Daily Prayer - Welcome home!

Good Friday morning, my friends.

  

I hope you feel the same way about this that I do - I never get tired of hearing the Gospel spelled out.  I may be a little thick (I have enough family members on this list to attest to that!), and need to hear it often, but there is also that whispering that Satan constantly does, reminding me of my past sins.  Incidentally, I heard a pithy little saying this morning in a sermon - "The next time Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future."  (It was attributed to Greg Laurie).

  

Welcome home            

 by John Fischer 

  

I have some really good news for everyone today, but it's not just good news; it's preposterously Good News. I found it as I was reading in Isaiah.

  

 "I, the Lord, made you, and will not forget to help you. I have swept away your sins like the morning mists. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free." (Isaiah 44:21-22)

  

Here it is: God forgave us first; then He invites us home.

  

It could just as easily have been: Return to me and I will forgive your sins. That would have been remarkable enough. But instead, it's: Come home because you've already been forgiven.

  

This was precisely the case for the prodigal son. He was forgiven before he ever reached the front driveway. That's why his old man was running to meet him. There was no discussion. No: "I hope you learned your lesson." He needn't even ask for forgiveness, for it had already been granted.

  

This is our message to the world: You have already been forgiven, so come home. Christ has already paid the price to set you free. He has removed the barrier between God and us. How can anyone resist so great a love? No wonder Paul calls it Good News. Can you imagine anything better when it comes to God and our sin?

  

 We know we are guilty. Our consciences tell us that. We know the demands of the law. We have the commandments for that, and we aren't doing very well by them. We know that if we mess up in just one thing, we are charged with breaking the whole law. God does not grade on the curve. Instead, He offers us a blanket pardon -- the only thing that could ever save us.

  

"Oh, return to me, for I have [already] paid the price to set you free."

  

That's just nothing short of preposterously good news.

  

This is the essence of the Gospel of Welcome. Everything has already been done. Every barrier has been removed. Every price has been paid. You don't have to chant, say the right words, pray, complete the requirements, jump through any hoops, renounce your former life ... you only have to get on home. Arms are open wide. All is forgiven. Welcome.

  

Welcome home.

  

  

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Bruce

  

  

Father, it is only through the sacrificial blood of Your Son that my sins are forgiven. 

  

My guilty stains are plunged into the bottom of the ocean to be remembered no more. 

  

All the adjectives in one's vocabulary cannot adequately describe the depth of my gratitude for such a selfless act of love. 

  

Your redeeming blood sacrifice frees us from the penalty of sin in this life and for all eternity. 

  

Thank You, Jesus, for freely shedding Your blood on my behalf. 

  

Amen.

 

(http://adailyprayer.wordpress.com/2013/06/27/a-prayer-of-thanks-for-christs-shed-blood/)