Abundantly Pardoned

Pits of sin. There are all kinds of pits of sin, i.e., sexual pits, drug pits, alcohol pits, etc. My pits would probably be considered “piddly little pits” or “mole holes” by some people, but I want to be the woman Christ wants me to be, so to me my pits are huge, gaping holes. Why do we keep sliding or falling back into our pits once we get out of them? More than likely, we’re clawing our own way out and then standing at the edge on weak, wobbly legs. When that same old sin confronts us again, we fall or slide right back down into that pit. We cannot keep crawling out on our own. Psalm 40:2 says, “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Only our Lord God Almighty can pull us out of our pits and set us far enough away so that we can’t fall back in again. In the kingdom of God there’s no such thing as a “piddly pit.” All pits are bad. We need to get out of them and stay out of them.

(Inspired by Beth Moore’s “Get Out of That Pit!”, my own pits and my Lord Jesus Christ)

This is not a perfect world, nor are there perfect people within it. Sometimes God has to remind me of this fact. We are women with feelings that run deep, and not everyone is intentionally hurting us. Some people build their own little worlds and will only allow certain people into their worlds. We have to live with the fact that not everyone wants us as their friends, and we will never be a part of their little worlds. John 1:11 tells us that when Jesus Christ came into the world, the world didn’t receive Him. After all, He was different. Very different. Different is unacceptable in the minds of some people. There are people who will never accept you as a friend, no matter how hard you try to fit in. Don’t try to change who God made you in order to try and get people to let you into their little worlds they’ve created. God made you who you are for a reason. Embrace your uniqueness, and use it for God’s glory, no matter where you are or what you do.

There are no Cinderella marriages, no perfection in a marriage, and if anyone goes into a marriage thinking that they’re going to be living in a fairy tale with their Prince Charming and no troubles, that woman is in for a rude awakening. Dear Innocent One, your Prince Charming slurps his milk and cereal, burps after he eats, falls asleep in front of the t.v. set, scratches like a bear with fleas and snores when he sleeps. He does not rescue damsels in distress, swing through a forest like Kevin Costner as Robin Hood, drag a wounded, bloody leg behind him as he totes a submachine gun on his way to rescue you in a hostage situation like Bruce Willis in “Die Hard”; he does not look like “The Rock” when he awakens in the morning, and while we’re on that subject, nor does he have fresh breath when he awakens; he is not always funny nor always in a good mood; sometimes he’s grumpy, sometimes he doesn’t agree with the things you do or say. He is not a fairy tale man, and you are not a fairy tale woman. Many hard bumps will come in your marriage, and it’s going to take much prayer and much talking together to work things out. The really, really hard bumps may require some pastoral counseling and time spent together on your knees praying all night long. Please know that all marriages are not perfect, and all marriages take a lot of work, however, there is one single TRUTH that is not a fairy tale: our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Him constantly in your marriage and you won’t awaken each morning being disappointed that there is no fresh breath or Robin Hood. Love your man for who he is and for who God is making him.

“How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down—this leaning wall, this tottering fence?” (Psalm 62:3 NIV) Don’t you sometimes feel like a leaning wall or tottering fence as you go throughout your everyday? Sometimes the hostile co-workers, the bills, the traffic, the cows loose in the road—it can be a bit too much—at least that’s how we feel. Verses 1-2 tell us, My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” Dear sisters, we will never be shaken. WE may FEEL like a tottering fence or leaning wall, but in our Lord God Almighty we cannot be shaken.

The Lord’s Prayer has us pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” (Matthew 6:12 KJV) “Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors.” (NIV) Put another way, “Forgive us in the same way that we forgive others.” Whoa! We should make sure that we are truly forgiving those who have done us wrong if we want the Lord to forgive us of OUR sins. Verses 14-15 say, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (NIV) Dear sisters, let us be sure to forgive all who have wronged us.

We all face trouble every, single day of our lives, but the question is: how do we see our troubles—through our own eyes or through the eyes of God? If we look at them through God’s eyes, they’ll seem much smaller. Last weekend my central air conditioning system decided to start impersonating a helicopter. I shut it down, but it was so hot that I turned it back on the next morning, not caring if it decided to take flight. I asked our Lord God Almighty to place His hand upon the air conditioning system and keep it from being major, expensive repair work. After the air conditioning man repaired it yesterday, he told me that a dead mouse was in there along with its’ nest, and the pipe was clogged and had been spraying water on the insulation which caused it to come loose (sounds like a page from a Dr. Seuss book, ha!). Needless to say, the repairs didn’t cost too much. “Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV) If you have a mouse, a mouse nest, a clogged pipe and loose insulation in your central air conditioning system, I’m the gal who can comfort you!

“We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God.” (Titus 2:12b NLT) Dear sisters, that little verse says so much to us. In fact, that little verse is jam-packed with a punch! Without the wisdom that God gives us in His Word, there is no way that we could be righteous (free of sin). We must daily immerse ourselves in God’s Word so that we can obtain the wisdom we need to distinguish right from wrong. Total devotion to God means total obedience to Him, because there is no obedience without devotion. Write the following words upon your hearts, upon your minds, upon your computer monitors and upon your journals: “wisdom, righteousness, devotion to God.” What a mouthful!

The grace of God. What a gift! No, we don’t deserve it, but God gives us His grace. Once we accept Christ as our Savior, our old selves die, and Christ begins living in us. We live in this earthly body in this sinful violent world by believing in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Rock, our Fortress, our Strength in the face of all that happens each day. By His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5 NIV). No matter what we’ve done in our lives, once we give our hearts and lives to Him, we receive eternal life. Dear sisters, “…the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.” (6-7) Why didn’t He open His mouth? Why did He take our sins as His own and die for us so that we could have eternal life? Grace. Amazing grace. It never ceases to amaze me. I am humbled everyday by God’s wondrous grace. Each day we need to thank Him over and over for His magnificent grace. “Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all my sins.” (hymn) Amen and amen, sisters! “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless.” (Galatians 2:20-21 NLT)

Yesterday (and today) I was having the same old problems with the same person at work causing me to have what I call a “harmonica day.” Let’s put it this way—playing the harmonica soothes my temper, much the same way King David’s harp-playing soothed an upset Saul. I have surrendered this problem with this person to the Lord—but not just once. I’ve had to surrender it over and over which causes me to repent to the Lord each day for not trusting Him enough to just surrender it once. Sometimes God teaches me in my dreams if He can’t get my attention during the day. Psalm 16:7 tells us, “I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.” (NIV) Last night was one of those nights. Dear sisters, always pay attention to your dreams, no matter how bizarre they may seem. Last night I dreamed of a tiny man (a midget) sitting on a chair. He was wearing fuzzy, red house socks on his hands and was confused and frustrated, because he couldn’t figure out how to remove the socks so he could do some paperwork on the table beside the chair. I meditated on the dream this morning and realized that God was telling me I need to let go of worldly concerns and focus on Kingdom concerns. He was telling me that this small person (myself) needs to hop off His throne and let Him do His work. As the saying goes, “Let go and let God.” So true, so true! We need to surrender the very first “harmonica day” to the Lord so we won’t have to keep playing that harmonica. In Matthew 5 of “The Message” Bible, Jesus Christ speaks of our loving our enemies as follows: “Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives His best….” God places difficult people in our lives so that we can see the best and the worst in ourselves. What we clearly see as the best needs to be nurtured. What we see as the worst needs to be surrendered to God. My goal is to someday be able to put away my harmonica!

If you are a single woman, there will probably be a time in your life when you hear someone say, “Why, there must be something wrong with her. She’s 30 [or 40 or 50 or 60] and is still single.” Nonsense! There is nothing wrong with being a single woman. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 7:8, the Apostle Paul says, “But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am.” (NKJV) In verses 32, 33 and 35 he continued to say, “But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife. And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.” (NKJV) You see, if you’re single, you can fully devote yourself to the Lord. Hosea 2:19a says, “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me….” (NKJV) and Isaiah 54:5a says, “For your Maker is your Husband, The Lord of hosts is His name.” (NKJV) Marriage is a wonderful, sacred thing, but so is being single for the Lord.