The Holy One calls to me this morning. The assassin of my soul has been busy at work doing what he does best: ACCUSE ME.
The Holy Spirit speaks to the tempter's snare and reminds me, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 Why then does the guilt plague our minds and shame pursue us in forms of bondage to our soul?
The Holy One knows my every thought and enters into this mental dilemma, "Forgiveness is the bedrock of Christianity and yet is taken for granted without realizing the necessity of repentance".
When the Lord Jesus modeled humility in the washing of the Disciples, the message was clear that we are to serve one another in the most menial and humble ways, but today, I see another point to His words, "A person who has a bath needs only to wash his feet". John 13:10. In the context of the this verse, Jesus was answering Peter's objection to the act of Him cleaning Peter's feet. "Unless I wash you, you have no part of Me."
We walk daily in a fallen world where temptations abound and we falter in our commitment to Holiness. Sin continues to be a problem to our flesh and we often buckle even as we have the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ to stay above the temptations. The process of being made Holy while in our flesh is called "sanctification".
The trials presented to us are all a part of God's permissive will, and they are designed to ferret out the sin within not to condemn us but to perfect us. Part of the deception within the church is that we become wholly "holy" when we accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross as our substitute and His death as the atonement for our sin.
We take the principle of forgiveness for granted and give no thought to the need to come in humble repentance to the One we grieve in our flesh failures whenever they occur. While we can rest in the assurance that our sins are forgiven: past present and future, there remains the responsibility to confess, repent, and actually receive the forgiveness promised.
In the wonder of God's forgiveness we fail to realize that sinful thoughts and acts will continue to be part of our temporal experience and there is the need for daily cleansing from the walk on fallen soil. That daily cleansing is called repentance.
The guilt and condemnation builds up within us like cholesterol in our arteries, unless we take the action that is the cure. Does forgiveness automatically happen when we sin against our lord? Absolutely, and He executes forgiveness as we are exhorted to do even if the offender doesn't ask for it. But the human side cannot fully appropriate the forgiveness unless and until we ask for forgiveness and know we are forgiven.
We are commanded to forgive one another, but I question whether we can truly forgive others unless we deal with God on the subject of personal daily forgiveness. The "accuser of the brethren" stands accusing and he targets our failures. There is nothing we can do but agree when we fail. We can declare we are forgive because that is true, but there is a deeper peace that comes when we go to our Heavenly Father and consciously ask for and receive His forgiveness.
Once we know that we are clean and forgiven before God we can move on to the self forgiveness that truly sets us free. That is the place of fulfillment where there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ because most of the condemnation we feel comes out of our own guilt.
Tucked into the Father's forgiveness and purged of our self-condemnation we are beyond the reach of the accuser.
The command to love our neighbor as our self hinges on self love. Self love comes with self forgiveness. Self forgiveness happens when we acknowledge our sin and failure and make the choice to forgive.
James talks to the Church about the need to confess our sins one to another and pray for each other as part of the greater healing process. James 5:16.
The need for forgiveness is not just a one time Salvation day experience. The day of Salvation is the day we enter into a new relationship with God called the Sacred Romance and just as in a human one, where we need to ask the other person to forgive us when we grieve their love, so it is with Holiness.
As we might daily grieve our Beloved, we need to daily repent. That is the process of Sanctification and the big emotion that can get in the way of that Divine process is flesh pride which seeks to control, exalt and fuel itself.
It is humbling to realize we are not made perfect in the moment of our Salvation and will never get to that place in our flesh and there is no magic wand that can substitute for the work of disciplining our flesh under the rule of the Spirit.
Sanctification is a long trudge through a deep swamp of flesh yuck. Forgiveness must not be taken for granted without the acknowledgement of sin and required repentance.
Psalm 139:23, "Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." The Holy spirit is leading us and the pathway of His perfect will is through repentance and forgiveness.
I think it's time to get rid of the pent up condemnation of the enemy and into the sweet place of repentance where the blessing of forgiveness flows to me and through me, and where "no condemnation" is my daily reality.
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
The Holy Spirit speaks to the tempter's snare and reminds me, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 Why then does the guilt plague our minds and shame pursue us in forms of bondage to our soul?
The Holy One knows my every thought and enters into this mental dilemma, "Forgiveness is the bedrock of Christianity and yet is taken for granted without realizing the necessity of repentance".
When the Lord Jesus modeled humility in the washing of the Disciples, the message was clear that we are to serve one another in the most menial and humble ways, but today, I see another point to His words, "A person who has a bath needs only to wash his feet". John 13:10. In the context of the this verse, Jesus was answering Peter's objection to the act of Him cleaning Peter's feet. "Unless I wash you, you have no part of Me."
We walk daily in a fallen world where temptations abound and we falter in our commitment to Holiness. Sin continues to be a problem to our flesh and we often buckle even as we have the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ to stay above the temptations. The process of being made Holy while in our flesh is called "sanctification".
The trials presented to us are all a part of God's permissive will, and they are designed to ferret out the sin within not to condemn us but to perfect us. Part of the deception within the church is that we become wholly "holy" when we accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross as our substitute and His death as the atonement for our sin.
We take the principle of forgiveness for granted and give no thought to the need to come in humble repentance to the One we grieve in our flesh failures whenever they occur. While we can rest in the assurance that our sins are forgiven: past present and future, there remains the responsibility to confess, repent, and actually receive the forgiveness promised.
In the wonder of God's forgiveness we fail to realize that sinful thoughts and acts will continue to be part of our temporal experience and there is the need for daily cleansing from the walk on fallen soil. That daily cleansing is called repentance.
The guilt and condemnation builds up within us like cholesterol in our arteries, unless we take the action that is the cure. Does forgiveness automatically happen when we sin against our lord? Absolutely, and He executes forgiveness as we are exhorted to do even if the offender doesn't ask for it. But the human side cannot fully appropriate the forgiveness unless and until we ask for forgiveness and know we are forgiven.
We are commanded to forgive one another, but I question whether we can truly forgive others unless we deal with God on the subject of personal daily forgiveness. The "accuser of the brethren" stands accusing and he targets our failures. There is nothing we can do but agree when we fail. We can declare we are forgive because that is true, but there is a deeper peace that comes when we go to our Heavenly Father and consciously ask for and receive His forgiveness.
Once we know that we are clean and forgiven before God we can move on to the self forgiveness that truly sets us free. That is the place of fulfillment where there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ because most of the condemnation we feel comes out of our own guilt.
Tucked into the Father's forgiveness and purged of our self-condemnation we are beyond the reach of the accuser.
The command to love our neighbor as our self hinges on self love. Self love comes with self forgiveness. Self forgiveness happens when we acknowledge our sin and failure and make the choice to forgive.
James talks to the Church about the need to confess our sins one to another and pray for each other as part of the greater healing process. James 5:16.
The need for forgiveness is not just a one time Salvation day experience. The day of Salvation is the day we enter into a new relationship with God called the Sacred Romance and just as in a human one, where we need to ask the other person to forgive us when we grieve their love, so it is with Holiness.
As we might daily grieve our Beloved, we need to daily repent. That is the process of Sanctification and the big emotion that can get in the way of that Divine process is flesh pride which seeks to control, exalt and fuel itself.
It is humbling to realize we are not made perfect in the moment of our Salvation and will never get to that place in our flesh and there is no magic wand that can substitute for the work of disciplining our flesh under the rule of the Spirit.
Sanctification is a long trudge through a deep swamp of flesh yuck. Forgiveness must not be taken for granted without the acknowledgement of sin and required repentance.
Psalm 139:23, "Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." The Holy spirit is leading us and the pathway of His perfect will is through repentance and forgiveness.
I think it's time to get rid of the pent up condemnation of the enemy and into the sweet place of repentance where the blessing of forgiveness flows to me and through me, and where "no condemnation" is my daily reality.
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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