Luke 7

In Luke chapter 7 Jesus is eating at a Pharisee's house when an immoral woman comes in and "she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them."

 

The Pharisee of course is outraged at this, but Jesus can see the outpouring of love and forgives her sins. Then we read, "Then Jesus told him this story: "41 A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?"

43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt."

"That's right," Jesus said. 

I was thinking about this, this morning. Was it that she was such a greater "sinner" that she knew how much she was forgiven, therefore loving much?  Or perhaps she was far more self-aware than many of us? 

I know for myself, I went over 20 years as a Christian before I back slide. During that time, I never really saw myself as a "bad sinner".  Now, when I turned away from the Lord, I learned just what I was capable of without Him.  And yes, when He forgave me, I loved Him more than I ever had before.  I was forgiven much, so I loved much more.

However, haven't we all been forgiven much?  Isn't it more about seeing the enormous debt our sin has left all of us with, and therefore understanding just what Christ forgave us all? 

Sometimes I think, if we really saw our sin, the way God sees it, then we would truly understand just how much we have been forgiven. And as that woman, our love would pour out to our God all the more.

A New Song

Psalm 98 says, "Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done wonderful deeds!"

I sat here thinking this morning... what will our new song be?

New Year's day, it's a day of beginnings and endings. Time to say goodbye to one year and to embrace the new one.

Jesus said, "who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before."

"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins."

As we go forward into this new year, I do feel that challenge from the Holy Spirit, what are we holding onto? What do we need to let go of?

And once we see that, what is the new wine for this new year? What needs to be embraced?

Something to take some time to think and pray about.

Hump Day

We made it over the hump day... again! Sipping the morning java and
digging into the Word.

I've been reading in Matthew this morning, continuing our journey in
the Gospels with Easter Sunday right around the corner.

Does your heart ever feel beaten up?

 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and
vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy,
and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6 19 - 21 NIV

Our heart (the very core of our being), has been created to love and
chase after the Living God and love one another. When we set ourselves
on a course for other things, Jesus teaches us that those things can
be stolen or destroyed, and our heart is left empty.

When we give our selves away to the world, isn't that how we feel?
Like our very lives have been stolen?

Broken lives, broken dreams.

Storing up our treasure in heaven is giving our very selves to God.
Living not for ourselves, but for Him. Jesus said. " For whoever wants
to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me
will find it." Matt 16:25

Life can be hard, let it be hard for the right reasons. By seeking our
treasure only in God, we live a life truly alive.

David

--
"Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and
melodious song," - Psalm 98:5