Live Right by His Light

He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed. – (1 Peter 2:24, NLT)

Christ carried our sins in His body on the cross. He did this so that we would stop living for sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you were healed. – (1 Peter 2:24, ERV)

 

As I continue to contemplate the cross and Easter, and everything that this week means, a portion of this morning’s read reminds us why Jesus did what He did. He chose to bear the weight of the world’s sin, so that all might have the choice to live for what is right. No excuses, no burdens of the bad that we have been – Jesus bore them all on the cross so that we could be healed and set free. It is in our discovering of this freedom from the weight of our own unworthiness, that we begin to grasp the greatness of our Savior’s sacrifice and the depth of His decision to love. May we each embrace the gift of grace that God has given, and walk forward in the freedom found through the sacrifice the Savior made on our behalf.

 

Christ carried our sins,

On His body, bore;

The weight of the world,

To be veiled, no more.

No longer removed,

By our sin and shame;

For Christ took it all,

Truth we can now claim.

By His very wounds,

We each have been healed;

So we can live right,

As truth is revealed.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the unfathomable gift that You gave as You sent Your Son to carry the cross for our sin. Thank You Jesus for showing us what a life of love looks like first, and then going on and bearing the burden of all of our sin and shame on the cross so that we could have life everlasting in You. Forgive us for continuing to sink into sin, and help us to seek You to show us the way to live right. Teach us to trust You more, so that we would come to You in all things and at all times. Show us how to love in a way that brings light into darkness, so that all might see the hope that is held in You. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we embrace the gift of grace that we have been given, and look to You to live right. Amen.

© Shannon Elizabeth Moreno and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present

You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence. – Acts 2:28

Unity of the Spirit

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. – (Ephesians 4:3)

 

Make daily, an earnest attempt, to be united in one purpose, empowered by the Holy Spirit, Who holds together and seals our state of order as we follow our Heavenly Father’s good and perfect plan for our lives. God wants us to work together with fellow believers, to be His body. Our charge is to be the church, so that lives may be touched and communities changed. Both are only possible if we are choosing to be united in purpose, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead and direct us as we go. May He equip our every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit, as we pursue His bond of peace.

 

Seek the Lord daily,

to find unity;

only by His strength,

can peace flow from me.

He grants us order,

plants community;

in hearts that seek Him,

that choose to believe.

Trust in His leading,

for His ways are good;

all things together,

as one, understood.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You call us to be united by Your Spirit, and that You equip us to be bound together as one in You, by Your peace. Thank You that Your plans for us are good, and that they include us working together with members of a body of believers. Forgive us for seeking to do things in our own strength, or for neglecting to be united peacefully with the body of believers. Teach us to allow You to reign and rule in our hearts and lives, so that Your peace may pour out upon each relationship we invest in, and may Your love through us be evident to all. Let those who are looking, find a lasting relationship with You forever. Amen.

© Shannon Elizabeth Moreno and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present.

Is anyone happy?  Let his sing songs of praise. – James 5:13