A Guilt-Free Zone

Paul’s past was quicksand. The more he struggled, the deeper he sank. Just when we think he’s about to go under, he announced, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!…Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 7:25; 8:1).

Paul discovered a guilt-free zone. Through Jesus, every chain and shackle fell to the ground. Paul moved past his past. He trusted God with his future. Do likewise!

The remedy for our sin is not our work, but God’s work. Tell Christ what you did. You were not made to carry this weight. Only Jesus can take it away. Ask him to do so. And you know how he will respond: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

God never gives up on you.

Devotion by Max Lucado | The Almighty Jehovah | https://thealmightyJehovah.com

What Gabriel Never Expected

Prior to Bethlehem God gave us his messengers, his teachers, his words. But in the manger God gave us himself. Extraordinary, don’t you think? I imagine even Gabriel scratched his head at the idea of “God with us.” Gabriel surely was not one to question his God-given missions. When God sent, Gabriel went.

And when word got out that God was to become a human, Gabriel was no doubt enthused. He could envision the moment: The Messiah in a blazing chariot. The King descending on a fiery cloud. An explosion of light from which the Messiah would emerge. What he never expected, however, was a slip of paper with a Nazarene address. “God will become a baby,” it read. “Tell the mother to name the child Jesus. And tell her not to be afraid.”

Gods With Us Promise

Jesus understands you. He’s faced hunger, sorrow, and death and wants to face them with you. The Bible says Jesus “understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

If Jesus understands our weaknesses, then so does God. Jesus was God in human form. He was God with us. That’s why Jesus is called Immanuel. Immanu means “with us.” El refers to Elohim, or God. So Immanuel is not an “above-us God” or a “somewhere-in-the-neighborhood God.” He came as the “with-us God.” All of us.

“I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Search for restrictions on the promise, and you’ll find none. There’s no withholding tax on God’s “with us” promise. God is with us. What great news!

A Guilt-Free Zone

A Guilt-Free Zone

Related Posts

What Gabriel Never Expected

Gods With Us Promise

navigation

links

subscribe