Blog Post by Brandy Edenfield
A friend of mine tearfully shared yesterday their unworthiness to receive Gods love & healing. What God started in my heart as a response has been on my mind ever since, expanding to overflow & growing my gratitude. So, this is my take on it! People were separated from God because of sin. The only way to the Father was through sacrifices & rule following, so many rules in fact that it seemed the odds were stacked against them.
In my mind, I imagine a meeting of God, Holy Spirit & Jesus. In this visual, I see God shaking His head in frustration with people (He wasn’t surprised, just… annoyed.) Jesus, seeing the Fathers’ frustration and full of compassion offered Himself up, “Send me. I’ll go to them & teach them. I’ll be the final sacrifice.” And I imagine Holy Spirit(The great counselor) saying “this is a beautiful thing. I love it.” So, the Father, in sadness because He loves His son SO DEEPLY, agreed.
LOVE GIVES
A perfect baby was created inside a virgin(an untainted vessel) and was born in a nasty, dirty stable with animals (I won’t even go into the spiritual metaphor this was for us & our mess.) This child was pure perfection! A teacher to great scholars before He was a teenager. He grew up to be a kind, compassionate man. HE LOVED PEOPLE! ALL PEOPLE! And here’s the crazy part for me- HE LOVED THE REALLY BAD, MESSY PEOPLE A LOT! He spent time with them, even when religious people judged Him. He spent His adult life teaching about His Fathers wonderful heart for them & The Fathers love for all mankind. ALL mankind!
[click_to_tweet tweet=” He simplified all the rules (there’s more but here’s the list of them:) 1. Love God 2. Love yourself & from these two loves, Love others. (See, what He was telling us was important; to live a life FULL & OVERFLOWING with LOVE. ” quote=”He simplified all the rules (there’s more but here’s the list of them:) 1. Love God 2. Love yourself & from these two loves, Love others. (See, what He was telling us was important; to live a life FULL & OVERFLOWING with LOVE. ” theme=”style6″]
When we love God most, that changes who we are. When we learn to see ourselves the way He sees us & love & honor ourselves, we’re more generous with our love & our giftings because He breaks the lies of the enemy off of our hearts & our insecurities aren’t in control anymore. (SO, THEN we love others in the most beautiful way- from our overflow!)
LOVE LAYS DOWN LIFE FOR OTHERS
He poured Himself into people. And the time came for our ransom to be paid. To pay a debt with His life that was mine (and yours) & He prepared Himself. As the day drew near, He spent a lot of time talking to His Father. The heavy weight of what was before Him was so immense, He literally sweats blood & asked the Father “if there’s another way, do that instead (paraphrased)”. But He knew He was the one- the only perfect sacrifice– to end all sacrifices. His life would pay humanities debt IN FULL!
JESUS was betrayed by a man He loved DEEPLY! He was beaten beyond recognition! LITERALLY- beaten to the point that it changed his appearance, almost to the point of death. VICIOUSLY BEATEN! The plan they made for his murder were HORRENDOUS, truly beyond comprehension. They made fun of Him & they tortured Him. All along, He had the power to change His situation with the blink of an eye. YET HE PRESSED ON!
LOVE IS A CELEBRATION
At one point, as the weight of my sin & your sin– the sin of all people was on Him, even the Father had to look away. Jesus was the ONLY person to ever experience a moment of “God turning His back on Him.” In the hopelessness of that moment, He asked “why have you left me? (Paraphrase)” The Father was with Him once again!
In complete agony, He still did what Jesus does & forgave the sins of a neighboring criminal & promised eternity with Him. And in His final moments on this Earth, He had great compassion for all people & on our behalf, He pleaded with the Father to forgive us & have mercy on our ignorance. Then He spoke the words “IT IS FINISHED!” And He SURRENDERED His life!
Oh yes!, there’s more– the powerful resurrection that fulfilled the promise of new life for those that believe in Him, but that’s for another day. The point of this post is to say this- NONE OF US ARE WORTHY OF THIS! NO NOT ONE!!! We cannot be good enough to earn this love that He freely gives & we cannot be so bad that it changes His love! NONE OF US DESERVES SUCH LOVE & SACRIFICE! It’s a gift! FREELY given if you don’t know this Jesus, please let me introduce you– you’ll never be the same! NEVER! His love & a relationship with Him changes EVERYTHING!!
[click_to_tweet tweet=”I’m here if you need a hand to hold on your journey. This is why I say “Merry Christmas”- JESUS IS THE REASON! Be blessed today. ” quote=”I’m here if you need a hand to hold on your journey. This is why I say “Merry Christmas”- HE’S THE REASON! Be blessed today. ” theme=”style6″]
PRAYER
Jesus,
Thank you for showing me the way of love. I only need “to confess with my mouth and believe with my heart and I am saved”. I receive your love, forgiveness, and grace into my heart.
Thank you for coming to this earth, for taking on my Sins on yourself and giving me the gift of eternal life. We will be together forever. I am looking forward to this for myself and others. Amen.
Christians United Ministries is a non-profit ministry that is bringing hope and healing to broken hearts and lives. Would you consider giving a year-end gift to continue to bring this ministry to so many who need a revelation of Jesus healing power and love? “The receiving is in the giving”. Thank you and Merry Christmas. [Go to www.cumi.live/donate].
Oh this is beautiful. Love