God is just, God never makes a mistake. If you’re having problems in your life it’s because God is punishing you IT’S YOUR FAULT.  All you need to do is stand upright and be God like and he will restore you to prosperity and remove your pain. It’s not God’s Fault because God is just and good.

That is the lie that has haunted me and held me captive for nearly half of my life.  Ashley was pure as snow, so what was her sin that condemned her to be tied to a machine for 18 years?  What was her sin that condemned her to death?   Society says there is always someone at fault, there is always someone to blame.  She was pure and it couldn’t have been God’s fault because God is good, so --  IT’S MY FAULT.  It must have been my sin that condemned my daughter to death.  But if I’m pure and upright the LORD will restore me to my rightful place.  How pure do I have to be to restore Ashley?  Have my sins already condemned Brett & Andrea?  If so how pure do I have to be to save them?  Are my failures their death sentence?  Bildad was lying to Job then and the enemy is lying to me now. 

The truth is:

1.       I’m never going to be purer than I am right now.

…“Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (Acts 10:15)

God does not desire sacrifices from us he desires a relationship.  He does not judge us on our performance levels he judges us on whether we have a relationship with him.  Whether or not he knows me and I know him  And on my worst days I'm who he created me to be because I'm Christ Jesus in Charles Wilkins

And

2.       Sometimes IT’S NOBODY’S FAULT

LORD I’ve prayed for your eyes to see others as you see them and you have been faithful.  Today LORD I pray for your eyes to see me as you see me, cleansed by your blood and made worthy of your Love.   Amen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwJEdo1FlMo

Luke 12:48 – “…From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

Jesus warned his disciples saying:  “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocricy.”

His gift of grace and forgiveness are freely given to him who asks but it also requires more of the recipient.  Part of it is that we are to go and sin no more but I don’t know if that is humanly possible.  I Love God and try hard to be true to his sacrifice but I don’t know that since accepting him into my life I’ve been able to go a single day without needing his daily forgiveness over one thing or another.  Part of it is that I should follow his example and do for others as he has done for me.  Again I don’t know (well I do know) that I’ve always performed that requirement to the best of my ability.  Part of it is that I should display his light in the window of my life.  The light in my eyes should be his light.  People should be able to see him in me as I go into the world and make disciples of all nations.  I can’t say that I have always openly displayed the lamp or eagerly gone into the world or that it’s always been his light that people have seen.  So is that like strike three and I’m out?  I don’t think so; at least I pray that it is not the case. 

The sin of the Pharisees was not just that they condemned people for the very things they were guilty of which is bad enough but, that they couldn’t see the very same condemned in the mirror.  I know I can and should be more like Christ.  I know that this is a journey and not until I’m with him in his kingdom will I be one with him.  I know much is demanded and much more will be asked and we will receive our rewards accordingly.  But most important I know that it is only by the Grace of God that I’m not condemned already and that without him I’m no different than the person standing next to me.  I know that the only defense against hypocrisy is humility.

LORD I humbly submit myself to you.  LORD I ask for your forgiveness & strength to honor that which has been given to me freely; to bring glory to your name.  Amen.

Luke 5:39  -- And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, “The old is better.”

Change is hard, people don’t want change, people will defend what they think they know against what they don’t know regardless of what it is “The old is better”.  We will believe the lies we’re told.  To the Pharisees and teachers of the law, Jesus was new.   He was giving away forgiveness and grace, he was sitting down and breaking bread with tax collectors and sinners, he had come to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, to release the oppressed, to preach the good news to the poor.  Jesus was not following the rules.  When he was questioned why he was doing things differently his answer was “…no one pours new wine into old wine skins.”

Sometimes it seems as Christians we’ve accepted the new wine but we don’t want to give up our old wine skins.  After all they’ve been passed down from generation to generation.  After all they are our wine skins.  We believe the lies that the wine still taste fine.  So we accept his forgiveness and grace for ourselves but we proclaim (pour) it from atop the walls of self-righteousness and legalism.  Jesus gave us a warning when he said if you pour new wine into old wine skins it will only run out and be wasted.

Jesus was the new wine skin and he poured out his blood for all who were thirsty.  Change is hard, people don’t’ want change, we will believe the lies we’re told and defend them to the death sometimes.  But the truth shall set us free.  I still don’t know how many words are in the Bible.  But I know that after all the words were written, from beginning to end, my creator chose to conclude with these eleven words.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tay1ODvSANk