Nebraska Heiress Turns Down $204 Million Jackpot

“The Powerball Jackpot is now $204 Million!” my older neighbor informed me as we chatted in the driveway.  The drawing for the potential winning ticket on Wednesday was newsworthy.  How kind of him to make sure I was not missing out!

“Oh, but you aren’t the gambling type,” he remembered, knowing we have talked together about the lottery and eternity many times.  What good is winning the lottery if you die?

“Oh, but I am rich!” I said, dead serious.  “I have an inheritance; I’m just waiting for that time.”

For a minute, my neighbor leaned in, “Wait, you have an inheritance?  Is that your grandparents? your parents?”  But then he caught truth, what seemed to him nonsense, “Oh-- that religious stuff you mean?”

The conversation launched into discussions of the Bible and faith, and even how men gambled for Christ’s clothing when he was crucified.  Yes, there is gambling even in the Bible. 

I brought up reason as a starting point to show how not believing the Bible is still a gamble.  Philosopher Blaise Pascal used his skepticism and reason to lay out what is known as the “Great Wager”. 

What you stake is finite and what you gain (or lose!) is infinite.

If you don’t believe God, and he doesn’t exist=you lose nothing
If you do believe God, and he doesn’t exist=you lose nothing
If you do believe God, and he does exist=you gain infinitely
If you don’t believe God, and he does exist=you lose infinitely

Reason alone can’t save your soul, but there is strong reason for our faith.  Even with a weak starting point like this, I feel it is worth staking my life and soul and eternity on the Truth of Jesus in the Bible.  If I don’t trust Him, I lose infinitely!

I have been meditating on the riches promised to me in the Bible so much that by faith my inheritance promised is as real to me as if written in my own grandparents’ will.  My response to my neighbor’s news about the Powerball that I am rich was not in jest but very much in earnest. 

The $204 million jackpot is pennies to me compared to the inheritance I am going to receive.  My hope to gain is not wishful but it is certain.

This is absolutely amazing!!  I am awake early with the birds because I could not even sleep thinking about this truth!

Listen to this prayer of Paul:

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.”  Ephesians 1.18

Riches!!  I am stunned to think that he has called me to receive an inheritance!  This is just incredible! 

I turn back a few verses and read “In him we were also chosen [NIV]...made heirs [NIV alternative rendering]...we have obtained an inheritance [ESV]...”
CATCH THIS:

“According to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”  Ephesians 1.11

Think “Last will and testament”...think of a will!  This is the plan of the King:  His will is written in ink, in blood, no less!  And it says that we who are in Christ have obtained an inheritance.

We are heirs of the Divine will!!

It’s all written in his will!  Think “New Testament”.

Oh!  I long for you to join me in celebrating these riches and putting your hope in Christ with me.  I cannot begin to detail all we receive, because we would end up quoting verse upon verse of the Bible! 

What I invite you to do is to receive this song I spent hours and days laboring to write, to put into melody and line the truth I have seen in the Word about the riches I am to inherit.  Nearly every single line of the song is a reference from Scripture, so for a delightful treat, look up the verses too!   

This can be your inheritance too if you have been adopted by new birth into the Royal family of the King!

Inheritance
original music and lyric by Jessica Becker
Listen On YouTube to Jessica singing

I’ve been given a glorious inheritance (Eph 1.18)
I’m an heir, according to the promise (Gal 3.29)
I’ve been called, chosen, predestined (Heb. 9.15, Eph. 1.4-5)
to become God’s own son (Gal 4.5-7)
A brother of the Holy One (Heb. 2.11-12 & 3.1; Ro. 8.29)

[Refrain A]
This mystery in Christ is just marvelous! (Eph. 3.6)
Unsearchable!--the riches of Christ (Eph. 3.8)
The truth of it makes me quite delirious (K. Hughes)
That by His blood he secured eternal life! (Heb. 9.12)

1. Long before time began (Eph. 1.4)
God wrote His will and plan (Eph. 1.11)
Eternal Son radiating Glory (Heb. 1.3)
Clothed Himself with humanity (Heb. 2.14 & 17)

2. Through Christ’s blood upon death
The Sovereign will took effect (Heb. 9.16-17)
A ransom slain, mediating for me:
His inheritance I receive (Heb. 9.15)

[Refrain A]

3. The dead alive?!  How can it be?!
Never before in history (Heb. 13.20; J. Piper)
The Executor working His will in me (Heb. 13.20-21)
The Spirit His Guarantee (Eph. 1.13-14; 2 Cor. 5.5)

[Refrain B]
The magnitude of Christ is Superior (Heb. 1.4; 3.3; 7.24-27; 8.6...)
Incredible--the greatness of Christ!
All other gods and men are inferior
I’ll worship Him for the rest of my life!

Christ’s been given a glorious inheritance (Eph. 1.18)
He’s appointed heir of all things (Heb. 1.2)
I’m adopted through Christ Jesus (Eph. 1.5)
And an heir, since a son (Gal. 4.7)
Rich in faith--to inherit the kingdom (James 2.5)


Fatal Lapse of Concentration

"The Moment" by Frank Crymble

What if you made a mistake for just one fraction of a second in your life which was so fatal that a statue was formed to immortalize that moment?

Or what if you had a goal you were trying to reach, and for just one moment you lost focus and compared yourself to another person instead, and that cost you your goal?

I would hate to make such a fatal error! 

Even worse, what if more than 35,000 people watched you live in that one moment, and through media it went viral?  We have seen many such moments!

My imagination was captured today when I learned about “the moment” in a famous race of the century, known as “the Miracle Mile.”

It was August 7, 1954, the historic day at the Empire Stadium in Vancouver, B.C., when two men, who had both broken the four minute mile, would meet for the first time in one race.

It was one of the greatest mile-run-match-ups ever! 

I used to run track, and running is my favorite sport, so this story captured my interest for a number of reasons.

Most of us love to see amazing human feats in highlight videos or in dramatic shoulder-to-shoulder photo finishes.  I love an exciting and exhilarating moment in sports, especially in races on the track!

But I also love the metaphors of running and races that we find in the Bible for our faith.

“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12.2

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  2 Timothy 4.7

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.”  1 Corinthians 9.24

It was during my study on Hebrews 12 when I learned from commentator Kent Hughes about this famous race, “The Miracle Mile.” 

“Roger Bannister and John Landy were the only two sub-four-minute milers in the world.  Bannister had been the first man ever to run a four-minute mile.  Both runners were in peak condition.
Bannister...strategized that he would relax during the third lap and save everything for his finishing drive.  But as they began the third lap, John Landy poured it on, stretching his already substantial lead.  Immediately Bannister adjusted his strategy, increasing his pace and gaining on Landy.  The lead was cut in half, and at the bell for the final lap they were even.

Landy began running even faster, and Bannister followed suit.  He felt he was going to lose if Landy did not slow down. 

Then came the famous moment (replayed thousands of times in print and celluloid) as at the last stride before the home stretch the crowds roared.

Landy could not hear Bannister’s footfall and thus compulsively looked back--a fatal lapse of concentration.  Bannister launched his attack, and Landy did not see him until he lost the lead.  Bannister won the “miracle mile” that day by five yards.”

Kent goes on to make this connection:

“Landy’s lapse serves as a modern visualization of what the writer of Hebrews implicitly warned against in his earlier charge to ‘run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:1,2 NASB). 

Those who look away from Christ--the end goal of our race--will never finish well.  And this was exactly what was happening to some treading the stormy waters mounting around the early church.  They had begun to take their eyes off Christ and to fix them instead on the hardships challenging them.”

As a result of suffering and struggles, “not a few were distracted.  Those increasingly longer looks away from Christ left some off-stride.  Others stumbled here and there, and tragically a few had quit altogether.”

My heart took a holy heed to the warning I saw captured in Landy’s left-shoulder look!

I must keep running!  I must keep my eyes on the goal, which is Christ!  I must not compare myself to others or get distracted or lose my focus!  Or worse than a statue could be made out of me, for more than forever.

Words Jesus once said ring in my spiritual ears:

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  Luke 9.62

Who does that remind me of?  I am a visual learner, so when I saw that someone had actually made a statue out of Landy’s lapse, I suddenly remembered another salty statue in Scripture:

“But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”  Genesis 19.26

Whereas for Landy, “A moment that took only a fraction of a second was frozen in time forever”, for Lot’s wife her salty slip-up at Sodom was cemented in Scripture forever.

Even Jesus reminded his disciples: “Remember Lot’s Wife!  Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”  Luke 17.32-33

Before fear turns us to fatalism or frantic striving, let us consider carefully two applications for the one metaphor of looking back.

We have two statues, and two spiritual realities.

 Lot’s wife, causes us to ask ourselves, “Am I really saved?”
 Landy causes us to ask ourselves, “Will I finish well?”

Some of my readers may not be saved, so this picture of looking back hopefully prods your soul on to seriously consider whether you love this life and the kingdom of this world or whether you would be willing to live instead for Jesus and his heavenly kingdom. 

Others of my readers have committed to living for Christ, but fear failing in faith.  I tend to see myself this way.  I take seriously the warnings from Hebrews, and I was so stunned to see that photo moment of Landy looking back.  Oh, how I do not want to be like that!

The good thing about Landy is that he did in fact finish the race, and he did in fact still get honored as an amazing athlete.  That part of the metaphor makes me believe that he is not a complete failure! 

But the challenge to my faith is to consider whether Landy might have won or tied Bannister if he had not broken concentration and looked back. 

In what ways do I get distracted from Christ? 

What in my life causes me to look away from the goal and take my eyes off Jesus?

What circumstances tempt me to stumble, sin or even think of quitting?

And what encouragement can I find to strengthen my faith and free me from fear of failure?

This is one of my favorite verses: “We who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure...Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.”  Hebrews 6.18-20 ESV

Oh!  What a balm to my soul!  To think that I don’t need to strive more or to fear more!  Yes, he wants me to take the warnings seriously, but then he assures me that it is not my efforts that will help me succeed, but my hoping in Christ that will hold me. 

“Hold fast!” it says.  “Our hope is an anchor for our soul!”

Jesus is our forerunner!  He went before us, and not only this, a hall of faith in Hebrews 11, a great cloud (crowd!) of witnesses, is now cheering like fanatic fans in the grandstands for us, that we will finish well with perseverance the race set before us! 

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus!”

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3.12-14

Watch this 1 minute 43 second video to help you cement this metaphor in your memory.  I know I will not forget it.

Greater Worth Than Gold

“Hey, Kids!  We are going to see real gold!  They will even let us lift a 27 pound bar of pure gold!”
  
My four young children were as excited as I was to visit the Money Museum in Kansas City.  In all my years, I had not seen a bar of pure  gold, nor had I ever visited a Federal Reserve Bank. 
  
When I was a young girl I collected coins, and as I traveled around the world I also added foreign coins to my collection.  My kids love to look through my coin treasure box and to ask, “How much is this one worth?”  They love to learn about exchange rates, especially since I had given them their own Pesos from our years living in the Philippines. 
  
After all the anticipation, we finally passed security at the Money Museum.  The older boys were captivated by the display of the history coins lining the walls.  The younger two preferred to stick their heads in the large $100,000 bill and to design their own money on the touch screens for kids. 
  

Kids discover 40 million dollars!

We were amazed to actually get our hands on $40,000,000---real dollars!  Through secure glass, we watched the employees handling thousands of dollars and processing money through machines.  After watching robot carts transfer crates of thousands into vaults, my kids started looking for more.
  
“Where’s the gold?!” No, 40 million dollars was not enough for my curious kids.  They wanted to see and lift the most valuable form of money--pure gold.
  
We were a little disappointed that we couldn’t actually hold the gold in our bare hands! But being valued at $516,997, we could only look at it through the protected case.  We did get to take turns feeling the weight of the 27 pound gold bar by pulling down the lever on the side of the treasure box.  “Worth its weight in gold!” they say.  Now I know what they mean!
  
As I put my kids to bed, we chatted again about the gold.  I said, “You know, the Bible says God’s Word is more precious than gold...than much pure gold!  That means, even if you died and were buried in tons of gold bars, none of them could save you from sin.  But the Bible is worth more than gold because it holds the promises that lead you to Jesus, and only He can save our souls from death!  Do you believe that?”  My son nodded, yes.  We chatted about faith to see true riches, which are future, even though we had seen millions in the present.
  
I tucked the kids into bed and went to my room to open my own Bible.

“Hey,” I thought, “I should put that on Instagram!”

"Your Word is more precious than gold" Psalm 19

I got out my precious Bible and opened to that same passage in Psalm 19.  I started clicking on my phone and opening my layout app, then scrolling through my vacation pictures.  I got my post all ready and added the spiritual caption: “Your Word is more precious to me than gold, than much pure gold.” 
  
I clicked on my news feed to admire my post.  Yes, I liked the result.
  
I started scrolling.
  
“Hmmm....I wonder if I should check Facebook,” I thought, after flipping through Instagram.  I clicked on the Facebook app and started checking my notifications and responding to comments. 
  
I continued scrolling.
  
My attention was captured.  My mind was distracted.  I was getting hooked on finding more posts, more things to “like”, and more random articles to skim.
  
And then.
 
I was struck.  Suddenly I looked beyond the phone in my hand and saw the silent Bible laying open on my lap.
  
“More precious than gold, eh?  How about more precious than my iphone?” 
  

"More precious than gold, eh?"

Ohhh!  How could I say I was too tired to stay awake to read more of the Bible, yet I could waste an hour of mindless social media scrolling?!
  
Lord!  Why did I get so engaged in my iphone while Your Word sat silent?  Is Your Word more to be desired to me than my phone? 

“Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.”
Psalm 119.18
  
Lord, make your Word and Your promises more desirable to me than anything else!  Let me become engaged in your Word and stimulate me not just intellectually but stir me spiritually and warm me emotionally.  Uncover for me treasure in your Word worth more than gold.  Help me to see the value of it and to treasure You more when I meet you there.

“I have strayed like a lost sheep.
Seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten your commands.”
Psalm 119.176

Lord Jesus, let me return to you today, my Good Shepherd.  I repent and confess my need for you.  Word Hunger comes from you, and only you can give me faith to see the great worth of this treasure.

“The law from your mouth
is more precious to me
than thousands of pieces
of silver and gold.”
Psalm 119.72

“I counsel you to buy from me
GOLD
refined in the fire,
so you can become rich.”--Jesus Christ
Revelation 3.18

Helpful articles that I am reflecting on as I pray for more wisdom and intentionality in 2017 on my phone use:
Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Smartphone Usage
Facebook Obsession and the Anguish of Boredom
Smartphone Addiction and our Spiritual ADD

He Restores My Soul

Sound of fountain flowing
Trees blowing
Country crickets chirping
Vast blue sky a cathedral ceiling
Quiet trees planted, rooted, unmoving--
my prayer for faith

Fields of corn far-reaching
No Filipino karoke or roosters blaring
No internet signal distracting
Green grass, a carpet cot for a nap
Shade and silence for solitude
with my Savior

Leaves fluttering
Branches rustling
Soothing sound to my 
tired ears of
kids screaming
boys shouting.

Energetic kids eager
for attention and affection
now not interrupting.
Responsibility for others
lifted from my shoulders,
my back tired from carrying, cleaning, 
conflict, correcting, child-rearing.

Thank you, Lord, for a retreat.
Respite
Rest
Refresh me
Restore my soul.

Psalm 23: "The Lord...makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul."

[Location: Saint Benedict Retreat Center near Schuyler, NE]

Grieving Loss; Knowing Hope

Since I suddenly left the Philippines in May 2014, I have had a long journey of healing and grieving. 

Many times I have been heard saying, “I lost everything!  It felt like my life burned up in a fire!”

In a short time, without even knowing I would not be returning, I lost
--my home of 10 years
--all of my worldly possessions, except what would fit into a few suitcases
--my community and daily friendships
--a people and culture that I had come to love
--a ministry that I found fulfilling and meaningful

I didn't even get to say good-bye! [This photo was taken in my absence so my dear ladies could say good-bye to me]. 

I lost even deeper things than that, some so deep I cannot even write them today. 

[As an aside, I find it interesting and relieving that through the years I always had a sense that someday I may have to leave the country suddenly, so little by little I had hand-carried my volumes of journals and photo albums back to storage at my parents’ house.  I am so glad I did that!!].

A few weeks ago in my gospel community from church, one of my sweet sisters in the Lord prayed for me, “Lord, thank you that Jessica did not lose her faith through it all, but that her faith continues to be strengthened.”

Of course!  Why didn’t I think of that!?  It was almost prophetic, that prayer she prayed.  It shot through my grief like an arrow of truth.

Providentially, during May 2014 I had been memorizing 1 Peter chapter 1, including these precious words, which God knew I would cling to in days to come:

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  1 Peter 1.6-7

How can I keep telling people, “I lost everything!”, as if to gain their sympathy in my grief, when God has told me, “I kept for you the most valuable thing: your faith”?!

My faith, God reminds me, is of greater worth than gold!  Do I really believe this?!  What if I had lost all that I did, plus my faith?  I think I would not have survived. 

As I still process grief of various degrees, God continues to pierce my cloud with sunbeams of Scripture light.  Oh, His Word is so precious to me!

Just this morning I was memorizing and studying Hebrews 10.34, and there it was again!

“You ...joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.” 

How am I going to find joy in grief and loss? 

Answer:  Knowing that I have something better and lasting!

A beloved preacher said: “When you know that you have a better and a lasting persuasion, you are not paralyzed by loss.  If that better possession is great enough, you will even be able to rejoice in loss.”

Some people have experienced even greater loss than I have.  I acknowledge that pain, and I would like not to compare my pain (greater or lesser) to any other person. 

However, I would like to invite any person who has suffered any loss, small or great, to join me in the journey for joy by hoping in the one thing that is better and more lasting than any earthly pleasure:

“You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Psalm 16.11

Filling me with joy=BETTER than what I lost
Eternal pleasures=LASTING longer than what I lost

And what is this “better and lasting possession”?

Life, salvation, yes!  “You have made known to me the path of life.”  [See my last post "A Path to Walk On"].
But read Psalm 16.11 again with me:

“you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

It is not only a what, but a WHO: “In your presence...at your right hand.”
[I must credit this powerful sermon, "The Present Power of a Future Possession" with this insight!  I recommend you listen!].

He is the Lord.  He is Jesus.  The joy is in being with Jesus; the hope is in being called by His Name.  If I lose everything on earth, even my own life, and my faith is kept, I gain Christ. 

Jesus is worth living for.  He is worth more than losing everything on earth.  Jesus is worth even dying for. 

I remind myself of this truth today, because I know tomorrow I may wake up and feel clouds of grief threatening to rain on my joy. 

I am preaching this to myself, and memorizing it, singing it, praying it, whatever it takes to sink this truth into my bones:

“Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73.23-26

Will you join me in praying for more hope in what is better and lasting? 

A Path To Walk On

July 10, 2005

I was struck suddenly by sadness when I turned right onto the tree-lined lane toward the lake.  The memory of my wedding day flooded back fresh, yet so distant a day.  It was the same path where my new husband and I posed for our wedding photos, me a beautiful bride, and he leaning me back for a kiss.

That moment was precious, and the hope of a new bride fresh.  I was ready for the path!  That was the day we had waited for.  That is the path I chose, and he was the man I wanted to walk with on the journey of life.

Oh Path!  You are not what I imagined!

Oh Path!  How could you still be there, and I am still here?  Yet, you are not what I thought, and I am not who I was.

That young hopeful bride flew far away from that sacred spot.  Off for foreign adventures, around the world away from home roots.  The journey filled years of unexpected turns and detours.

Here I am, back where I started, but not the same.

Still I am hopeful, yet my gaze has been fixed to One unseen.  Though the Path was not what I imagined it would be, I have learned to journey with One greater than I could ever imagine!

He is the unchanging, faithful friend, who not only shares this Path with me but is Himself called the Way.

He is Jesus:  "I am the Way..." (John 14.6).

Oh Jesus!  You are the Path, and you are with me on this Path.  You lead me and guide me, you never leave me alone!

"Show me your ways, O Lord,
Teach me your paths...
My hope is in you all day long."
Psalm 25.4-5

"I will guide you in the way of wisdom
And lead you along straight paths."
Proverbs 4.11

There are no guarantees I can give to a new bride, but this: let your deepest hope be in Jesus, because He is the Faithful Prince of Peace, and He really is riding on a white horse!

"I saw heaven open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True....on his head are many crowns...He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God."
Revelation 19.11-13

It is worth putting our hope in this Prince.

It is worth following Him on this Path.

"For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
Matthew 7.13-14

Which Path are you walking on?

Cleanse My Conscience

Photo cred: quotesgram.com

“Oh, how am I going to forgive myself?”  I wrote in my journal just last week. 

“Lord, I’m feeling guilty, and I need you.  I can barely write my failure because I feel so bad.” 

Have you ever said unloving words that you regret?  Then the guilt you feel after saying them, and you can’t erase them? 

What is worse, I said the words to my most sensitive child, and I fear that the effect will be deep damage!

A sermon I heard the very next day (the timing of the Spirit!) was recorded in 1997, but totally fitting for me!  He said, 
“Modern science and ‘progress’ cannot make the slightest advance in solving the real human problem--a dirty conscience.”

I have been working on memorizing Hebrews 9 for two weeks, and it is quite a passage!  The richness of the old covenant, the sacrificial system and the tabernacle was all set up to ultimately prepare us for and point us to Christ. 

Of the old covenant it says:
“the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.”  Hebrews 9.9

As my guilty conscience weighed me down more, I continued to confess to my journal:

“I can hardly bear to think of it now!...I try to pursue him in love, but my love gets so challenged so quickly!...Oh, knives to my heart!  My guilt is too great.  Please, please please forgive me Lord!  How can I ever undo this?”

Interesting, how I can only memorize a few verses at a time!  Because it causes me to slow down and really think on it:  “not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper....” until verse 11 (ESV!):

“BUT [contrast!] when Christ appeared as high priest...”

There He is!  Someone who can clear my guilty conscience!  This is what I need to hear!  I need a high priest, a mediator.  Someone who can free me from that burden and wash my crimson stains. “Out damn spot!” in the famous words of Lady Macbeth.

How ironic to think that the stain on Lady Macbeth’s hands were blood, and yet it is also bloody hands that can wash out such guilt.

“What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works...” Hebrews 9.14

Photo cred: ubdavid.org

The blood of Christ can purify my guilty conscience!  Nothing that I can do, no dead works--my own righteousness to try to repair or make it up to God, will ever purify my conscience.  Only through faith in the one spotless Lamb, “without blemish” can I draw near to God.

If you are like me, and find yourself feeling guilty after sinning, you may find yourself trying to run and hide from God.  You may try to carry the guilt yourself or try to make it up somehow by doing better. 

But, let us make a new habit of running TO God with our guilt.  Let us look to Christ, who offered himself in our place for our sin, and trust in His finished work on the cross to bring us near to God and to purify our conscience.

If you are someone who does not feel a guilty conscience, it is possible that you are suppressing that through keeping busy, using substances, or ignoring guilt another way.  In that case, I urge you also to be set free today by calling on the Name of Jesus and trusting Him to pay the penalty for you.

If you don’t feel guilty, it is possible that you are a righteous person, doing good works and feeling good about yourself.  If you are not looking to Christ but looking to yourself for a clean conscience, you are also in need of freedom from “dead works”.  I urge you, friend, to release your trust in your own righteous works to save you and rely instead on the work that Christ has already done to save you. 

I want to make this song my regular prayer:

I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God;
He bears them all, and frees us from the accursed load;
I bring my guilt to Jesus, to wash my crimson stains
White in His blood most precious, till not a stain remains.

[Listen to this version that I like, by Matt Foreman]
(Orignial hymn by Horatius Bonar in 1843: full lyrics here)

P.S. I did reconcile with my son and I know Christ is at work to purify and redeem us both!  Pray for us when the Spirit brings us to mind.