Sorry for the delay in posting my column, but in my defence, what a week I've had! After talking last week about the Kingdom of Heaven being all about righteousness, peace and joy, my peace and joy was put to the test.
On Tuesday afternoon we experienced a severe hail storm on the coast where I live. The roof on our house was severely damaged with at least 80 holes blasted through it. You can literally see the sky through them. And then the rain came and it has rained almost non stop since then! But miraculously non of our furniture or valuables were damaged.
Friends came to our aid in many wonderful ways and although we know it will all end well and we'll get a sorely needed new roof, it has been a very trying week!
But because I'm convinced that my righteousness in Christ is not dependent on me, but on Him, I never had to waste my time and energy on worrying if this was a punishment from God because I did something wrong or because I'm not good enough. And because I'm secure in God's love and the knowledge that He wants the best for me, my peace and joy remain in tact. If my peace and joy were determined by my circumstance I'd be worried and miserable, but I'm not..
My husband is a wonderful man and I thank God for him, in trying time's he's amazing. This together with the truth that if God is for us who can be against us, keeps me positive and grateful.
Lots of love
Louisa
2 comments:
Amen to all this! The punishment for sin has been completely taken care of and we never, ever have to worry if our circumstances are due to any sort of punishment from God.
Jesus said we shall know "the" truth and the truth shall make us free. Sadly, many Christians are not walking in the freeing truth, but are living according to the deception that God still gets angry with them and punishes them, and so they're not living with the freedom and the joy and peace of Christ.
Keep on ringing the bell of true freedom that comes from nothing other than Christ and His grace!
I was reminded of a story a friend of mine shared with me. (This story happened several years ago). A man who was a member of a church that was part of the Word of Faith movement got into a motorcycle accident and he survived but had multiple serious injuries. The people of the church, and one woman in particular, questioned him about what sin he was involved in that would cause this to happen. This man really had to defend himself, saying that there was no sin that he was involved in, but they didn't believe him, because they were convinced that the accident was a result of his sin.
That is a sad, sad environment to live in, especially when Jesus came not to condemn but to save and to provide for complete forgiveness of sins!
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