Many of us go about our lives like a couch sitting in our living room. On the outside, the couch appears just fine - clean and tidy. But underneath the cushions lies all kinds of junk. A life in which we look good on the outside but are wasting away on the inside is not the free and abundant life that God wants for us. In Matthew 23:27, Jesus drives home the very point when He compares Pharisees to whitewashed tombs, :which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean." If all we ever do is stuff away or suppress the worst parts of our stories, we'll never be fully free.

In 1 Samuel 16:7, God reminds the prophet Samuel: "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." God isn't interested in cleaning up your life only on the outside. God is interested in the complete removal and destruction of sin in our lives. To be made alive in Him requires that a part of us must first die. We cannot have a free and abundant life outside the presence of God.

Jesus, a sinless man, substituted His life for ours, shedding His blood, and by doing so, satisfied the consequence of sin. Jesus didn't just go to the cross so you could clean cobwebs out, modify your behavior, and manage your sin. Jesus came to kill sin. A free life does not come from training your sin, but killing your sin.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

One of the most popular television shows of all time was Seinfeld. Predictably, after a long run of success, it's always difficult to please the critics and fanbase in a series finale. The finale of Seinfeld left many disappointed, even outraged.

We often think of sin as something we have committed. But there is another type of sin that often goes unnoticed and doesn't get dealt with - sins of omission.

Omission, of course, is a failure to do something.

Read Luke 10:25-28

Jesus is talking primarily to a Jewish audience, and the one who addressed Him is, in fact, a Jewish expert in the Law. The expert knows the commandments. He even recites the correct summary of all of the law.

Many of us read the Bible and the commands of God - especially the commands that tell us what we are called to do - as suggestions. The clarion call of Jesus to His disciples is to go and make other disciples. Any pursuit of Jesus without making disciples falls short and misses the mark of what Jesus has asked.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

The Bible is all about Jesus. The story of Jesus as Savior of the World frames the entire book from Genesis to Revelation. Inside the pages of the Bible, Jesus offers not just an invitation to be saved by Him, but to walk with Him and let Him be the Lord of our lives today. One of those invitations was very clearly given to a man named Peter.

You could argue that Peter is the only other fully formed character in the Gospels besides Jesus. He is listed first chronologically in any story that mentions disciples, and he is mentioned more than five times the number of any other disciple.

The story of forgiveness that Jesus offered Peter is the most personal and relational story of forgiveness in all of the Bible. While Jesus is the hero of the Bible, Peter serves a foil for Jesus. A foil is a supporting character whose part contrasts, highlights, and even exalts the qualities of the lead character. Just as Jesus reveals and represents God, Peter represents all who seek to follow Jesus.

The story of Peter and Jesus is significant for you and me, because much like Peter, we've been given a new name and identity in Jesus. And yet despite all that He's done for us, we still fall woefully short of God's expectation. If Jesus can forgive someone like Peter for what he did, He can forgive you too!
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Every Scar tells a story. When you tell your story of how Jesus brought grace into your life, you end up bringing freedom to others. This is what the apostle John reminds us in Revelation 12:11: "They triumphed over Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony."
 

The "blood of the Lamb" is the blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross. He is known as "The Lamb of God" all throughout the Bible. John reminds us that the power of our stories, rooted in THE story of Jesus, will bring ultimate freedom and victory over our enemy.

God has chosen you and filled you with His Spirit to make a difference in this world. In a world filled with division, unforgiveness, and bitterness, we are the forgiven sons and daughters of God, and we have the opportunity to bring freedom to others just as God has brought freedom to us.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

As great as it is to be freed from the consequences of our sin through the absolution of God, His forgiveness extends further than that. Many don't get to experience complete freedom because they stop at absolution. They know that they have been freed from the punishment of their sins and that they are good eternally with God, but many refuse to enter into the next freedom phase.

The freedom that God gives you is not only freedom from sin, but freedom to a life of purpose. God's freedom is greater than simply a pardon and release from punishment. He also wants to release you to be a world-changer working alongside Him.

At the same time that this declaration of innocence is happening, we are also fully restored. It's not that you get absolved, and then after a few years of "proving yourself" you are restore into the person God has called you to be. Absolution and restoration happen at the same time.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

What does it truly mean to be forgiven?

There are two common definitions of the word forgive:

     1. to cancel debt

     2. to stop feeling angry or resentful toward someone for an offense, flw, or mistake.

When we receive total forgiveness of God, our debt is canceled and the Lord's righteous anger is gone. God's forgiveness is not either/or. It is both and.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

his year,during Lent, I am using Zach Zender's new book called the Forgiving Challenge. It is based on the Red Letter Challenge that we went through together a couple of years ago. If any of you are interested in getting this book, please let me know. I will be putting in an order soon.

Day 1

Zach says that sin is a small word that packs a mighty punch. In a culture where we have become addicted to being offended, one of the most offensive things you could say to someone is that they are a "sinner." We live in a world that likes to accept and affirm all decisions and choices, when in reality, every single one of us is a sinner.
 

Romans 3:10   There is no one righteous, not even one.

Romans 3:23  ...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Without first understanding and accepting that you are a sinner, you will never be free.

But what exactly is sin?  Sin means "to miss the mark." You cannot attain the perfect standard that God has set out for you. Even if you just miss a little bit, you still miss.

And yet, there's a twisted perception of reality that thinks if you just become better and wealthier, buy a better house, get a greater job, just keep improving, etc., then you will be happy and all will be well. But we know that even the very best version of ourselves will never be good enough for God and will never even fully satisfy us.

God loves you. Deeply. But He cares about who you are becoming too. Deeply. God loves you for who you are, but His freedom doesn't leave you just as you are.

Psalm 40:2  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

We have a God who brings freedom to our lives through His ultimate rescue. We have a God who is greater and bigger than sin. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, not only can your sin be defeated, but God can even take the worst parts of our story, even our sins, and use them for His glory.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,