Devotion Repentance 5

The Law of God

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The Law of God is a Righteous Guide for Our Lives.  The Use of God’s Law as a Guide in Connection with the Fruits of our Repentance.

Repentance 5

I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s Mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

You are still talking to Jane, your friend or client. Remember that she had reconciled with her mother after a long time of tension between them. She took care of her mother in her terminal illness. She had promised herself that she would be holding her mother’s hand when her mother died. She has confessed what she believed was her sin in leaving her mother for a few minutes when her mother was dying. During that time her mother died. You comforted her with the assurance of God’s forgiveness. Jane has seen and believed in her forgiveness in Jesus. She has heard and seen God’s mercy and believed it. Now, “in view of God’s mercy,” how can she offer her body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God? That would be her true and proper worship for the future of her life.

You might have all kinds of advice for her.

  • She could keep herself from making future promises that are beyond her power to fulfill like the one she made about holding her mother’s hand when she died.
  • She could serve as a visitor of the elderly and sick for her congregation.
  • She could make a paper or electronic scrap book of the last days of her mother’s life to help her remember those good times they had together after they had reconciled.
  • She should work at repairing all the other relationships in her life that have been broken as her relationship to her mother was broken for so long and then repaired.
  • She should count her blessings each day following the ideas presented in the book, “364 Days of Thanksgiving,” by Pastor Andrew Schroer.
  • You might want to say to her, “Grieve more normally, Jane. Grieve without guilt. Trust in the resurrection of Christ as it applies to your mother’s precious soul. “
  • Jane should become closer to God’s Word in connection with church attendance and personal devotions.

Your ideas regarding changes in her life in view of God’s mercy, may not match hers, however. Her fruits (changes in her actions, thoughts, words) as a result of her repentance and faith in God’s merciful forgiveness in Christ are best when they come from God’s Word and she comes up with them. That is how the Law of God is used as a guide in our lives. Right now, Jane may choose one thing to change and later she may change another “in view of God’s mercy.”

Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path….Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end. Psalm 119:105, Psalm 111-112

Jane says that she wants to read more about God’s forgiveness for her in Christ. She wants you to direct her to something in God’s Word to comfort her and strengthen her.

  • You suggest that she reads Psalm 32 or Psalm 51.
  • You might suggest that she reads Romans 7:14 and all of Romans 8.
  • You might suggest that she reads I John 1 through chapter 2:2.
  • You might suggest that she reads The Gospel of Mark.You might suggest that she reads the Gospel of John.

Personal:

In View of God’s mercy for you in forgiving your sin,

  1. How has God’s Word served as a guide for you in setting you on a path that is more God-pleasing?
  2. God describes His Law as a guide in Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.” Where can you find a short summary God’s Law as a guide for your life? (think about the Ten Commandments.)
  3. The fruit of repentance for a certain sin is often indicated by that sin. For example, a repentant gossiper might gossip no more. Or a liar will strive to remove the habit of lying from his or her life. What fruits of repentance (changes in your life that are God-pleasing) are you working on in your life “in view of God’s mercy?”
  4. Where will you find help to make those changes?

Prayer

Dear merciful Lord. Thank you for your forgiveness for my sins. Help me to amend my sinful life in accordance with the guidance of your Word and the power of your love. Continue to let me see your mercy in my life. Amen.

Devotion Repentance 4

The Joy and Freedom of Gospel Absolution

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Repentance 4

Jane is your client or friend who had reconciled with her mother as her mother faced a terminal illness. Jane confesses to you that she feels so guilty and angry because she had promised her mother, God, and herself that she would be there holding her mother’s hand when she died. But Jane had left her mother’s side in the hospital for 10 minutes while her mother was struggling to breathe. She needed a cup of coffee. That is when her mother died. Jane confides in you how guilty and terrible she feels that her mother died all alone even though the timing of her mother’s death was completely out of her control, even though her mother might have felt that she would cause Jane less pain if she died while Jane was not there. This is the sin that is troubling Jane. She confesses it to you. “I sinned. I did not keep my promise to my mother and to God and myself,” she says to you.

You accept Jane’s guilt and the seriousness of her confession of this sin in her eyes. She feels and believes she has sinned. So you comfort her with the Gospel:

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. I John 2:1-2

You read this passage to Jane and you let God speak to Jane through His Word. God calls Jane, His child. God says that Jesus is her Advocate, or Defense Attorney, in the court room of God’s Judgement. Jesus presents Himself to God for Jane as the atoning sacrifice for her sins. Atoning means at-one-ing. Jesus has made Jane at one with God. Jesus is the Savior of all people. Her sins are forgiven. You tell her that. “Jane, your sins are forgiven. I can tell you that confidently because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection. Your sin against your mother, God, and yourself, in not being able to keep your promise to be there at the moment of your mother’s death is forgiven. Be at peace. You are God’s redeemed and forgiven child. Your sins are forgiven.”

You watch Jane breathe deeply. You see the tears run down her face. You hear her thanks for speaking God’s forgiveness to her. She is free from this burden of guilt. She can face her future with joy and confidence, knowing God’s love. Jane says, “Thank you! Thank you God!”

  • She believes in God’s forgiving love.
  • You have been God’s agent in freeing your friend or your client from her guilt, acting as God’s agent of love.
  • Jane is free from the burden of her guilt!
  • Jane is able to face the future with joy and peace and confidence in the love of Christ for her.

If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven. This statement is true, all because of Jesus. John 20:23

Personal:

  1. What sins are troubling you today?
  2. To whom can you go for comfort and peace?
  3. How do you know that God’s work of love for you is meant for you?
  4. What assurance do you have that you are God’s child and that He loves you?
  5. Who is a confidential agent of God to whom you might confess your sins and receive God’s Word of comfort and peace and forgiveness? Is that person your friend? Your parent? Your spouse? Your pastor? Your co-worker?
  6. Who do you know that is feeling guilty and sorrowful over their sins?
  7. How might you approach them to hear their confession?
  8. How might you speak God’s message of forgiveness to them?
  9. What do you think about this statement? “The work of the Church is the forgiveness of sins.”

Prayer

Dear Lord, comfort me with your Gospel. Give me Joy and Freedom in Your Gospel message of forgiveness in Jesus. Help me to be an instrument of your peace and your forgiveness. Amen.

Devotion Repentance 3

The Catharsis of Confession

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Repentance 3

Trusting in God’s love for us through Christ our Reconciler we confess our sins to God.  Openness and transparency.  

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. I John 1:8-10

Jane left to get a drink of vodka. Relationship with Mom had not been good because of her drinking.  Now she broke her vow to herself.  

Jane is your client. She is angry and troubled by her past. She expresses a lot of anger about her mother and the trauma of being her mother’s child. Over the course of several sessions you perceive that there is something else about this relationship with her mother that is still troubling her that she has not shared with you. You work through the “courage to confess” with her. She says she believes that Jesus did die for all of her sins. You talk to her about God’s Law in a general way. You talk about guilt and how guilt impacts us so negatively.

Finally she shares her sin that is still troubling her. In connection with her mother’s terminal illness, Jane tells you that they had made peace about six months before her mother died. She was able to care for her mother and be with her during the final months of her mother’s life. She heard her mother confess the sins she had committed against her and confess her faith in Jesus. When her mother entered the hospital the final time, she told her mother and even made a vow to herself that she would be with her mother and hold her hand and would be there for her in her final moments.

But that is not how it worked out. Jane confesses to you that she left her mother when she was breathing peacefully in the hospital bed to get a cup of coffee. She was gone for about ten minutes. That is when God took her mother home. Jane was angry at herself and at God and even at her mother for not being able to be with her mother at that moment of her death.

What is your response?

  1. An almost audible sigh of relief? This is not a sin that Jane did in leaving her mother that brief time.
  2. Words that are dismissive about Jane’s feelings of guilt?
    a. “That is not a sin, Jane!”
    b. “Don’t feel bad about that. You had no control over that.”
  3. Words of acceptance.
    a. “Jane, I hear your guilt and pain.”
    b. “Jane, that must have been very difficult for you. You feel you left your mother down. You feel you left yourself down.”
  4. Words that express the Gospel of Jesus as the complete payment for all sins.

The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. I John 1:7

Catharsis comes from a Greek word that means cleansing. Psychologically there is a great sense of relief and cleansing that comes when we confess what is troubling us to someone else. It happens when your client has talked the whole session about her troubles and you have listened with empathy and concern and love. She responds, “Thank you. You helped me so much today.” You say to yourself, “I hardly spoke a word.” Your client felt a psychological catharsis.

Catharsis with God comes with confession to God through another person or with God personally and privately in prayer and meditation. But confession to God comes with the assurance of forgiveness. It is more than a psychological catharsis. Jesus has already paid for our sins. “II Cor. 5:19, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”
Our reconciliation with God always includes the sense of catharsis that comes from the assurance of our forgiveness.

Personal Reflection:

  • What sins are troubling you?
  • What sins have you confessed to God?
  • What sins have you confessed to a friend you can trust who keeps confidences?
  • What assurance do you get from the fact of your Baptism in connection with confession?
  • What assurance do you get when, confessing your sins, you receive the Body and Blood of Jesus in, with, and under the Bread and the Wine in the Sacrament of Holy Communion?

Prayer

Lord, my sins are many.  Forgive me for Jesus’ sake.  Give me peace for my troubled conscience.  Help me share your message of reconciliation with you through Jesus with others. Amen.

Confronting sin

The Reality of God’s Law

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Repentance 2

Through the Law we become conscious of our sin. Romans 3:20

I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the Law. Romans 7:7

When I teach the Acting on Hope course to therapists and we get to the part in the Repentance Model where we talk about “Specific Law,” I see kind-hearted, compassionate therapists struggle with the reality of God’s Law. I have the same struggles. I struggle because I feel that I am such a sinner, who am I to confront another person with their sin? I have heard others struggle because God’s Law is something that comes from outside the client. It is not client driven. Can I ethically tell someone about their sin? I have others think about the harshness of God’s Law, saying, “that is just not my counseling method.” What is your struggle with the Law of God?

What will be your clients struggle with the Law of God? Will they become more depressed after hearing it? Will they be angry at you for bringing God’s Law into the conversation, even though they gave you permission to talk about God and His Word? A hint: When speaking God’s Law, let God’s Word do the talking. It is not you, it is God’s Word you are speaking and the client is hearing.

In our first devotion in this series on Repentance, we talked about the courage to confess. The client is led to believe and trust in the love of God for the world of sinners and for them personally. But you are also compelled by God’s love to do something for your client. Listen to the words of our God of love,

Christ’s love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. II Corinthians 5:14

God gives us His Law for three purposes:

  1. As a Mirror – to show us our sins;
  2. As a Curb – to frighten our sinful nature so that we do not stray but stay on the God’s path;
  3. As a Guide – to show us the way God would have us live as his obedient children here on earth.

When we speak about “Specific Law” in the Repentance Model, we speak about the first purpose of God’s Law, the use of God’s Law as a Mirror.

“Christ’s love compels us” and gives us the courage to speak about and meditate about “Specific Law” applied to ourselves, in our devotional life. “Christ’s love compels us” to speak to our clients for whom Christ died about their sins. We speak the Law of God in love. In love we desire our clients to repent and to hear God’s specific Gospel of forgiveness for that sin.

We address the conversation with our clients with love on both sides of our presentation of the Law.

We use the gracious good news of the Gospel of God’s forgiveness of the world of sinners to give our clients the courage to confess prior to speaking God’s Law. In love, desiring their confession, we speak God’s Law specific to their sin. Then in love we follow the Law with the Gospel again. We remember:

The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.I John 1:7-9

Personal Meditation Questions:

  1. What sins trouble me the most?
  2. What confidence and courage do I have from God to bring those sins before God in confession?
  3. How will I make my confession?
    • Personally and privately to God, being strengthened from God’s Words of forgiveness in the Bible?
    • To another Christian I trust to keep confidence to hear God’s forgiveness from them?
    • To my pastor so that I might hear God’s forgiveness from him?

May God give us contrite hearts.
May God give us loving hearts.
May God bless us as we speak His Law and His Gospel to others.

Prayer

God, help us show your love and your forgiveness as we apply your Law and Gospel to ourselves and speak your Law and Gospel to others. Amen.

Devotion - Loneliness - Repentance 1

A Horrible Loneliness Ended

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Repentance 1

“…that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:19

The Surgeon General of the United States has declared that loneliness is a health risk to the people of our nation. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, stated in a recent proclamation, “Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation has been an underappreciated public health crisis that has harmed individual and societal health. Our relationships are a source of healing and well-being hiding in plain sight – one that can help us live healthier, more fulfilled, and more productive lives…”

I think the loneliest I have ever been was in the second year of our engagement. Mary was in Milwaukee. I was in East Lansing Michigan attending Michigan State. We would be married in less than a year. Telephone communication was about $5.00 a call at a phone booth at the length I wanted our calls to be, when the minimum wage was $1.25. So we wrote letters. I was on a campus of at least 15,000 students that summer. I was number 124,802. They didn’t even call us by our names. I lived with four guys I would be teaching with the next school year, but I did not know them well at all. On weekends I stayed in the rented home and they all went home to families. Loneliness. I did preach on weekends somewhere different each Sunday, to help pastors out who were taking vacations with their families. But loneliness was like a knife in the stomach and an ache in the head. There was no one to talk to.

Think about the clients we serve who are struggling through anxiety and depression and marital problems and addictions. They have a lot more than the six weeks of loneliness that I had that summer. Many of them have years of it – and they feel it will never end. Even thoughts of suicide race through their heads. They doubt themselves. They doubt others. They doubt God.
Let’s start with God. He knows our loneliness. Jesus said from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Our sins separate us from God. Jesus felt the loneliness of our sins which he took upon Himself. He knew the loneliness of the human condition in a world of sin and doubt and depression and despair. Our verse uses the word, “reconciliation.”

Reconciliation is explained with the later words we quoted. “Not counting people’s sins against them.” Jesus paid for our sins! He did this for every sinner in all the world. You and I and our clients are not left out. We are a part of the world for whom Jesus suffered and died and made the perfect payment for sin. We are right with God! We need not doubt God nor His love for us.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” I Peter 3:18

Christ is crucified and arisen for the world of sinners. This is the fact of God’s love. Jesus, the Righteous One, for you and me and all people, who are unrighteousness. This is the fact of God’s grace.

This is the comfort and hope of God’s gracious forgiveness in Christ. Listen to the Promise of Jesus:

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” John 14:16-20

Jesus has made us right with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Triune God is always with us with His love. We can go to Him for anything, even to confess our sins. Amen.

Prayer

Help us Lord to see your eternal, loving presence in our lives. Help us communicate your love for all people to all people. Thank you for your Son Jesus, our Reconciler. Amen.

Philippians 4:4-7 and Psalm 23

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Anxiety and anger often go together. We are fearful and uncertain about something and our fear and anxiety work on our emotions in negative ways.

Read more

Philippians 4:4-7

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Hope for the present and the future.

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Devotion Believer's Lament

Believer’s Lament

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I know that my redeemer lives … He lives to hear my soul’s complaint” CW 154

“My soul’s complaint.” That is an interesting phrase. Too often, we think of things being “well with our souls.” The thought that a soul can have a complaint is interesting. David’s words in Psalm 13 come to mind:

How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart? (New International Version, 2011)

David expresses a sense of isolation, and even, betrayal. His heart his heavy; his soul complains. People have often called such a cry, a lament. A lament may have the sound and feel of betrayal and abandonment.

It has been suggested, however, that a believer’s lament is actually an opportunity to engage with God in making sense of things gone wrong in an effort to find resolution and hope. Even though there are unanswered questions and there is the existence of evil and injustice, the Lord is still good.

A Christian lament is grounded in the hope of future reorientation.

Consider the 7 words of our Savior as he spoke from the cross: “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” There is lament. There is empowerment. There is hope of future reorientation.

To sit with suffering is to also find a companion in this life. The harsh realities of this life will wage war on our faith in Christ. We have one who fights in our stead, however. He knows our laments and sings with us, even in those moments. That is because Jesus never forgets the pain of the hearts he has bought.

The Easter hymn, “I Know My Redeemer Lives” is based on a statement from the life of an Old Testament believer named, Job. Job knew heartache. His soul complained. He lost everything in a single day. He cried for all his 10 children. Dead in a day. Dust and ashes. Sores and sadness. Seven days of silence.

And yet, Job lamented with hope. Through the eyes of faith, he saw the Lord usher in a “new day.” And his believer’s lament was transformed to a litany of praise: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the Earth!” (Job 19:25)

Our laments are also litanies. Our cries for help in this life are grounded in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which empowers us in faith because we have a promised, final reorientation to our heavenly home!

Prayer

I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, he lives, who once was dead; he lives my ever-living head. Amen.

Nonsense? The Empty Tomb

Nonsense?

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But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” Luke 24:11

We seem to live in a world plagued by doubt and confusion. And Easter Sunday was no exception. St. Luke tells us that some faithful ladies brought back a confusing report from the sealed tomb: “Jesus was not there!” What? That sounds like nonsense. Angels? Empty tombs? Missing bodies? It all seemed like “crazy-talk” to the other disciples. Utter nonsense.

The disciples either forgot Jesus’ promises or they doubted his promises. It was more likely a mixture of both.

This applies to our clinical therapy as providers who serve with Christian Family Solutions. We strive to offer answers, guidance, and healing to people who are hurting; people plagued by a world of doubt and confusion. Without Christ being centered in the midst of such therapeutic work, we hope to only offer healing for just this life. In the end, that would also be nonsense.

Now, there are people who would think that integration of Christian faith into therapy is also nonsense. Some might even dare state it is dangerous. And yes! To those who doubt Christ, the gospel does seem like nonsense.

Christ removes all doubt and fear, however. His resurrection is the ultimate proof. We believe that the risen Christ is present, alive, and active in our work as therapists. Solid, evidence-based therapy married with sound, Christ-centered theology makes good sense. It provides a trajectory for lasting healing and hope. And that is the furthest thing from nonsense. We seem to live in a world plagued by doubt and confusion. And Easter Sunday was no exception. St. Luke tells us that some faithful ladies brought back a confusing report from the sealed tomb: “Jesus was not there!” What? That sounds like nonsense. Angels? Empty tombs? Missing bodies?

It all seemed like “crazy-talk” to the other disciples. Utter nonsense.

The disciples either forgot Jesus’ promises or they doubted his promises. It was more likely a mixture of both.

This applies to our clinical therapy as providers who serve with Christian Family Solutions. We strive to offer answers, guidance, and healing to people who are hurting; people plagued by a world of doubt and confusion. Without Christ being centered in the midst of such therapeutic work, we hope to only offer healing for just this life. In the end, that would also be nonsense.

Now, there are people who would think that integration of Christian faith into therapy is also nonsense. Some might even dare state it is dangerous. And yes! To those who doubt Christ, the gospel does seem like nonsense.

Christ removes all doubt and fear, however. His resurrection is the ultimate proof. We believe that the risen Christ is present, alive, and active in our work as therapists. Solid, evidence-based therapy married with sound, Christ-centered theology makes good sense. It provides a trajectory for lasting healing and hope. And that is the furthest thing from nonsense.

Prayer

Christ Jesus, thank you removing our doubts and fears by your resurrection from the grave. You have overcome sin and unbelief. Help us to trust in your promises as you equip us to help others. Be present, dear risen Savior, in our efforts to bring your healing and hope to a hurting world. Remind us that no word from you or work carried out for you is ever nonsense. You alone have the words of eternal life. Amen.

CONFÍA – ANÍMATE

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Pero cuando venga el Espiritu de la verdad, el los guiara a toda la verdad, porque no hablara por su propia cuenta, sino que dira solo lo que oiga y les anunciara las cosas por venir. Juan 16:13

Esto va a doler, pero finalmente te hará sentir mejor”. Odio recibir inyecciones. Pero a veces recibir una inyección es “justo lo que recetó el médico”. ¡Una vacuna contra el tétanos, por ejemplo, es mucho mejor que la alternativa de contraer el tétanos (también conocida como bloqueo de mandíbula)!

Nuestro gran médico del alma, Jesús, nos explica que vivir como cristianos en este mundo “va a doler”. Puedes esperar que ser un seguidor de Jesús te traerá problemas, no muy diferentes a cómo él experimentó los problemas en este mundo. Después de todo, “el discípulo no está por encima de su maestro” (cf. Lucas 6:40)

De una manera extraña, podemos unirnos a otro “apóstol loco” (llamado Pedro) que en realidad podía regocijarse en sus sufrimientos e incluso encontrar algo beneficioso en soportar problemas: “Esto es para ustedes motivo de gran alegria, a pesar de que hasta ahora han tenido que sufrir diversas pruebas por un tiempo. El oro, aunque perecedero, se acrisola al fuego. Asi tambien la fe de ustedes, que vale mucho mas que el oro, al ser acrisolada por las pruebas demostrara que es digna de aprobacion, gloria y honor cuando cristo se revele. (1 Pedro 1:6-7)

Entonces, ¿sufrir por ser seguidor de Cristo solo sirve para validar que le perteneces? Exactamente. ¿Y los problemas pueden ser usados por Dios para refinarnos en nuestra fe y hacernos más deseosos de dejar este mundo? Ciertamente puede y a menudo lo hace.

Es un poco como las águilas hacen con sus crías: se sabe que las águilas colocan todo tipo de objetos afilados (como espinas y rocas afiladas) en el fondo de sus nidos. Luego cubren todas estas cosas desagradables con plumas suaves para que cuando los pequeños aguiluchos salgan del cascarón estén muy cómodos… al principio. Pero, a medida que las pequeñas águilas crecen y se acerca el momento en que necesitarán volar y vivir por su cuenta, la madre les quitará las plumas, lo que hará que sea cada vez menos cómodo permanecer en el nido.

En 2 Corintios 4:17 el gran Apóstol Pablo escribe: “Pues los sufrimientos ligeros y efimeros que ahora padecemos producen una gloria eterna que vale muchisimo mas que todo sufrimiento. Asi que no nos fijamos en lo visible, sino en lo invisible, ya que lo que se ve es pasajero, mientras que lo que no se ve es eterno”. Note su “perspectiva eterna” sobre los problemas. ¡El problema es “ligero y momentáneo”, especialmente en relación con el castigo “pesado y permanente” que nos hemos ganado al pecar contra Dios!

Jesús, nuestro Salvador, experimentó problemas debido a todos los “problemas” que nosotros habíamos hecho al quebrantar la ley de Dios. Y Su sufrimiento estuvo lejos de ser “ligero” ya que llevó los pecados del mundo entero sobre sus hombros sin pecado mientras sufría el infierno en la cruz.

¡Relájate, esto solo va a doler por un rato!

ORACIÓN

Gracias, SEÑOR Jesucristo, por el sufrimiento inimaginable que soportaste voluntariamente como mi sustituto que cargo con mis pecados. Cuando llegue el momento de partir de este lugar, prepárame y disponme a “volar” con gusto para estar contigo para siempre en el cielo. Mientras tanto, ayúdame a mantener una perspectiva adecuada sobre los problemas y a soportarlos con paciencia y sin quejarme mientras espero ansiosamente tu regreso seguro.Amén.

English version: En Ingles