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Not in part but the whole
Monday, December 28, 2015
On the Fourth Day of Christmas
1 John 2:1-2
My children, if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Yesterday in church we sang “It is Well With My Soul.” I hung on every word.
“My sin, o the bliss! of this glorious thought: my sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul!”
Not many Sundays go by without a reminder of our forgiveness. There is nothing more important for me to learn – whether I’m in school, in the world, in church. When I learn it down into the core of my being, then I know I am loved. And I can love you. No matter what.
I’m not particularly lovable much of the time. But God loves me, and his forgiveness of my sin is a certainty more than anything else in my life. Death and taxes take a back seat to God’s unending love for me. For you. For us all.
When I sit even for only a moment in a “safe place/still time,” as Jeff called it yesterday, God’s forgiveness rises up inside me. It hasn’t always been like that; I have done my share of recriminating, feeling ashamed, thinking of my sin instead of God. Gradually that focus is changing.
During a get together with friends, Margaret had an epiphany as a special candle played the birthday song on and on in another room while she and her friends were enjoying a few minutes of silence together. “Joy is always in the background,” she said. “ It never stops. Even when I’m not feeling it, it’s there.”
Forgiveness and joy are sisters in the sun. They are both always in the background. God does not want me to forget that, even for a moment.
O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back like a scroll. The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend; even so, it is well with my soul.
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1424
