Forgiven

Other than a persnickity migraine that has insisted on spending a night or two in my head, today has been a pretty awesome day. Joey passed the exam! Thank you for all of your prayers, we are truly blessed. We also recently joined a new small group at church known as the "Life" group and it has already begun changing my heart in such an exciting way.

Some of the homework this past week was on guilt and shame. Shame is something that is against who we ARE as people, while guilt is against what we've DONE. That sin that we committed. It's so simple to use the two terms interchangeably, but the fact is, they are not the same. Christ NEVER wants us to feel shame, because shame and victimization only seperate us from Him.

What an amazing this to know that the only person who can seperate me from His love is myself. Not my sin, not Him, just me. I was shocked while reading a passage in Genesis while going through the homework. Genesis 3:7-9 clearly shows us that Adam and Eve hid from God in the garden once they had sinned. What's more is that HE came after THEM. He wasn't turning away from them or unable to love them any longer because of their sin. They were so worried that he would judge them, that they wound up the one's doing all the judging. Isn't it so simple to assume our sins are too great? Or that we are unable to come to Him for forgiveness? He wants to comfort us and wipe that sin away so that we can grow even closer to Him. What an amazing blessing!

So smile! Thank the Lord for sending Jesus as our sacrifice, and take some time looking through the Old Testiment (especially Leviticus 4-5) to get a picture of just how much went into the forgiveness of sin before the ultimate sacrifice came on our behalf. ACCEPT this forgiveness and never let that guilt turn into a shame that could harm your relationship with God. Easier said then done? yes! but I can't wait to finally practice this in my own life & RECEIVE this gift & share it with others.

Just a side note from Church a few weeks ago. It's so important for us to offer the same forgiveness that we accept from Christ. If we can accept it, but do not give it to others (trust me, I know how hard it can be) then we don't deserve or RECEIVE His. What a loving God!