Sins' Scars

As we go through life, we can’t help wounding others with our words, actions, and reactions. We ourselves also suffer the consequences of others’ wrong choices. Sometimes, the wounds we suffer at the hands of others leave scars that take a long time to fade away. On the other hand, we sometimes inflict wounds on others that leave scars in their lives. The worst types of scars are the ones that we don’t think we deserve. In other words, when we are innocent and suffering for others’ sins; not because of something we did, but because of what someone else did. They are the hardest to bear, and I wonder how many people actually have good attitudes when that happens. We tend to lash out in anger at those who’ve hurt us. How many of us would actually respond in love to those who’ve wronged us? How many of us would actually volunteer to suffer for someone else’s mistakes so they could go free? Before we pass judgment on other people, we should look at ourselves. Is there anyone in life that we have wounded, who is bearing sins’ scars for us?

For those of us who are saved, the Bible promises that some day we will get new bodies. God will wipe away all tears from our eyes, and there will be no more sorrow and no more crying (Rev.21:4). All the scars that we’ve accumulated in this life will be gone! Thank God for that! However, there is One in Heaven Who will never lose the scars of my sin; Someone Who never did anything wrong, yet suffered for everyone else’s wrong choices – and He did it willingly, in love. He is the Lamb of God, and when we see Him in heaven, we will see as the Lamb that was slain (Rev.5:6). Thank God for the Lamb that was slain for our sins, and that He chose to bear our scars, so that we didn’t have to…

You can listen to a clip here

Verse 1:
Every day in life we make choices;
How we live, how we act, what we say.
And sometimes we will wound or be wounded,
Leaving scars that take long to fade away.
But we have hope that someday we’ll all be changed.And the scars we had will all fade away.When all sorrow and tears are over,
And we enter God’s eternal day.

Chorus:
But there’s One in Heaven called “the Lamb,”
Who, for us sinners, was slain.
And although the price of sin He has paid,
The scars it left on Him will never fade.

Verse 2:
Someday we will gaze upon this Lamb,
And behold His riven hands and His side.We will cast down our crowns at His pierced feet,
And remember it was for us that He died.
But for now, in Heaven He does plead,
For the ones who from sin He has set free;
As we await His call to incorruption,
When death is swallowed up in victory.

Chorus:

Bridge:
And I thank God for this Lamb that was slain,For salvation only comes through His name,
And I will sing eternally of this Lamb Who died for me,
Behold, the Lamb of God!

Chorus:

Closing:
And although the price of sin He has paid,
The scars I left on Him will never fade.

I'm Finished!

I can't believe it - I'm finally finished! I just completed my last assignment, and I am now finished with Bible Institute! It's been about 11 1/2 years, but now it's over. I'm done, and will be getting my certificate in June. I'm done with my Bachelor's, I'm done with my Master's, and now I'm done with Bible Institute. What next? Well, hopefully no more school :-) Now it's time to apply everything I've learned. Look out world, here I come!

Photo taken from ktlnphotography.blogspot.com

To Be Conformed...

So often, we have the wrong view of what God is up to in our lives. We think we know what He is doing, and we set our hopes accordingly. When our expectations fail, we become depressed, disappointed, discouraged. “Where is God?” we say. “Why did He do this to me?” we despond, thinking He is out to “get us,” that He’s punishing us for sins we committed. We rack our minds, trying to think of why the supposed punishment was inflicted, thinking that if only we would have done better, or will make amends this time, that the Lord will be happy, and will give us what we want, as though He is a genie and we can control Him with our actions. “But look at everything that happened, Lord. It sure looked like You were going to do this, and then everything exploded in front of me. Why did You even torment me with the hope of fulfilled desires?”

Wrong thinking. Wrong expectations. I’m waiting for the wrong thing. God’s thoughts are not my thoughts, and His ways are not my ways. His end, over-arching, overall purpose for my life is not something that is tangible. It is not something physical, a person, place or thing. It cannot be seen with the mind that doesn’t think like Him. It is un-tangible. It is not something we can see by sight, but only by the eyes of faith. It is only for the spiritual, seeking person, for it is the purpose of God, Who cannot be seen with physical eyes. It is only for those who will grasp by faith the only thing they understand – the character of God; that He is good, and He is love. It is for those who take the clearly revealed will of God, “in everything give thanks,” and realize that through all the evil and sin they must weave their way through life in, God means it all for good in the end. It is to grasp by faith that what things I would have counted gain for myself, I must count loss for Christ; that I must count ALL things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Am I willing to suffer the loss of all things, and count them but dung that I may win Christ? Am I willing to place that much value on Christ? Am I willing to purposefully and mindfully choose Him to be in that place in my life; to make Him my first desire, and to suffer the loss of all things for Him; to place Him above my own ideas of gain? In God’s reckoning book, being conformed to the image of Christ – an un-tangible thing – is the most important thing for a Christian. In fact, the Father has predestinated us to it – that is what life is all about (Rom.8:29). This is the whole purpose of God for any saved man. Anything and everything that happens can be “the will of God” if we realize that through it all, there is an unseen Hand that created or allowed the circumstances we are in to conform us to the image of Christ. Without this conformity, there is no purpose or power in life. But the promise is there - the promise of satisfaction, for the psalmist said, "I SHALL be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." After all, that is what we were created for in the first place (Gen.1:26).

To Be Conformed

Verse 1:

I was created for Your pleasure (Rev.4:11), and for Your work employ (Jn.15:16)

To bring forth fruit unto perfection will be my greatest joy (Jn.15:16;Lk8:14)

To transform my mind to think the way You want me to (Rom.12:1-2)

As I reckon myself as dead to sin but alive unto You (Rom.6:11)

Chorus:

To be conformed to the image of Your Son

To be like Jesus when all is said and done (Rom.8:29)

And Father if You are for this Who can be against the One (Rom.8:31)

Who for me spared not His Son? (Rom.8:32)

Verse 2:

Can I do unto others as I'd have them do to me? (Lk.6:31)

Can I pray like Jesus prayed in Gethsemene?

Can I say, "Not my will, but Thine, Lord, be done in the end?" (Lk.22:42)

Do I have no greater love than to die for my Friend? (Jn.15:13)

Verse 3:

This life I now live, for Your sake I must lose

For if I would find my life, Your way I must chose (Mt.10:39)

But I know some day it'll be worth it all when with You I awake,

For I shall be satisfied when with Your likeness I awake! (Ps.17:15)

If I Never Faced A Rainstorm

“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” Ps.107:1. In January of 2007, as a substitute teacher, I was sitting at a desk in a classroom. It was French class, so there really wasn’t much I could do but be a presence in the room for the students. As I sat there, I contemplated where I was in life; and I realized it was not where I had intended to be. You see, when I was younger, I had my whole life “planned out.” But, nothing had gone the way I thought it should. I was not who I wanted to be, and not where I wanted to be. But, then I thought about who I was, as in, I thought of all the experiences I had had, and who I had become, and even though it wasn’t what I had wanted, it was what God had made me into. I started to become thankful for what God had done in my life – no, life hadn’t gone the way I thought it should have, but it had made me who I was, the person God had been shaping me to be. As I sat there, in that French class, at another teacher’s desk, I wrote out the basics for the first verse of this song:

Verse 1:
As I think back on my life, and the way that things have gone,
And I think about what could have been, or differently been done;
I wonder why things didn’t happen the way I thought they should,
But what I thought was meant for evil I see now was for my good.

CHORUS:
For if I never faced a rainstorm, I would never seek for shelter,
So if I never had a problem, Lord, I’d never seek You for an answer.
If eternal life is knowing You, then this small glimpse I now see
That all my life You’ve been there, with Your good hand guiding me.
And so I thank You, Lord, for loving me so
And now I thank You, Lord, for those times when You said “No.”
For although my life’s not gone the way that I had always planned,
Lord, now I see, You have been so good to me.

As time went on, God began working in my life in a powerful way, and the result was the next two verses. I think they pretty much speak for themselves :-)

Verse 2:

When I think about Your thoughts, how they’re so different from mine,And how the ways I think of for myself are so far below thine.
When I realize where You’ve brought me, through many trials and tears,
I see I never would have chosen the path that got me here.

Verse 3:
I think of all the things in life that threaten to despair.
And how Your Word says not to think it strange at trials beyond compare.
How it comforts me to read that You know just how I feel.
In my infirmity You understand and offer grace that’s real.

A verse in the Bible pretty much sums it all up: “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” (Pr.16:9). By the way, if you want to hear a clip of the song, click here, and the song is called "The LORD is Good."

A Link and a Picture

Well, I suppose it’s time for a new post :-) Here’s a neat link to check out:

My mom’s homeschooling blog: (She writes for a Homeschool magazine called Homeschool Enrichment) http://homeschoolenrichment.com/members/blog/maribeth/


Also, a picture for your viewing pleasure of two of my most favorite little men: