Meet Me At The Cross

Murder. Selfishness. Adultery. Lying. Pride. Stealing. Gossip. Fornication. Idolatry. Blasphemy. Coveting. Strife. Envy. Greed. Unforgiveness. Drunkenness. Rebellion. Selfish Ambition. Perversion. Sexual Impurity. Disobedience. Witchcraft. Profanity. Jealousy. The list goes on. If you have ever committed any of the above, then you are a sinner, just like me. Sin isn’t measured by size. There is no distinction between a tiny white lie and a big one. It’s all sin. The consequences may differ, but it all separates us from God. We stand guilty.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23

But, because of God’s tremendous love for us, He sent His Son to stand in our place to pay the penalty for all our wrongdoings. An innocent man, God incarnate, hung on the cross – beaten, tortured, and mocked – for you and me. His death was beyond excruciating. It was a physical and emotional hell that He endured for us, so that we would never have to. Eternal condemnation is what we deserved, but eternal life is what He graciously gave.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23

The best part of this extraordinary offering is that it is free to us. We can’t earn it, we can’t buy it, and we certainly don’t deserve it. But, it’s ours. And, yet, so many don’t receive it.

Disbelief is one reason, but unworthiness is another. People continue to deny the power of this ultimate sacrifice. “I’ve gone too far,” “My sin is too big,” “You don’t know what I’ve done,” or “I keep messing up” are just a few of the lies that the devil tries to use to lessen the power of the cross. But, what Jesus did that day is powerful enough to cover any sin. Right before He took His last breath, Jesus declared:

“It is finished.” – John 19:30

And it is finished. The power of sin and death was defeated. Don’t allow the enemy to rob you of this beautiful love offering. You may not be worthy. Actually, I know you aren’t. None of us are, but Jesus is.

So this Easter, I invite you to meet me at the cross, where we are all washed clean.

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for dying on the cross for me. I accept this beautiful gesture of love. I believe you died and rose again so that the penalty of sin would be paid in full for me – for all of us. Please forgive me for all my sins, known and unknown. I pray for power to defeat this sin in my life. I know it has all been paid for at the cross. I lay down all my efforts and control, and I make you Lord of my life. Amen.

Happy Easter!

Back-to-School Grace

It’s that time of year again. It seemed like just yesterday we were celebrating the last day of school. Now, here I am shopping for back-to-school supplies. Sigh. Back-to-school shopping makes me so sad because it signals the end of summer, which is my favorite time of year. I love the warm weather and the carefree schedule. The only thing that makes this process somewhat bearable for me is finding great deals on back-to-school supplies and clothing.

In fact, just this week I was able to find an extraordinary deal on a graphing calculator for my son. But, when I got home and looked over my receipt, I realized that the store made an error and charged me too much. Ugh! Now I had to go back in for a price adjustment. Because that’s what I wanted to do with what was left with my summer, head back to the same store filled with desperate parents looking for deals on sticky notes.

I “mommied” up and headed back in. I wasn’t going to miss out on this deal. But to my utter surprise, the store manager was anything but nice to me. He was sarcastic, irritable, and downright rude. In complete shock, I left the store, and then immediately re-entered. There was no reason for him to treat me that way. And I was going to let him know that. I calmly, yes calmly, explained how his behavior was completely unacceptable.

Waiting for my apology, I instead received more rudeness. In fact, there was no apology at all, just him justifying his poor behavior. Since “I’m sorry” wasn’t coming out of his lips anytime soon, I decided to tell him that he lost my business for good, and that I would be shopping elsewhere in the future. I showed him!

Before I left, I asked him for his name. The unsettled look on his face revealed he knew why I was asking. And he was right. I was going to report him to corporate.

Walking away feeling quite proud of myself, I heard a quiet voice whisper in my ear: “show him grace.” Really!?! I must have heard wrong. Not one ounce of me wanted to do that. He didn’t deserve grace. He was being a jerk. Then, I felt a big nudge and was reminded that none of us deserve grace. And still, Jesus sacrificed Himself for all of us.

At that moment, I was faced with a decision. I could have ignored the nudge, reported the manager, got him in trouble, and felt good about being vindicated. Or, I could extend grace to a person who was obviously having a bad day and just needed someone to be kind to him.

Opportunities like this sometimes present themselves in life. What are we going to do with them? Well, I chose to listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and returned to him, this time with a different approach. I told him that I wanted to start all over again. I showed compassion and understanding. I recognized that he was having a tough day and told him I would pray for him instead of reporting him.

What did I get in return? A heartfelt thank you and an apology. And most importantly, I felt content in knowing that I was obedient to Christ.

Ladies, we are all recipients of God's grace, so give it freely and often.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. – Ephesians 4:32

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We hope that you will be able to join us for the "Taking Every Thought Captive" Conference on Saturday, September 19th from 9:00 a.m. - 3:oo p.m. We expect it to be a refreshing time for all women. Special Guest, Amy Carroll, from Proverbs 31 Ministries, will be speaking that day about her new book, "Breaking Up With Perfect." Tickets are $35. Go to eventbrite.com to get your ticket today.

For more information, go to http://www.womengetreal.org/event/taking-every-thought-captive-womens-conference/

Amazing Grace

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me,

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see.”

Grace. We sing about it. We talk about it all the time. But, what exactly is this grace that Christians speak of? Simply put, grace is God’s favor extended to mankind because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice at the cross.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. – Ephesian 2:8-9

We all struggle with sin. Sin separates us from God. The only way to be reconciled with God is to accept His gift of salvation. It is a payment for our sins, once and for all. This is grace. We can’t earn it. We can’t buy. It’s a free gift from above, and it is found in Christ alone! With that said, I have noticed a disturbing trend when it comes to people’s attitudes regarding grace. 

They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. – Jude 1:4

God’s grace is amazing, but we cannot go about willfully sinning and believe that grace will cover it. The forgiveness of our sins is a beautiful demonstration of God’s love towards us. If we truly love Him, as He loves us, we would be motivated to turn away from sin. Instead, many use grace as a “get out of jail free” card, excusing sinful choices. Please don’t misunderstand – we will constantly struggle with sin in our lives. But, a heart that is truly sold out to Christ will consciously make a decision to turn away from sin, rather than justify or make excuses for it.

Ladies, take a moment to examine your life and see if there are areas where you are rationalizing sinful behavior. If you discover any, seek God’s forgiveness and make a conscious decision today to turn away from that behavior. His grace is amazing, but it is not a license to sin!

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. – 1 John 3:6