Forgiveness—like rain on parched land

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Rain on Eastern Washington

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  Luke 7:39-50

You can’t see others as God sees them unless you forgive.
You can’t see yourself as God sees you unless you forgive.
You won’t be able to forgive yourself unless you forgive others.
You can’t love others as God loves unless you forgive.
You can’t love yourself as God loves you unless you forgive.
You won’t know how much God loves you unless you forgive.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35

We are to forgive as we’ve been forgiven.
We are to love as we have been loved.
Love and forgiveness are intertwined.

Morning Rain

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Chumstick Mountain view East

Jesus is where heaven touches earth…
And where we can touch heaven.

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  Isaiah 55:10-11

Mission Impossible

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“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

The thing we all have in common is we’ve messed up our life in one way or another.

The good news is that God has plans for us, and this can be true even for the worst offender.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT

But how can we do these good things when we keep messing up?

These verses out of Ephesians lay out how to do the good God has in mind for us:
– Trust that God has saved you by His grace alone, and not of your own doing.
– Trust that you are knew in Christ.
– Seek to do what is right and good.
– Don’t give up trusting God and relying on Him. For God is faithful to carry out what He has planned for us.

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Matthew 19:26

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:6

I hope you choose to take on this mission.

The Valley of Weeping

Baca means: place of weeping, valley of misery.

I like this verse, but on my first reading I thought it meant I should be all cheery in the Valley of Baca (Psalm 84:6). When that didn’t happen, I wondered what was the matter with me? On further reading, I realized I had misunderstood the true blessing. The main point of the psalm is not about circumstances, or depression, or grief, it’s about nearness of God:

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Psalm 84:2)

The blessing, the springs of water are found in “God with us,” Immanuel. When I meditate on Immanuel, letting my heart and soul dwell upon “God is with me,” the pain and fear are somehow less. An old Scandinavian proverb states: “A joy shared is twice the joy. A sorrow shared is half the sorrow.” How true when you share it with God.