Good news!

Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard."

How does this make you feel?

For me, this verse always made me feel a bit despondent and a failure. Naturally, I am quite competitive and like to achieve standards that are set before me, both by myself and by others. It's how I work best. So when I became a follower of Jesus, I wanted to be like Him. He seemed to have everything in the right place. He was loved by all, healed the sick and ultimately never sinned. That's what I wanted. He was and is the standard.

But, after a couple of weeks and months of trying to obtain this, I was left feeling guilty that I kept messing up and a bit of a failure. Jesus had asked me to follow Him and I had messed it all up, and then Paul decided to rub my nose in it with his letter to the Roman church.

However, this verse, in it's right context, is one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible.

Let's read on...

"Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us."

This is the Gospel! This is good news! That Christ died for our sins! Why? It's because we can't hit the standards God expects. We in ourselves are not enough, no matter how good we think we are. To understand the beauty of His Grace, we need to first understand the necessity for it. This was the message that gripped Paul's heart, as he had experienced it first hand.

Another man who knew the mercy and grace of God was King David. Having committed adultery and murder, David is faced with his sin. What is his response? Psalm 51.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts ^[a] ;
you teach ^[b] me wisdom in the inmost place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 The sacrifices of God are ^[c] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

My prayer for us, is that we would face our sin and the reality that we have fallen short, not with guilt or condemnation at our perceived failure, but with the humility and joy that comes from knowing a God who has welcomed us into his family, by the death and resurrection of His Son and that alone. This is good news!

Allow God to show you His love for you and know his forgiveness today and then share it with others for His glory!

Amen.

Change

Change is certainly all around us. In the early hours of this morning, senator Obama became the 44th president of the United States of America. His emphasis throughout his campaign for the White House was the need for change. The need for a different outlook. A need for fresh hope. Many people feel he is the man to bring it.

The world watches on in anticipation.

My bible reading at this time has brought me to the edge of the Jordan at the start of Joshua. The Israelites have been wandering around the desert for 40 years after their disobedience to God (and lack of faith) in the book of Numbers, and a new generation has emerged, charged by Moses in the book of Deuteronomy and with a new leader, Joshua. Change is all around them. They stand on the edge of their own miraculous water based crossing (Red Sea for earlier generation), not sure what is ahead (although they know it will involve lot's of battles).

The important thing for the people was to acknowledge God in the midst of their change and to keep His commands as He had asked them to do.

So what was the first thing that the people did when they crossed the Jordan into the promised Land?

We are told in Joshua ch5 that the first thing they did as a people, was reestablish their covenant with God. This was the covenant made with Abraham in Genesis 15 that God would make a great nation from him that would be a blessing to the other nations of the world. Their identity would be in God, for they were chosen and set apart, not because they were special, but because they were nothing and God wanted to show His glory through them.

The sign of this covenant was circumcision (Genesis 17), so that is what Joshua and the rest of the men did to each other to reestablish the promise God had given to them (with pieces of flint!). This would have left them vulnerable to attack (we saw Joseph's brother's use this tactic in Genesis 34) as they recovered from the operation, but this was their commitment to God and a sign of their trust in Him. They then celebrated Passover together, to remind themselves of what God had done for them in taking them from a place of hopelessness in Egypt, to a place of hope in a land of promise.

Their first act of change, was to remember and celebrate. A time of reverance and joy.

My prayer for the USA, is that as they face this new dawn, that they would first remember their covenant with God and not forget what He has done for them. Before they face the many battles that lie ahead, my hope is that they will reestablish their covenant with God, which has been made possible because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and that they remember their story as a Nation and where they have come from. I pray that they would be the blessing to other Nations that they have been called to be and not abuse the favour that has been given to them or take it for granted.

I pray that the whole nation would unite together, not in a flag, or a person, or a foreign policy, but in Jesus who is the hope that we all need to cling onto in this time.

I pray that the greatest change would be in the hearts and minds of the people, and not just the outward action of a government.

Lord, let your Kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.