus used these words on the cross...I want to use them in my every breath!

God loves you....you know I love you too - Don