ground level at the cross

Bless the Lord, oh my soul..

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ!

 We come to Christ at the foot of the cross

Ground level, we come the same

The nails are driven

We feel the Pain

‘Repentance over sin we humbly bow in remorse

We bring our ashes and he gives us grace

We graciously accept

The forgiveness Christ’s blood give us

God bought us back

And signs the adoption papers

His signature is written on our hearts

We now belong to the family of God!

 What if Jesus said no to the cross?  What if he figured at the last minute when he agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed “My Father if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will” Matthew 26:39 that he didn’t want to go to the cross.  Where would we be?

 We would be so lost and without hope.  Our lives would not have meaning and purpose and we would have nothing to look forward to by spending all of eternity with our Heavenly Father.  The garden is a beautiful place and God tells us that he is going to restore his creation with such magnitude and splendor that we can not imagine the beauty.  But without being saved by the blood of Jesus and the punishment he took on the cross for our sins “For he delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13,14) it would be like a garden of weeds.

We have so much to be thankful for every day of our lives for this eternal blessing of salvation that we should always be joyful, praying continually and giving thanks in all circumstances for this is the will for you in Christ Jesus (I Thes 5:16) We are adopted into a new family, the family of God!  We now belong to Jesus who paid the price for this adoption.  He now owns us and as we surrender our lives to him, he tells us what we are to do in this life. He guides our steps and when we slip off the path, he steers us back on what he wants from our lives.  When we don’t trust and obey, we find frustration and anxiety.

Oh, Beloved, give thanks like the early church who gave their lives for the gospel.  They stood with animal skins on in the hot sun ready to be diverted by wild animals because they believed in the risen Christ who promised them eternal life.  They knew where they were going, they trusted him with all their hearts, seeking him first, praying for everything, sharing their possessions and giving all for the sake of Christ.

Can we do any less?  Our lives need to be saturated with the word of God, learning and mediating on it as if Jesus was coming to your house today.  He says he will come like a thief in the night so let’s be ready doing his will.  He has a perfect plan for your life so seek him now and he will show you what he wants from you.  Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, repent and be like the farmer who scattered his seed and it fell on good soil where he produced a crop-a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.

In her book, “Released from Shame,” Dr. Wilson gives the definition of shame. She says “that shame is a strong sense of being uniquely and hopelessly different and less than other human beings”.⁹ When I realized God made me hopefully and uniquely different from others and not less than others, I then learned to embrace my differences as a gift from God and know that He loved me just the way I was, imperfect in myself, but perfect in Him. This is the way God loves you, too and feels you are uniquely made to fit in the body of Christ.

 “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

  I heard Dr. Adrian Rogers mention a Christian comedian, named Tim Davis that said “I’m not okay, you’re not okay, but that’s okay, God loves us anyway!”

I felt such shame and guilt that I had to admit the things that God was asking me to share, but Pastor Rock never rejected me. He showed me affirmation and encouragement. If I would have covered up my past, the devil would have kept me in the secret of the shame of the sins I had committed which some sins had resulted from the sins committed against me. But as Pastor Rock connected with me through the leading of the Holy Spirit with prayers and his sermons and the grace I received was tremendously refreshing to my soul.  God’s amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…I even forgave myself.

James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

 Having told of my wrongs, sins, failings, abuse, and walking through the fearful memories again, learning to forgive those who have wronged me was the first step. Jesus forgave me my sins so I needed to forgive those who hurt me. We forgive because God tells us it is important. Forgiving is hard and it is a three step process: forgive, forgiving, forgiven. We forgive, but sometimes we take it back so that is why the second step is important. We process the forgiving part till one day we can say we have fully forgiven that person (forgiving isn’t saying the abusers behavior wasn’t wrong).  Forgiving myself was also tough. But Psalm 103:10-13 helps me to know I am forgiven and he remembers my sin and your sin no more. It takes time and there are a lot of great books on forgiving at the New Life Ministries website www.newlife.com/, a ministry helping individuals with life management issues.

 He does not deal with us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers we are dust (Psalm 103:10-14).

Be free from your own shame that the devil would love you to keep. There’s a great work for you to do for the kingdom, the fields are white unto harvest and the workers are few. Be that worker that diligently seeks the Lord, studies his word and does his will, is that too much to ask after what Jesus has done for you?

You are dearly loved!

Kim