because of sin….

because of sin… we received a phone call at 5:21 this morning that a friend has passed from this life. sin. or rather the fruits of sin: disease, sickness, death, destruction… They are evil to the core. They stir up an anger inside my spirit that I can’t ignore and can’t understand. Cancer itself is not sin. It is a symptom of a world corrupted by sin.

because of sin… I am a mother. Sin destroyed my little ones birth families to the point that they cannot care for their own children. I am painfully reminded of sin and the effects of sin when I look into their precious faces and know that they have a history I know nothing about. A history of abuse, neglect, and abandonment.

because of sin… I sin. I get angry. I’m prideful. I want control. I will suffer on this earth. I will die one day.

BUT JESUS! Before there was sin there was Jesus! How can I dwell on the effects of sin when I know JESUS. When I know the one “who was and is and is to come!” I know the ONE who raises the dead to new life. I know the ONE who heals the broken and forgotten!

because of sin… Why do we become angry and moved to action in the face of injustice…because sin is at its core…we were not made for this world. death is not natural. sin is not natural. We were not created for this.

BUT JESUS!  Knowing we needed freedom to choose HIM, HE created us to make a choice to love him or to leave him. Nothing makes me desire HIM more than when I see sin at its ugliest. When I see death I see sin and my spirit is moved or rather HIS SPIRIT in me is moved because death was never meant to be.  When I see children abandoned and abused HIS SPIRIT in me is moved because that was never meant to be!

BUT JESUS! In me. Through me. Use me JESUS to fight for you in this world of sin. I will PRAISE HIM for a LIVING HOPE! I will PRAISE HIM for HIS REDEMPTION is near! I will PRAISE HIM for the SALVATION of my SOUL.  I will put on my armor and fight this spiritual battle. I will not ignore its reality. I want JESUS. I need JESUS. I CRAVE JESUS. My friend loves JESUS. The pain of her loss is real. It must be felt and HE will GUIDE us through it. HE does that you know. HE allows us to feel the effects of sin. BUT HE IS WITH US AND SHE IS NOW WITH HIM. Her fight is over. She fought for JESUS visibly and valiantly. She has earned her prize… because JESUS. sin no longer has a hold on her….because JESUS!

because of sin… another little one will join our family. JESUS loves the little children and because of HIS LOVE in me I will love this little one with reckless abandon. I will be JESUS in the flesh to this broken little one. Broken no fault of his own, but because of a fallen sinful world. It’s not fair. It’s not right. BUT JESUS IS. JESUS give me strength to be YOUR HANDS and YOUR FEET to YOUR children who come from this broken and sinful world. HEAL their hurts. HEAL their hearts.

BECAUSE OF JESUS… My friend is whole. She is alive. She is with her SAVIOR.

BECAUSE OF JESUS… His little children have found their way to my home so that I can introduce them to the one who will heal their hurts and save their souls.

BECAUSE OF JESUS… I am REDEEMED.

BECAUSE OF JESUS… sin will never win. The war is won, but the battle rages on.

BECAUSE OF JESUS… I will fight the good fight. I will finish the race.  

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."  Ephesians 3:14-21