The Infinite Paradox: the Meeting Place of Justice and Grace

     God is just. He cannot change that aspect of His character. God is gracious; He cannot change that either. How could a just God not show justice toward those who had wronged Him? How could a gracious God not show grace to those in need of it? And how do these two seemingly incompatible aspects of God's character work together? The answer is in Jesus' death on the cross. 

     We had sinned and we deserved God's eternal wrath for this sin. Habakkuk 1:13a says, "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong." God has been, and will always be, intolerant of evil. Evil must be punished by someone as pure and holy as God. Simply put, God is holy and we are not. This must be punished. 

     God looked on our plight as sinful creatures deserving his wrath, and He wanted to show us grace. Psalm 145:8 says, "The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love." He wanted to save us, but He could not go against His nature.

     Praise the Lord that there is no dilemma too difficult for God to solve. His answer was Jesus. He sent His son to earth to become fully man while remaining fully God. Jesus lived perfectly, and had no sins of his own to die for, so God put the sins of all His chosen ones on Jesus. He poured out His wrath on His own son so that we might live and He might remain wholly just and wholly gracious. Praise the Lord.

     The Christian life is full of paradoxes. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Whoever wants to be the greatest must be the servant of all. The meek shall inherit a kingdom. There are many more. The ultimate paradox is the cross. God was both just and gracious through the cross. How great is our God?

     I  hope this post is encouraging. I know this one is somewhat rambling, but I am so thankful for all that the Lord has done for me and I wanted to share it with you all. Have a blessed time celebrating what the Lord has done for you. I encourage each of you who have trusted in the death-defeating Savior (who loved you enough to die) to go and share your joy and gratitude with others. And if you have not trusted in Jesus as your savior, please realize that you may not even have another day. Each one of us deserves to go to Hell without Christ. That's where you will be if you do not trust in Christ. If you do, however, you have an eternity of joy and peace ahead of you. I urge you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a blessed Resurrection Day!

 

My Only Boast is You

      Growing up as a Christian sometimes makes certain phrases and concepts commonplace to a person. The idea of boasting in Christ was one such idea for me. I obeyed it outwardly, making sure never to boast about my accomplishments, to the best of my ability. But that was the problem...to the best of my ability. You see, in myself, anything and everything is hard to do. God is not something I apply like sunscreen to protect myself, nor is he a hammer or a shovel when life calls me to hammer a nail or to dig a hole. I am learning to look at my relationship with God in this light: I am a quadriplegic on life support. God moves me and breathes for me. He keeps my heart beating and he enable me to act. Why do I think it is all me?

      It is really convicting to realize that, even as a Christian, I live like an atheist. Many times I think about my own goals and accomplishments without giving one thought to the One who gives me my next breath. I am sorry Lord. Boasting in you isn't just not boasting in myself, but it is also acknowledging in my mind that you are doing what you already are. It shows how insignificant, but yet how blessed, I am.   

You are More

Everyone in the world finds their identity in something. They may be defined by their talents, their religion, their lover, or their family. Or they may be defined by their mistakes. I think that Christians feel this most poignantly. Being defined by our mistakes bogs us down and makes us of no use for the kingdom.

I had been struggling recently because I thought that I was messing up in every area of my life, from family to ministry to academics to my relationships with God and others. Every sin I committed and every mistake I made became another log that I threw on the fire in which I was burning myself. I began to feel unworthy of all God had done for me. Instead of worshiping Jesus for saving me in my unworthy state, I allowed it to keep me from a good relationship with God. I did not have consistent quiet times, and the ones I did were laced with a feeling of guilt and dread. I've experienced what it's like to pour into someone and get nothing in return. I realized I was doing the same thing to God. That was another log on my fire. I thought I would never come free from this cycle of misery.

Recognizing that this pattern I was in was not healthy for my life or my relationship with Christ, I tried to fix it on my own. I laid down a list of rules to help fix things, but it only got worse. I could not forgive myself, even though God had forgiven me.

When I was at my wit's end, I felt led to turn the radio on. "You are More" by Tenth Avenue North was playing. I had never actually listened to the words before.

There's a girl in the corner 
With tear stains on her eyes 
From the places she's wandered 
And the shame she can't hide 

She says, "How did I get here? 
I'm not who I once was. 
And I'm crippled by the fear 
That I've fallen too far to love" 

But don't you know who you are, 
What's been done for you? 
Yeah don't you know who you are? 

You are more than the choices that you've made, 
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, 
You are more than the problems you create, 
You've been remade. 

Well she tries to believe it 
That she's been given new life 
But she can't shake the feeling 
That it's not true tonight 

She knows all the answers 
And she's rehearsed all the lines 
And so she'll try to do better 
But then she's too weak to try 

But don't you know who you are? 

You are more than the choices that you've made, 
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, 
You are more than the problems you create, 
You've been remade. 

You are more than the choices that you've made, 
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, 
You are more than the problems you create, 
You've been remade. 

'Cause this is not about what you've done, 
But what's been done for you. 
This is not about where you've been, 
But where your brokenness brings you to 

This is not about what you feel, 
But what He felt to forgive you, 
And what He felt to make you loved. 

You are more than the choices that you've made, 
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, 
You are more than the problems you create, 
You've been remade. 

You are more than the choices that you've made, 
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, 
You are more than the problems you create, 
You've been remade. 

You've been remade 
You've been remade. 
You've been remade. 
You've been remade.

These words pierced me to my heart. I realized that I am more than what I've done. I am God's, through no merit of my own, and that is comforting. It does not give me permission to go mess up. In fact, it makes me want to (in Christ's strength) go fight my sin. But it does help me when I mess up to realize that I am forgiven, and I can move on. I need to stop living life action to action. I worry and fret about the things I do, when I should be deriving peace from who I am in Christ. 

I would like to add two more things. First, this truth makes me realize that I need to forgive others the way I have been forgiven. Second, I would like to urge you all to not let your sins bog you down, but to realize you are forgiven and to live life through God's grace. Who we are is not defined by the mistakes we've made but by the Savior to whom we belong.

My Song

I had an assignment to write a song for my voice class. I cannot figure out the tune yet, but here it is.

Stone or Sand?

Verse 1:

Two men set out to build two homes.

One built on sand, the other on stone.

As they stepped back to admire their work,

A storm began to brew.

The rain started to flow

And the winds began to blow.

Chorus:

Our lives are like a home we build,

Brick by brick.

Stick by stick.

But it doesn’t matter if we’re smart or skilled

In the end it’s where we stand.

Are our lives built on stone or sand?

Verse 2:

Up in the sky, God heard the cry

Of the man with the house on the sand.

As the house fell apart, so broke the man’s heart,

But he still didn’t understand.

You can’t build your life on sand.

Don’t be like that man.

Chorus:

Our lives are like a home we build,

Brick by brick.

Stick by stick.

But it doesn’t matter if we’re smart or skilled

In the end it’s where we stand.

Are our lives built on stone or sand?

Bridge:

Whoever hears these words I say

And follows them every day.

Won’t be like the man with the house on the sand

And come to the same sorry end.

Chorus:

Our lives are like a home we build,

Brick by brick.

Stick by stick.

But it doesn’t matter if we’re smart or skilled

In the end it’s where we stand.

Are our lives built on stone or sand?

Exciting Times

It has been a while since I have posted anything, but I have been extremely busy with my classes and homework. That being said, I am going to tell you all about my exciting times (from whence I obtain the title of this post.) I am going on a mission trip this summer to a mountainous country (the name of which I will not mention for security reasons) and I am really pumped! But there are a few things about which I am nervous:

1. I am in no mountain-climbing shape.
2. I am not great at sharing my faith. Add a language barrier and that makes everything harder.
3. I don't know that I am spiritually prepared for the attacks that Satan will be sending our way. He hates the spread of God's word.

Now when I look at those fears, I see one word at the beginning of all of them. That word is "I." The thing is, I cannot overcome any of those on my own. I cannot do with God as a side-kick. It has to be God all the way.  So I know I have nothing to fear. Each step I take on the treadmill, each time I open his word,and  each time I am beginning to get nervous I just focus on God.

So, I would love your prayers to be with me in the time coming up to the trip as I try to balance my busy schedule with my exercising and my spiritual life. And I would love your prayers for the trip in June.