Redemption

Hosea 7:13
Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.

The NIV says "I long to redeem them"

God's desire, from the instant we needed it, has been redemption. How incredible! How wonderful! How amazing is God's love for us.

Adam and Eve - IN God's presence - walking and talking with God in the garden still chose to sin.
And we're no different. Christians and non Christians alike. We've all CHOSEN sin. We all sin without thinking about it. We all sin inadvertently. And, when convicted of that sin, we (hopefully) repent and ask for mercy. But, there are always sins we CHOOSE to commit. Knowing God. Experiencing His greatness. Feeling the presence of His Spirit. And we still make the choice to sin.




And yet.... !!!!!

God's intention has always been to redeem us.

After sin entered creation, God told the deceiver - "he (talking about Jesus) will crush your head" Gen. 3:15. God has promised the destruction of evil. God has promised that Jesus will crush Satan. On the cross Jesus became obedient to death. Through the resurrection, Jesus guaranteed Satan's defeat. Jesus has crushed and WILL crush evil.

The reason for that is because God wants, and has wanted ever since it became necessary, to redeem us. His beloved. His most precious creation. GOD, the creator. The maker of everything. THE Glorious God. has made a way for us.

He longs to redeem us. He has already made it possible. It's already done!!

That gets me excited.

God is so good.

So, that's what I've been thinking about for a couple of days.

Bye bye.

What is Jesus Saying to You?

My in-laws sent me a link to a cool article / blog posting something or other. It's about Brother Yun, a Chinese evangelist. It's definitely a nice read.

Here's an excerpt from it:

“For a long time we have proclaimed a very strange gospel in this nation,” Yun says. “The gospel is a very comfortable and pleasant thing for everyone. But the gospel is really to die for Jesus. “The core of my message is taking up your cross and following Jesus every day-walking out from the security of the church structures and buildings. Jesus never said it would be a wonderful and peaceful joy ride to follow Him in this world. He said, ‘In this world you will have suffering, but do not lose heart, for I have overcome the world.’ “The requirement for a disciple, according to the Bible, is very high. First of all, you have to die. Taking up your cross means you have to die to your own desires-to self-and walk behind Jesus. That’s a disciple.”

You can check it out by following this link

Peace out.

Oh glorious day

Hey hey. It's me. Remember me?

I have been SUCH a blog-slacker lately.

I've been thinking a lot today about a song we sang (is "sang" a real word?) at a church we visited yesterday. So, I thought I would take a minute and tell you (if there are any "you"'s left reading) about it.

I don't remember the lyrics other than the Chorus which was just repeating the words "Oh Glorious Day". The song was talking about the day when Jesus comes back, or when we die and get to meet Him face to face.

And it was just so awesome to sing to Jesus and express that anticipation and joy and hope and peace (Advent theme, anyone?). Normally, I really dig songs that are more singing praises to God than anything else, which this song wasn't necessarily - by the lyrics alone. But, at the same time, I was totally caught up in singing that Chorus.

Sometimes, when I think about / imagine what it will be like on the glorious day, I get all giddy (like a little school boy). But, I can't help it. I get happy thinking about seeing His face. MEETING my Savior. Throwing myself at his feet, full of joy. Touching him. Hugging him. I just can't wait to run to Him like a baby to his daddy!

Anyhow.... That is what has been on my mind today.

Peace out.