Colossians 2:14 “Jesus has forgiven all of our sins and canceled every debt we have. Christ has done away with it by nailing it to a cross.”
I don’t use the word hate much, but I hate congealed salads. Why do we feel the need to fix fruits, vegetables, and nuts into a perfectly good bowl of Jello? My momma was a great country cook, but when her sewing circle came over, she served what I call “foofoo food.” She would mix clear gelatin and ham and olives and celery and marshmallows and put them into a mold, and it was horrible. Sometimes I think we take all the bad pieces of life- the sins, the trouble, the bad times, the bad decisions – from the past and lump them all together, and we get stuck, congealed, stagnant. We live in the past, and we miss the joy and the beauty and the grandeur that the Lord has for us today. We all have a past. We all have a few skeletons in his closet, a few things we wished we hadn’t done, some bad things done to us, some choices we wished we had not made. It is hard to break free from the shaping power of the pain and bad memories and screw-ups from the past. But the good news is that we can be set free. Jesus died on a cross for our sins. Rick Warren said, “Jesus was hung for our hang-ups. He was nailed to the cross for my messes so I can stop nailing myself.” He wants to forgive your past. He wants to cancel every emotional debt, every relational debt, and every sin debt you owe. Because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. We can live debt-free. How? Put your hope and put your trust in Jesus today. Why don’t you stop nailing yourself to the cross? Remember, Jesus has already been nailed to the cross for those sins. Trust Him and be set free.
I don’t use the word hate much, but I hate congealed salads. Why do we feel the need to fix fruits, vegetables, and nuts into a perfectly good bowl of Jello? My momma was a great country cook, but when her sewing circle came over, she served what I call “foofoo food.” She would mix clear gelatin and ham and olives and celery and marshmallows and put them into a mold, and it was horrible. Sometimes I think we take all the bad pieces of life- the sins, the trouble, the bad times, the bad decisions – from the past and lump them all together, and we get stuck, congealed, stagnant. We live in the past, and we miss the joy and the beauty and the grandeur that the Lord has for us today. We all have a past. We all have a few skeletons in his closet, a few things we wished we hadn’t done, some bad things done to us, some choices we wished we had not made. It is hard to break free from the shaping power of the pain and bad memories and screw-ups from the past. But the good news is that we can be set free. Jesus died on a cross for our sins. Rick Warren said, “Jesus was hung for our hang-ups. He was nailed to the cross for my messes so I can stop nailing myself.” He wants to forgive your past. He wants to cancel every emotional debt, every relational debt, and every sin debt you owe. Because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. We can live debt-free. How? Put your hope and put your trust in Jesus today. Why don’t you stop nailing yourself to the cross? Remember, Jesus has already been nailed to the cross for those sins. Trust Him and be set free.
– Tim Thompson, Senior Pastor