I chose you before the foundation of the world
I formed your inward parts
I knit you together in your mother’s womb
I called you
I heard your call
I saved you
I delivered you
I forgave your sins
I washed you clean
I forgot your sins
by Marti Fischer
People are waiting for Jesus.
Jesus can be seen in us when we are unmasked.
We are unwilling to be unmasked over what people might see.
Jesus remains hidden.
People are still waiting for Jesus.
When we think our sins are less despicable than our neighbor’s, we are greatly deceiving ourselves, and worse, those around us. When we see our sins as mere flaws needing improvement, we are hiding behind a self-made mask that prevents onlookers from looking into the wicked sinner we truly are and finding Christ.
Trying to be better is way over-rated. It’s more beneficial to be one who is saved and out seeking others who are lost.
When you love someone you embrace the whole person.
This whole “Love the sinner; hate the sin” thing should be buried for good — not because it’s wrong, but because it’s impossible. If you’re going to love me and hate my sin, just where does my sin stop, and the “me” that you’re going to love begin?
When teams that could win face teams that should win, what usually happens? The teams that could win, win. That’s because they are playing with something extra. They are already above expectations just to be in the same arena with the team that should win, so they have nothing to lose.
There is no place in the believer’s life for blame. Blame is never justified and it never serves a positive function. It is as old as Adam and as prevalent as sin. It’s the way we divert anything incoming that might humble us or help us face the truth about ourselves and whatever we are doing wrong. It’s a diversion. If we are charged with something, right or not, blame throws back something on someone or something else, and since we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God, you can always find something to blame on someone else.
If you had been somehow able to view from outside our bathroom window, the conversation I just had with my wife, (why is it that all meaningful conversations in my house happen in the bathroom or the kitchen?) you would have wondered what that crazy woman was doing bouncing back and forth, hopping first on one foot, then the other, and at twelve midnight no less. What she was trying to do was have me grasp the significance of what she calls, “Forgiveness Now!” or if that doesn’t capture it, maybe, “You Can’t Outrun Forgiveness” will help.
Any relationship is going to require a Grace Card. That’s because we are destined to fail each other over and over again. We will fail each other because we are fallible, and we will fail without even trying, because our expectations are always too high for the other to meet.
