if sin comes knocking, don’t answer!It’s been removed as far as East is from West!

If for some reason you died today, where would you land? What if there’s something you thought you knew, but were completely wrong? Would you want to know?

I would.

I’ve asked that question to many people & received LOTS of different answers. Some say “Heaven! I mean, I’ve lived a pretty good life!”

I hate to burst that bubble, but there is no “good” that’s good enough to erase even one drop of sin.

Mark Rutland once said, “There is no ocean that can wash away a drop of blood from a murdered king, but the drop of a murdered king can wash away an ocean of sin for all people!”

We cannot escape the enemy who rules  this world. No matter how hard we try, we will lie, hold hatred in our hearts or break one of the Ten Commandments.

They were a great setup to show us that we cannot “be good enough” without our Sacrificial Lamb.

Holy God cannot even look upon sin, but He did make a Way. His Son lived a sinless life, taking all sin, for all time to the grave where He conquered death SO too could we!

Y’all, I don’t know what kind of sin litters your past. Ignorant or not, we ALL have it! Instead of letting it pull you back into the guilt & shame, let it become a resounding reminder of your need of a Savior!

Psalm 103 tells us that He has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west!

Think about this: if you travel North, at what point do you travel South? 👉🏽When you hit the North Pole, right?

But if you travel East, at what point will you be traveling West? Never!

And vice versa, if you headed out west & kept on going the 127,000 miles back to the point where you began, you’d still be traveling West.

East & West never meet & so shall we never again meet our past sins once we accept Jesus as our Savior & Lord!

Do you want to know with absolute certainty that you’ll spend eternity in heaven? All you need do is confess that you’re a sinner, accept His free gift of salvation & allow Him Lordship!

And if sin comes knocking on your door, don’t answer! It’s been removed as far as East is from West & has no legal right to torment unless you permit it! The erasing power of salvation isn’t a license to sin, but an invitation to follow. Will you accept it?

#OneYearBible

May 2nd One Year Bible Readings

JUDGES 15:1-16:31

JOHN 2:1-25

PSALM 103:1-22

PROVERBS 14:17-19

When Was the Last Time You Let The Lord Lock Eyes with You?

My husband & I went to a marriage conference recently where we had to do an exercise that had me squirming like a middle school girl. We were instructed to stand almost nose to nose & lock eyes with our spouse. Like, I can look at my husband, but to let our eyes linger long, like five minutes looooong, was H-A-R-D!

Maybe it’s just a me-thing because he stared with such tender eyes while I wiggled inside, trying hard not to let mine dart away. To look at anyone with a long, sustained gaze feels so uncommon in our 90-to-nothin’ culture.

So often we let capacity determine priorities, rather than the other way around.😳

Peter’s first encounter with Jesus began this way when he was known as Simon. John tells us how Jesus “looks intently at Simon’ the moment they meet.

The root for that kind of looking means to stare with locked gaze, to look in a long, concentrated way with special interest or love. The Lord loved Simon deeply with His gaze, then followed it with a statement that let Simon know Jesus saw him beneath the surface…

He affirms that his name is Simon, but casts vision with a new name: “Peter” which means “rock”.

When was the last time we let the Lord lock eyes with us?  When have we let Him call us by name, & lingered long enough to hear Him whisper a new name for a new season?

Staring long into my husband’s eyes did something miraculous in my heart…it broke a self-imposed shield of protection that meted out little emotional transparency at a time.  I couldn’t hide my thoughts or unease or whatever, it was there & eventually spilled out of my eyes as he stared into mine. It was such a tender moment that would’ve been missed with all of my busy rushing.

The Lord longs to lock eyes with you. He wants to break down the self-sufficient walls we’ve built around our hearts with His battering ram of eternal love.

We need offer nothing, but our gaze. And when we do? Well, we might just receive a new name for a new season… Will we let Him lock eyes & linger long enough for his love to unlock the deep recesses of our hearts?

Oh, how He loves us…we just need stop long enough to let Him 💞🤗

#OneYearBible

May 1st One Year Bible Readings

JUDGES 13:1-14:20

JOHN 1:29-51

PSALM 102:1-28

PROVERBS 14:15-16

Freedom Falls & Darkness Flees When That Which Was Concealed is Finally Revealed

Have you ever watched a movie where the writers make the audience privy to information that some characters haven’t quite discovered? You want to tell the characters some amazing truth that is just beyond their reach, that the angst they feel doesn’t have to be if they just knew what was coming?

It’s like anxious anticipation. You know something & want everyone in the story to know the same, but you cannot speed the storyline. I mean you could fast forward, but you’d miss out on so many key details in the plot.

That feeling right there, when the characters finally understand, is how I feel about the book of John. It is by far THEE most profound page of the New Testament that points back to the Old.

It reveals that the Word of God is not just a WHAT but a WHO! The book begins just like Genesis with, “In the beginning…” but the directional Truth that follows travels upward. Genesis writes BEYOND the beginning into the days that follow, but John writes BEFORE the beginning, outside the limits of time!

It’s like a great collision of old & new! The Old Testament spoke of a New Testament concealed, but the New Testament is like the pinnacle of a film where all things spoken in the Old Testament are finally revealed!

Jesus is the all encompassing, self revealing Truth of God’s spoken word,  BEFORE the beginning, BEYOND the beginning, even unto the climax of His death, ushering The Way to eternity!

Jesus, the Word, is the agent of ALL creation-“NOthing that was created WAS created except THROUGH Him!

As John speaks of the coming Messiah, the very Word of God is right there in the crowd, but they fail to recognize Him (v26).

The Word of God is not an IT, but rather a HIM & His Word STILL carries creative power! When we read, speak & pray His word aloud, powerful things happen!

I’m the beginning WAS The Word! He was WITH God & WAS God! Darkness is a lack of His Presence. It MUST flee when He enters, kinda like flipping on a lightswitch!

Are you facing darkness today? It must scram when you speak The Word! Let Him reveal Himself to you through His Word! He cannot wait to create a plot twist in your life that will likely be the best thing that’s ever happened! 

#OneYearBible

April 30th One Year Bible Readings

JUDGES 11:1-12:15

JOHN 1:1-28

PSALM 101:1-8

PROVERBS 14:13-14