Cry for help for a nonexistent soul

It shouldn’t hurt so bad
So why the hell am I still seething? 
Why am I still hoping,
Even if I know for a fact that she won’t come back?
She made it clear
She doesn’t want anything to do with me
All I’ve tried she’s pushed aside
And all I’ve done is reduced to nothing
And all I’m left with are memories of all I thought we could be
And all I see is that I screwed up so badly
That I wish I could take it all back completely

Can I have a chance?
When it’s all so hopeless,
I wish I could say I’m used to the darkness
I know I could say I’m in the light
But it doesn’t feel right 
Knowing that even with all my might
It’s just one man moving and not two to tango
What else can I say? What in the world do I hang on to?!
Seems as if the best way to say I love you is goodbye
Seems as if the best way to care is walk away

But I couldn’t gather myself to do so
Nor could I consider just wiping my mind
Knowing in all I find, you aren’t too far away
All I could say is it hurts

…it hurts, Maria
Far as I could pray to see you
Far as I could hope you’d reply, I know you’d
rather ignore me no matter how I miss you
Foolish I am but I can’t deny you
Or how we could’ve had something 
I had you,

But I was the FOOL who never realized…

The timing. 

I’m out. 
Down and out. 
The fool. 
I’m the fool.


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

In Vulnerability.


















'cold, isn't it?'

one moment, he said he had other things to do

the other, he held her hand.

I only pushed through with talking
and all the holding I did, was to hold back.

I thought I had everything figured out
until the moment you vanished...
...again. 

I thought I could handle the loss
until the moment the doors closed...
...and all bets were off.

Until all hope was lost. 

And to this day, I couldn't accept it. 
Forgive me, Father. 
Forgive me, blessed, dear Maria.

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Still.

So I'm sharing parts 4 to 6 of Nujabes' Luv(sic) Hexalogy.. I'm really supposed to just share part 5, but (1) there wasn't a live video of just part 5 specifically, and (2) part 4 and 6 resonate to me almost as much in this season, anyway. 

...Well, the 'add Youtube' function on here isn't working as well as I expected, and my HTML skills suck, so here's a link... [Live at CIRCUS TOKYO] Luv(sic) Part 4, 5, 6

...and, more importantly, here're some lyrics:

'Till death do us apart and it did
Come sudden like clouds and it hid my sun
My truth heavier than imagined, a lid die-cast in lead
On our lives we nourished
And the days we cherished as kids
We let it whizz on by, but when I rewind
Your smile is the only thing that comes to mind
Your smile is the only thing that shines'

While looking for and through the lyrics I found out that Shing02 composed this with late (legend) artists Nujabes and Jeff Resurrecion in mind... It hit me differently. 

Made me think. It hurts enough to think of a dead loved one... but there's comfort found in finality. 

It hurts a lot more to think of someone who left, and doesn't want to be found. 

'Life is art, a miracle for all to see
I must tell you that you lived beautifully'

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Found In An Advanced State Of Recomposition

You know what... let's try something here. 

Here's where I started, and I suppose that if it's still being maintained, I should probably keep going - Or, I should keep posting here, too. 

Question is, should I keep posting here as I post on my 'main' page? No, I think I have other things I'd probably like to share here that should just stay here. 

But I'm not really really starting now, because I'm out, and have other things to think about, other things to talk about. 

With that said... stay tuned. 


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

redirect


Hi folks. new stuff is at jblardizabal.com
God bless you. 

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Free From Fear, Free To Love!

Regarding all this talk in the churches about focusing on Jesus Christ, I'd say I agree with the notion - any time we think about Christ, is good time, indeed. It's life-giving time.

However, I believe that in our focusing on Christ, we shouldn't leave out how Christ was and continues to be focused on us, to this day. 

How WAS Jesus Christ focused on us? Well, for starters, He was already thinking of us before time and space were established. Darlene Zschech sings what was stated in Ephesians 1:4, in her perspective: 'Before the world began, (we) were on His mind.'.. 

..and while we could not take each and every singular evil event and explain the focus of Christ towards us in each of them in a way we would understand completely, we DO know that He was with Joshua before a great undertaking, He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, He was with David as he avoided Saul... We DO know that He is with us, focused on us for us, in all things, even the most evil of situations.

How WAS Jesus Christ focused on us? In the fullness of time He came to us, born of a virgin, 100% God yet 100% man, focused to experience and to feel and to go through anything and everything we could go through as human beings, focused to relate to us in our level instead of looking down on us as a kid looks down on ants with a magnifying glass..

..and in what can be called a sheer demonstration of even more focus, He endured the greatest pains and torture, scourged, humiliated, and crucified - Jesus Christ, 100% God, 100% man, beaten, bloodied, and nailed to the cross - yet for nothing else but for us, fully focused on us, enduring the cross because we were the prize to win. 

Oh, what a Savior we have, indeed! Out of focus He brought us back to how we were designed before the fall, raised as new creations filled with the Spirit that calls God our beloved Father, yet not because of anything we did or anything we could do, but because of Jesus Christ and His righteousness, His life and His life abundant fully infused and fully united with us.

--

See, when we take verses like Philippians 1:21, where Paul says 'To live is Christ, and to die is gain', there will always be the tendency for us to focus on ourselves and to live trying to be like Christ, even saying that we were 100% focused on Christ... and yet, not focused on His character and His work but actually focused on ourselves and how to be like Him when that is clearly not the focus we ought to have. 

We quote John the Baptist and we applaud people who say what he said in John 3:30, that we decrease, and Christ increases.. which may be okay, sure; but it's just that we're focusing on our decreasing. 

What I'm trying to say here is that if we were to preach on focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, we simply cannot choose what we ought to focus on, as if His life was a lesson plan where we could pick and choose what we wanted in a given day; No, if we say that we should focus on Christ, this AUTOMATICALLY includes His focus on us which was established before we had the thought and capacity of focusing on Him! 

--

Let us enjoy Christ and all He has done... that's an order! Because we wouldn't be able to love the unlovable until we realize how He loved us with a perfect and everlasting love; Consequently, we wouldn't be able to love with such focus and thoughtfulness until we ourselves take in and keep taking in how He was so absolutely focused and filled with thoughts towards us!

Christ was focused on us and continues to be focused on us; He was free to focus on us, even as He walked with us in this reality and in this world, because He knew that despite His being 100% man, He was confident in His inseparable union with His Father.. 

We, consequently, are free from fear of thinking that God isn't with us because we don't feel it - Take note, Christ, while being surrounded by Lazarus' relatives, in an atmosphere devoid of joy and full of sorrow... even in this environment, Christ spoke, 'Father, I thank you because you hear me, and I know you always hear me..'

..immediately after this, He did not need to affirm Himself any further, focusing on Lazarus, speaking with authority, 'LAZARUS, COME FORTH!'

As we focus on how Christ was focused on us, we understand what it truly means to live, and the gain associated to when our earthly bodies fade.

Let us focus on Christ, for then we would realize how, as we have been set free from fear, we are free to focus, free to love... and to love truly, to live Christ. 

Remember:

Focusing on Christ means focusing on His love for us.
As Christ is ALWAYS focused on us, so we are free of thinking He isn't focused on us.
As Christ is ALWAYS focused on us, so we are surely free to focus on others the same way.

In Christ, you are free from fear, free to love.

God bless you.




_________________________
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com


May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Christ, our Freedom

I've never identified myself as a leader. I've never seen the need to step up and to take charge, long enough for it to have a permanent effect on my life. Well, I would probably know. I'd probably relate something; I mean, it's not like I never led anything before, it's just that nothing really sticks out as a leadership quality that I demonstrated, right now, as I write this. 

For the most part, any leading I did came out of necessity... or rather, desperation - in other words, I led only because there was nobody else to lead. And by my standards, which are probably too rigid or made rigid by the standards of the world, I'm not really doing a good job - or, I'd rather say I could do so much better. 

There's so much I could do so much better in. Playing the guitar. Singing. Taking photographs. I could do so much better in handling the land which I suppose was assigned to me to manage. I could do so much better in handling and maintaining my finances. 

I could do so much better in my job. I say this especially since if I see myself from the viewpoint of my boss, I don't think I'm doing enough to earn the money I make - Of course, the fact that I'm still working for this same boss means that I have been blessed with a really good, really patient boss. 

With that said, I could do so much better in marketing skills. I'd like to think that I have a decent grasp of real estate, but the rubber truly hits the road when you are given the responsibility to not just handle transactions pertaining to property, but to sell property. 

What I'm learning from the plethora of courses and services my boss has had me go through is pretty simple; actually, it applies to all of the 'I could do so much better' items I've stated so far as much as it would to my supposed role as a 'marketing expert' - 'I could do so much better in caring.' 

I could care more. I could actually give a shit. But apparently, right now, you can give me fruits, vegetables, Starcraft II, and time, and I'll be content with my life. 

Well, at least that's what I think. The mere fact that I said that I could care more tells me that on a long enough timeline, my creature comforts will no longer be comfortable. That there's more, and so much more to this life than what I currently think. 

God, I know all this, but what really peeves me is that I don't have the motivation to move at the speeds that my mind and heart demand. 

Then again, I've been preaching on focusing; well, at least I did yesterday. What we established was that (1) as we live we will certainly be focusing on something; (2) we give life to whatever we focus on, and (3) it helps to focus on Christ and His finished work. 

Right now, apparently, I'm focusing on how I lack focus and determination, and I'm doing a good job at it, because I'm giving life to it. 

So what should I be focusing on right now? Well, I ought to be focused on Christ - if I focus on Christ and how He is constantly focused on me, then I would probably have the right focus... Yeah, I suppose that's a good start. 

God was so focused on me that He was thinking about me, how my life was going to turn out, what my struggles, victories, strengths and weaknesses are... all not just before I was born; The Bible says that before the foundation of all things was established, or in other words, before everything that was came into existence, before creation, He was already thinking about me. Not that I was anything special, because He was intimately thinking about each and every one of us, dead and alive, in this era and throughout all time and space. 

In His focus and determination He knew that it would take nothing less than His own begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to have what He lost at the Garden of Eden - that is, you and me. Timothy Keller points out that Jesus Christ set aside His Godly attributes to be born and to live as one of us; He lived to a good age, all this time seeing and experiencing all that humanity could possibly experience; He showed us the Truth of who God is, and ultimately laid down His own life, subjecting His being to the most excruciating pain and suffering, enduring eternal torment and anguish; He did all this, for nothing else, for no-one else, than for you, and for me. 

The same God who thought about us before the concept of time and space - I'd like to imagine that He was thinking about each and every one of us as He was nailed to the cross. Timothy Keller continues by pointing out the following beautiful passage regarding the Lord's death in Isaiah 53:

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

It was for nothing else than for you and for me that He found satisfaction; He endured eternal suffering and anguish, for nothing less than for you, and for me. As this sinks in, I smile as I imagine our Christ, beaten, battered, bleeding, broken, yet in my own mind possibly smiling as He silently whispered, 'It.. is.. finished.'

Indeed, no greater love has man ever known; Christ has THAT focused, and THAT determined to have us that He literally gave up everything (and His everything is literally EVERYTHING). 

How's that for focus? 

--

But let me be perfectly honest right now: I don't feel this message..

The absence of feeling notwithstanding, I recognize how this lack of 'the feels' right now works to my advantage because it actually allows me to focus for real, without depending on the feelings for affirmation. In other words, the lack of feeling right now is actually leading me to focus more...

...and what I've been led to learn regarding focus is that more focus comes from less effort to focus. Or maybe, true focus is found in not focusing at all. Like Musashi would say in his Book of Void - it'd probably be in the lines of, the final step to learning is to forget everything you've learned. 

Christ has set me free from the yearning for the feeling in order to feel focused. Because of Christ's finished work, I am guaranteed His presence and His absolute closeness to me 100% of the time, no matter what I feel, no matter what I see in my life. Because of Christ's finished work, I can move, knowing that this is the absolute truth, free of depending on any sort of feeling to know that it's true..

For truth is nothing unless it is the Truth - a proper noun, an entity; more than just a set of tenets, more than theology, more than a mindset... Truth is Jesus Christ himself, and Jesus Christ is Truth... and as Jesus Christ is not dead, as Jesus Christ is alive and forever alive, so the Truth is alive.

With all this said, we have more time on our hands; more time to appreciate and enjoy life with Christ always with us, because we no longer need to worry if He is there. We have more time to focus on what really matters. A wise man in the Dune series said, 'Fear is the mind-killer.' Consequently, in Christ, and because of Christ's finished work ushering His limitless, perfect, everlasting love into our lives, casting out all fear, our minds simply come alive. Following that train of thought, Christ brings our minds into life. 

--

Let's really emphasize something; because of God's love seen in and through none other than His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, we have been born again, introduced into a new life as new creations, with our relationship with God renewed, to the point that Christ is as close as He could ever be, not later, but NOW. Because of Christ, we no longer have to fear.. 

God's love for us is not only guaranteed, but it is perfect and everlasting. Christ's finished work is no longer the reward of our performance, but the motivation for our good works. Our old selves have died, and we have been born again, setting us free from any thought of us performing to 'die to ourselves'. Christ did everything for God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - to be with us, as close as ever, forever, and ever. 

Let's elaborate on that even further! Because Christ has done it all, and because of all Christ has won for us to win us, we are free of thinking if God loves us or not. 

--

We are free of thinking if we've done enough to earn peace. 

We are free of ever thinking if what we do is good or bad, because no sin can ever separate us from the love of God - He makes all things work together for our good, even if it means disciplining us in preparation for the future. Consequently, we are free from worrying if God would punish us for our past sins, because sin was punished at the cross once and for all. 

We are free, free of doubting our new identity, because our old selves were crucified and slain as Christ was crucified and as Christ died, and we were born again as Christ rose from the dead. 

We are free of wondering if God is with us in a certain venture. We are free of doubting that God is with us when we don't feel Him. We are free from trying to pray and sing and speak the Bible just to feel as if He is with us, because Christ with us guarantees that He always blesses us and keeps us. 

We are free from fear of anything and absolutely everything - we're free, we're free from looking at everything and easily seeing how it would taint us/our children!

--

We're free. We're free to do anything we want - Yes, you read that correctly! Yes, there will be consequences to foolish decisions, but you can be sure that one of these consequences is absolutely not God punishing you or taking away His presence from you, or separating from you! 

We're free to see the efficacy of our absolute union with Christ, whether we move from glory to glory, in life and righteousness, or when we make our bed in hell, in death and sin! Again, it's God's love through Christ's finished work that guaranteed that absolutely NOTHING now can ever separate us from Him! 

We're free! We're free from insecurity, free to look at ourselves in the mirror, and, big belly, small penis, scars, small breasts, attributes contradictory to the world's suggestion of a visually pleasing stature/body/attitude notwithstanding, we are free to look at ourselves as absolutely beloved by God, free to realize that this is all that matters! 

We're free, and free indeed, to see the love of Christ in every situation, and to demonstrate the same said love for others to see! We're free to see the parallels between the stories of the world and the great and glorious finished work of Christ!

-- 

In my desire to wrap this all together, I will say this: Christ is our Everything, which means that we have forever to understand each and every facet of what that actually means... and in this particular moment, I've come to put together how Christ is our Freedom. 

We're past the fact that Christ doesn't give us our blessings, He doesn't give us favor, He doesn't love us in the sense that He gives it to us as if it were a resource. We're past saying that we are merely blessed, favored, and loved by God - It's just that Christ Himself is the greatest blessing given to us by God, and through Christ the greatest favor we could ever experience is seen in how we are loved by God; from one of billions and trillions of perspectives we see how His love is through our absolute, inseparable union with Christ, who is as close to us now as He could ever be. 

This is where we see that above all things, we are free from fear, and we are free to bask in His perfect love. This is the freedom we have through Christ - this is the Freedom that is Jesus Christ. 

True, that I do have much to work on; I have my own faults and areas of improvement - I could and would do so much better in so many little details - but in each and every one of these things, Christ is present and is first and foremost, not by my doing, but by default. We as people who want to see change happen for the better in so many ways and in so many levels would do very well to change the way we think about God, by focusing on the love He has for us, seen in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of none other that His own begotten Son, Jesus Christ. 

High on the mountain
I will be lifting my voice
and in the valley
I will be dancing for joy 

In every season, 
You are worthy
In every moment,
You're wonderful!

- 'Mountain' by Brian & Katie Torwalt

NEXT: Free from fear / Free to love




_________________________
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com


May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

[071317] No Strings Attached by Andrew Farley, Take 2

In the process of finishing my article on the Freedom we have in Christ, or rather how Christ Himself is our actual freedom, I've seen the need to listen to some of the resources I've exposed myself to prior continuing what I've started. I tried finishing the said article once in the past, but I ironically felt that what I produced sounded too desperate. 

So I'm taking one step back to take two steps forward. It's Thursday afternoon, and I'm about to write up a storm. 

--


No Strings Attached by Andrew Farley, Take 2

It is EXTREMELY rare for a good thing in this world today to have absolutely no strings attached. In the light of this, since people are expecting a catch, or something in return or as payment, we ought to move towards serving in the light of how we were served, serving without strings attached, serving without a catch, as Christ's finished work guaranteed so much for us, without any catch.

It's pretty funny, pretty sad at the same time that we can talk about God's unconditional love towards us, but then again we would imply that there are strings attached down the line. Before we go ahead and talk to other people about how there are no strings attached, and no catches to the perfect and everlasting love of God towards us, we must understand it ourselves. 

The Forgiveness we have in Christ has no strings attached. This is pretty controversial, depending on who you speak to. The Catholic will tell you that forgiveness is given to you by a priest you confess to. The Protestant will tell you that you are 'totally' forgiven, but when you sin, God's presence is 'removed' from you, and you would have to confess for His presence to return. 

I've noticed how we don't necessarily fall for these sorts of strings, but based on what we were brought to believe prior to the establishment of our faith in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit (Note To Self: More on this later), we still throw in strings and subtle 'hairs' to what we talk about. In other words, we say we believe in the forgiveness we have in Christ, but then again we would want others to confess to us before we forgive them of the wrong they committed.

Some of us still preach on 1 John 1:9 as if it was totally our verse as believers to observe, when it has already been established time and time again that the first chapter of 1 John was primarily for anyone who preached and cleaved to the Gnostic mindset/theology/doctrine. 

Fortunately, God Himself has taken all these strings away, cutting ALL of them, leaving a forgiveness without any hitches. The book of Hebrews emphasizes how we have cleansing and once-for-all forgiveness. Note that this was not always the case, especially as we would see in the Old Testament... Today, we have Peter who says that Jesus Christ died once and for all. The book of Hebrews tells us that we have been forgiven one time for all eternity; by one sacrifice we have been made not just forgiven, but perfect for all eternity... forever!

Seeing how this is just so good, we ought to let the goodness of this forgiveness we have in Christ continue to boil over and to overflow! Yes, we understand how there is the tendency for us to show some concern over our behavior, or the behavior of others as a response to this great, great cleansing and forgiveness we have - the concern that we now have a path or a doorway to abusing this said grace...

But guess what, not only has our loving Father indicated that this forgiveness is true and has no strings attached... It's not the only thing we have in Christ! So all the strings are cut off, and there are greater things attached to this forgiveness! 

The Pharisees were good in adding weight to the perfect Law; we're just as good in adding conditions to God's unconditional love brought about by the New Covenant. But God is just for us. Period. 

There are all sorts of people and entities and forces that want to control us. Consequently, we want to try to control other people ourselves; this is why a good number of us, whether Christian or not, do have issues when we say that God's love and forgiveness has no strings attached. It's completely contrary to what we're used to doing and how we're used to living. All of our systems to control ourselves and others are simply vanquished with this Truth. 

Actually, the forgiveness we have in Christ is already reviving and motivating on its own. Peter reminds us that if we are lacking in qualities we shine as Christians, then the most probable cause of this is that we have forgotten the forgiveness we have in Christ. 

--

There's more. Our Freedom in Christ has no strings attached. Freedom with one string attached is no freedom at all. Yes, we're free to sin. God doesn't want you to sin. We don't want you to sin. But what we're saying is that when you make a mistake, or when you've sinned, it isn't a deal breaker. However, it's not sin that we aren't focused on, but grace - it's the grace of God that teaches us not to sin. 

Our Identity in Christ has no strings attached. Your past is no longer a string attached to your identity. Your addiction to pornography is not a string attached to your identity. You were washed, justified, and sanctified from your previous identity of not just a person who sins, but a sinner. By Christ's finished work, you are set free from the string that implies that you are what you do, or you ought to do something in order for you to be what you ought to be. 

No, your Identity is established by birth - as Christ rose from the dead, so you rose again, you were born again - Your identity is established by what Christ did, and this stands no matter what you do. This is the Truth that sets you free, the Truth that is worth celebrating!

Our Life in Christ has no strings attached. We have been given, and freely given all things, including life, because of Jesus Christ. Our life is made solid, and we enjoy God's presence 100% of the time, without our obedience as the basis of this presence. We aren't obedient for His presence; we have received His presence - His Spirit and union came first! He didn't wait for us to be obedient - While we were sinners, He gave His life to us, and He is expressed through us through the obedience and righteousness He established. 

There are no strings attached to our Choices - If we choose poorly, yes, there will be consequences, but again, this isn't a deal-breaker, nor is it grounds for God to 'punish' us... Sin has already been punished at the cross. 

We can choose to waste our time making foolish choices, and He's still going to receive us and love us, but it's still going to be a foolish choice, with corresponding conseqeunces! 

--

When there's trouble in paradise, when there's conflict in marriage and our relationships, when there are fights in the church... well, here are times when realizing how God's love and grace has no strings attached can really help. See, the more we understand how there are no if-then statements behind God's love absolutely poured out upon us, the more we are able to not just tolerate insufferable people - when we give up our right to have the response we desire, or when we give up the strings attached, there is much more potential to resolving conflict, and bringing life. 

It's time for us to cut strings and to truly shower people with agape, encouraging people and loving people just because of who they are. We may find this tough at first, but when we realize how we ourselves have received so much and all things through Christ without any strings attached, we have no other ending, no better result than to walk in the light towards the infinitely brighter day. 





_________________________
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com



May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

[070917] No Strings Attached by Andrew Farley





We've seen a lot of deals and promotions that sound so good at first.. Free 30 Day Trials, You've Won A Raffle, etc. We seem to be used to this sort of thing to the point that we are immediately wary of any 'strings' attached to any sweet deal. We keep asking, 'What's the catch?'; and at times, we also ask, 'What's the limit?', usually followed by 'There has to be a limit.'

Well, when it comes to Christ and His finished work, there are no hitches. There are no catches, no limits. Try to think about that. What if in Christ, there are no limits? 

No strings are attached with God. We, as humans, would go against this naturally because we automatically assume there are strings attached. We would talk about agape, and unconditional love, and immediately after that, we're adding conditions. We're adding limits, we're attaching strings. 

The Word says it quite clearly: Paul addressed the Romans, and in the end of Chapter 8 he says nothing can separate you from the love of God. Nothing can kill this deal. God knows how we work, and it had to be said, that indeed, it was His plan to bring us into a relationship which has no strings attached. 

There are no strings attached to our forgiveness. There's a Catholic 'string' attached, which states that we're only forgiven when we confess to another person, and we aren't forgiven when we don't confess. With regards to Protestants, we state that we have some sort of ultimate forgiveness, but we still need to confess our sin if we want to be in complete union and fellowship with God. Sin, in this regard, hinders us from God's presence. 

By God's grace, these strings have been cut. Because of Christ and His finished work, we have been totally forgiven. His blood brought us forgiveness, period. The blood of Jesus brought once-for-all cleansing, and once-for-all forgiveness. Peter says that Jesus died once for all. The book of Hebrews says that by one offering we have been cleansed and made perfect forever in Christ. 

This may make us nervous in the sense that if we take this in, we might go ahead and abuse this grace, and take advantage of it.. but hang on, because there has been so much more given to us. The last thing we want to do is to tie the strings that God has already cut with our 'buts' which come out of our nervousness regarding sin. We're pretty good, as good as Pharisees, to add more strings.. but God comes out as better, because He offered us salvation through Christ, and by His blood, He cut through the strings, making it based on His performance, and His blood, not your works, not your performance. 

So the Catholic mindset states that we confess our sins to a priest to be forgiven, and the Protestant mindset states that we are forgiven, we can speak to God directly about it, but from here on out we need to 'manage' this forgiveness that we were given. 

The sin management system can't happen unless God has taken all our sins away, once and for all. 

It is inevitable for believers to eventually bring up 1 John 1:9 - however, it is virtually impossible for us to confess all of our sins - we can't remember all of our sins, and we aren't aware of all sins that we commit. It doesn't help, either, for us to generalize and say 'forgive us for all our sins, known and unknown', because it is clear that it is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us, and not our confession. If it helps, we confess not for our sins to be forgiven, but we confess out of the fact that we have already been forgiven. Again, just to clarify: 1 John 1:9 was for Gnostics who claimed that sin was relative or non-existent, and therefore they claimed that they had no sin. 

The strings have been cut. Christ lives in us and He will manage just fine. 

Let's do a free fall into God's grace. There really are no strings left. If you are in Christ, you already know that you have been forgiven, and you already know that the work of Christ is finished, and the string of 1 John 1:9 has been severed. 

What's next? Well, we move along the Truth that Christ's finished work really worked, and that the strings have been cut. We have been completely cleansed and forgiven. 

How do we end up not abusing it? Well, the Bible states in more than one instance that forgiveness is actually something that motivates us. Don't sell forgiveness short. He who has been forgiven much forgives much. Peter says that if we fall short on our behavior, there's a big chance that we've been forgetting about our forgiveness and sanctification in Christ. 

When we realize that there are really no strings attached, we would have no hesitation in saying, 'Wow!' and 'Thank you!' 

The Old Testament shows, of all things, how we could not meet the standards of the Law. There were 613 strings, and the local folk, even the priests were not faithful in keeping the conditions of these strings. Through Christ, all these strings were cut, but then, we get nervous: We add up strings again, in the form of reintroducing the 10 commandments, and the 10% tithing rule, and so on and so forth..

We need to understand that in place of the strings, we have been given fruit: Christ is now the source of our Love, Peace, Patience, and Joy, etc. Freedom with one string attached is no freedom at all. 

People in Christ are certainly still sinning. God does not want us to sin, but when we sin, the deal hasn't been thrown into the fire. Our salvation has been brought to us by grace, and not works.. you add one work into there, and it isn't grace anymore. Consequently, Titus tells us that the grace of God actually teaches us to say 'no' to sin. 

--

With regards to our Identity in Christ, there are no strings attached. Our heinous sins no longer define us. Adulterers and Liars do not inherit the kingdom of God, indeed... but we have been cleansed, so cleansed to the fact that we are no longer sinners by nature; we have been so cleansed to the point that we were made new, literally, made righteous because of Christ. 

The strings have been cut, and and there are no strings attached to our identity! We define our identity through the new birth brought about by the finished work of Christ, and we are no longer defined based on what we do. Isn't that motivating? Isn't that inspiring? 

This is an incredible truth that is worth celebrating, and one that is worth sharing! 

-- 

Our life in Christ has no strings attached. There are those strings which we hang on to which state that we need to be obedient to enjoy His presence; however, the Truth of the matter is that we get God's absolute presence for free, paid for by the blood of Christ, and His presence actually motivates us to be obedient. If you put obedience before His presence, He is no longer the power and inspiration behind your obedience. You do not obey to enjoy God's presence, you enjoy God's presence, and out of this, you enjoy. You walk by the Spirit, and by His presence which came before you executed some sort of obedience. 

So contrary to our former claims that we gave our lives to Christ... it's actually the other way around. Christ gave His life to you. It is by this that we have been made obedient. 

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There are no strings attached to our choices. Don't get us wrong - there are consequences to the poor choices we make, but God certainly does not punish us for our wrong decisions by cutting us off from His salvation. There is a chance that we would catch a cold if we don't wear a jacket, but this doesn't mean that we are eternally separated from God. 

God already allowed the punishment to be poured upon Jesus.. but there are consequences. You're still loved and forgiven, but it's foolish and absurd to live so recklessly. 

--

There are no strings attached to our Attitudes. We may understand our standing with God and how that doesn't have any strings attached, but there's a tendency for us to keep strings attached to our relationships with one another. 

However, when we continue to understand that God has cut all the strings to our relationship with Him because of Christ, we find a better way to relate to others - we are able to cut strings, like those that state that this person is the absolute source of our happiness and joy. We are free to relate to others, and to genuinely listen to them, understanding them flaws and all, without tugging on the strings which state that these people have to meet some sort of standard before you give them your full and uncompromising love and attention. 

We cut the strings by giving up our right for a need to be met by the other person. We give up our right to expect things to turn out how we want it. Once we cut strings, we are free of an impossible web of conflict. 

When we understand that all strings have been cut, we are set free from loving others with conditions. We are free to encourage, we are free to love, we are free to give random acts of kindness, as much as we see how we are encouraged, loved, and given kindness just because, by none other than our loving God, our Father. 





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email me at jibee@rocketmail.com



May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

A Clarification (Or, My Words From The Words I Just Listened To)

The Gospel says that the Law is good, yet the perfect standards which the Law presents point out our sin. Jesus Christ not only met these perfect standards; Romans 7:4 through the body of Christ we ourselves have died to the Law (i.e. set free from meeting the perfect standards of the Law).

The Gospel says through the same verse that we did not stay dead, but we have been brought into Christ, and as He was raised from the dead, so we were raised from the dead, 'in order that we may bear fruit to God'.

The Gospel defines the fruit in Galatians 5, as the fruit of the Holy Spirit: Love, peace, patience, joy, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, and self-control. Take note, they are not the 'fruits', as if they were separate categories to be studied and practiced, bringing the focus back to our performance instead of them naturally occurring in and through us by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us, when we were raised from the dead. 

Galatians 5 continues by saying that there is no law against such fruit. Christ, as the vine (John 15:1), bears these fruits through us, whom He calls the branches. Christ produces love, and we bear this love as the love that causes us to love one another - therefore, we adhere to the Law, and we fulfill the new Commandment that Christ gave us, because He Himself is fulfilling it in us, as we are in Him!

The Gospel is not the Law, nor is it an opportunity for us to practice licentiousness: Legalism slaps us against the wall of rules and forces imperfection to attain perfection, while licentiousness says there are no rules, and that we could do whatever we want 

Perfect love casts out all fear; in other words, in place of fear, we now have perfect love in Christ. Christ is our perfect love. God loves us perfectly because of Christ and His finished work. 

Perfect love casts out all fear. We now operate from all that is associated with this perfect and everlasting love. It is in CHRIST that we move and we have our being, and no longer do we act and react from trepidation and a sense of condemnation. 

The Gospel inspires us to be all we could be, moving in love and not out of fear. The Gospel teaches us to be and do everything we were created to do in Christ, NOT just for us to do anything we want. 

The Gospel respects the goodness and the perfection of the Law, but introduces us to a new and more excellent way in Christ - a life of freedom, yet a life that is royal - a life that is abundant, which meets the perfection of the Law as Christ met its standards. 

This is a far cry from those who bash the Gospel by saying that we claim that we don't have to do anything anymore, or that we claim we can do anything we want, according to our senses. We move and overcome and conquer without fear, knowing that Christ will never leave nor forsake us, driven by the perfect and everlasting love that is always in us, and that we are always in. 

Not that we don't make mistakes; but when we fall, we should not focus on our conduct, but on our immovable and eternal position in Christ, for our conduct and our actions to follow suit. Licentiousness will never be the trait of a person in Christ, because when faith comes by hearing, and as Christ is the author of our faith, we are made new.

We are made new. We are made compatible to God, and incompatible to sin. We have a new heart, and a new mind, which appreciates the Spirit, and is foreign to the flesh, or the mindset of the world without Christ. 

The Gospel is the fulfillment of the Law, and it presents us with an adventure eternally with our Savior, our Father, and our Teacher. The Gospel is Christ, the Word made flesh, that dwelt among us, and is now alive in us, as close as He could ever be to us, and us to Him. 

Because of Christ, we are no longer afraid to die.
Because of Christ, we are forever excited to live.

The exciting adventure, the great journey of a thousand steps does not begin with a simple step, before it begins with believing in Jesus Christ. - Jonas Ajonye

_________________________
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com


May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26