I share the following with the permission of a dear friend of mine. She told me this story in email and I thought it too perfect an illustration NOT to share with you. I hope it encourages you!
My 10 year old son, Zach came up to me tonight all solemn. He said, “I have to tell you something. I was playing in the big dumpster across the road today.. I just thought I should be honest and tell you the truth.” (It had never occurred to me to forbid him playing in it, since I couldn’t have imagined why anyone would even WANT to, lol.)
Anyway, my heart just swelled in love for him. I hugged him and thanked him for telling me, and said that it is true that he shouldn’t be playing in it…broken glass, or snakes or all kinds of dangers lurked in there. But that I appreciated his honesty and told him he was a good boy…
The point is, that simple confession came from a boy who was not afraid of me, he felt the “sin” and didn’t want there to be broken fellowship…even though I wasn’t aware of any break…awareness of wrongdoing made him feel bad, and he did what he needed to remove the burden and not “hold out on me.”
That was such a picture of the real nature of confession. How many times have I been playing in a dumpster? Finding delight in rubbish, unaware of the hidden dangers lurking beneath my grimy treasures. God isn’t waiting to pounce when we realize that playing in our dumpster would displease Him…and if we confess, He even joyfully receives us, and our confession, as a precious gift. It is a great intimacy booster. It shows love and trust on the part of the child, a desire to be right and to please the Father who has shown Himself trustworthy and kind.
And if God feels anything like I felt, the love is even greater in those moments, because you come closer in intimacy. My son completely bypassed the need for “punishment”…his confession showed his heart was tender to me, and desired to be obedient to the spirit of my desires…even beyond the “law” that I might have laid down for him. He wanted to keep the channels of trust open between us. And that is what I desire to do with God…keep those channels open, the relationship secure in its intimacy. And to stay out of those trash dumpsters!
There is a play on words going on in the title of this post. “God doesn’t count.”
I don’t mean “God doesn’t matter,” because of course He does! He is EVERYTHING that matters!
What I DO mean is, He doesn’t count! He doesn’t say “1, 2, 3, 4….” and so on.
–> GOD DOESN’T COUNT YOUR SIN(s) Do you believe that?
Or do you think “I have stuffed my face again. I keep doing the ‘sin repent sin’ cycle thing…and I know God has had it with me…It is only a matter of time before he says ‘That’s it. NO MORE. I am THROUGH with you!’ “
If you are convinced that you can out-SIN God’s love, kindness (which leads us to repentance), then ask Him to help you believe Psalm 32:2 a which says:
Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him…
You see? God doesn’t COUNT.
He can out-love, out-forgive, out-kindness anything you can possibly throw at him.
He doesn’t stand up in heaven with a tablet, making a list and checking it twice to see if you have been naughty or nice…and…suddenly, do a second take…
….Oh no!! Horrors of HORRORS!
………”No! That sin, right there…that ONE sin…is ONE too many! No more forgiveness, no more pardon! No more kindness, no more long suffering! I count ONE TOO MANY SINS against Lisa…against Lou…against… ________ .” (Insert your own name there…)
Further on in Psalm 32, we read:
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD “
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
David knew what it was like to struggle with starting a day with good intentions…to begin again, and again, and again…only to cave in to temptation. Instead of hiding from God, he tell us acknowledging his sin, confessing them…well, it didn’t end badly. God wasn’t counting his sin.
Instead, God forgave.
He keeps forgiving.
Jesus paid an exhorbitant price so that forgiveness could be constantly, freely extended to you…no matter how *many* your sins. If we insist on believing that God “has had it” with us…then we are sucking the life right out of the cross of Christ. We are saying that the death Jesus died has its limits…that it isn’t sufficient.
Do we *really* want to say that?
Let’s believe! God doesn’t count. When we begin again, we really do begin again…fresh start, clean slate…
1 John says God is love and 1 Corinthians 13 says that love keeps no record of wrongs done. So, I have to figure…then God doesn’t keep a record of wrongs.
No, God doesn’t count.
(If you wonder if this blog entry is peddling “cheap grace,” I want to re-state that Jesus paid with his life…There is nothing about grace that is “cheap.” We are challenged not to go on sinning intentionally, willfully so that grace may increase…however the bible also tells us that if we claim we are without sin we lie and God is not in us…So, I receive David’s admonishment in Psalm 32. I seek hard after God and when I DO sin, I confess it and stand cleansed…forgiven…my sin is not counted against me…all because of the high price paid for me to have this privilege. I don’t trivialize it…I bow in reverence and submission…and welcome every possible benefit that has come to me through the extreme sacrifice Jesus offers me…)
In the bible study workbook No Other Gods, by Kelly Minter, I was reminded yesterday morning that it is ever so easy to remember the past (a theme of my blog entries) through rose-colored glasses.
— When I am disappointed that I am no longer hungry and need to stop eating in order to glorify God with my eating and drinking (and stopping the same!)…
–When I know I must “fast” this bite (these bites) to Him as a sacrifice of praise…
–Do I then, in turn, remember it this way: “I used to be able to eat all of that…”
Or, do I also remember the COST?
There *was* a cost to eating the way I did in the past!
Am I like the Israelites when they remembered Egypt: “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.”
They had selective memory. They glorified the past forgetting that they were miserable–mistreated and subjected to hard labor.
Do I have selective memory? Do I remember the high blood pressure, the shame, guilt, the fear that I would *die* of a heart attack or stroke? Do I remember the embarassment of not being able to sit in an airplane seat without my hips popping up the arm rests? Do I remember all the family vacations that I didn’t go on because doing *anything* was too embarassing, humiliating, or uncomfortable for me? Do I remember that the dentist wouldn’t even fill a cavity that needed filling because of his concern for my blood pressure even though I was taking medication to bring it down? Do I remember the concern I had for my horses–that, if I rode, I would make them uncomfortable or uncertain of their footing–to the point where I chose *not* to ride at all? Do I remember all the professional events associated with my husband’s job that I refused to attend at his side because of embarassment and feeling like a tent should I have happened to find a nice enough dress that fit to wear to the event?
Do I remember the conviction day in and day out…and the way I knew with all my heart that I was allowing my heart to harden, to become callused…because I refused to submit my appetites to the Lord? Do I really remember accurately? The bondage, the captivity?
Or do I merely remember “the _______ I ate in Egypt at no cost…?”
Kelly challenged me in the bible study…and I invite God to never let me forget the truth of how I lived. It wasn’t freedom. Far from it. It wasn’t enjoyable…not even all the brownies and cheese enchiladas I could have possibly wanted (way outside of 0 to 5 eating!) could numb me to the pain of the existence I had settled for. It was *far* from the abundant life that the Lord died to give me!
Lord, let me not forget! Burn it in my mind that I might never glorify the past. It was captivity, it was bondage…it was horrible. Help me to look forward, to press on, to go further still for what you have yet in store. I praise you and trust you, Lord. Amen.
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 3:13-14
I haven’t arrived.
God is yet doing a new thing. Yesterdays are filled with victories and defeats, but I am called to forget what is behind and reach toward what is yet ahead. In Hebrews 12:1,2 (and elsewhere) I am called to shake off anything that hinders…even the “good” things, the victory medals, the praises and accolades…and also to shake off the sin that entangles–all the “failures.” I am called to press on, to push forward, to go further still, deeper yet.
God has called me heavenward.
GOD has called me heavenward. This is about I AM…YAHWEH, the KING of the universe….GOD…
God HAS called me heavenward. He HAS done it. I don’t need to wait for a maybe thing. It is DONE.
God has CALLED me heavenward. He has issued a CALL. I have heard it. I am responding to that call.
God has called ME heavenward. It is not for me to worry about others–God will do HIS job and I am to do mine. It is ALL about him, but he has invited me…ME! Amazing!
God has called me HEAVENWARD!!! This isn’t about this earth, about this life. It is about HIM and about HEAVEN. Colossians 3:1-4 challenges me *because* of what God HAS done to set my mind on things above, not on earthly things. To set my HEART on things above…His call is Heavenward, my life is to be lived with Heaven in view!
I’m casting my cares aside I’m leaving my past behind I’m setting my heart and mind on You Jesus I’m reaching my hand to Yours Believing there’s so much more Knowing that all You have in store for me is good Today is the day You have made I will rejoice and be glad in it Today is the Day!
I get asked about photos a lot…so thought I would put together a slide show that sort of shows a jet trip tour through my weight ups and downs since Fall of 2002. I consider the photo from Summer of 2006 my true “Before” photo…even though there were many “Befores.”
You can see from my yo-yoing weight why I find maintaining a somewhat stable weight now so important…and also why I battle the voice that tells me again and again that I will yet gain weight back–that this weight loss and new lifestyle is temporary. I am clinging to God, but still struggle so very much.
Hi, folks. Got back from the Thin Within conference and it was such a delight. Joe Donaldson did some amazing teaching that I hope to share here a bit.
I am on the run this morning. I plan on taking Breezy out on a trail walk. Nothing major, but enough to see if he might enjoy it. I know he gets in a funk (like me!) when he doesn’t get out. So we will venture out on a short, flat trail ride or walk. I need the exercise!
Thank you for your prayers and emails!
Some of you have emailed me that you have seen the latest Health magazine–the July/August issue. You found page 47 where Thin Within is mentioned! YAY! I am so thankful that God made sure that this little article on “mindful eating” included a mention of a “faith-based” program…Thin Within! I hope others will discover Thin Within and–more importantly–the truth that sets us truly free!
Anyway, my heart just swelled in love for him. I hugged him and thanked him for telling me, and said that it is true that he shouldn’t be playing in it…broken glass, or snakes or all kinds of dangers lurked in there. But that I appreciated his honesty and told him he was a good boy… 
