Can God Look On Sin?

Recently during my prayer and study time I discovered that a statement I have spoken many times was leading me to an incorrect understanding. So many times I have been told and repeated to others the statement "God cannot look on sin." What this statement portrays is that somehow God has a weakness. He is flawed. You see I would get this mental picture of sin being kinda like God's krytonite. Just like superman having one flaw, God's was sin.

Here is what that lead me to believe. I was still sinful by my nature so God still couldn't look at me. So Jesus by my salvation stood in front of me, sort of like a screen or a filter. That way God only saw Jesus not me.

It's a great analogy but it left me with no understanding of my current state before God. Because my thought pattern left me as nothing had really changed about me, I was still really unacceptable. Not unacceptable to God but unacceptable to man.

It left me with a warped perception of who I now was and what my worth to Him was. Furthermore, with my old self worth still intact, I was still not good enough. God might be able to accept me now because Jesus had stepped in front of me as a buffer but the true nature of my self worth hadn't changed. God just didn't see me the same as everyone else because He was looking at Jesus not me.

Here is the truth..... and it changed everything for me. God CAN look on sin. Satan goes before God and he is full of sin. (a subject for another day) Satan is a different being. He is Spirit not human. We are not told the penalty of death is for him, no, it's for humanity.

Here's the thing, it's not that God can't look on sin, it's that if man goes in the presence of God with sin on him he will die. God could show himself to us but the penalty for our sins would come into play and we would drop down dead. The penalty of sin is death. So the penalty for man going before God with sin on him is death. Hence the seperation from God. Since we now have a sin nature and cannot keep from sinning, we must be seperated from God.

With sin comes death. In order to cleanse our sin off of us the penalty must be paid, blood must be shed, death must come. In the old testament, the Hebrew people would make blood sacrifices to attone for their sin. Once a year the high priest would go into the holy of holys in the presence of God. Before he would do this, he would make sacrifices for the week prior. There would be extra sacrifices made to make sure all the sin was attoned for so he wouldn't die once he was in the presence of God.

When Jesus came and died as a sinless man, the ultimate price was paid. The final and lasting penalty was paid. At the cross he proclaimed "It is finished" and it was. The penalty was paid for all mankind forever. The penalty of death was removed. Yes, we are still left with a sinful nature that wants to sin. But with our acceptance of Jesus Christ, we are covered by His blood sacrifice, therefore, we are blameless before God.

With the acceptance of Jesus as my Savior and Lord comes a new life. I am "born again" "a new creation". The old nature no longer has to hold me and I am made righteous and good enough not just before God but before man. The old person is gone and the new is now living. I am not that old person with the same self worth. I am different, new, worth much.

What freedom this brought me. I hope if you are stuck in a wrong perception of who you are in Jesus Christ, this will help you to know you too are enough.

The Veil Was Lifted

Have you ever felt distant? Like everyone was around you but they were still out of reach to you?

You can be in a room full of family or friends and feel like you are not really there. The room is full of activity and conversation but you are not engaged. Its like you are scrouge in the movie A Christmas Carol and one of the ghosts has deposited you in the middle of your life. You are in the room but no one really sees you.

That is the way I have felt my whole life. Like I have been in the room but no one really sees me. Maybe it is because I tried to hard to be what everyone else wanted me to be. Maybe I was too afraid to let anyone see who I was. What ever the reason, here I am, 40 something and just now trying to understand who the real me is. I am finally trying to be visable and seen for who I am.

What a journey it has been to take the mask off and quit trying to please others. It has taken a lot time to peel off the layers and find out why I wanted to be someone else. In the end it came down to not thinking I was enough on my own. If people saw me, the real me, they would reject me because that person wasn't worth much.

Learning that I was loved by God was the beginning for me. I learned that the one who created me loved me so much that He sent His only son to die for me. It rocked my world to know I was loved by the one who created everything. But it still wasn't enough to change my thinking. I still believed that somehow I was flawed from birth and not like everyone else. I wasn't worth as much as other people were. Yes, God loved me but He didn't see the real me. He saw me through the filter of Jesus so it wasn't really me that He saw, it was Christ.

Yes, I was clean and worthy IN HIS EYES because he was looking at me through different eyes than the rest of the world. I carried this belief without really knowing it and what it really meant was I believed God loved me because He saw me differently. He couldn't see my flaws and how unacceptable I really was anymore. But others could. Therefore, I was acceptable to God but not to others. The nature of how unworthy and unacceptable I was hadn't really changed, God just couldn't see it anymore.

Last week the light was turned on for me. Jesus died to make me acceptable. Upon belief in His death for my sins and accepting His salvation it didn't place a veil over God's eyes so he couldn't see my sin anymore. No, it took the veil off. In that moment, I was made worthy for Him to look at me. Eyes wide open, the Father looks on His child. It took the veil off because I was made acceptable. I was justified and made worthy. Because of Jesus I am enough. Enough to be me, whole, clean, acceptable and worth much.

He created the first man and called it very good. That's what He now calls me.

So This is Christmas

So this is Christmas.....and what have you done.....another year over...... and a new one just begun... lalala...... I have the John Lennon song Happy Christmas stuck in my head.

Another year over......and what have you done? What good question to be asking ourselves as the year closes out. Has your year brought you closer to God's purpose for your life? Has this year been a memorable one or just another year like many before it?

My year has been a difficult one. It has been a year of great change in my life. Although it has been difficult, it has not been without benefit. By allowing God to guide my life, great change has not gone unused by God. I have grown and my heart stirs even greater than before for a world that needs the truth I hold inside me.

As we move into the Christmas holiday, what better time to unleash our hearts and pour out God's goodness on those around us. There are so many people celebrating a holiday that is focused on Jesus, King of Kings, but have no personal understanding of why He came in the first place.

This Christmas, teach those around you why He came. Share the greatest gift you can give to someone. Walk through the initial fear to share and let the love you have received be known by those less fortunate. There is no greater gift you could give this season than the gift of God's salvation. Share the truth of Jesus this season. After all, He's the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas!

Blinging to Eternity

Today while doing research for the bible study I am writing I stumbled across a fabulous truth. It's now one in the morning and I am tempted to wake up my husband just so I can share. I just wanna shake him awake and say "Guess what! Bling is good!!

You see I like shinny and glitzy things that bling. I just can't help myself. I love all things glittery. Jewels are great, shinny shoes are fun and a glittery bag is a must with certain outfits.

So when Christmas rolls around look out! Two things I love come together in a great way. I love Jesus and I love bling. On Christmas those two things collide and make an extravaganza of fun for me.

My husband on the other hand can be quite the kill joy when it comes to my decoration obsession. Just because he has to drag a few (thirty) plastic totes up from the basement and then return them after I'm done picking through them, doesn't constitute such ugliness. Okay, he's not necessarily ugly about it, he just complains. ALLOT. He says I have to many decorations and then throws a fit when I continue to purchase more each year. Whats the big deal if it keeps a girl happy? And this girl it does.

I don't get the problem. After all, Jesus deserves it. It's his birthday, I gotta do it up right. His birthday only comes once a year and there are so many pretty bobbles out there to celebrate with. Hobby Lobby calls my name this time a year. I hear it in my sleep.

So imagine my pleasure in finding treasure in scripture that supports my love for bling. I was studying I Peter 1:7. It says this:

That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Here's the good part! Matthew Henry says this about it in his commentary. Jesus will appear in glory, the saints will appear with Him. Their graces will appear illustrious and the more they have been tried the more bright they will appear. Their glory, honor and praise will last to eternity.

WOOT! WOOT! According to Matthew Henry, each trial we go through adds grace that will appear brighter on us. When we appear in the sky with Jesus we will be glowing bright from all our added glory. That to me shouts of glowing brightness. I like it! I like it allot!

Sparkle I will!! So far, with all the trials I have been through, my bling quotient should be pretty high about now. I can hardly wait!

Gotta..... go..... wake..... up..... husband. I can't hardly stand it.....No.....No.....I should probably wait.

We All Become Orphans At Some Point

Today I got some sad news. My brother in-law, whom I love so dearly lost his father two days ago. If it wasn't hard enough, he also lost his mother just a mere four weeks before this. Dealing with the death of a parent, all though inevitable for us all, is a very hard thing go through. How much harder to lose both parents one after the other.

I can not say I know what this feels like. I only know the grief and loss from a bystanders view point. I myself, several years ago,watched as my husband experienced the loss of his mother and soon after, his father. Although, I haven't been through the loss of my parents, I know that I will eventually have to face that grief.

Thinking today about my brother in-law (and in Christ), my mind wandered to how he must feel right now. How losing both parents must bring a person to the feeling of being orphaned. The feeling of being left on your own without the familiar safety net we have always counted on. You see, as long as we are still someone's child, we have someone to run to when we are scared or need counsel. As long as our parents are alive, the small child that lives within each of us has a Momma or a Daddy to run to when times are tough. We can still run and tuck our head in Momma lap or bury our head in Daddy's shoulder. We may not do this literally, but the availability to do so is always there. We get to live in the illusion that we are protected from a big, hard, ugly, cruel world. There is always that feeling of protection that hovers over us as long as they are with us here on earth.

What I realized as I watched my husband go through similar circumstances is that a shift must take place. First, we must allow ourselves to grieve. There is no shame in shedding tears for the loss of a loved one. They cared for us and loved us, they deserve our tears of grief.

Through the grieving process there must come a honesty before God. A place where you share how much you hurt with God so He can begin to mend the brokenness. When we take the time to bring our grief to Him, He will give us more than we could ever expect. He will be our comforter, our friend, our place of protection and our great healer of the heart. More than that, He knows our state of loss and our loneliness. He knows that we are now orphans in a big cruel world that just got bigger.

Here's the thing.... If we let Him, God will fill that hole our parents left behind. He will become the Father that is there hovering to protect us. He will become the Father always there to bury our head in when were scared. He will be to us all the things we believe we lost, if we ask.

So for my brother..... I say to you....I love you. It's okay to feel grief. Call on those of us around you when you need an ear,a hug or a friend. We are here. But more than that, your great Father in Heaven is only a thought away and He loves you.