Much Forgiveness, Much Love

Luke 7:36-50

Some people take the message of God’s love and grace to task, arguing that telling people how much God has forgiven them and how much that He loves them will not empower them to live for God. This same argument also states that the only way to get people to love God more is to motivate them with Law and Hell. If you threaten them with eternal damnation, you will motivate them to live right; or so the argument goes. Jesus, quite frankly, disagreed.

Jesus entered Simon the Pharisee’s house to eat with him. Upon arrival, a woman of ill-repute from the city came into the house and began weeping over the feet of Jesus, anointing them with oil and drying them with her hair. Simon said nothing, but within himself he thought less of Jesus because He was allowing this to transpire. Jesus sensed Simon’s fury and asked him a simple question regarding forgiveness (Luke 7:41, 42).

Simon readily admitted that any man who was forgiven of much would have much love to give in return; even more so than the man who was forgiven little. Jesus then took that answer and compared Simon and the woman. Simon offered no water for Jesus’ feet, while the woman had not stopped washing them with her tears. Simon offered no welcome kiss to the Master, but the woman was kissing Jesus’ feet. Because of this, Jesus offers her absolution from her sins.

Jesus is not saying that the way to love Him more is to have more of your sins forgiven. If that were the case, then the only ones who could truly love the Lord would be those who lived the worst lives; committed the most sins; fell the farthest, and then had those sins forgiven. Christians that were raised in the church and had lived for Christ for many years would be incapable of loving Jesus as much as a new convert. This makes no sense, for Jesus told the woman that she was saved by her faith, not her works (Luke 7:50). What does Jesus mean then, by telling us that “to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little”? (Luke 7:47).

If a person has no realization as to how forgiven that they are because of the blood of Jesus, they will have very little love to show the Lord. They will have weak worship and a weak lifestyle, for they feel that they are unworthy of Him. When you realize the magnitude of your forgiveness, and the power of just how clean that you are in the eyes of God because of Jesus’ finished work, then you naturally love more than ever before.

The love that this woman shows is from the heart and not only from the head. A recognition in your mind of how loved that you are will cause you to walk in His love and forgiveness in your heart. When your heart realizes this love and forgiveness, good works will naturally flow from your life.

Telling someone to “Love God more!” will help no one to love Him at all. Explaining to the believer just how forgiven that they are will bring forth love and worship like the church has always dreamed of. Know that you are forgiven and you will fall in love with the forgiver!

Sheep with no Shepherd

Mark 6:32-44

The heart of a shepherd is moved at the sight of sheep. He loves them, and cares for them and they are his concern on a 24-hour basis. His heart must be tuned this way, for sheep have no natural defense mechanism, and they are nature’s completely dependent animal. Without a loving shepherd, they will wander aimlessly; find themselves in mortal danger and have no hope at recovery. The shepherd is their link to life, and once they find him, they stay close for the sound of his voice.

Jesus called Himself “the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11), and stated that His sheep know His voice (John 10:27). Love and compassion emanated from Jesus with such overwhelming force, that when He entered a village or even attempted to flee from one, the crowds would come running to throng Him. In Mark 6, Jesus attempts to go to a desert place with His disciples in order to be alone, but “the people saw them departing, and many knew Him, and ran afoot thither out of all the cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him” (Mark 6:33).

The draw of a “good” shepherd is powerful! The sheep see a defender and a protector and they flock to be near Him. Jesus was not only good, He was great, and word of His greatness spread in every direction. When Jesus looked at the people, He saw a desperate lot. These men and women were pressed on every side and were looking for hope from someone. The timing of Jesus’ arrival was impeccable, for the world was a chaotic and hard place to live. The arrival of the Prince of Peace brought people a hope that the world had never seen.

When the 12 disciples and Jesus finally arrive at their destination, the disciples encourage Jesus to send the people away. These good, hard-working citizens have just followed Jesus into a desert so that they can be near Him, and the last thing that He wants to do is leave them hungry! Remember, God’s grace will never lead you where His provision will not supply for you. This desert place becomes the setting for a miracle that every one of the four Gospels records: the feeding of the 5,000.

The reason that Jesus was moved with compassion toward the crowd on that day is the same reason that He is moved with compassion toward us today: “because they were as sheep not having a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). We garner no compassion from the Lord because of our good works or our efforts. It is our total dependency on Him and our utter helplessness to save ourselves that still moves the heart of the Master. Now that we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, we have made Him our Shepherd; we are no longer scattered; no longer “astray”. With Jesus, we are resting beside the still water and eating in the green pastures (Psalm 23:2, 3).

Finally, when the Shepherd provides for you, it will always be a super-abundant provision. There were 12 baskets of fragments left over, and everyone ate until they were full (Mark 6:42). Trust your heavenly Shepherd to not only provide for your needs today, but to provide an abundance above and beyond what you need. He loves you that much!

The Swap

One of the most eye-opening things for me, as I began to understand the finished work of Jesus, was the knowledge of what Jesus did for me at the cross, so that I could get the opposite. If effect, Jesus swapped places with me, as I was the one who deserved to die for my own sins. I should have been punished by God for my law-breaking, but Jesus took my punishment. I should have been disciplined for my own peace, but Jesus bore my discipline (Isaiah 53:5).

The following is a list of things that Jesus took, so that you could get the opposite. It could be better said that Jesus took what you deserved so that you could have what He earned. Notice that you have not earned any of the good things, for salvation comes only by faith, not by works (Ephesians 2:8, 9). This list is not conclusive, as grace is always showing us what Jesus paid for.

• Jesus was made to be sin, so that you could be made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
• Jesus was naked at the cross so that you could be clothed in robes of righteousness (John 19:23; Luke 15:22).
• Jesus was made poor, so that you could be made rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
• Jesus was cursed so that you would be blessed (Galatians 3:13, 14).
• Jesus died in the dark so that you could live in the light (Matthew 27:45).
• Jesus cried, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” so that you could cry, “Daddy, Daddy, why are you so good to me?” (Matthew 27:46; Romans 8:15).
• Jesus bore the crown of thorns, which represent the cares of this life (Matthew 13:22), so that the cares of this life would never trouble your mind.
• Jesus had His heart pierced so that your heart would never be broken again (John 19:34).
• Jesus drank the sour wine so that your teeth would never be set on edge (John 19:30; Ezekial 18:1-3).
• Jesus’ body was broken so that yours could always be whole (Matthew 26:26).
• Jesus was disciplined of His Father so that you could always be at peace with the Father (Isaiah 53:5).
• Jesus bore the full brunt of God’s judgment against sin so that you would never bear any of God’s judgment against sin (John 12:31, 32; John 3:36).
• Jesus defeated the devil so that you would never have to fight him (Hebrews 2:14).

The list could go on and on but I hope you get the point. Jesus did it all so that we get it all!

Every believer should apply the previous list to memory as best as possible. It will work as a defense against the accusations of the enemy who is a defeated foe, but he doesn’t want you to know that! As you see what Christ paid for in your life, you will begin to rest in the finished work as a truly finished work.

Go in His grace today!

The Finished Work Litmus Test

How familiar are you with the finished work of Jesus Christ? When you think of the cross, do you think of a man suffering and dying, or do you think of the reasons why that man suffered and died? For that matter, do you consider why it had to be that man? Could it have been anyone else who died, and if not, why? These are fundamental, simple questions about Calvary upon which the bedrock of Christianity rests.

Take this little test with me to ascertain whether or not you truly understand the work that Jesus accomplished at the cross. It is a simple test and it will only be effective if you are 100% honest in your answer. I will pose one scenario with two possible responses. You pick the response that sounds like what you FIRST think of when you see that scenario.

Scenario: Soldiers are lashing at Jesus with a whip while the flesh is ripped from His back. He is punched in the face repeatedly, and is mocked and scorned while never lifting a hand to defend Himself. A crown of thorns is plunged into His skull and the blood flows down His face, stinging His eyes. He is forced to carry His own cross up a hill where He is stripped of His clothes and then nailed to the wood, with spikes through His hands and feet. His cross is set between two common thieves and then elevated so that all can look upon Him and laugh. He struggles to breathe while the thieves hurl insults at Him. The sky grows back and you hear Jesus scream as His body takes upon it all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. Finally, He utters some words and hangs His head and dies.

Response #1 – “Oh, what a price He paid for me. He went through all of that because of my sin. He suffered and died at the hands of the Father, the least that I can do is live for Him!”

Response #2 – “Oh, what a price He paid for me. He went through all of that because of my sin. He suffered and died at the hands of the Father so I can rest assured that the Father will never judge me!”

Notice that both responses are exactly the same right up until the end. I did this on purpose, because I believe that all of us feel sadness and pain when we see that scenario, and we all realize that Jesus suffered because of our sins. The difference lies at the end of our response. Some people view Calvary as a motivation to live right. If Jesus could suffer and die for them, the least that they could do is live for Him. Calvary then becomes a source of condemnation for these believers; for they feel that no matter what they go through, they will never live up to the price that Jesus paid.

If your response was #2, then you view Calvary as a finished work that guarantees that you will never be punished in the manner that Jesus was punished. He was disciplined for your peace (Isaiah 53:5), so you need never fear an angry God. He bore your sins and iniquities so that God cannot and will not judge you for them ever. This saint believe that if God judges them for sin, then He did not judge all sin in the body of Jesus, which Peter made clear that Jesus did (1 Peter 2:24).

Jesus did not suffer and die so that you could constantly be reminded of how poor that you are living up to His death. He suffered and died so that you could have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). The scenario remains the same, but if need be, may our response begin to change.

The Searching of the Heart

Jeremiah 17:9, 10

Charles Spurgeon once said, “The heart is deceitful; more than the devil”. Unsaved man can never live by what he says his heart wants, for it is full of lust and lies. Filmmaker Woody Allen married his ex-wife’s adopted daughter, whom he had helped raise since she was a little girl. When a reporter confronted him about the relationship, he replied “The heart wants what it wants”, and therein lies the problem.

The heart of man has been tainted since the sin of Adam in the Garden. We are incapable of making moral decisions that line up with God’s morality, since we are “desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). God promised that He was the searcher of man’s heart and that He would judge man according to who he was on the inside. This dooms man to judgment.

There is good news to go along with this dreadful news, thank God! Jesus came and lived the demands of God’s holiness to perfection and then sacrificed His life for you and I. God has taken His wrath out on Jesus so that we can accept salvation by faith through the finished work of the cross. When we do this, we are clothed in robes of righteousness and set free from sin. Look at the New Testament’s assessment of the believer who has accepted Christ by faith:

“And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:10).

“For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

You are the completed one in Colossians and you are the perfected one in Hebrews, if you have accepted Christ by faith. This is the best news of all good news for it means that God has accepted you independent of your ability to earn it or to keep it. Now you have a clean heart which can hear from the Father with no fear of wickedness or evil tainting your decision. Paul said, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Unregenerate man cannot know the things of God because their hearts are wicked, but look at the next verse: “But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (2:10).

God is obviously still in the searching business, even after we are saved. However, now that we are His children, His searching is for different purposes. He cannot be looking for more sin, for Jesus has paid for all of our sins in His blood at the cross. On the contrary, the Spirit is searching the deep things of God to reveal them to us. Paul said of the Holy Spirit, “And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27). Again, the Spirit is searching the heart of the saint, but not to find sin. Instead, He is finding the will of God in each of our lives.

Your heart is clean if you have accepted Jesus by faith. If you have not, your heart remains locked within sin and transgression, and you will stand alone at the judgment, defended only by your ability or inability to keep God’s laws. Won’t you accept Him who cleans the heart and sheds His love into it? He loves you friend, more than you will ever know!

The Names of Jesus

Isaiah 9:6, 7

The title is not a misprint; I did not mean to write “the name” of Jesus in the singular, but rather the “names” of Jesus. While there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12), it is not only the name “Jesus” by which the Son of God is identified.

Isaiah prophesied that a child would be born and a son would be given (Isaiah 9:6). This child and son was Jesus, the child of Mary and the Son of God. The government of both Israel and the world would rest on Jesus’ shoulders and His name shall be called “Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

“Wonderful” – Hebrew, “pele” - extraordinary, marvelous, hard to understand. Jesus was beyond ordinary and unlike any man before or after Him. His acts brought marvel to the minds of people, just as His miracles still bring in each one of us, and His ways are so unusual, so revolutionary to the Old Covenant that Peter called them “hard to be understood” (2 Peter 3:16).

“Counselor” – Hebrew, “ya’ats” – to advise, to consult, to give purpose. Another Greek word for the “Comforter” of the New Testament is “counselor”. Jesus was our original counselor and He promised to send, “another Comforter” (John 14:16). Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit function in this role of advisor and counselor, giving purpose to the believer in their daily walk.

“Mighty God” – Hebrew, “gibbowr ‘el” – the strong God or hero. Look at that last definition of “mighty God”; “hero”. Of all of the heroes of this world, there is none mightier, none braver and none more worthy than the true hero, Jesus Christ. This scripture also shows the Jewish world that the coming Messiah would not only be God’s Son, He would be God Himself.

“Everlasting Father” – Hebrew, “ ‘ad ‘ab” – perpetual, eternal head of household. Jesus is here known as the endless Father, a title that the Old Testament never attributes to God. Prior to Christ, Israel never viewed God as their Father, but Jesus both taught His disciples to pray to the Father and to call Him, “Abba” or “daddy” (Mark 14:36). It is actually this name, Father that Jesus came to reveal to the disciples and the world. All other Hebrew names for God were already well known, but Jesus said, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world” (John 17:6).

“Prince of Peace” – Hebrew, “sar shalowm” – the leader of completeness, health, wholeness and prosperity. Jesus is the captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10), and as such, He is the leader of our complete wholeness in His finished work. The Hebrew word “shalom” means more than simple peace in our lives; it denotes all of our existence. Christ is the captain of our wholeness and health, even of our prosperity. Jesus left His peace with us, meaning that He left everything that He is, so that we can be that as well! (John 14:27)

You can call on Jesus using any of these names as a guide as to His true character. Remember that He not only desires to manifest Himself as these things in your life, He really is everyone of these descriptions. See Jesus in this manner and you see Jesus in His finished work.

Blessed is the Nation

Psalms 33:12

Is America a Christian nation? If it is considered a Christian nation, what does that mean? If the answer is “No, America is not a Christian nation”, what changes? Truthfully, neither this nation nor any nation is actually Christian, for the entire country cannot be born again. There may be many Christians within that nation, but that doesn’t make a country “saved” or “lost”.

Some say that America is inherently Christian because it was founded on Christian principles. Again, facts and fiction should be clearly separated. Most nations are founded on simple, fundamental ideas of personal freedom and morality, all of which are spelled out in one way or the other by the Law of God. This fact does not make America Christian, for you can have principles of morality, and know nothing about Jesus Christ.

Again, the argument is made that our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution provided Godly, moral principles upon which we are built. Actually, the Declaration of Independence declares that all men are created equal, but a look around will show you that the man born blind or without any legs might beg to differ. The Constitution declared that slaves were property of their owners and could be counted as 3/5 of a man. Can you believe that? That is a Christian principle?

Thankfully, blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, and we do not need to concern ourselves with rather or not America qualifies. The reason for this is that when we accepted Christ as our Savior, we became a citizen of a greater nation, whose founder and leader is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter wrote his first epistle to “the strangers scattered” (1 Peter 1:1). Those “strangers” were Gentiles, just like you and I, and he told them that they were “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9). Acceptance of Christ as Lord formed a new, “holy nation”, of which we all belong. This nation of believers is also called the church, and we now retain the blessing of Psalm 33:12. Because Jesus took our curse at Calvary, this holy nation takes the blessings of heaven and calls them their own.

This is not to insinuate that prayer for America is less than necessary. God uses any nation that brings glory to the finished work of His Son, and America has certainly been blessed for that very cause. It could probably be said that America has done more to take the good news of Jesus Christ to the world than any nation in the history of the world. For that one fact alone, America has experienced great favor by the hand of God. Any nation that brings honor to the finished work of Christ and ministers of His glorious grace can prepare themselves for great blessings, for God does all things for the sake of His Son.

You belong to a holy nation of people, and you are a ready recipient of God’s wonderful favor. Live today as a citizen of this heavenly nation, sure to bring honor and glory to our King.

An Alternate Altar

2 Kings 16:10-17

The furniture of the tabernacle was to be of particular size and shape, as was every single thing about God’s tabernacle. Moses was given specific instructions pertaining to each item and there was to be no deviation. These measurements, colors and shapes all held deep spiritual significance, pointing forward in one way or another to the coming Messiah.

King Ahaz was a wicked king over Judah, and his decisions reflect a man depraved of the presence of the Lord. He visited Damascus to meet with the king of Assyria, a sworn enemy of Israel and Judah, and while he was there he became infatuated with the architecture of that nation. He sent word back to the high priest in Judah that he wanted a replica built of a magnificent altar that he had seen in Damascus. The high priest built the altar per the king’s specifications and the king began using it immediately upon returning home.

After arriving, the king ordered the priest to begin using the new altar for all of the sacrifices of Israel, and to leave the old brazen altar that sat in the temple for the king’s use only. Actually, he had the brazen altar moved closer to the new altar so that he could enquire at it whenever he wished. This combination of bad decisions leads to the premature death of Ahaz and the subsequent judgment of God. By building a new altar, he was considering the brazen altar out-dated and useless. This is a type of a “new Christianity”, where there is no need for a crucified Savior, or talk of His finished work. He also denied the nation and the people access to the brazen altar, thus making salvation a gift only for the aristocracy. Calvary leveled the playing field, so that everyone, great and small comes to God by the same means. There is no respecter of persons with God (Romans 2:11), and Calvary is no exception.

Ahaz made one more move that will link him forever with the doomed Pontius Pilate. There was a brazen laver outside of the door of the temple, which sat on 4 feet, lifted from the pavement. This laver contained water which the priest would use to wash his hands and feet so that he could enter the temple in a purified state. Ahaz cut the legs off of the laver and sit it on the floor, thus lowering the purification of God to the level of the common man. The laver sat up, separated from the floor, for God’s holiness was not common, and it could be approached only after the priest had offered a sacrifice on the altar. By placing the laver on the floor, it became average, and just like any other basin.

The text says that Ahaz sat it “upon a pavement of stones” (2 Kings 16:17), a statement that does not appear again in the Old Testament. However, we do find it in the New Testament, written in Hebrew, in regards to the trial of Jesus Christ. Pilate has tired of talking to Jesus and he brings Him into a place “called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha” (John 19:13). Gabbatha was a platform made of square stones. Pilate puts Jesus on a cross and numbers him with the transgressors, killing Him between two common criminals. Jesus was anything but common, but the world has tried to make Him as much ever since.

Lift Jesus high and to His rightful place in your own life and conversation. Don’t cheapen and lessen the price that Jesus paid by always emphasizing your sin and failure instead of His perfection and success. He suffered so that you would never suffer. All other forms of Christianity are alternate altars, like Ahaz’s creation. There is nothing cheap or common about the price paid for us and we would do well to give Him the honor that He paid for.

Honor His Finished Work

1 Kings 18:17-38

This chapter from 1 Kings tells the story of Elijah calling down fire from heaven on Mt. Carmel. It is one of the most popular stories from the Old Testament, showing the power of the almighty God and His judgment against the false gods of this world. There are too many great things within the story to take much time trying to bring them out in a simple devotion, so I want to focus on one tiny aspect which made an enormous difference.

Elijah was certainly a man of faith and power, but James bears out that he “was a man subject to like passions as we are” (James 5:17). This verse falls within a passage on prayer and James is bringing out that though Elijah could pray and see great things happen, he was no different than you or I. Elijah had the same failures and temptations that we did, so his prayers were not being answered because he lived a holier lifestyle, or he spent more time with God. What was the reason that Elijah could pray and God would move?

When Elijah gave the challenge to the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, he allowed them to go first, praying to Baal to consume their sacrifice by fire. They prophesied and cried from the morning all the way until mid-afternoon with no response from their god. They had put maximum effort into their prayer, but they had received no results.

At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah began his prayer to God for the fire to fall (1 Kings 18:36). As they say, timing is everything, and Elijah is obviously aware of what time of day that it is. In Israel, there were two sacrifices to God every day; one at 9 a.m. called the morning sacrifice, and one at 3 p.m. called the evening sacrifice. Both were symbolic of the coming Redeemer and His death as payment for man’s sin.

Jesus was placed on the cross at 9 a.m. and then died at 3 p.m., both corresponding with the timing of the daily schedule. Thus, the time of the evening sacrifice can be identified with the cry of Jesus at the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Any adherence to an evening sacrifice on the part of an Old Testament prophet becomes identification with the finished work of Jesus Christ, though Jesus had yet to come. Elijah waits until the time of the evening sacrifice to say a simple prayer, consisting of only 63 words in the KJV, and then the fire of God falls and consumes the sacrifice. There is no evidence of Elijah begging or screaming or making a great show during his prayer. These things were unnecessary, for Elijah had waited until the hour of “It is finished”, thus honoring the finished work. The fire does not fall because of Elijah; it falls because of Jesus!

Honor the finished work of Christ in your prayer life and watch God respond with great power. This does not mean that we don’t pray until 3 p.m., for the Old Testament was simply a shadow of things to come. You and I have the finished work of Christ in us at all times, so as we honor what Christ did for us at Calvary, we rest in that work. Your prayer life is only as powerful as the Jesus that you know. If you are always begging God with much pleading, then you send the message that God is slow to move and is waiting for your good works. In truth, the Lord is swift to move because of the work of Jesus at Calvary. Honor the cross and its work, and God honors you!

Divine Means

2 Samuel 14:14

The woman of Tekoah delivers a message to King David, under the guise of a weeping widow who has lost her son. She has been prompted to do so by Joab, David’s general, in hopes that David will allow his banished son Absalom to return to Jerusalem. David reads through the ruse and half-heartedly accepts Absalom back. This little story, nestled into the Old Testament gives us a hidden gem of God’s grace and it is found in the speech of this woman.

She states the obvious about man’s brief existence, and then gives glory to God for His ability to redeem mankind:

“For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from Him” (2 Samuel 14:14).

When God banished Adam and his seed from the Garden of Eden, He provided a means by which those who were banished would not be expelled from His relations. These means were laid out in Genesis 3:15, when God promised that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. Christ would be the seed of the woman, with no earthly father, and His death at the cross would not only bruise the head of Satan, rendering him ineffective, but it would provide the means by which man could come back to God through reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

We were all banished from the presence of a holy God by the sin of our first father, Adam (Romans 5:14). However, God’s love is so great that He wished to provide a means by which all of humanity could be brought back to Him. The price was the blood of His Son Jesus, and all who accept that payment are then brought into familial relationship with the Father. The high price of our redemption should show us the infinite love of God, for no small amount of love would sacrifice its own for someone else.

If God has provided a means for us, and His love is so much greater than ours, could we not be open to bringing those back in our own lives who have slipped and fallen? Some have hurt us and abandoned us, but they are longing for a second chance. Before you keep someone out of your life because of past hurts or failures, consider the great price paid by God to keep His banished from being expelled.

The church would do good to consider and re-consider this passage, and keep a close watch out to the horizon for the return of the Prodigals. No sin should be considered “too much”; no failure considered “unforgiveable”. We are a family built upon failures being erased by a loving Father; how much more should we extend that love to those that we know?

God has provided the means for reconciliation for you and you are blessed to be walking in that knowledge. Take that goodness and spread it about today. Leave the sins of the past beneath the lid that Calvary has nailed on them, and rest in the loveliness of our Jesus Christ.