The Taker

 “He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’” – Mark 5:34

I heard speaker and author Ann Voskamp say, The greatest gift Jesus gives you is all that He comes to take away...The weight of what He takes away.

We love Jesus the Giver. We don't want to hear about Jesus the Taker, yet He is a Taker, and praise His name that He is. Especially if we will dwell on all that He has taken from our lives that has been a great weight for us to bear. That which caused us great pain and suffering.

The Scripture from Mark has to do with the woman who had a constant menstrual bleeding which rendered her unclean under Jewish law. She had suffered the affliction for 12 years. Jesus took that away. Scripture is filled with so many things that Jesus "took" from people; blindness, lameness, leprosy, even demonic possession. For those who have truly believed upon Him, He took the weight and burden of our sin upon Himself and removed it from us. He took our guilt and pronounced us forgiven. He has taken the sentence of death from us and given us His gift of Life. Yes, His greatest gift to us is in that which He takes away.

Still, as true as this is, there are multitudes who may have believed upon Him for salvation, but have never allowed Him to take away the shame, the condemnation, the fear, and so many other afflictions that the devil is overjoyed to lay upon us. Maybe you are part of that multitude today. Maybe you are living in the place of despair, hopelessness, sorrow, and depression. Perhaps you're enslaved by attitudes of unforgiveness, bitterness, or the effects of abuse and neglect.You may be healthy in body, but sick and lame in your spirit. He came to take such things away, to relieve us of the weight of all of it, but He will not take it by force. We have to give it to Him. We have to release it from our hands, our grip, into His hands. Can you do so? I know it's so hard. You've held onto it for so long. Release it, Surrender it. Let go of the burden of the weight. Be free. Let Jesus the Giver also be the Taker. He will only take that which is killing us by inches, and He'll replace it with life. His Life. Full, free, abundant life.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Wonderful

 Wonderful grace of Jesus

Reaching to all the lost
By it I have been pardoned
Saved to the uttermost
Chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.   From the Hymn, Wonderful Grace Of Jesus....."We can't underestimate sin or overestimate grace." Paul Tripp

I recently heard of a person who'd just completed a rehab program for cocaine addiction. They were almost the same age as myself. As I contemplated that, I was overwhelmed by the wonderful grace of Jesus.  You see, I could have been that person. I was that person. What delivered me from that same fate was the grace and mercy of God. Along with that realization came this; I would not have reached the age of that one because I know, beyond any doubt, I would have died long before. My lifestyle would have led me ever deeper into the captivity it held me in. I'm convinced I would never have reached the age of 40. Oh the kindness, the mercy, the seeking grace and love of God that pursued me until it finally laid hold of me. I can never repay the debt of love I owe, and I am so thankful that He doesn't require that I should.

Knowing this, I believe it deeply important to address Tripp's quote about underestimating sin and overestimating grace. Being addicted to a life of getting high, pursuing pleasure, seeking my own good and caring little or nothing for others did not make me more in need of Christ than someone who did none of those but still walked through life apart from Him. We are all born into the vast lostness of our sin. None of us can deliver ourselves from that state. This was why Christ was given to us by the Father. It's why He came; to take the penalty for our sin upon Himself, and offer, through faith and trust in Him, His saving grace. We cannot ever overestimate the wonder and power of His grace.

I believe His grace was always pursuing me, even from childhood, but my first consciousness of it came in my college years when I encountered a young, one time "hippie chick" whose life had been transformed by her faith in Jesus. I could not deny the transformation, and I was impacted by the light I saw in her eyes. His grace continued to pursue me a year or so later when I was walking past the small building where all the "Jesus Freaks" met. I stopped on the sidewalk to gaze at the open door. A young, long haired guy with a joyful smile invited me to join them....but I declined, continued on my way....but His grace pursued me.

Over the next five years, as my life got ever darker, His pursuing grace got ever stronger. Finally, when I had nowhere else to hide, He laid hold of me in the dining room of the home I grew up in. He had me through His grace and He has kept me through His grace. The wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin.

Do you know His grace? I don't believe you really can until you know your sin. You may not be a drunk in an alley, or an addict on the street, but if you don't know Him, then you are no better off than they are. If you don't know Him, or His grace, my prayer for you is that you would, that you will. May His grace open your eyes to your need, and to Him. Know that His wonderful grace reaches me, and you, and saves to the uttermost.

Blessings,
Pastor O