To honor the book of Lamentations, which in Hebrew is made of acrostic poems, I write 26 words in alphabetical order describing what God is: awesome, beautiful, compassionate, daring, everlasting, friend, good, holy, illuminating, just, kind, loving, majestic, needless (without needs), omniscient, powerful, quotable, real, savior, truth, uplifting, victorious, welcoming, xenagogue, yearning, zealous. These beautiful verses quoted in the image above from the third chapter of Lamentations demonstrate truth, hope & the love of God to me. While we are not promised an easy life, with on-going difficult circumstances, it can feel as though God has rejected us. Is this plight His way of beckoning our attention? We neglect Him & His guidance time & time again but then when the crumbling of life exceeds our limit, we shout, cursing & crying out, blaming God. To our great mercy, He forgives because HE IS FORGIVENESS: And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10 Shining His love upon us to the exact 'next thing' that requires our growth & change, He sets us up so that we MUST keep probing our ways for sin rather than to just keep on complaining! It is crucial that we return again & again to that which is good, worthy, healthy & elevating AND KNOW THIS IS THE LORD! Thank you God, for giving us eyes to see & ears to hear, amen.
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I need to correct myself in this post fear-love-forgiveness.html I wrote: “Jesus’ love is unconditional, but His forgiveness requires belief in Him as the Holy Son of God & spotless lamb of sacrifice for our sins & eternal life in Him, Jesus Christ, our Lord.”
After reflecting upon this Muslim man, Afshin Javier’s amazing conversion testimony of Christ’s forgiveness: https://youtu.be/EnqeC35SUhQ?si=A6msLQP2cseYpKSy I am reminded that Jesus’ forgiveness comes WITH His love --a gift He’s already given to everyone. To be received, Jesus’ gift (just as all gifts) must be accepted. As a devout man (& member of the Basij), Afshin was faithful in his pursuit of Allah but instead he met Jesus who showed him his unholiness! Jesus told Afshin, “I forgive you” before Afshin even knew the Gospel. Afshin says after his encounter with Christ, he received a Bible written in English, a language he didn’t know, but “the words came alive & I could read & understand”. Afshin knows Jesus as the Living God & Living Waters --a miraculous example of what Matthew tells us: “…when we seek, we will find…” (Matthew 7:7). Those who do not earnestly seek after God (but instead focus on all the reasons it doesn’t make sense to believe), likely have difficulty accepting the foundations of the Gospel 1). that they need forgiveness & 2). the truth & significance of Jesus’ crucifixion & resurrection. I pray Lord for those who are held in cognitive stronghold against the Gospel that You please release them & reveal Yourself to them in Your infinite wisdom. Open their minds to receive you & their hearts to accept & experience You as our Heavenly Father & Prince of Peace! In Jesus precious name, amen 🙏 |
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