God Notions

Forgiveness, God’s forgiveness is overwhelmingly powerful and out of nothing less than who He is…Perfect Love.

I have a tendency to write down my thoughts anywhere. I came across this note and could not move my mind from thinking about the forgiveness of God. I am ashamed to think of how often I take His forgiveness for granted. I continue to sin against him and despite this continual hurt, Jesus forgives me. He loves me. Jesus, brings me to a place where I think I understand His love, but still, I cannot grasp just how deep or wide this love He has for me, for us, all of us.

This I learn: God forgives me; therefore I must forgive. 

Even when I am right, to whom do I compare? Do I compare myself to you? We can make our tic marks, but when we are finished comparing hurts and injustices, though they may compare in number or in measure, do these hurts compare to the scope of injustices, hurts, and betrayal experienced by Christ Jesus’?

When I have Christ as my measure of forgiveness, I must forgive. Anything else is unworthy of Him in my acceptance of His forgiveness.

How can I? I think I am able only when I look at Jesus, remembering He is fully God and fully human. It is in remembering His humanness, I can know He understands the pain of betrayal, of loneliness. Jesus understands physical pain as much as He understands the heartache of being left out, not mattering, or being discounted because of where I am from. He has felt not being heard and understood. He has been mocked. He is wanted for what He could do and what He could give, not who He is. I struggle with submitting to God’s will sometimes in the smallest of matters. Jesus submitted to the Father’s will out of His love, His very great love for His Father, Our Father. Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man walked through a valley I will never have to know: being turned away from the presence of God.

 Only through Christ can I even hope to forgive. Jesus is my source of peace, hope, love, and forgiveness. 

This I know: When I hand over the injustices and pains I suffer over to Jesus to carry and bring to His justice, a burden is lifted from my heart and a darkness that veils my soul is lifted. The darkness of unforgiveness can overtake and consume me. The forgiveness and love of Jesus Christ can overcome this darkness and set me free.

John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus is this light, He is the Light of the world. Though the world tries to extinguish our light we do well to remember the source of our light is The Light of this world. John 8:12 “I am the Light of this world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 3:16-17

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

God sent His Son, not to condemn. Jesus came to forgive, restore and save us from an everlasting death.

Everything else that clouds this truth should be left at the feet of Jesus.