Merry Christmas!
Sorry so late today.
Jesus was born so that men no more may die.
The reason is that he was born to die on the cross.
In his death he would take on a debt he did not owe.
And paid for the debt that we could never pay.
Salvation is a turning away from sin in our lives.
We need to confess our sin and proclaim the grace (free gift) of Jesus with his work on the cross. Not only should he be our Savior but he needs to be our Lord so that when we put of the old man, we can take on Jesus righteousness. Are we perfect? No, that is why we must confess any time we deviate from his will for us.
I need to surrender more of me to my Lord daily. It is the only way I will be more like Jesus.
Undeserved Mercies
When someone hurts you or, worse, hurts somebody that you love, revenge can seem appealing. After all…
They were mean.
They were selfish.
They talked behind your back.
They broke a vital promise.
They lied about you.
They criticized you.
They ignored you.
They did the unthinkable.
They walked away.
They deserve to be punished, right? To feel some of that same pain? They deserve a consequence that will not only help them learn, but will be just as severe as the inflicted wounds.
And yet—because God sees things differently, both His standards and tactics can be surprising. And that’s why the apostle Paul, writing to the believers in Thessaloniki, said:
“See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.”
1 Thessalonians 5:15 NLT
Paul’s words sound a lot like Jesus’ words—to love your neighbor as yourself; to do to others what you’d like them to do to you. (See: Matthew 22:38-40)
God’s ways ...