Waters Gone By

Let's face it. We all mess up (me, more often than not), and sometimes our mess-ups seem more severe than other times.

To be completely honest, there are days that end with me trying to excuse my behavior, but in the end I find myself ducking my head in shame- in a way I guess I am trying to hide from the One who can in fact save me.

I have a sin problem and you have a sin problem. We all do. I thought it might be good idea to go back to the beginning with Adam and Eve and look at how their sin was dealt with then. What I found blew my mind. No joke.

Genesis chapter 2, verse 25 says, "Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame," but after they ate from the tree that God commanded them not to eat from "the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves," (3:7).

The two of them saw there was a problem with their nakedness, so they tried to cover themselves up on their own. We know that they knew they had done wrong because when they heard the Lord God walking in the garden "...they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden," (3:8).

There are repercussions for our sin. That's just the hard truth. In Genesis God curses them but today, it may just be the results of our bad decisions. Indeed, there are consequences, but our God is not only just, but loving too. Very, very loving.

After God lists their consequence for their sin, "the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them," (3:21). He clothed them. He covered their sin. This is our God- One who is good and loving, for He did not need to do this but He chose to.

There was shedding of blood, the blood of an animal, in order for their sin to be covered.

"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness," (Hebrews 9:22).

There has to be shedding of blood for our forgiveness. And just as God shed the blood of an animal in order to cover Adam and Eve, God shed the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, so that His blood would cover our sin once and for all.

We can try all we want. We can come up with excuses for our sin. We can try to cover it up and hide it by making our own garments out of fig leaves. Or we can go to God and confess it to Him and let Him cover us. Our way will never work. God sees through us. He sees our hearts.

But when we place our trust in Jesus Christ, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace," (Ephesians 1:7).

Dear friends, you're covered. Your sins are paid for. Gone. Tossed into the depths of the sea because God Almighty chooses not to remember your sin. There is no need to hide from God. In fact, He is the answer. He is our escape. Our refuge. His blood is our covering. But you must go to Him.

After Adam and Eve hid from God, God called out, "Where are you?"

Adam answered Him. He responded to God's call, and we must do the same.

"Yet if you devote your heart to Him and stretch out your hands to Him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by," (Job 11:13-16).

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Habakkuk's Complaint | The Lord's Answer

Habakkuk's Complaint

How long, Lord, must I call for help,

but you do not listen?

Or cry out to you, "Violence!"

but you do not save?

Why do you make me look at injustice?

Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Destruction and violence are before me;

there is strife, and conflict abounds.

Therefore the law is paralyzed,

and justice never prevails.

The wicked hem in the righteous,

so that justice is preserved.

The Lord's answer

"Look at the nations and watch-

and be utterly amazed.

For I am going to do something in your days

that you would not believe,

even if you were told."

(Habakkuk 1:2-5)

I have many complaints. The list can go on and on, and though I sometimes think God must really be annoyed, He proves continually in His word that He is not. He listens to our complaints.

And He answers.

And when Habakkuk complained again, God answered Him again. 

And I just love that this book ends with His prayer to God. He lifts up His name. 

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; 

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

he enables me to tread on the heights.

(Habakkuk 3:19)

We Are Redeemed | Let's Change Our Culture

We spend a lot of time tearing down the human race. We remind ourselves of the sin and fleshly desires we have. We remind ourselves of our mistakes and anger issues. We remind ourselves of our selfishness and pride. It's true: We're not perfect.

But we forget that God created us. We forget that God created us in His image.

The human race includes mothers who love with a love so deep it compares to nothing else. The human race is one that sees hope in the midst of pain and perseveres to their goal. The human race contains some who, when others are in danger, place themselves in the same danger in order to help them. This world holds creators and achievers, dreamers and persevere-ers. This world holds children of God.

Yes we mess up. Yes we sin. Yes we, as the church, can do a whole-stinkin'-lot better. But we are always pointing out the fact that we are sinners that we can sometimes use this as an excuse not to move forward.

God can look at the human race and see the sinbags that we are. Or He can look and see His children. And for those who are called according to His purpose, I have a feeling He sees us as the latter. He saved us. He doesn't continue to look upon our sin. He forgives it! He puts it behind Him! He sweeps it under the mat! (okay you get the point).

We can too.

I want to change the world. Or at least my little corner of the world. But I can't do that if I'm constantly reminding myself of the mistakes I've made in the past. I've been redeemed. I have the potential, through Christ, to change the culture around me.

And so do you.

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight," (Ephesians 1:4).

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him,'" (Lamentations 3:22-24).

Forgiveness

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I feel like my life is moving in a different direction. In a good way. I was heading down a long road of never changing (or maybe just a really, really slow change).

But that was before camp.

I went to camp thinking that I'd be getting- I don't know- encouragement in my walk with God. Never did I once think that God would so clearly mention and suggest and continue to remind me of my step father and the grudge I held against him. No, I didn't think, or even want my mind to wander in that direction.

But the truth of the matter is that I've been holding myself back for a very long time.

"But if you do not forgive, neither will your father in heaven forgive your trespasses." Mark 11:26

The way I viewed my step father began to shape and form the way I lived my life. Let's face it. How I felt towards him didn't effect who he was; it only effected me. Not only was I hurting myself in the darkness I had created, but I was unable to move forward.

The very real and beautiful truth of this story is that ; even though, when I looked at my step father all I saw was how messed up he was,

God loves him just as much as he loves me. Just as much.

When I realized that, that's when my heart began changing.

Looking at how difficult it is to forgive someone of a wrong they've done to me, causes me to be able to grasp God's great love that much more.

-He forgives the world, if they but beleive.
-He loves the world, even when they don't see him.
-He has grace and mercy, not only on those who trust and love him, but on the entire world and the ones that reject him.

Who am I to not forgive those around me?

So yes, I was holding myself back by hating the one God loves. It is only because of God's mercy that I was given opportunities to do things such as lead worship. I still loved God, don't get me wrong, but I was unnable to accelerate in the fashion that I recently have.

I still have hinderances, It's not like that was my only one, but I've been able to overcome one major obstacle that I was numb to even noticing was there! Now I'm able to move forward in life and take the next step.

"And let us run with percerverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith." Hebrews 12:1 & 2

Love, Bailey