Tag: forgiveness

Snow

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

Have you heard the news? Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicts 6 more weeks of winter!

Not only is New Jersey seeing record snowfalls and frigid temperatures, but so is the rest of the country! Have you seen pictures of Nashville’s trees wrapped in ice? Snow is a wonder of nature, sent by God, at His command—and there’s nothing we can do about it, except shovel a path and admire the beauty.

“He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down.
Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power.” Job 37:6-7 NLT

The sunny days that followed our latest snowfall have been dazzling! Granted, I’m a retiree who neither treks to work nor clears her own sidewalks, but even before I reached these golden years, I loved living in the rhythm and wonder of four seasons, winter included.

The pristine, glistening snow always reminds me of God’s promise in Isaiah 1:18:

“Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.”

Perhaps we can better appreciate the marvel of that statement when we look at the polluted, gray, mud-splattered snow on the side of the road. Even when our hearts are stained and polluted, God’s forgiveness washes them and makes them pure, “as white as snow.”

February is a great month to draw near to God!

Hide and Seek

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

I remember the laughter and suspense of this game! For me, it was most fun when played outside in the dark. To my mother’s chagrin, we sometimes played it in the house, knocking over chairs and sending clothes to the closet floor.

The rules are simple: the players run off to hide while the seeker covers his eyes, counting to 100, and then calls out, “Ready or not, here I come!” The first hider found is the seeker in the next game, and the last one found is declared the winner.

 It’s fun to watch children play this game, and difficult not to call out hints. But when adults hide from their friends (and to some extent, we all do), it indicates a problem.

What secret embarrasses us? What behavior humiliates us? What action have we not forgiven ourselves for? What sin have we not confessed to God? What shame do we carry?

At the beginning of our hiding, friends may ask what’s wrong. They may probe or even guess, but when we stubbornly remain hidden, they take the hint and keep their distance. God is different.

God is the ultimate Seeker and relentlessly pursues us. He does not search for us with a pointing finger but with open arms. The misery we hide from others is seen by Him. It is not off-putting to Him but rouses His compassion. He longs to forgive, heal, and hold us. We need only to step out of hiding and into His embrace.

Hiding is not a game we can win, and seeking is not an activity God will abandon.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” Jesus, in Matthew 11:28.

The Door Flung Open

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

Darkness extinguished light, death stole life, a stone sealed the tomb.

How final, decisive, absolute!

But…

Heaven’s door was flung open.

The way to eternity was cleared.

Light broke out of the darkness and exposed

the shadows in our minds,

the dark places in our hearts,

the shame of our souls—

and hope entered.

Our debt was forgiven, our sin absolved, our condemnation wiped away.

The door was opened and, forever after, people from every walk and every nation, throughout all time and space, have heeded God’s invitation to step into the light and be made whole.

That is the Easter story.

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

Red in the Bible

After last week’s post about red, I wondered how often the Bible mentions red. We may instantly think of the blood of Jesus—as some of you commented. But does it say, “Red blood?” It doesn’t. I looked it up.

Esau was the red twin (who asked his brother Jacob for a bowl of red stew).

The Red Sea is repeatedly mentioned citing God’s miraculous deliverance of the Israelites.

Animal skins were dyed red and covered the tabernacle.

Numbers 19 required a red heifer for a special sacrifice, which could send us down a long rabbit trail. Currently five red heifers are penned in a secret location in Israel and viewed as a fulfillment of end time prophecy. I’m certainly not equipped to expound on this.

But then we come to the glorious promise in Isaiah 1:18:

“Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”

Sin is red, scarlet, crimson, but is it actually red? Or is it the sacrifice for sin that is red?

Sin cannot be condoned—it must be atoned for, and the atonement is always a costly sacrifice that bleeds red. Before you protest, examine your own cry for justice when you are wronged. Whether you’re slandered, robbed, or raped, physically or emotionally, the abuse demands justice and justice is what we are promised. Later in Isaiah (42:1), he prophesies about Jesus.

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen One in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.”

But that is still not all Jesus’ shed blood is for. It is for our own sins, those red blots that stain us and are impossible to wash away. The Bible’s red is both for the sin and the sacrifice. What amazing grace and freedom are found in Jesus’ redemption. He alone saves us by opening the way to God, who says,

“Come now, let us settle the matter…
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”