Encouragment

[geronimo]

 Hey guys (gals included in guys).
I have pasted portions of this friends thoughts or reflections here before. Today I thought I'd post a complete writing. CAll it what you will, but I call it Reflectios.  He's an encourager IMO. Hope you enjoy.

Psalm 32:1-2 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Joy of Forgiveness

A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.[a]

32 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

Whose sin is covered.

2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,

And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Pasted from <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+32%3A1-2&version=NKJV>


Paul quotes this passage in Romans 4 in his explanation that we are not saved by what we have done but by accepting what Jesus has done on our behalf and confessing Him as Savior and Lord.  I would like to say that my heart fully grasps what my eyes read but this statement is too rich for my complete comprehension.  I do not need to fully understand it to claim it.  I could not take the engine in my truck apart and reassemble it with any expectation that it would actually run again if I did so.  My lack of thorough understanding of the mechanics of how it all works together and its intricacies will not deter me from climbing in this morning and driving it to the office.  The fact that I cannot fully comprehend all the nuance and detail of Jesus' sacrifice on my behalf does not prevent me from claiming it.


I grew up in a tradition where doing right things in the right manner at the right time was considered crucial.  That can be good in promoting a pious lifestyle.  This outlook often leaves one struggling with guilt when you know you've sinned because of the emphasis on our performance and the lack of emphasis on what Jesus has done on our behalf.  Were you to draw the conclusion that God simply chooses to overlook or ignore our sin, you would be mistaken.  That is not the case at all.  Instead, our scapegoat, Jesus, has taken our sin outside the camp into the wilderness.  It is so difficult for us who stress the literalness of the Bible and its prohibitions against sin to accept that Jesus has stepped up to the Mercy Seat, the throne of heaven, and said, "I will take the blame.  I present my own lifeblood as the settlement for this debt."


Yesterday I stressed an aspect of Jesus' statement to the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection that God is eternally present meaning that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all present before Him, even though in our frame of reference, they were not concurrently alive.  I am learning that Jesus is also able, because of His eternal divine nature, now that He has returned to the Father, to answer all the need we have for the redemption found in His blood at once.

Of Jesus our High Priest the Hebrew writer says:

24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.  Hebrews 7:24-25 [NKJV]

I love the word uttermost in this passage.  The devil tries to make me believe that I can get so far outside God's grace that He cannot or will not forgive me.  Where is the end of uttermost?  How high is up?  How low is down?


Paul says it thus:

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39 [NKJV]

Need I stress that this is not a license to sin?  No indeed!  This is the freedom that comes from having the bondage of guilt broken off our lives.  Hallelujah!


Thank You Father for looking at me through the eyes of Jesus.  Please give me Your Holy Spirit today.