Words of Encouragement and Thoughts (5)

Jesus is the way -- not an add on, an extra, an option, or a supplement.

In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." There is no other way.

Yet many people think that they can be saved through other ways. Religion is not the way; your pastor is not the way; baptism is not the way; church membership is not the way; doing good things is not the way. There is only one way to be saved: Jesus.

As a well-known song proclaims: There is only "one name under heaven whereby we must be saved" -- Jesus!

Salvation comes down to this: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him (John 3:36).

Similarly, 1 John 5:12 says, He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. It is clear that Jesus is the only way.

When you forgive, the debt doesn't just go away. You absorb the debt. That's why forgiveness is so hard.

Say you lend a person one thousand dollars, but suppose that when the time comes for the loan to be repaid that person is unable to repay you. If you forgive that person of his debt, then that person no longer owes you anything. By forgiving, you forfeited the money—you absorbed the debt.

How is it that God is able to forgive our sins against him? He absorbed them by sending his son to suffer the penalty for our debts (sins). Christ absorbed the penalty of death so that we don't have to. When God forgave us, he said, "There's no need to repay me." (We couldn't repay God even if we tried, but now we're freed from the burden of trying.)

When you forgive someone, you absorb their debt. That's why forgiveness is so hard.

In Luke 7, Jesus tells this parable to Simon: "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

Forgiveness is a sign of love. To forgive someone of a massive debt (in this case, five hundred denarii) is a sign of massive love. How is forgiveness a sign of love? Because if you forgive much, then you must absorb much debt (pain, suffering, loss, etc.). Our sin against God is the biggest possible debt we could have; so for God to absorb that is a sign of his endless, measureless love.

When He forgave us, God didn't just ignore our debt; he absorbed our debt.

You are welcome Rebecca.

"My Peace is such an all-encompassing gift that it is independent of circumstances. Though you lose everything else, if you gain My Peace you are rich indeed." -Dear Jesus by Sarah Young, p. 126

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." -John 14:27

"Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the place of the great; For it is better that he say to you, “Come up here,” Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen." Proverbs 25:6-7

Psalm 81:1-16

To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph.
1Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
2Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the lute.
3Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
4For this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
5This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
Where I heard a language I did not understand.
6“I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the baskets.
7You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Selah
8“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
9There shall be no foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11“But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have none of Me.
12So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
13“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
15The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him,
But their fate would endure forever.
16He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;
And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

"The major problem with letting others define you is that it borders on idolatry. Your concern to please others dampens your desire to please Me, your Creator." -Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

My beloved daughter,

I know you can’t really see me in your circumstance, and there are so many things in this world that are unjust. You live in a fallen world–but no future that I have planned can be disrupted by injustice. Joseph was my chosen one, and he was thrown into prison unjustly–but he finished his life in a palace because I placed him in the right place at the right time. Many times what appears to you as a dead end is my divine intervention. Don’t look at your circumstance. Look for my plan and my purpose in all places you go, and you will begin to find the Wonderful works I have created for you.

Love,
Your Heavenly Daddy

Don't stop believing in God.
Don't stop trusting His Word.
Don't stop obeying His commands.
Don't stop having faith in His promises.

Keep hoping.
Keep walking.
Keep fighting.
Keep praying.
God is making a way!

You are welcome Sunshine.

God is saying, "Don't base your worth on someone else's words. You are not worthless, ugly , unintelligent, forgotten or hopeless. You have worth, you're beautiful, wise, loved, and chosen by God for great things!"

My Daughter,

I want you to know to that no matter what you have done, there is never a wrong time to do the right thing. There is no choice wrong enough, there is no chain strong enough and there is no time that has passed far enough that can keep you from making things right in my sight. Now there may be those who refuse to allow you to make things right, but they are not the ones who forgive you…I am.

Yes, there will be consequences for bad choices you have made, but I am the God who rebuilds what is broken from the wreckage. Remember, you can’t change what has happened but you can build a new beginning…one choice at a time. Today is a new day. My mercies are new every morning. Now pray and ask Me to show you how to make things right and we will work through this together–Father and daughter.

Love,
Your father who knows what’s best

Via: Sheri Rose Shepherd