pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: forgiveness


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Breathe In, Breathe Out

As the disciples hid in the room following Jesus’ death, I wonder what the strongest emotion was – fear of the Jews, sorrow and grief over the loss of Jesus, confusion about what to do next, uncertainty about hearing Jesus is alive, shame for abandoning Him?  Each of the disciples was probably feeling a mix of at least a few of these emotions.

Then suddenly, Jesus is standing right there.  Speaking right into all of the emotions that the disciples must have been going through, He offers them His peace and shows them his nail-scarred hands and feet.  He first restores their friendship and then removes any doubt with a physical sign.  Jesus is saying, “It’s OK” and “See, it’s me!”

Jesus then breathes on the disciples the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.  He shares with them His power.  The disciples are then charged to go out and offer forgiveness of sins to those who seek forgiveness.  The disciples can go forth and unbind others from the sins that hold them down.  Just as Jesus entered that room and offered the disciples peace and relief from all that was keeping them bound up, the disciples can now too offer that to others.  Like the disciples being able to walk from that room of hiding out into the open, with forgiveness others can walk from darkness into the light.

The Holy Spirit, through Jesus’ power, offers us that same gift.  We can breath in the Holy Spirit, receive forgiveness, and breathe out God’s love.  As His disciples today, we can help others to become unbound from what keeps them hiding in that small, dark room.  We may not be able to forgive their sins, but we can certainly share the One with them who can forgive their sins and restore them.  May we allow the Holy Spirit to be ever-present with us so that we can breath in and breathe out.


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The Index Cards of Sin

In Psalm 130, the psalmist is so right – who could stand if God kept a record of our sins?  Imagine if each of our sins was written on an index card!  How high the stack would be.  But what if we pulled out all the sins that were just against God?  Would the stack be appreciably smaller?  I don’t think so.

As I think on my sins, most involve another person.  That’s why I think my stack would still be pretty high.  I’d guess most of us seek forgiveness from God for our sin on a regular basis – daily if not more often!  But what about the sin that involve and affect other people?  Certainly for the blatant and most egregious we seek forgiveness from the injured parties.  But what of the ‘lesser’ sins – the unkind thoughts and the unholy looks?  They are another matter!  For me, these sins would represent most of my stack of index cards.  And you?

Yet in the end these sins are also between us and God.  They are the ones I am ashamed of.  I can come to God with my big sins because they are so obvious and so in need of redeeming.  But these little ones are harder to name and to lay bare before God.  Is this because they are the sins I so struggle to fully set aside?  But each day we can lay these sins before Him and they are cast aside and forever forgotten.  As we feel the freedom of redemption, we also must seek to repent and to be at work against these sins in our lives, to sin less often.  This day and each day, may we grow more into Christ so that our stack grows more slowly!!


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Thanks Be to JC!!

In Romans 5 we find many of the great cornerstones of our faith.  Paul had quite a way with words!  In the first part of Romans 5 Paul reviews the basics of the faith – Jesus lived, died, and rose from the dead.  Jesus made the choice to die for our sins.  He chose to take upon himself the sin of the world and to shed His own blood for us.  Through Jesus, God restored every person’s connection to Himself.  Up to this point there was a lack of personal connection.  The priests played the role of intermediary between God and the Jewish people.  Sacrifices were made on behalf of the people to atone for their sins.  Reconciliation came through these ritual sacrifices.

As Paul writes, at just the right time Christ died for us.  While we were still sinners, He died for us.  Jesus was and is our sacrifice.  He opened to us and to all mankind that conduit to God.  We come ourselves before God seeking forgiveness so that we can be reconciled to Him.  We do not need a human intermediary.  Nor do we need a ritual sacrifice.  For us that was and is Jesus on the cross.  Because Jesus defeated death and rose to live eternally, He will always be there to intercede on our behalf.  He will always be with us, through the work of the Holy Spirit, to guide and lead us in this life.  Through Him we grow to be more and more ike the Father.  Through him we are continually reconciled.  Through Him we repent, are washed clean, and are restored to the righteous relationship with God.  Thanks be to Jesus Christ!!


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Taking Notice

Sin can be a lot like bad food you ate at a restaurant.  When you partook, you certainly enjoyed it!  Yet later, as much as you try to keep it down, it just gurgles away and makes you take notice.  In a fit of kindness, you may even think it is not the restaurant’s fault.  As we gaze in the mirror of our souls, we may even think it is the other driver’s fault they didn’t sense we wanted to change lanes or that our spouse didn’t know we were upset with something that happened at work or maybe it was the overly sensitive person at the meeting that should’ve known you were only joking.  But when we lean in and take a closer look…

The sin in our lives doesn’t go away either if we just try and pretend it is not there.  It festers away and begins to sap our strength and energy.  It wedges the guilt right in there – between us and God or between you and a friend, co-worker, or spouse.  As with bad food, it is often only later that we realize, “Uh-oh…”

Yet there is great news!!  When we confess our sins before God we can find love, and mercy, and forgiveness.  He draws us back to Himself and teaches us a better way.  He wants to guide us to a new and better way – His way of love.  God desires for us to love others as He loves us.  And when we go to our friend, co-worker, or spouse and humbly confess our sin and seek their forgiveness, they too will welcome us back into relationship with them.  And then we rejoice, for the lost has been found, the broken has been fixed.  We rejoice in our mighty savior as He pours out His love upon us each and every day.  Thanks be to God!