hmm. i haven't been writing down a lot of my personal thoughts here right now.. but that's ok i guess. i have been learning a lot about myself.. and the Lord has been speaking to my heart in so many ways lately Ü
i guess there's a time to talk/write.. and there's a time to just quietly listen to what He has to say Ü for now, i'm simply trying to enjoy His presence and His guidance in my life Ü read on.. and may you be blessed by these as well.. Ü
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"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8); "Love covers all wrongs" (Proverbs 10:12b); "He who covers over an offense promotes love..." (Proverbs 17:9)
Oh, let us engrave these verses on our hurting hearts! These are the verses that, with God's help, can renew our commitment to God Himself, as well as to those who need and deserve our cherishment. Love, in spite of how we feel about the who or the what or the why...! What a monumental invitation into the very chambers and the character of the Father. It also takes monumental courage, with emphasis on the mental, for it is taking hold of the will to love, even as God loves, in spite of what has happened--and in place of spite.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks to love is the records we keep of wrongs. We know that our precious God covers our sins. He asks us to forget the things--the sins, ours and others--that are behind, and go on with His love and mercy. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them..." (2 Corinthians 5:19). Can we not do for others that which God does for us: write wrongs in ashes? We keep a record of the "sins" which God has already put away from Him, "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12). Our heart is blackened with the soot of another's trespasses and now and then we sweep up a bit of it and rub our hands and minds in it, and then ask God for forgiveness for our meanness--again. Instead, let us reconcile and wipe the record clean forever!
William Barclay explains why love hides a multitude of sins, ours and theirs:
1. It may mean that our love can overlook many sins. "Love covers all offences," says the writer of the Proverbs (Prov.10:12). If we love a person, it is easy to forgive. It is not that love is blind, but that it loves a person just as he is. Love makes patience easy. It is much easier to be patient with our own children than with the children of strangers. If we really love our fellowmen, we can accept their faults, and bear with their foolishness, and even endure their unkindness. Love indeed can cover a multitude of sins.
2. It may mean that, if we love others, God will overlook a multitude of sins in us. In life we meet two kinds of people. We meet those who have no faults at which the finger may be pointed; they are moral, orthodox, and supremely respectable; but they are hard and austere and unable to understand why others make mistakes and fall into sin. We also meet those who have all kinds of faults; but they are kind and sympathetic and they seldom or never condemn. It is the second kind of person to whom the heart more readily warms; and in all reverence we may say that it is so with God. He will forgive much to the man who loves his fellowmen.
3. It may mean that God's love covers the multitude of our sins. That is blessedly and profoundly true. It is the wonder of grace that, sinners as we are, God loves us; that is why he sent his Son.
I so appreciate this thought: "In tropical forests the orchids thrust out long floating roots into mid-air, from the impure vapours of which they draw their nourishment. They live on trunks of huge decaying trees, which, as decomposition proceeds very rapidly, would, if left alone, fill the air with poisonous gases. But the orchid swings in rich festoons over the rotting boughs: covers the deformity with its own loveliness, absorbs all foul exhalations and turns them into the perfume of its own sweet flowers. Charity is this beautiful orchid, covering human frailty, clearing away harsh, suspicious, and cruel slanders; breathing forth merciful judgments, compassionate sympathy." James Neil, M.A.
O Father, may we be Your orchid today!
by: Patricia Nordman
THE ONION I was an onion before Christ set me free;
Layers upon layers of iniquity.
An ugly old onion whose fragrance was strong;
That my Jesus bought and loved all along.
Unknown to me what He was going to do;
Of what He was planning, I had not a clue.
Pulling each layer off one by one,
In order to make me more like Jesus the Son.
The first layer wasn't so bad,
I saw all the sins that I knew I had.
They were easy to fix, just change the way I talk,
And learn more of how He wanted me to walk.
Reading His Word, and learning again;
How to put aside my life of sin.
But the next layer was pulled which hurt more,
He was getting closer to the core.
Unknown what He would find there,
I simply gave it to Him in prayer.
As another layer was removed, He started to cry;
Pulling this layer brought pain to my Father on High.
And I was crying over the sadness I felt;
The brokenness and all of the guilt.
Past memories that I thought were gone;
Were buried under layers disguised in a fragrance so strong.
As onions are peeled more and more,
They put tears in our eyes as we get close to the core;
So my Father wept over my pain;
Giving me a balm of comfort and strength to sustain.
"NO MORE LAYERS!" I would scream,
As He continued to peel each layer off of me.
"I'll have nothing left, my Lord, what will I do?
I'll be nothing but a worthless core to You."
But He simply said "Trust Me," continuing to peel,
I believed He was blinded to my pain that was so real.
Year after year I shrunk more and more;
Until all that was left of this onion was a core.
It was then that I began to understand;
As the Lord embraced me in His loving hand.
He said, "Now, and only now, can you be;
The creation that will minister before Me.
"Clothed with the righteousness only from above;
Gone are your layers of self, so you can be filled with My love."
He took my layers of sin, hurt and pain;
And clothed me with love, truth and mercy in His name.
Yes, we are all onions, learning with each day;
How to overcome as each layer is taken away.
Some layers tear and pull at our heart;
While others grieve us to our innermost part.
But we are nothing but an ugly onion without Christ.
Layers upon layers of pride, sin and strife.
Only God can take those layers away.
And clothe us with His righteousness in that Final Day.
(author unknown)
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