Grace - Greater Than All Our Sin!

FAITH:

Romans 5:12-21
"... where sin abounded, grace did much more abound ..." (v. 20, KJV)

How do we recover from the brokenness caused by the memory of some deeply grievous sin. By that we mean a sin which God has forgiven but which, for some reason, still burns in our memories. The first principle is this: realize that God can do more with sin than just forgive it. I heard an elderly minister make that statement many years ago, when I was a young Christian, and at first I resisted it. I said to myself: "How can God use sin? Surely it is His one intolerance?" Then, after pondering for a while, I saw what he meant. God uses our sin to motivate our will toward greater spiritual achievement, to quicken our compassion toward sinners and to show God's tender heart for the fallen. We must be careful, of course, that we do not fall into the error which Paul refers to in Romans 6:1-2: "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid" (KJV). If we sin in order that God may use it, then our motives are all wrong and we fall foul of the eternal purposes. If, however, we commit sin, but then take it to God in confession - really take it to Him - then He will not only forgive it, but make something of it. Is this too difficult for you to conceive? Then I point you to the cross. The cross was the foulest deed mankind ever committed, yet God used it to become the fulcrum of His redemption. It was our lowest point - but it was God's zenith.

Remember 1 John 1:1-10 - "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (v. 9)
A second principle that enables us to recover from the brokenness caused by the memory of some grievous sin. is this: Understand the major reason why you tend to brood on the past. People who brood on the past, and keep the memory of their sin alive, do so for several reasons. Let's take them one by one: (1) They are not sure that God has forgiven them. If you have this kind of doubt, it is really a denial. It is taking a verse, like the one before us today, and flinging it back into God's face, saying "I don't believe it." If you don't accept God's forgiveness, you will try to make your own atonement in feelings of guilt. Once you confess your sin, then, as far as God is concerned, that's the end of it. Believe that - and act upon it. It's the gospel truth! (2) They are in the grip of spiritual pride. You should be asking yourself, at some deep level of your mental and emotional life: How could I have ever done a thing like that? What this really amounts to is that you have too high an opinion of yourself. And that's about as bad as too low an opinion of yourself. (3) They have not forgiven themselves. It might help to stand in front of a mirror with your Bible open at the verse at the top of this page, reassure yourself that God has forgiven you, and say to yourself, by name: "---------, God has forgiven you - now I forgive you too!" by Selwyn Hughes

EXPLORING IT FURTHER: Ps. 51:1-19; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13; Mark 12:33; Heb. 10:1-22; Isa. 43:25; 44:22; 55:7

FRIENDS:

Father, I am so relieved to know that You take even my sins and make them contribute to Your purposes. Grace turns all my bad into good, all my good into better and all my better into the best. Gracious Father, although I understand many things, I fail so often to understand myself. Teach me more of what goes on deep inside me, so that, being more self-aware, I may become more God-aware. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.

DAILY BIBLE CHALLENGE
7. JOHN 2:12-25; JAMES 3:13-18; ECCLES. 5; JEREMIAH 14-15
8. JOHN 3:1-15; JAMES 4:1-10; ECCLES. 6; JEREMIAH 16-18
9. JOHN 3:16-21; JAMES 4:11-17; ECCLES. 7:1-14; JEREMIAH 19-22

~ECCLESIASTES~

She didn't want to share her name, just her pain. So I cradled the phone against my shoulder and listened. Her husband had cheated. She was angry. Angry at him. Angry at God. Angry at herself for being angry. In two months she's gone through three bottles of anti-depressants. She didn't want to leave her room or see her friends. Weak and bitter she finally asked, "Max, will I ever be happy again?"

She's not the first to wonder.

As the drinker orders a double, he wonders.

As the achiever logs another eighteen-hour day, she wonders.

As the boss reaches for his secretary's hand, both wonder.

"Will I ever be happy again?"

There is a great dissatisfaction across the land. Hand after hand reaching out to quench thirsts and scratch itches. But the thirst lingers, the itch remains. As one man tole me, "I learned that once I had what I wanted, I found I didn't want what I had."

Solomon could have said those words. He was unlimited in what he could do. Unbridled in what he could win. Unharnessed in what he could experience. So he set out to do it all.

He tried knowledge (1:13), pleasure, possessions and projects (2:3-8). He was serious about each. He built a temple and a palace. He owned forty thousand horses and twelve thousand horseman. He married the daughter of Pharaoh and built her a house (which was good because he had six hundred and ninety-nine more wives so his place was crowded).

In spite of it all, or because of it all, he was restless. "I hated life, " he journaled. He was isolated (3:22), frustrated (5:17), and longed for the good old days when things were simler and wine was sweeter.

For some reason, Solomon kept a record of his longings. And somehow, they became public. Maybe he knew that he wasn't the only one to get to the top of the ladder only to find it against the wrong building.

If that's where you are, or might be, this book is for you.

FOOD:

BOOT TRACK COOKIES
made in the waffle iron

* 1/2 cup salted butter
* 2/3 cup granulated sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
* 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
* 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, (optional)
* Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preparation

1. Preheat a nonstick (not Belgian) waffle iron.
2. Cream butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, cocoa powder, oil and espresso powder (if using). Beat until thoroughly combined.
3. Drop the batter by rounded teaspoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto the preheated ungreased waffle iron. (To avoid burnt fingers, use two spoons, one to scoop and one to scrape dough onto the waffle iron.) Close and cook until the cookies are puffed and cooked through, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Waffle irons vary, so watch closely and don’t let the cookies get too dark. Transfer to a wire rack to cool until just warm. Dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while still slightly warm (see Variations). Variations: Instead of confectioners’ sugar, drizzle cooled cookies with melted bittersweet and/or white chocolate. Or make a peppermint drizzle: Mix 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 4 teaspoons water and 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract; add natural green food coloring, if desired.

FUN:

Weird Facts - Oldies but goodies

Did you know that Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. president to have been born in a hospital?

The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Uses every letter in the alphabet. (developed by Western Union to test telex/twx communications)

In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.

Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

In the 1940s, the FCC assigned television's Channel 1 to mobile Services(two-way radios in taxicabs, for instance) but did not Pre-number the other channel assignments. That is why your TV set has channels 2
and up, but no channel 1.

The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

Hang On Sloopy is the official rock song of Ohio.

The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

The airplane Buddy Holly died in was the "American Pie." (Thus the name of the Don McLean song.)

When opossums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.

The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.

If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19.You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

No NFL team, which plays its home games in a domed stadium, has ever won a Superbowl.

The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It to Beaver".

The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League all-star Game.