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Sydney is a Blue Healer, maybe even a mix of sorts. Rather hard to tell. She has brown eyes and mostly black hair, some spots are mottled with white.

She likes to stay very near us, practically clinging to our feet when one of us goes into another room, even the bathroom.

Sydney is a good dog, actually very obedient. She does drive me nuts sometimes by trying to outsmart me and see if she can get a treat, acting like she wants to go out. Sometimes, she wants out just to come back in for a treat. You see, we give her a treat if she doesn’t bark. She doesn’t always get one!

But she has one bad habit...

...she loves to get in the garbage and tear up used tissues! I don’t think she eats them, just tears them up.

If we point to the tissues and ask her, “What’s this, Sydney?” or “Who did this?” we get a hilarious response...

...she turns her head to ignore her wrongdoing. She’ll turn completely around and look in the opposite direction, as if to say, “Who me? I don’t see anything!”

Oh, my! Don’t we behave the same way with God?

Obedient, yet sometimes, when the Lord points out some bad habit or wrongdoing, we turn the other way as if to say, “Who me? I didn’t do anything!”

Recognition

Because David desired to be rid of those sins prowling around in his heart that might escape his attention, he said to God, “But how can I ever know what sins are lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.” (Ps. 19:12 TLB)

Do we recognize our wrongdoing?

Remorse

After committing a sin, are we in anguish only that we got caught and now have to face the consequences or that we have wounded the heart of the Father?

Do we even blush? God said of the Israelites to Jeremiah, “Are they ashamed when they do these disgusting things? No, not at all—they don’t even blush!” (Jer. 6:15 NLT)

Do we say to the Father, “I am deeply sorry for what I have done” (Ps. 38:18 NLT)?

Repentance

So, how long does it take you to confess a sin? Thirty seconds? Thirty minutes? Thirty days? Or thirty years? The moment you know you have done something against God’s Word, do you confess it only to rush out the door to do it again? Where is repentance?

The proof of the pudding, so to speak, of repentance is, as Jesus said to the Pharisees, to “Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance [let your lives prove your change of heart].” (Matt. 3:8 Amp)

Removal of Sin

It is by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Eph. 1:7a NKJV)

When God forgives our sins, He removes them “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us,” (Ps. 103:12 NKJV) tossing them “into the depths of the ocean,” (Micah 7:19b TLB) never to emerge.

He forgives and forgets our sins. The only memory of them is in our own minds, not God’s! God dumps our sins into the great abyss but we’re the ones with the fishing poles!

Repercussions

After we succumb to one of the enemy’s pretty packages of temptation, what is the aftermath? What do we forfeit? Our peace, our joy, our relationships with others, answers to our prayers, and even our fellowship with the Lord.

Consequences are attached to sin. God does not wave a magic wand over our sins to make the repercussions disappear. However, as Jesus took the punishment of sin for us, Paul said, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (Rom 5:20 NKJV)

Restoration Afterwards

God gives us a sure-fire-get-back-into-fellowship guarantee, “And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.” (Rom. 5:9 NLT)

Pursuing our own ways takes us on a detour away from Home. However, the Father always anxiously watches for our return and welcomes us back with open arms.

Rejoicing in Restoration

Isaiah said in the Old Testament, “I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For He has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness.” (Is. 61:10 NLT)

Because of Jesus’ sacrifice for the forgiveness and cleansing of our sins, we rejoice and are able to say, “Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:57 Amp) Amen!

Are you ignoring your sin or are you happy dancing in the victory of your forgiveness and restoration?



**This is part of Peter Pollock's One Word at a Time Blog Carnival

"…you were not redeemed with corruptible things…But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ.”(1 Peter 1:18a NKJV, 1 Peter 1:19a Amp)
I love some of those commercials that show an item, then list the price of something and, at the end, list something that is priceless.

That’s our redemption: priceless! Priceless...in the sense that we could never repay Christ for the redemption we have received.

But for Him: a very costly price. His life. But still...an unmeasured, priceless gift to us.

Jesus Christ released His earthly life to die an excruciating death on a cruel cross. Is there a greater sacrifice? The disciple John wrote, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13 NLT)

You are that special friend of Jesus; you are worth every drop of blood that He shed and paid for you. If you have accepted that sacrificial offer, you are the precious Bride of Christ, the Beloved Bridegroom.

Jesus paid the asking price for His Bride, “a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time,” (Heb. 10:12a Amp) “who gave Himself a ransom on behalf of all.” (1 Tim. 2:6 NKJV)

The Greek word for ransom, in the above verse, is used only this once in the Bible and means the redemption price of a slave or captive, that which is offered in exchange for another.

In that covenant exchange, Christ suffered death in our stead that we might walk in newness of His risen Life. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10 NKJV)

Redeeming us from our sins and ultimate spiritual death, Christ became our Kinsman-Redeemer, for He “purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation] by [Himself] becoming a curse for us.” (Gal. 3:13 Amp)

The Greek meaning of the word used for redeem, I think, beautifully describes what Christ did for us. It means to ransom, to rescue one from loss to improve opportunity, to purchase one for his freedom from another’s power by paying a price to recover him, or to buy up for one’s self or own use.

He exchanged His life for yours. He redeemed your life to improve it, to give you abundant Life. He purchased you from the power of the enemy, redeeming you from a life of drudgery, from servitude to sin, from eternal loss, as He said, “So that anyone who believes in Me will have eternal life.” (John 3:15 TLB)

Great agony and heartache were the price of your redemption. Truly you are not your own. You were bought with a price.

Love and redemption: priceless!

May you know that Eternal Life that surges through your precious, blood-bought soul. And may the Lord reveal to you His presence in some special way this Easter season.

Standing at a distance, she gazed at the man’s crucified body, dying on a cross, as her heart pounded in agony. Deep sobs heaved her chest. Her knees began to buckle.

What brought her to the cross? A mother’s love. For this was Mary’s son, dying for the world.

John the disciple, who had leaned upon this Divine Man so many times, stood with Mary, in utter dismay.

What brought him to the cross? Genuine love and deep gratitude.

With John and Mary stood Mary Magdalene, trembling. Tears of grief streamed down her cheeks.

What brought her to the cross? Love, for the forgiveness of the sins in her life, for scripture says, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.” (Luke 7:47a NKJV)

Kneeling on the ground at the foot of this Man’s cross, the soldiers cast lots for His tunic.

What brought them to the cross? Their duty. And now their greed.

Two thieves hung on either side of this cross.

What brought them to the cross? Violation of the law.

Simon the Cyrenian was there.

What brought him to the cross? Bearing the burden of the cross to the hill of sacrifice.

The multitude gathered, murmuring to each other.

What brought them to the cross? Anger. Belittlement. Wonderment. Doubting.

The chief priests stood with the scribes, poised in pride and defiance.

What brought them to the cross? To mock Him, thinking it all utter foolishness.

What did all these have in common? They all needed the very thing for which this Man Jesus was dying on the cross: Salvation and the forgiveness of their sins.

Some accepted it; some rejected it. Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18 NIV)

What brings you to the cross? Love? Gratitude? Grief? Duty? Violation of God’s Law? Bearing a burden? Anger? Belittlement? Wonderment? Doubt? Pride? Defiance? Mocking?

Do you come weeping in pain, sorrow, or loss? Emptied of hopes and dreams? Feeling lost in your circumstances?

Without the cross, there would be no Garden of Easter Gladness…to lift you up, to wipe away your tears, to remove your grave clothes of fear and depression.

Walk that trail from the cross to Easter’s Garden of resurrection. See your Saviour Jesus standing there, waiting for you.

He compassionately whispers your name and says, “Do not wear the grave-clothes stained with the tears of grief. Come into My garden of beauty and I will give you the robe of Easter’s resurrection gladness. Take My Hand and let Me lead you along the path to life everlasting. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I gave My life that you might live eternally with Me.”

Jesus always brings us hope of resurrection as on that first Easter morn. He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NKJV)

Do you believe this? If so, weep no more. May you experience the salvation and forgiveness of the cross, the power of the resurrection, and embrace the risen life in a new way this Easter season.

What brings you to the cross? May it be...Genuine Love.



~~This is part of FaithfulBloggers.com for their writing project The Death, Burial, and Resurrection.