Thursday, February 1, 2007

A word from my pastor.

(I just felt like passing this on.)


Sin (Greek it means: missing the mark, or...not hitting the target) is something all of us struggle with. Each of us 'misses the mark' at one time or another. The woman Jesus is dealing with in Luke 7 is a bit different than us. How? In verse 47 Jesus says her sins are MANY. A very strong and telling word! It literally meant she had a LOT of sins and......all of them were MAJOR. This lady was not only missing the mark, she stopped long ago even trying to hit the target. She had actually reached the point of sinning deliberately. Perhaps she felt ....why try, I'm so far gone there is no more hope for me. Fortunately for her, one day all that changed. That day was the day she met the Lord Jesus and He forgave her.
Jesus forgives us. All the mess we make, all the laws we break, all the times we 'miss the mark'. He never kicks us off the shooting range! He says, your'e forgiven. Perhaps then the part that perplexes us is probably what went through the woman's mind in our text; How can I forgive myself? How can I live with myself knowing I failed God and let others down? Have you been there? The guilt, the fear, the anxiety that eats away at you and is like a gnawing and pounding feeling that seems to constantly remind you that you failed. Jesus wants you to let it go! He never, ever came to condemn you (John 316-17; Rom. 8:1-5). If you have asked forgiveness He IS faithful to forgive you and CLEANSE you (I John 1:9; Rom. 3:23-26; II Cor. 5:21). Cleansed people need not feel dirty because Jesus says they are NOT dirty. For he whom the Son sets free is free INDEED (John 8:36).
I thank God that Jesus never gives up on us. I thank God that He forgives us and does not desire us to feel guilty. I thank God that Forgiven sins will never be thrown back in our face. They are gone for good, forever, never to be remembered (Psalm 103:12; Jer. 31:34).
Forgive yourself, for Jesus already has.
Blessings in the name of the Lord Jesus,
pastor john