Imagine if you will that you are sitting on death row waiting for the sound of the guard’s shoes on the concrete floor. That sound will signal that it is your time to die. You start to walk down the long hallway but before you are to walk through that final door, you notice that someone is blocking your pathway. It’s a stranger, someone you have never seen before. He won’t let you pass, he reaches out to you and tells you that he is going to take your place. He insists. You can’t believe you heard right but before you know it the guard is taking your shackles off and leads you to the exit door that leads to freedom.
You are assaulted by the fresh air on your face, you feel the sunshine for the first time in a very long time. You’re free!
You go to the window, trying to catch a glimpse of that stranger, and there he is willingly lying down on the table where he will take that lethal injection for you. Why would he do that? He didn’t even know you. You weren’t worth saving, at least in your eyes. You had done terrible things. You deserved to die. No one would doubt that, but here you are, on the outside, free!
Suddenly you are filled with such remorse that you drop to your knees and determine to live your life following his example. To live any other way would be a mockery of what he had done for you.
We were shown mercy. Mercy is defined as God withholding the punishment we deserve. He had mercy on us while we were yet sinners, He loved us.
(Rom 5:8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
But He also extended grace to us. Grace is not only withholding punishment but offering a precious gift as well. We all know God gave His only Son as payment for our sins. He showed us mercy and grace. Mercy forgave us but grace said He wouldn’t hold our sins against us. The price had been paid, the sin would never remembered again. He set us free!
(Isa 43:25) I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
I have always loved going to the beach. I love the feel of the sand being washed out from under my feet as the waves touch the shore and pull some of the sand back out to sea with them. The sea always reminds me of God’s forgiveness.
(Mic 7:19) He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
No one knows how deep the ocean is, but I do know that there are parts of the ocean that no man has ever explored. It is so deep that the pressure is unbearable and would easily crush a diver. That’s how deep God has thrown our sins into the sea: where no one can retrieve them. Just imagine, not only did He forgive us of our sins but He also said He would never bring them up again by remembering them. He chooses to forgive and forget. Something we could all live by.
None of us are perfect,
(Rom 3:23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
but even though we have sinned, if we have asked for forgiveness we know that we have been forgiven. I love the first part of 1 Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” There is no good in me at all except by the grace of God I have His righteousness. I am accepted by a Holy God because of that grace.
We can choose to show that mercy and grace to those around us or we can choose to set ourselves up as judge and jury. There is no need of a judge or jury because the payment for those sins has been met. Instead of judging those around us, perhaps we could show a little mercy and say like the apostle Paul said: “but by the grace of God I am what I am”.
Let’s remind ourselves what Jesus himself said in Luke 6:37
(Luk 6:37) Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Let’s be careful not to judge others, let’s leave that up to God. Let’s be careful not to condemn other’s actions because we may not know the whole story. And let’s remember to always be quick to forgive. God quickly forgives us when we have sinned and we go to Him asking for his mercy and grace. How can we do any less for each other. If God has forgiven someone of their sins who are we to hold those sins against them? The man on death row who was released doesn’t have to be retried for his crime, the payment had been made for his sinful crimes.
The payment for our sins has been made as well and God has promised never to remember them again. He has cast them into the sea. They’re gone, never to be brought up again. Let’s not make a mockery of God’s forgiveness by setting ourselves up as judge and jury over one another. If God has chosen to forgive and forget can we do any less?
You are assaulted by the fresh air on your face, you feel the sunshine for the first time in a very long time. You’re free!
You go to the window, trying to catch a glimpse of that stranger, and there he is willingly lying down on the table where he will take that lethal injection for you. Why would he do that? He didn’t even know you. You weren’t worth saving, at least in your eyes. You had done terrible things. You deserved to die. No one would doubt that, but here you are, on the outside, free!
Suddenly you are filled with such remorse that you drop to your knees and determine to live your life following his example. To live any other way would be a mockery of what he had done for you.
We were shown mercy. Mercy is defined as God withholding the punishment we deserve. He had mercy on us while we were yet sinners, He loved us.
(Rom 5:8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
But He also extended grace to us. Grace is not only withholding punishment but offering a precious gift as well. We all know God gave His only Son as payment for our sins. He showed us mercy and grace. Mercy forgave us but grace said He wouldn’t hold our sins against us. The price had been paid, the sin would never remembered again. He set us free!
(Isa 43:25) I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
I have always loved going to the beach. I love the feel of the sand being washed out from under my feet as the waves touch the shore and pull some of the sand back out to sea with them. The sea always reminds me of God’s forgiveness.
(Mic 7:19) He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
No one knows how deep the ocean is, but I do know that there are parts of the ocean that no man has ever explored. It is so deep that the pressure is unbearable and would easily crush a diver. That’s how deep God has thrown our sins into the sea: where no one can retrieve them. Just imagine, not only did He forgive us of our sins but He also said He would never bring them up again by remembering them. He chooses to forgive and forget. Something we could all live by.
None of us are perfect,
(Rom 3:23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
but even though we have sinned, if we have asked for forgiveness we know that we have been forgiven. I love the first part of 1 Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” There is no good in me at all except by the grace of God I have His righteousness. I am accepted by a Holy God because of that grace.
We can choose to show that mercy and grace to those around us or we can choose to set ourselves up as judge and jury. There is no need of a judge or jury because the payment for those sins has been met. Instead of judging those around us, perhaps we could show a little mercy and say like the apostle Paul said: “but by the grace of God I am what I am”.
Let’s remind ourselves what Jesus himself said in Luke 6:37
(Luk 6:37) Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Let’s be careful not to judge others, let’s leave that up to God. Let’s be careful not to condemn other’s actions because we may not know the whole story. And let’s remember to always be quick to forgive. God quickly forgives us when we have sinned and we go to Him asking for his mercy and grace. How can we do any less for each other. If God has forgiven someone of their sins who are we to hold those sins against them? The man on death row who was released doesn’t have to be retried for his crime, the payment had been made for his sinful crimes.
The payment for our sins has been made as well and God has promised never to remember them again. He has cast them into the sea. They’re gone, never to be brought up again. Let’s not make a mockery of God’s forgiveness by setting ourselves up as judge and jury over one another. If God has chosen to forgive and forget can we do any less?
" Good Stuff Sister.....How Very True this is.....God Help Us All To Be More Like Jesus !!!! This is My Daily Prayer; to have the mind of Christ & be more & more Like Him !!!! "
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