She had nothing to offer.  No one had poured anything into her life.  A life of emptiness and pain, forgotten and undone, she lived her life outside of the reputation accepted by her world.  Never a hope to grasp nor a dream to fulfill, she released hope to avoid the pain of disappointment.  She had no one then she found Jesus.  Nothing would keep her from the king.

A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

Luke 7:37-38 (NIV)              

We don’t know how or when this woman first encountered Jesus.  We don’t know if she met Him in person, perhaps He prayed for her, maybe she had heard Him speak.  All we know was that she was a sinful woman.  She had been forgiven much as Jesus used her stream of devotion to illustrate entire acquisition of forgiveness born out of authentic repentance.  

This woman, rich in heartache, emblemized by the perfume that had served to facilitate fleshly indulgence becoming her method of adoration, poured herself out at the feet of the man who forgave lavishly.  He soothed her torment with acceptance.  For the first time, she felt valued and when she again heard that Jesus would be in this home, she would not be denied the privilege of anointing Him with her worship.  No doubt she had given her body to many and never imagined anyone might desire her heart.  When she found a man who loved her, nothing could distract her.  

Controlled by judging eyes and harsh words her entire life, but now, in the home of her accusers, she worshiped in freedom without taking notice of who else might be in the room.  She had come boldly to the throne of grace.  Oh to know the beauty of acceptance that overwhelms the shame.  This was her joy and it is ours.  

Many will judge, criticize, and discard you like rubbish.  Their words ring loud and often in our ears.  We cower and hide to escape condemnation to no avail.  Imprisoned by what others see when they look our way, we want to shrink and disappear, but when we come to the Throne of Grace, His acceptance knocks down the arrows of their words.  To know this love and acceptance moves us, changes us.  We hide no longer, but come out boldly in the value He has bestowed.  We cry out to Him. 

I will not be stopped.  Say what you will, you cannot keep me from Him.  He loved me first. I am acquitted in His presence.  He is my freedom and I will not be kept away.  Beat me and I will keep coming.  Shove me, push me, run me out, I will only return more determined than ever.  Take me to the King.  Take me to My love for I am His beloved.  I am only His.  I am only His and He is mine.  Take me to the King.  I will pour out my past, my pain, my hurt and He will receive it all, every Hell I have walked in, He will take it from me.  Isolation, shame, and fear, I will pour it out and He will remove it from me as my Healer, my Physician.  He will make beautiful in me even my past, even my sin, even my hate, anger.  He receives from me all that people hate and loves me anyway.  Take me to the King!  

Live Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Let Justice Roll on Like a River

For today’s Verse of the Day, I think I am just going to jump right in.  This topic hits at the core of our society still today:

Amos 5:24

But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (NIV)

In this verse, the words ‘justice’ and ‘righteousness’ are almost synonymous.  These two words are very closely connected. We live in a day where justice is a hot topic.  We have about a million Law and Order-type shows. Some of the most popular movies are murder mysteries where someone is trying to right a wrong.  Even the Marvel movies have heroes that form the Justice League. Wait…is that Marvel…or is it DC…ahhhhh, I just can’t keep it all straight! I’m more of a Looney Tunes kind of guy.  Anyway, the point is that these heroes are supposed to be exacting justice…Read More

Looking Into the Mirror

There was blood running like a small river down the side of my face.  I hadn’t felt it. I didn’t even know it was there and I was about to walk out the door and go to work.  The blood would have quickly run down my face and ruined my brand-spanking-new Walmart shirt. What a waste it would have been!  Thankfully, as I was making the last walkthrough of the house turning out lights before I left for work, I reached into the bathroom and looked into the mirror and saw the blood.  But what if I had never looked into the mirror? I would have been like that bloody horror figure. I would have frightened my staff. They would have run out of the church with screams and shrills afraid of the blood-covered monster  Read More

The Wisdom of Mercy

God is rich in mercy

I just recently had someone ask me, “So if a child rapist asks for forgiveness, God forgives?”  The answer, of course, is yes. In our finite mind, this seems absurd. But we have to put this into the right perspective.  God may forgive, but He still allows consequences. He may allow a person to receive the gift of salvation, but this doesn’t mean the person doesn’t go to prison.  It doesn’t mean the person never has to face up to what he or she has done. In fact, God commands that we make restitution which is to do everything we can to make right those things we have done wrong. Nevertheless, it is very easy to think that God is too kind to the wicked.  And that brings us to our Verse of the Day…Read More