White As Snow.

 “With all your heart you must trust the Lord and not your own judgment. Always let him lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3: 5-6 CEV 


I’m looking out my window this morning and everything, absolutely everything is covered in white. We are in our winter season and today we are getting a snow storm. 5-10 inches are expected to fall over the next day. As I gaze out at the white landscape, it is speaking to me about our righteousness that comes by faith in our precious Lord, Jesus. 

It’s covering, much  like the snow, makes us pure, blameless before God. Through him, we all receive this precious gift of righteousness from the Father. He looks at us as if we are as white as this snow. He sees his Son, not my sin. A new creation, no blemish, no imperfection, not marred by sin. Perfect in Christ. I don’t know about you but that truth blows my mind every time I think about it. The problem is, for me, I am quick to forget what this means. How it impacts my daily life, but I can tell you that joy and peace show up as I set my heart and mind on how He sees me through his Son. 

I am the righteousness of God in Christ and any anger or unforgiveness I hold in my heart does not bring about the good that God wants to do in and through me. It actually hinders it.

I did not deserve this forgiveness from God. I do not deserve to be in right standing before my Creator. I can’t earn it through good works or behaving right. It is a gift. He gave it freely. So why would I not also freely give forgiveness? Am I justified in holding judgement? Nope. It is clear in all the Gospels, in James, in 1Thessalonians, in searching the scriptures that if I judge my neighbor then I am sitting in judgment of the law and in turn judging myself. If I believe that God is the One true Judge, which I do, then I have to leave judgement to him. His justice and love are balanced. I’m not qualified to be the Judge of the world but what he has called me to is this Law of Love and against it there is no law. This law of love  has been fulfilled on the cross. Righteousness was imputed to us, for those of us who believe. He took what we were powerless to do, save ourselves from death and judgment and atoned for it. We can love and not hate because God loved us first and chose us in him. Because he loved us first, we can love. Even others who don’t deserve love. Love is a choice, it is a gift freely given. Not earned or deserved. 

So who do you need to let off the hook of judgement? I know this ruffles feathers cause it ruffles mine. But truth is truth and I don’t get to decide what’s  true and what’s not true. The Creator is the only one qualified to wear those shoes.

Woven throughout scripture the command and plea is to love one another. So why would I go on slandering someone? Holding a grudge against someone? Holding their sins against them when not even my own God is holding my sins against me? I can’t. I’ve been washed clean… if we believe the work that Jesus did for us on the cross then we’ve been washed clean. This makes us brothers and sisters in Christ. Heading toward our forever home. In this space there is no room for unforgiveness because no one deserves this precious gift of righteousness. Choose freely. Choose life because unforgiveness only leads to death. It separates us from one another. It separates us from the abundance of love that is continually beckoning us forward.

 So, my goal is to make room for each other’s faults. For my own faults. To be led by understanding and compassion not cursing or fault finding. To lead with compassion as I have been shown compassion. To see others as made in God’s image as I have been made. This is what gives us worth, value and belonging. 

What characteristics do you see in yourself that makes you an image bearer of God? 

Who could you be keeping on the hook of judgement? 

How would it feel to take them off and put them in God’s hands for molding and shaping? 

With you and love you friend, and if you believe in the finished work of Jesus on the cross then it is an honor to call you brother, it is an honor to call you sister. Let’s keep building each other up as the days become dark. 🌟

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When life doesn’t make sense, tune into your 5 senses.

 I am coming to understand that not only do we experience the 5 physical senses of taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing but we also experience these senses spiritually.  In my quiet time with the Lord, I was reading Sarah Young’s devotional called Jesus Listens. She referred to the eyes of our heart being open to a kind of sight that leads to hope. Meaning, our heart, in a spiritual sense is where our desires flow from. It’s where we hope and dream and where our emotions are felt and flow from. So when we have eyes to see into our heart and what it is we are hoping for, it may lift our perspective of what is to come. Not just wishing and dreaming but being confident in what God has promised in his Word. Hope is the anchor that steadies our heart when storms come into our lives. Hope sees the future glory that will revealed after the storm.  Then there is faith. Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God. Which leads me into the next sense of hearing. What are you h...
Read more

The Gift of Relationship.

  Do you have a favorite robe you put on? How does it make you feel? Is it soft and comfy, wrapping around you, feeling warm and comfortable?   I have not a robe but a blanket I wrap up in at the end of the day. Its soft comfortable fabric makes me feel like it is time for rest.  Did you know that the Bible says that God clothes us with his robe? When we first believe in his Son, he wraps us in his robe of righteousness. What does this mean? It means we are now in right standing with our Creator. We are now called righteous. A right relationship, free to access him, free to talk with him. The veil has been torn and nothing in all creation can separate us from this relationship of love. How does this robe make you feel?  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. - Matthew 5:6 (NIV) I am the righteousness of God in Christ. His blood bought this robe of righteousness for me and is given freely when I believed. I did not a ...
Read more

Be. Believe. Become

 I have recently been on a journey of becoming a life coach. I am currently a Dental Hygienist of 30 years and have found this career to be greatly rewarding. For those who are closest to me know that as I am getting older, my physical body is, as I define, generally experiencing the wearing out phase of life. I say this with the utmost respect I have for my body, it has served me well but my hands are tired. As I gradually do less Dental Hygiene over the up coming years, Life Coaching Certification has become an interest and an endeavor for me. What I hope to continue is having deep, meaningful, relevant conversations that lead to honesty, vulnerability and a deeper sense of knowing oneself. To help myself and others grow and learn in life as we lock arms and become the best version of ourselves. Discussing and strategizing ways to overcome obstacles that are getting in the way of experiencing change. Leaving old habits and patterns behind, letting go of what was and reaching towa...
Read more