Covered in His blood, reminded of His love.

Good morning beloveds! 

This morning I woke up and God put this passage on my heart to share with you all:

“If anyone hears My words 

and doesn’t keep them, 

I do not judge him; 

(Did you hear that?  Jesus said that!  He does not judge you the way others do when we do something that offends their preferences, he takes us as we are, broken and weak) 

for I did not come to judge the world 

but to save the world. 

The one who rejects Me and doesn’t accept My sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 

(In other words, you have the words of life right here!  You know Jesus spoke and you can either believe Him or reject Him, but you cannot say you didn't know He was real...He appeared in history!  He is real, and you know what He spoke, so if you reject him and what He said, you shouldn't be surprised if at the end of your life you are miserable)

For I have not spoken on My own, 

but the Father Himself who sent Me 

has given Me a command 

as to what I should say (The message)

and what I should speak. (The words)

(God our Maker spoke through Jesus to us, His created beings who needed to be redeemed after the fall of humanity into sin!  God spoke to us by Jesus to save us.  Side note: I heard Henry Cloud say that in the garden after Adam and Eve sinned God banned them from the garden so that they couldn't eat from the tree of life, and while I was listening to Him read that passage from Genesis it bothered me.  Why would God not want them to eat from the tree of Life?  Wouldn't it be better than getting kicked out? I though the tree of Life meant that they would have life in the sense that it was with God in heaven, but as Cloud explained further He said how God banned them into the land outside the garden called the place of redemption because the tree of life represented eternity.  If Adam and Eve ate from the tree of life they would be doomed to live in pain and sin for eternity!  But God made sure this did not happen by banishing them from the garden into the place where He could redeem them, the place we are in now, which He did through His Son.  Wow.) 

I know that His command is eternal life. 

So the things that I speak, 

I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

-John 12:47-50

These are the words of life spoken by Jesus to us.  He doesn't judge us to keep everything he says, because He died so that we could receive unconditional grace as we are being helped in every area of transformation, but he says to believe in Him.  That even though His ways and commands (to love your enemy and to consider others better than yourselves, and to turn the other cheek when you are hit, and to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, and many more life giving words!) are difficult they are literally the guides to life!  He speaks not to sound holy or righteous or religious, but to bring the words that lead to life!  This is not about religion, this is about life.  

It's better for us to listen to what God says is good and life-giving, because we know that God loves us...or if you don't think that's evident you have not known either your sins or your Savior.  It's evident that God loves us because He didn't have to send His Son to die for us but He did.  For some reason He really loves His created humans that He made in His image.  

You have Him imprinted on your self, that means apart from what you do or achieve or don't achieve in this life, you have inherent dignity and value.  You have the image of God.  

Turn to Him and be renewed by the words that restore life into our spirits and into the image of God that we were made in.  That is who you are.  Your identity as a human is given!  Jesus is showing us what we were made to be...who we were made to be, who's we were made to belong to, and how through His sacrifice we can be.  He did not come to judge us based on our performance, that has nothing to do with grace.  He also did not come to leave us in our sin, that has nothing to do with the truth!  By grace and truth means we develop our identity with Him. 

Don't remain living in darkness, but allow His light to reveal the truth and for grace to help you along the way.  Sin easily entangles us, but His grace is like the conditioner and 

His truth is like the water that makes us new. 

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, 

let us also lay aside every encumbrance 

and the sin which so easily entangles us, 

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

Hebrews 12:1

Jesus said He did not come to judge, but to save.  Believe that what He speaks is the truth about what will bring us life, love, and every good thing.  He speaks the words He got from God, our Creator, who knows our inherent humanity best.  

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, 

the author and perfecter of faith, 

who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:2

Jesus came and gave us the words of life.  

He said don't worry if you can't keep them, just believe that I really said them to bring you life and restore your soul.  Believe that He loves you, died for you, and has unending grace to give you as you walk with Him today and forever into the light of eternity as one beloved.  Covered in His blood, 

Reminded of His love. 

Sing that to your soul every morning and every night: "Covered in His blood, reminded of His love."  And be led by the words of God given to us in...

you guessed it,

the Word of God (the Bible).  

For every failure, 

For every feeling of self-condemnation, 

For every doubt,

For every slip into the sin that easily entangles, 

For every weak moment,

For every feeling of worthlessness, 

For every time you've quit or given up, 

For every painful wound you've acquired, 

For the darkest times at night,

For every season of confusion and worry, 

For every hard decision you make,

For each day that passes in this short life, 

For the boring days and the good days,

For every broken relationship,

For every addiction or fear,

For every "what if" and "how come",

For every wave of pressure and anxiety,

For every loss you've experienced,

For every grieving you've gone through, 

For every bout of anger or lies you've spewed,

For every encounter with the enemy, 

For every feeling of heaviness,

For every stain and disappointment,

For every idol you've worshipped,

For every idol you worship even now,

For every decision made out of fear or envy,

For every, every, every single thing that has happened in your life, whether by choice or as a victim of sin in this world,

Believe in Jesus.  

His words and His teachings are from God our Father, who sought to save us from the moment our humanity was stricken by sin.  

Through His Son, we are covered in His blood, reminded of His love, and we get the words that lead to Life.  

Covered in His blood, reminded of His love.

Look to Jesus for the words that will bring you life today!   

Jmegrey