The last week and a half or so have been unique. Last week there was a team from Houston here doing ministry on UMKC's campus. It was absolutely wonderful having them here. Sunday through Thursday nights we had worship nights at the Boiler Room which were nothing short of miraculous.
The Father is doing a lot in my heart the past week. I know that I haven't blogged daily, like was my intention, but I am still processing through things daily with the Holy Spirit, which was the point of all this anyway. Some of what the Father has been taking me through has be intensely personal, and not something that I want to post online. However, I can and will share some of what I have been thinking about a lot. I also will get back to the values that I mentioned before. To do all of this will likely require more than one post which I may post all in one day (today) or possibly save them as a draft and post them over the next couple days. (Or who knows.... I might back date them all!) The amount I write today will also depend on the battery of my laptop. I am sitting sipping delicious coffee in a coffee shop in Westport and left my charger in my car, which is parked down the road. Hang with me, I will fulfill my promises!
The Father is doing a lot in my heart the past week. I know that I haven't blogged daily, like was my intention, but I am still processing through things daily with the Holy Spirit, which was the point of all this anyway. Some of what the Father has been taking me through has be intensely personal, and not something that I want to post online. However, I can and will share some of what I have been thinking about a lot. I also will get back to the values that I mentioned before. To do all of this will likely require more than one post which I may post all in one day (today) or possibly save them as a draft and post them over the next couple days. (Or who knows.... I might back date them all!) The amount I write today will also depend on the battery of my laptop. I am sitting sipping delicious coffee in a coffee shop in Westport and left my charger in my car, which is parked down the road. Hang with me, I will fulfill my promises!
The Beauty of the Man
Jesus. Christ. Emmanuel. Son of God. Lily of the Valley. Savior. Redeemer. The Risen One. Bright and Morning Son. Advocate. Cornerstone. Great High Priest. Mediator. Rose of Sharon. Shiloh. Jesus.
The Man. Fully man, and fully God. Holy. Pure. Just. Righteous.
He healed the sick, raised the dead. Stunned the religious while satisfying the sinner.
His goal was dying on the cross. His desire was to receive the punishment of all of mankind. His joy was me. I am the joy that was set before him. He boldly and unashamedly declared that I am worth it. I am the joy that was set before Him. I am the desire of His heart.
It was me.
(okay, it was you too...)
Woah.
He took my punishment. He took it all.
For me to believe that I deserve punishment or that I am not good enough is to say that I want to pay for something that has already been paid for.
My parents bought me a car several years ago. They gifted it to me. It's my car. Paid for. It's mine. What if I decided that the price my parents paid for it didn't work, or wasn't enough, or that since it's my car, I should be the one to pay for it... so I paid for it all over again, or refused to drive it until I had paid the car dealership the total price of the car again? That would be absolutely silly. And it would break my parents' hearts that I paid the price of the car that they already paid for.
(It would make the seller pretty jubilant though)
That's what we do when we wallow in guilt and try to punish ourselves... or worse, don't receive the forgiveness that is rightfully ours.
It makes the enemy ecstatic when we let him punish us or punish ourselves.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to make the devil happy.
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