Abundantly Pardoned

"The Lord said to Moses, 'How long will these people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?'" (Numbers 14:11 NIV)

The Israelites were a whiny, impossible-to-believe bunch, impossible-to-please bunch. No matter what God did for them, no matter what miracles He showed them, they were always turning their backs on Him to worship idols or to complain about everything. They even complained that they had better food to eat when they were slaves of the Egyptians. Sounds familiar? The next time we whine or complain, let's stop and thank God instead.

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Why is it that we so often forget the above verses? Hey, it's okay to be weak. In fact, it's more than okay to be weak! No matter how bad an employee or co-worker or that person behind us in line at the store does his or her best to get our goat and make our life miserable---hey, Christ wants us to know that in our weakness we can lean on His strength. His power is then shown in our lives!

^{2Sa 6:22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. (NIV)}

^{People who aren't in a relationship with the Lord don't understand true worship. They're embarassed by the full-blown worship of someone who turns loose for the Lord. That's why it's so difficult for a believer to be married to an unbeliever---like King David and Michal, the daughter of Saul. She put down David after seeing him dancing in the streets for the Lord. The above verse is his reply to her. It was as if David were telling her, "You ain't seen nothin' yet, girl!" That's right, David! Let me worship my Lord with everything that is in me!}

I have a Jewish New Testament among my Bibles, and the translation of Colossians 3:14-15 is, "Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly; and let the shalom which comes from the Messiah be your heart's decision-maker, for this is why you were called to be part of a single Body." Shalom: Peace. We are to let Christ's peace be our heart's decision-maker. I do not go along with my will, nor do I go along with other people's wills. I go with the will of my Master. His peace is my decision-maker, and thus I have peace in my heart in whatever the matter, whether it be a major church decision, a missions decision or a personal decision. Only the Master's will. His shalom is my shalom.

"When you reach the end of your rope you will find the hem of His garment." (author unknown)

Someone sent that to me in an email. We need to grab the hem of His garment BEFORE we start sliding down the rope. We need to hang onto our Jesus and never let go.

^{Pr 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (NIV)}

^{There are 22 sets of scripture in Proverbs alone pertaining to the tongue. Let's face it, the tongue has a mind and a will of its' own, and it can wound worse than a gun or a knife. And nothing hurts or shocks more than a fellow Christian saying something "smart alecky" to you. It's like a physical slap in the face, and it's something we face everyday. It literally takes your breath away and hurts to the core of your being everytime it happens. Jesus would take it in silence---unless a Pharisee had been the one to wound with the tongue---He would teach the Pharisee the way a Christian should be. So, what should we do? Perhaps it would be best to just gently say, "Excuse me, but what you just said really hurt me. You probably didn't mean to hurt me, but you did." A lesson taught, a Christlike example by a fellow Christian.}

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 4:7 KJV)

Isn't peace through Jesus Christ wonderful? That peace "keeps" our hearts and minds through Him. He holds our hearts and minds in His wonderful hands. Without Jesus there is no peace in our hearts. Without Jesus there is turmoil in our hearts. This peace, just like His love, is beyond our understanding. We don't understand it, but we are wise to accept it.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:17-19 NIV)

Try to imagine the love of Christ for us---it surpasses knowledge! That's a lot of love! It's wide and long and high and deep. That's a lot of love! We are to show Christ's love to others. Can we show that much love? Can we give that much love? If not, we'd better ask Christ to work on our hearts for us.

"O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver." (Psalm 7:1-2 KJV)

How does someone tear your soul like a lion? How does someone rend your soul into pieces? Someone who leads you down the path of destruction will certainly tear your soul, and once you're off that path, it may take years for your soul to heal. What about divorce? Doesn't that tear your soul? It certainly tore mine. We must be cautious to avoid the lions in our lives. We must be cautious not to become so weak that the lion moves it with gleaming teeth, ready to tear our souls to pieces. How can we be cautious? By staying close to the Lord's side. By staying deep in the Word, deep in a relationship with Jesus, and by talking with Him everyday. He is our Shepherd and will keep the lion from tearing our souls.

"Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High." (Psalm 7:8 NIV) David must have been really confident in the condition of his heart to ask God to judge his heart according to his own righteousness and his own integrity. Do we have the courage to do the same?