Entries for May 2015

DEBT FREE!

"And you being dead in your trespasses.....He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all your trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us,which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14

In Paul's day the 'handwriting of requirements, or the written code that was against the debtor, could mean two things. It could refer to the record of debts or crimes which stood against an offender's name; or it could refer to the IOU's or promissory notes unpaid by the offender.

Under certain circumstances, those requirements could be cancelled or annulled. To indicate this the record was either sponged away, blotted out, or a nail was driven through them to indicate the power to condemn had been cancelled.

The executed criminal who paid for his offenses by death would be buried and all the records of his debts and crimes. Nothing remained to perpetuate the charges against his name. Death cancelled it all.

Paul saw in the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross the accounts and records of every guilty sinner, Jew and Gentile, nailed to the cross. The blood of Jesus shed upon the cross blotted out the whole record of broken Law, so that it could never be brought up against the offender again.

What does that mean to us? When Satan brings counterfeit charges, as forgiven sinners, we can shout with joy,"The account is totally settled! Jesus paid it all."

APPROPRIATE WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE FOR YOU: When you are troubled by Satan's accusations about your past, confess and declare you believe Jesus forgives you and clears you of the guilt of your sins. Believe He took your guilt Himself to the cross.

If the Accuser still condemns you, write on a piece of paper, 'All My Sins'. Fasten it on a doorpost or somewhere visible. Every time you see it remember your Savior was nailed to the cross to cancel your debt. Declare: "Jesus paid it all, hallelujah!"

PRAYER: Thank you Father. Jesus shed His blood to cancel my debt. What a great feeling to be free of the weight of guilt! All I owe is undying gratitude to You. Amen

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GOD'S GRACE

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8

My hard-working Irish mother was a woman of fortitude, even before she became a woman of faith. Yet, who am I to say that there was not always a mixture of both in her? I can hear her say, 'It won't do you any good to look back, look ahead."

Mother's never-give-up attitude developed early. Her parents died in the Great Flu Epidemic in 1900, soon after her birth. Shifted from one relative to another to do child labor, she developed a determined will to survive.

Her determination to look ahead was a kind of faith. She trusted there must be a future better than the present and that it held a reward for not giving up. Her forward-looking attitude carried her through to womanhood. It gave her hope for happiness when she met and married John, the man who became my father. When he returned from the trenches of France in WWI, sick and disabled from chlorine gas, a positive disposition carried her through the tough times. She kept us together as a family while she made a living washing and ironing for other families. She took pride that we never had to go on welfare during The Great Depression.

Mother's hope of reward for perseverance was justified when President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave disabled WWI veterans a bonus in the 1930's. Mother saw the check as a chance to get ahead. She and dad agreed to open a restaurant on Summit St., near a large tent and awning factory. It was not long before "Mrs. Murphy's Restaurant, specializing in Southern Fried Chicken and Home Made Pies," became a favorite eating place in Toledo, Ohio.

It was during that time my mother's fortitude shifted from fatalistic self-survival to faith in Jesus Christ. At the foot of the cross she found new life and the reason to look ahead, into eternal life. The Lord became all in all to her. She never looked back, except just a glance to thank God for the new life He gave to her.

GOD'S FREE GRACE: She did not labor for it, He gave it freely to her. The Savior's unconditional, sacrificial love upon the cross gave richer meaning to her name, Grace.

PRAYER: Lord, I'll stick with what I learned and believed through my mother. I receive the full measure of Your gift of grace given to me. For Your sake, Amen

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