Tag: sacrifice

The Tarnished Bracelet

I took apart my Pandora charm bracelet this afternoon.  I hadn’t worn it in quite a while and it was tarnished.  The charms attached were dark and dingy from lack of care and cleaning.  It looked old but I knew I wanted to start wearing it again.  I wished for it to look as fresh and beautiful as the day it was purchased.  Each charm represents a moment or a person in my life.  Parts of my story is laid out in those tiny pieces. 

I began to wipe them down with the cloth.  But it wasn’t just any cloth.  It was a polishing cloth that had some seemingly magical ability to take the tarnish away and make it look as if it was brand new!  It was fascinating.  I don’t know quite how it worked, but following the directions, the dullness was gone!  Before me sat my first charm gleaming as if I’d just procured it.  I quickly finished the others, and the bracelet came to life with a cleanness I hadn’t seen from it in a very long time.  It may not have been perfect-looking, but it was so very close.

Our sins can be taken away in the same fashion.  No, it’s not some magic miracle that makes us clean and whole again.  It’s the gift that God gave us through His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Isaiah 1:18b says “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Our heavenly Father sent His Son to Earth as the spotless Sacrifice on a cross to cover our sins.  His shed blood alone makes us clean again…as white as snow. And thank you, Jesus, for that sacrifice!  He tells us plainly that the wages of our sin is actually death (Romans 6:23), but because of this generous gift of Jesus on the cross, He agreed to pay the penalty so that we wouldn’t have to.  How great is our God?!

Like that polishing cloth cleaned the charms, His blood cleans our sins.  When we accept salvation and ask Him to live in us we, like the charms, are restored.  Yes, we may have wear and tear, the scars from our former life.  But we are made complete in HIS image. 

If you haven’t yet made the decision to ask God to come live in your heart, please reach out to us or someone you know who is a Christ follower.  We’d be happy to share the plan of salvation so that you might receive the best gift you could give yourself…eternity in heaven!

~Erin

Do You Need Proof?

I had on a VERY cheesy movie in the background today.  It was a “Christian-based” film.  It is about a girl who believes in Jesus and the verse in the bible that says if you have faith the grain of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.  Because she believes and prays over people, they start to get healed.  And she starts healing EVERYONE.  People are showing up on the girl’s doorstep with every ailment wanting her to touch them and pray for them.  I’ll be honest…I stopped watching after a while, because it was pretty theologically lacking.  But it got me to thinking about the book of John study that I’m in with Table 8.

We see multiple verses in the Bible that talk about the people who wanted to see Jesus perform the miracles.  In the first 7 chapters, we see Him tell the Samaritan woman about her life without her telling Him, He heals a child that is in a different location than Him, He heals a man that hasn’t walked in 38 years and we also see Him feed a crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children. 

The crowds keep following Him wanting Him to do more signs and miracles.  He tells one of the people in John 5:48, “So Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.’”

He’s told them who He is.  To some, He has flat out told them He came from God the Father.  To others, He’s used imagery that they would be familiar with.  But what He says bears no weight on them without the signs and wonders.  On top of it all, no matter how many miracles He performs, many just won’t believe who He says He is without even more “proof.”  But how much proof is needed?

Sometimes, we do the same thing with God even today.  We ask God for things yet continue to question and ask for clarity when it’s already been given.  Maybe it’s not where we really want to go.  Maybe it’s a different outcome than we wanted.  Or maybe it’s exactly what we’ve been hoping for.  However, we keep asking for more, noticing what He’s already done but still wanting more to prove it.

How much does God have to prove who He is?  He is The Beginning and The End (Revelation 21:6, 22:13).  He is the Author and Perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).  He needed only to speak the world into existence (Genesis 1).  We don’t need Him to prove Himself.  He proved Himself when He sent His Son, the perfect Lamb, to the earth to die on a cross and raise from the grave three days later!

I pray that as we week God, we see the proof that has already been given to us and trust Him and what He says!

~Erin

The Greatest Gift

As Good Friday comes upon us, I pray that we all can take time to remember the great sacrifice that was paid for our sins.  The Bible tells us in Romans that we are all sinners.  “There is none righteous, no not one,” Romans 3:10 tells us.  We didn’t deserve for Jesus to come to earth so that He could be a sacrifice for our sins. 

Yet, He loved us enough that He did exactly that. John 3:16 tells us just how loved we are by God.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”  He became sin for us so that we might know eternal life with Him.

Jesus was beaten and tortured.  He had a crown of thorns pushed into His scalp.  He was scourged with a cat of nine tails which had metal and glass and nails attached to the leather straps.  His flesh was torn off.  And if that wasn’t enough, they nailed Him to a tree.  They mocked Him.  But they didn’t realize that they were completing what the prophecies had foretold.

The blood that poured from His body was meant to be the sacrifice.  Our very own spotless Lamb was willing to let His blood cover our sins.  It covered it all.  It washes us clean.  It makes us whole.  And when He rose on the third day, He showed His power, His glory and His might.  Our God is a living God who reigns today!

Maybe you’re wondering how you can be washed clean by the blood of a risen Savior?  I encourage you to examine your heart today, right now, as you’re reading this.  If you don’t know that He is your Lord and Savior, here is a prayer for you to speak to God:  I know that I’m a sinner.  I ask for Your forgiveness.  I believe You died for my sins and rose on the third day.  I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life.  I want to trust You as my Savior. 

If you prayed that prayer today, then congratulations!  You are a part of the family of God!  Don’t forget to share this decision with someone, and get connected with a Christian you know or a church that can help you learn and grow in God’s grace!  It’s the best decision you could ever make! 

May you have a blessed Easter!

~Erin