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Thoughts for a Woman's Heart |
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encouragement in things that matter |
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An Unparalleled Exchange
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Come with me to the barren hill called "Golgotha" outside the ancient city of Jerusalem. Three crude crosses pierce the horizon. Tormented moans rehearse the cruel pain of crucifixion as untimely darkness begins to fall. Two who are dying are thieves, fully deserving, according to the law, of their deaths. Hanging between the thieves is the sinless Son of God who is dying because He chose to fulfill His Father’s plan. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Cries of mockery and taunts of abuse blur with insult against the Son of God. One of the thieves seems to suddenly recognize the injustice of it all and in his recognition, he understands the truth of who is hanging beside him. With clarity and conviction, his heart and mind fully aware of the eternity before him, the dying thief becomes the recipient of God’s all-encompassing grace and mercy. Having now been declared righteous, this man is embraced by God as physical life is taken from him. What unspeakable irony! This same God turns away from His Son because the Son has become the bearer of sin, as well as sin itself, for the thief who hangs beside Him and for all of mankind – including me. I have something in common with the penitent thief. We both gave our sin to God and God gave to us His righteousness. That is an exchange that defies comparison – my sin for the very righteousness of the Son of God. Defilement for purity. Daily, my prayer to God is that I would remember that I cannot call God, "Father," apart from the cross. Let me be continually mindful of the power and the intensity of Your plan, the love that was, and is, behind it, the willingness and the horrid suffering and separation of Jesus, and the shame and depth of my own sin. Jesus took my sin, in all of its ugliness, and gave me the beauty of righteousness, His righteousness, perfection of purity – what an awesome exchange! O God, let me never forget. From the Old Testament, David reminds us that our sin can get very messy. It can wreak havoc within our own soul and life as we attempt to live with its guilt and consequences. It can hurt the people we love and damage our bodies, our character, and our potential. But David too was covered by the most incredible of all exchanges – his sin for the righteousness of God. Daughter of God, I pray that you too will never forget. |
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— Bev |
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