---I think of my 4yr old grandson recently, when caught red-handed in a terrible mess. He looked up tearfully, quivering and moaned, "It wasn't me.." and He was partly right. Ahh, childhood innocence. To admit you were too tempted by the choas to be caused, or that you didn't look to see the end. Maybe you were forced.. or maybe you were a bit guilty.. but nothing deserving the mess you are now in. The point is you are in the wrong, and sorry for it! But deep inside, you know it really wasn't you. Did the Devil make you do it? humm...
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As we grow older, we learn that such a response just doesn't get it.. we have to suffer from our choices. At the hands of the public, we pay for our mistakes and our lives are often shaped by them. But the worst is when we are caught red-handed by ourselves, when we know we are to blame.. because we are our own toughest judge and executioner. And we accept our lives as the living hell we think we deserve.
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We believe it to be the same for religion. We can't be religious because we make so many mistakes.. we live our lives too free.. we can't behave. And yet we often don't mean to be that way. If it were only a perfect world! Many avoid or scoff religion because they know they can't measure up to the ideal they set for themselves. But eventually, at those critical times in their lives, they finally pray & beg of their Lord, saying, "It really wasn't me.."
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The Good News is that He already knows this. He knows it all, and yet He still loves you beyond measure. He wishes you wouldn't wait till you are on your knees to come to him.. but that is how it usually happens. He knows you mess up.. he knows you inside & out. He knows your thoughts.. your secrets & your life. He even knows the hairs on your head.
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He came to this earth to be among us.. he lived here for 33yrs in human form and spoke to us.. and then died at our hands. 3 days later he returned, proving his might & his great love for us! The perfect sacrifice.. to lay down your life for someone you love, even when they don't know or love you. We are washed clean in the very blood we took from him. This is the ulitmate irony.. we need no other.
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He is the "I am".. and yet, three in one. He is your Father (God himself), your true Brother (Jesus the Man), and the Great Counseler (The Holy Spirit sent to live in us) all rolled into one. He loves you perfectly in an imperfect world. He desires to be a part of your life & vice versa. He is your Father over you, giving you what you need, your Brother beside you to lean on, and the Spirit within your Soul to confide in and learn from. Life is too tough to learn & grow from alone.
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My Father is no push-over. He sits in the Heavens, with lightening bolts for toothpicks. He is jealous and knows how to hand out discipline.. but more often he just worriedly watches from the sidelines as we run amuck in our own crises. His help is there for the asking. My Holy Spirit speaks for me and my Brother Jesus covers my errors. I appear clean & holy to my Father and can fully recieve his love, not his retribution. His prodigal child whom he reached out to save is now perfect in his eyes. This is the greatest love story ever told.
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I believe God is right here.. right now.. surrounding you.. and in every tissue of you.. and of all the rest of his creation. It all makes so much sense.. its just hard to believe its true! He who created everything and is all powerful, is "in love" with Me! and Us All! That He knows my life & thoughts and still loves me.. and desires my company daily. He waits for me to bring my heart & my needs to his feet. He leaves it my choice.
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Consider this world and be in awe of your Father who created it & bow to him. Accept your Brother's sacrifice & tell him that you will try to love as he does. Request the promised gift of the Holy Sprit and listen as He instructs you. Read the Bible and hear his word.. then read some more. Know the 3 in One! Sing and dance to the Heavens and feel the joy that surrounds you. You are truly one with him by Blood! You have the ticket to live Heaven on Earth NOW.. claim it soon!
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