Forgiving Yourself?

This is a topic pretty close to my heart for a number of reasons.  The problem is, the Bible never really address this issue specifically.  I have a philosophy about emotions.  Emotions are good; God has given them to us to help express our love to Him, to keep ourselves in perspective, and to get our attention sometimes.  Guilt is one of those good emotions.  In an ideal world no one would feel guilt, because no one would sin or do anything to feel guilty for.  However, as it stands, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  Guilt helps us realize our faults, and gives us the motivation we need to come to God for salvation. The Bible does, however, talk a great deal about God's forgiveness of of us.  In particular a verse I want to point out is Jerimiah 31:34.  The last phrase of the verse says, "For I will forgive them of their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."  If we seek God, submit to His will, He will forgive us.  But He also forgets the sin. This is a cool concept that I have trouble wrapping my own mind around.  We as humans, we remember things. But God in all His power and glory has the power to make Himself forget, or at least to not bring it to rememberance. What happens when we hold on to what God lets go? We feel helpless.  If we won't accept that God has forgiven us, the we begin to feel like we have sinned so much or so badly that we have fallen to far for God to love us.  Paul recognized this fact, and several times talked about the fogiveness that God had given him.  He wrote to Timothy in 1 Tim 1:15-16, "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Jesus Christ came into the world to saver sinners of which I am foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, the foremost, Jesus Christ might disply His perfect patience as an example for those who were to believe in Him for eternal life."  Paul accepted his salvation, but also kept his sins in remembace, not to wallow in self pity, but as a reminder to him of God's great love!  Self pity is the Devil's decptive counterpart to guilt.  We have a hold guilt, that brings us to God, but if we do nothing with that guilt and begin to wallow in it, it turns into self pity.  Through self pity we lose confidence in God  and our ability to come to Him.  So come to the Lord.  Accept your salvation.  And use your mistakes to guide others.

Your Soul is NOT a Used Car....

Hey guys, it has been ages since I posted on here. I'm still trying to make it a habit. But here is a good thought for the day...or life, whatever.  I don't know why I thought of this one morning last week. But your soul is not a used car.  Have you ever bought a used car? The guy asks a certain price; say 5K. You decide you want that car. So you offer the guy $3500.  He says, "Um...How about $4500?" Then you finally agree to $4000.
   God has told us the price of our salvation. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."  We can't just offer God lip service and act like that should be enough to cover it. We have to give him his asking price. No less. Jesus says again in Mark 8:34-35, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it."  We have to deny ourselves. That's heavy. But it is necessary.  Paul says in Romans 12:1, "I appeal to you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."  A living sacrifice. What does that mean? To deny ourselves. To do the will of the Father. To serve others.  That is the asking price for our souls.  And we must pay it all, or we get nothing. We can't bargain hunt with the Lord.

A Word on Worth

"When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
     The moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
 What is man that You are mindful of him,
     The son of man that You care for him?"  (Psalm 8:3-4)

    Psalm 8 is one of my favorite passages!  It decribes how awesome and powerful our Lord is; but even greater, it describes His love and His regard for us!!  I think we have all been where David was at some point in our lives. "What is man that you are mindful of him?"  More specifically: "Who am I that You love me?"  We see God, we recognize His greatness, and somewhere in there we lose sight of our value.  I don't mean to say that we have value because of our merit, or because we are so good.  I mean to say that God has given us value! 
   Get a load of Genesis 1:26-27! "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.  And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over all the livestock, and over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.  So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female He created them."  We have been A) made in God's image, and B) given dominion over all the earth.  How cool is that???  Picture this: God picks up a handful of dirt, forms is into a person, and then sees fit to give that clay figure, not only life, but a spirit that God wants eternal fellowship with! 
    Paul wrote a powerful message to Titus.  Titus 2:11-14 says, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from lawlessness and to purity for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works."  The particular thing I want to pull from this passage is the word REDEEM.  What does REDEEM mean? It means to buy back. How did He buy us back? By giving His life for us.  His blood was the currency of that spiritual transaction.  We are worth something to God if He is willing to die for us.
   To say you aren't worth forgiveness (or anything to that effect) is to call God either a liar or stupid.  And I thing we would all agree that neither of these are the case.  You are worth it! Because God made you worth it!

Make it a great day!!