Mended Hearts, Eternal Ties

Even with the week being full of wonderful material to talk about, I have yet again been focused on a question Beth wrote in the margin. "What does it mean to you that Jesus had the power to escape His circumstances but chose to endure suffering for our sake?"

I have thought about this question many times. Most of the time I am in awe of Christ's sacrifice. I couldn't imagine willingly taking the punishment for someone else's crime. I love a lot of people in this world but I couldn't take the fall for something they did especially when they knew it was wrong to do it. It amazes me that Christ knew his whole life his purpose in life and the suffering he would have to endure for a bunch of sinners. Can you imagine?

The rest of the time I am ashamed that I let myself fall so hard and far away from what I know is right. When doing the crime I never once thought about the consequences and how bad it must have hurt God to see me run so fast from Him. Then to imagine Jesus sitting up there watching thinking 'I really laid my life down for her? She doesn't even appreciate what I have done for her.' And I don't think I really did. I was young and stupid and I hate that as an excuse but I was so immature in my walk with God that I couldn't see what He did for me. I was too worried about what the world thought of me. Thank goodness I have come to my senses!

Jesus had the power to come down off that cross at any point in time but he chose to stay up there for me and you. He knew if he didn't then there would be no hope for us. He literally saved our lives and I hate that for so many years I all but denied Him. We are lucky that God is a loving and forgiving God. Once we have repented our sins it is forever forgotten.

What does Jesus' sacrifice mean to you?

Once again these 10 weeks have flown by! I'm not sure what next year has in store for me regarding this blog. I would love to say I already have the next study picked out but that isn't true. The first of the year will be a busy one but I am bound and determined not to let life get in my way of devotions. I will send out an email like the last times when I have decided what I will do. I know Brent and I are going to read the bible in 365 days. I haven't ever read the bible from cover to cover so I think it will be a neat journey for us to take together. I thought about asking you all to do the same and blogging about it, but I just haven't made my mind up. If you have suggestions feel free to email me. Hopefully I will figure it out soon!

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

The Heart of the Testimony

On day 3, we spent a lot of time on the Ten Commandments. I know we can all recite them by memory, but have you ever sat down and really went over each one and what they mean to you? For some reason, the past several months the Ten Commandments keep popping in my head. Have no idea why, they just do. It might have something to do with when my mom and I went to a women's conference back in the spring, one of the guest speakers was Candace Cameron Bure. She gave a wonderful testimony and the part that really stuck with me was she said she knew she needed to confess her sins to become a Christian, but didn't really know where to start. She pulled out her bible and flipped to the Ten Commandments and went down the list confessing her sins with each Commandment. She said in some way she had broken every Commandment. I sat there stunned because I knew what they all were and I also knew that I hadn't read in the papers where she killed anyone, but she went on to explain how she didn't technically murder someone but her actions towards them might have as well been the same.

Her words replayed in my mind as I studied day 3. I, too, have broken most of those Commandments, maybe not literally but in ways that are just as bad. Beth posed the question "are you obeying all of the Ten Commandments, or just the ones that you find convenient?" I would love to say I obey all them, but I am human and I always seem to fall short. It seems to happen a lot more lately. I would love to say it is all the new hormones I have running in me now, but I have to be honest and just say I'm going through a slump and not being a very good Christian. I pray hard that I will pull out of whatever this funk is that I seem to find myself tramped in. I have gone through the Commandments several times and I am overcome with shame knowing I have to confess everyone of them. There is no way around it. I used to follow the ones that were more convenient and justified my actions with 'at least I haven't killed someone or stole anything' but then again no one Commandment is better than the other.

I want you to think about the Ten Commandments and reflect on them as you may not have normally. Are there ones you struggle with more than others? Or are you like me and deal with each one daily? Do you pick and chose your Commandments? Or are you passing with flying colors? Obviously you don't have to post your thoughts, but I do want you to be honest with yourself and God and spend some time going over the Ten Commandments.

Hearts Beyond the Veil

"God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary." Hebrews 6:17-19

• When we make a promise to someone, we sometimes swear to God so that the party we are swearing to knows we are serious in our promise because he is our highest authority. When God makes promises to us, He is the highest authority so he can only swear by himself. Making His promises nothing we should ever doubt. He has followed through on every promise he made in the bible and he will do the same for us.
• The hope we have in God is what anchors us to him. Imagine a rope tied around your waist and the other tied to God. We may get tossed around on our end but God's end will always stay exactly where it is. His position is unchangeable and when we lose sight of that we become hopeless. Beth stated that the hope we have is directly tied to our souls. Notice when someone seems hopeless they also seem to have no soul, no life. They just wander through life with no great joy. But when someone has hope, their soul is alive and they are filled with life. You can immediately see it in their eyes. Always hold strong to the hope you have in God. Your soul depends on it.