|
God's goodness
in your agony
|
God’s love keeps amazing me, every day again
and again, month after month, year after year…
No matter how hard life can be;
no matter how much pain we carry inside of us;
no matter how many setbacks we endure…
The incredible news remains the same:
God loves us with an inconceivably powerful love.
He is extraordinary in His goodness.
He can change any situation in our lives…
No matter what has happened in your life recently,
know that God can work all things together for good.
The deepest bewilderment, the most awful tragedies,
no matter how terrible or how indescribable it may be:
God can change everything.
Just look at Jesus, the perfect example:
He was murdered in a way that made people
turn their heads in disgust.
The treason He was exposed to, the insults, the lies,
the stabs in His back, the hate and the cutting words—
not to mention the physical abuse that turned His body
into one filthy mass of dirt, blood and sweat from head to toe …
Jesus was murdered in the most brutal, beastly way.
|
|
|
His followers thought EVERYTHING was lost.
No more hope. All their ideals. All their effort.
All their prayers… |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Everything had appeared to be so wonderful.
It had sparkled before their eyes. They dreamed of it.
They knew: THIS IS IT, God has come into our midst.
And what did GOD do? He destroyed His own heroe.
He did what no one could have ever imagined.
He destroyed His own honor. He allowed Himself
to be nailed to a cross: insulted, disgraced, humiliated, betrayed…
We have no idea how deep the pain and betrayal was
Jesus had to endure. It was so bad, so intense, so deep,
even He began to doubt God when He hung on that cross
and in His absolute desperation and total abandonment cried out:
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me????"
Isn’t that impossible? God abandoning His own Son?
What a repulsive, hateful idea.
Yet Jesus endured it.
Have you ever felt abandoned by God?
Are you being confronted with the pain and destruction
of a sinful world? Do you see people you once trusted
turn their backs on you, filled with slander, hatred and indifference?
Have the hope and joy you once had ceased to exist?
|
|
|
Then know that Jesus did everything
with one goal in mind: YOU!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
He endured all suffering for you.
To save you from your isolation.
To set you free from the grip of the enemy
who is out to destroy your life and kill your dreams.
God gave Himself in Jesus.
Jesus suffered the pain, rejection, shame,
gossip, slander, hate and humiliation.
The destruction and torture.
Everything He endured…
FOR YOU!!!!
Now He can help you out of the misery, despair and pain.
He is your hope. He is your Helper. He is there....
No matter what is happening or what has happened in the past:
give it all to Jesus Christ. Cry out to Him and hand over to Him
all your doubts and fears, your anger and bitterness.
He is the One who has taken it all upon Himself.
And He is the one who can set you free from it
and give you hope, peace and joy.
Jesus is the bright morningstar, the new dawn,
the hope for a better tomorrow. He is the hope for this world.
He is your hope. Today.
Look at His hands that have been pierced, to help YOU!
To set YOU FREE from what has happened.
He is here, right now. Ask Him. Cry out to Jesus.
Let His Holy Spirit fill your heart...
He is there. Right now... Trust Him...
|
|
|
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD ,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forgive and be free …
What do you do with those who have caused you pain?
With those who have caused much sadness and grief in your life?
Forgive them with everything you’ve got. And receive
forgiveness for yourself. Forgive EVERYTHING that’s loose
or fast around you. Do not allow Satan, the devil, to put bitterness
and hatred in your heart. Especially not in the deepest layers of your heart.
|
|
|
Do what Jesus did: He hung on the cross,
suffering unbearable pain that tormented his whole body.
He cried: Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Through this He conquered evil. He forgave his murderers.
For this reason: give and receive forgiveness. Unceasingly,
massively, even if others are ten-thousand-million-billion-
uncountable times totally mega-guilty.
Speak words of forgiveness freely. Release people. Forgive them.
DO NOT ACCUSE THEM. Look up to the crucified Christ
who gave His life for sinners. If you can do this,
thanks to His help, He will give you complete freedom as well,
in His great mercy and forgiveness.
The center of the good news is: Jesus Christ allowed Himself
to be murdered and crushed by people He intensely loved.
He did this in order to forgive them. He gave Himself
to set them free from their sins. That is the example He gave to us:
Give this mercy to others, the mercy you have received from Christ.
There is nothing that extinguishes evil more
than the blood of Jesus Christ: His sacrifice, His forgiveness.
|
|
|
Forgive and you will receive forgiveness.
Condemn and you will be condemned.
You get what you give. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is the miracle of the good news: God gave Himself for you.
To set you free. And to make you into a person of deliverance,
forgiveness and mercy.
In the end, God will HIMSELF judge righteously and flawlessly
those who live in evil. He is the judge. He will do it.
What He asks from us, is to live out of MERCY.
We may receive His forgiveness freely. And we may
freely give it to others. This is what undoes Satan.
And it gives us the liberty to live in God’s will.
Then He can completely work out His wonderful,
beautiful promises in our lives.
|
|
|
Below you will find some more Bible verses that speak about forgiveness.
It will help you to see the power of God’s overwhelming MERCY.
Again and again. Freely receive it. Completely.
Read it.
Believe it.
Hold fast to it.
Meditate on it.
Write it down.
Put it up somewhere in your house.
Share it.
When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave our transgressions.
Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
Psalm 65:3,4
If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
Bring joy to your servant,
for to you, O Lord,
I lift up my soul.
You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Psalm 86:3-5, 15
If you, O LORD , kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.
Psalm 130:3,4
You set aside all your wrath
and turned from your fierce anger.
Psalm 85:3
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Isaiah 55:6,7
God made you alive with Christ.
He forgave us all our sins,
having canceled the written code,
with its regulations, that was against us
and that stood opposed to us;
he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:13-14
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
|
|
|
|
