verseoftheday

(Jesus said) "...But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" Mark 2:10-12 NIV Jesus decided to display his authority over the physical world so that they would believe his claim about forgiving sin. They couldn't see forgiveness of sin, but they could see a person healed. A kind of resurrection. It wasn't for another 3 years that Jesus showed what forgiveness of sins looked like, at the Cross. And his authority over death, sin, evil in his ressurection. Jesus is who he says he is. Picture the scene in that packed room with men watching from the roof Somehow space is made in the crowd and the man who could not walk, walks out into the light. A taste of heaven A taste of ...

...Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "My child, your sins are forgiven" Mark 2:4-5 NLT Imagine the chatter in the room as the roof is pulled off, the stretcher is lowered in front of Jesus, and it all goes quiet. And the whole scene slows down. And Jesus looks at this man with the broken body, socially and ecomically on the outside... And Forgives his sin. Jesus says My Child, I see you, I see your circumstances, but your biggest and most important need, is to have your broken relationship with God restored. I can do that. In fact I haven't even waited for you to ask, I've just done it... something only God can do... You are forgiven. He says the same to us today... I see you, I know you, I love you. Your biggest need is not your broken circumstances, but your broken relationship with God. I've made a way. I am the Way. I didn't wait. The cross. I went t...

...so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "My child..." Mark 2:4-5 NLT The room is absolutely packed. Jesus has been preaching. The drama ramps up as the roof is pulled apart and a stretcher is lowered. Everyone will be straining to get a glimpse of who it is, and what Jesus will do with this crazy interruption. This is a moment. And does Jesus choose to use the drama to heal and astound and cement his place with the crowd? Does he look at this man and deal with his great need? No. Jesus says "my child". In all the drama and the crowd, in his broken condition, Jesus sees him. The person. My child I love you. I see you Right now you are the most important person to me. No matter what drama is going on in our lives, what the crowd might want, what's broken or damaged or hurt in you, Jesus sees you. My child. ...

They couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "My child, your sins are forgiven." Mark 2:4-5 NLT It's only Jesus who can say those words. It's only Jesus work that forgives and brings real healing Our part? Come and listen. And do whatever it takes to bring those who need to meet Jesus, to meet Him. These guys had to (literally) break down some barriers to get their friend to meet Jesus Will I do that? Will people get a glimpse of Jesus in my church today? Will anyone see a glimpse of Him in me today? He's called us to represent Him to the world, so let's do that...and let them meet Jesus - the only One who can forgive... #sunday #worship #thisisourGod #forgiven #accepted #acceptable #dearlyloved

The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives. Proverbs 16:17 NIV Jesus came face to face with evil, he was tempted, he faced up to the malignant, the corrupt, the negative, the religious, yet he refused to be swayed, did not budge from his path... his highway ran through evil, yet he refused to take it on board, refused to let it change him... He did guard his ways, but not to preserve his own life, but to preserve ours! To save us. As Tim Keller says "Jesus lived the life we should have lived, and died the death in our place we should have died. On the cross Jesus was treated as we deserved, so that when we believe in him, we're treated as he deserves... Our life is preserved because of the only truly upright one... #thisisourGod #sunday #worship #inthistogether #forgiven #accepted #belong #dearlyloved

"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart." Matthew 18:35 NIV Our heavenly Father knows we have a tendency to forgive from the surface. Real forgiveness is costly. It costs us our rights, to get even, to get compensation, to get anything... It means we absorb into ourselves the "sin", the words, the actions, the attitude, of the person we're forgiving. The Greek word here for heart is "kardia" - the very centre of who we are, the deepest part of our inner self. That's where Jesus says true forgiveness needs to come from... (Maybe forgiveness is not so easy after all) This is where we are forgiven from. The very heart and core of God! Where our sin was absorbed and payment made... #forgiven #forgive #kardia

Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' Matthew 18:32-33 NIV Jesus is using a story of a person who's massive debt was forgiven by the King, who then showed no forgiveness to someone else over a much smaller thing... I've been forgiven everything. But when I come to forgive, somehow I get stingy. I just don't want to. I still want my rights enforced, my debt to be satisfied... Jesus reminds me that's not the way of the Kingdom, to remember what God has forgiven me for, that Jesus paid the debt, and I'm free from that. And that knowledge should determine how I treat others. My rights are less important than grace. My being right is less important than love. #somethingtochewon #wordsofJesus #upsidedownkingdom #grace #forgiven #forgive

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off..." Acts 2:37-39 NIV They understood that Jesus is who he said he is,  God in the flesh, that he was killed for us, and in his ressurrection defeated death... once they got that,  they knew there was a next step... an acknowledgement of who we are and our position. Repentance And forgiveness flows into our lives, not from anything we've done or could do, but from what Jesus did. Jesus is who he said he is. And its by grace we step into new life with Him #forgiven

But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan...took some of them... Joshua 7:1 NIV The sin of Achan annoyed God. A lot. The good thing for us is that our choices are covered by the work of Jesus on our behalf...but there are times when I'm just like Achan. Unfaithful in regard to the things that God has called me to... Patience Kindness Self control Not keeping a record of wrongs... The new "devoted things" that God calls us to...but my stuff gets in the way...pride, selfishness, poor choices... Lord today I'm grateful fir your grace. Help me today to live in a way that pleases you, help me to be faithful to what's important to you. To see people as you do, to love as you do. Amen. #forgiven #lovepeople #grace

I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God's words and acts. I write this letter to all the believers in Rome, God's friends. Romans 1:1 MSG OK so here we go: I am, thru faith in Jesus, declared innocent. I'm chosen, an adopted and dearly loved child of God, who's mission is to become more like Jesus, to love Him & represent Him in the world, and to love the people He's brought into my life. Just encourage you to write  your thoughts  down...there's something powerful in writing our position in God in our own words... #chosen #redeemed #forgiven #dearlyloved #childrenofGod

Don't eavesdrop on others - you may hear your servant curse you. For you know how often you yourself have cursed others. Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 NLT We get so righteous and indignant when we hear what others say about us... their version of events is not ours, it's just not true... how dare they... But. Wisdom says I haven't always been fair when I've talked about others... I've stretched things to make me or my position look (even just a little) better... & so it is with the overheard conversation, the second hand report... So don't take everything you hear to heart. Don't take those comments others make too seriously.  (Unless there's enough truth to point to something we should address, but more often...let it go) Jesus knew what others were saying about him, and in the ultimate act, died for them anyway... #gatherwisdom #somethingtochewon #grace #forgiven

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven" Matthew 9:1-2 NIV The heart of the matter was not his injury or disability...but whether he was right with God or not. Jesus has a way of cutting through all the noise, what we think is the problem, to get to the heart... Take heart, you're ok, I see your faith, regardless of your health issues, the noise, what's going on...the most important thing is you're right with God. And so it is with us... #wordsofJesus #forgiven #takeheart

...Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven" Matthew 9:1-3 NLT Paralyzed. What paralyzes us? What stops us, holds us back? Keeps us in our comfort zone? Lord use me...but I'm too afraid to introduce myself to someone new at church...or help because it might get difficult... or...or... Jesus gently says Be Encouraged. In the big picture you're forgiven, you're OK with God, there's nothing to be afraid of...so don't let fear hold you back In this case the paralyzed guy had a team. Having people on your side and being there for others is important...who's team are you on? #forgiven #dearlyloved #nofear #inthistogether #onyourteam

You drench the plowed ground with rain... Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all. Psalms 65:3, 10 NLT We get refreshment thru cancelled sin...to forgive is to cancel or to cover over - like the plow turns over the earth - all our sins are covered. Cancelled. We are not the sum of our past actions, thoughts or sins, but are refreshed and renewed by the saving grace that comes thru Jesus. Father in heaven, thank you for the forgiveness of my sin - cancelled once and for all by Jesus sacrifice for me - covered by His blood. Thank you for the refreshment this brings...like summer rain. #psalms #psalm65 #summerrain #refreshed #forgiven

Luke 15:14 ESV And when he had spent everything... When the pleasure is at an end, the money has run out...something has caught up with us and our choices... Luke 15:17-19 ESV But when he came to himself, he said... Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son... We wake up and realise what we've done, who's been hurt, that the boundaries we overstepped were there for a good reason... Luke 15:20 ESV But while he was still a long way off, his father... ...came running. Ignored the social norms and expectations and showed outrageous grace. This is our God & how He is towards me. How can I be like this? Who in my life needs this grace? #grace #outrageous #forgiven #dearlyloved

Psalm 130:3-4 NIV If you, Lord , kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness... Who could stand? None of us. We're all in the same boat...all in need of grace. If God chooses to forgive me, then I need to forgive me as well...so often we hang on to our mistakes, missteps, failures, "if only's"... Maybe it's time to give those things away, hand them over to our big hearted God. He doesn't keep a record so why should we. #grace #forgiven #love #freedom

John 4:9-10 NLT Why are you asking me for a drink? Jesus replied If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water... If you only knew the gift God has for you...Jesus was right there talking with her and she almost missed him completely...we so often want the big,  spectacular, the instant transformation, the healing, the sign...but Jesus here is so ordinary she almost missed him...he is gentle, quiet, accepting of our past mistakes, full of love and grace towards us... #grace #forgiven #ifyouonlyknewthegift

Paul on forgiveness part 3 Romans 12:21 NIV Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. This is our hope for the future, and the way we are called to live today. A way more challenging and difficult road to walk...but one that reflects God's heart...and it starts in the little things at home, in our relationships, at church, at work or wherever we spend our time...by living this life of forgiveness we see the hope of good overcoming... #loveinaction #forgiveness #grace #forgiven

Paul on forgiveness #2 Romans 12:17-21 NIV Do not repay anyone evil for evil...If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge..."If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink..." Maybe you have an "enemy", someone who is set against you...Paul's teaching here is difficult to swallow. Live in peace (if at all possible) Don't take revenge But more than that go out of your way to bless those who stand against you. Wow. That's hard...and needs 2 things 1. Really believe that God has the big picture in hand and whatever happens in this life my eternity is secure 2. An attitude of forgiveness. #loveinaction #forgiveness #grace #forgiven   

Jesus on forgiveness #4 Luke 23:33-34 NIV When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals - one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing"... Forgiveness is love in action. Right to the end of his earthly life, it was all about "others" The preciousness of and concern for other people...that love in action that brought Jesus from heaven to earth to make a way...to be the way... #thisisourGod #love #loveinaction #forgiveness #grace #forgiven #sunday #worship