Verse of the Day - Isaiah 44:22

[God says,] "I have swept away your sins like the morning mists. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free."
~ Isaiah 44:22 (NLT, 1st Edition)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of the biggest and most basic of trust issues I think people can have with God is this idea that we can be made clean...clean enough to stand before God's presence and enter into Paradise. Is what Jesus did on the cross really enough to pay for all the bad things I've done in my life?

It's all in the future, it's all unknown. And it's after death, so it's permanent. There's no going back and changing your mind. So trusting Jesus to do the 'impossible' -- to clean your heart and mind, to stamp "PAID" on the laundry list of debts you've incurred on God's law, to do for you what you can never, EVER do for yourself -- is a big deal! Is He big enough? Is He strong enough? Is He faithful enough? Is He willing enough?

Maybe His sacrifice isn't enough -- maybe I need to help Him out by...

~ making sure I'm a good person...well, as good as I can be with the dumb people I have to work with, who can drive me over the edge!...

~ doing meditation like my yoga instructor -- she seems to have real inner peace, unlike me who's flying off the handle every time I turn around...

~ cleansing my life of all the evil around me -- my TV, all junk food -- all the things that I consume that make me "bad", because really, without these outside evils, I could be perfect, right?...

Do we trust God, or trust in ourselves? You can't really do both. God says we are helpless, unable to come to God without sin apart from Jesus Christ -- period. (John 3:3, Acts 4:12) If we trust in ourselves, we call God a liar, and we are on our own completely. Are you willing to stand before God on Judgment Day with your list of good deeds, meditation practices and cleansing ceremonies in full confidence that this is enough to make up for the wrong you've done? If so, good luck. You'll need it.

We are sinful creatures, no doubt. And the Bible says if you've broken one law, you've broken them all (James 2:10). So we're guilty. On a spiritual level! Not guilty before a judge in a downtown courtroom, but guilty before the Judge of all mankind, of all hearts! How can we get rid of something in another dimension, on another plane? It's impossible!...like trying to scrub your thoughts and attitudes with a toothbrush!

God says though our sins are as scarlet, they can be white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). He has the capability to scatter our sins on the wind...gone with a gust. He alone can make us clean. And the best part is that He is willing to do it, because He loves us! (1 John 1:9, John 3:16)

Do you really trust Him to do the impossible in your life now, and on Judgment Day, to wipe clean the slate of your heart? Or do you hold onto the guilt of your sins as some sort of twisted security blanket? Jesus said, "If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed!" (John 8:36) Do you believe it, for real?

Believe Him. With all of your heart. And be free!

Love,
Joelene