The Cross
I have been asking God to show me more about the cross. When I take communion it’s supposed to be a reminder of what Jesus did on the cross, but mostly it’s just a time where I would feel guilty of my sin and ask him to forgive me. A solemn time. A time of grieving over my sin. I have felt for years that I was missing something. That if it was such a big deal that Jesus died for me, why was my life not reflecting that it was a big deal. I didn’t even really understand what it meant that my sin was “taken away”.
I am studying Exodus in my women’s bible study and we just finished studying the tabernacle. I made some powerful realizations through this study.
1. In the Old Testament, sin was never taken away. It was just covered up. Like a band aid. The priest would sacrifice an animal to atone for our sin, but it could not take away a guilty conscience. It could not change hearts and minds. Amazingly, the cross makes it possible to not just cover our sin, but take it completely away. Forgotten! It’s not just this mystical belief, but a spiritual reality. I wonder if it is also a physical reality as well.
So all the times I was beating myself up for my sin, I was rejecting Jesus and his finished work on the cross. He didn’t die so I would live in fear, guilt and shame. He didn’t die to cover up my sin. His blood on the cross poured out of his dying body and drowned my sin, never to be remembered again!
2. Jesus can change hearts and minds. Because of the cross, I can have a new heart and a new mind. So the sin that I’m entangled in can not only be removed, but my heart and mind can be healed. He wrote his law on our hearts and minds to that we would know Him and hear from him and fall in love with Him. Not so we could bang each other over the head with “shoulds” and “should nots”. If you have a way of thinking that is not from God- He can literally change your mind. If your heart is broken from someone else sinning against you- He can literally heal your heart so the pain is gone! The trick is allowing Him to do the changing. WE want to be in control of our lives…..BIG mistake!
3. Jesus took ALL punishment on himself at the cross. SO you know about all the killing and God’s anger over the Israelites sin. He struck his people with plagues, killed some of them and wanted to wipe them out more than once. Well, imagine ALL that anger and punishment that you and I deserve being placed on one man. We deserve death for the sin we have willingly done. But Jesus took it ALL on himself. Why? It is for freedom that He has set us free! Did you get that? Jesus took ALL our punishment! Do realize what that means? We will never have to experience punishment! NEVER! We may experience consequences, but never will we be punished. Jesus was punished for us.
My conclusion is that Jesus’ death on the cross was so that I could live life in freedom! So every time I choose to not forgive myself or others, every time I beat myself over the head with my sin, every time I live in fear, I’m disrespecting what Jesus did on the cross for me. I’m saying to him, “it’s not good enough”. That I’m not worth it.
I am astounded at how much I’ve been missing by not fully accepting this amazing gift. I want the abundant life Jesus died for. Now communion is a celebration. A time to not hang my head in guilt, but the raise my eyes to Him and praise Him for my freedom! I want more! Do you?
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Happy New Year 2008!
Happy New Year 2008!
We are winding down from the Christmas rush and starting to get back to real life. Real life…… here at the Reginato household real life has been messy. On the up side, we adopted our two beautiful boys, Branson 5 and Caleb 2, in March. What joy (and messiness) they bring to our home. We have the broken glasses and scuffed up walls to prove it. Branson is a sweet, tender boy that saw much violence in his little life. We are working on healing his wounded heart. We got Caleb when he was only 8 weeks old, but before that he was in 3 different homes- not including ours. Caleb is strong willed, busy, and really loud! But he says the funniest things that make us laugh everyday. Not to mention he’s just a tad bit spoiled being the youngest of six. Tori is almost 12 and is starting guitar and growing in her faith. She is in the Jr. High group at our church and is showing real leadership qualities. I’m still home schooling her. LuLu started public school in October and is excelling in every area. She has struggled in her relationship with me and so I couldn’t keep her home for school. But we are working on healing her heart as well. Nathan is 15 and is finding that he has a gift for public speaking. He is taking a Speech and Debate class and is really doing well. Nikki is 17 and not living with us right now. She has dealt with so much pain in her life that she ran from us in every way. We still talk to her, but her heart is struggling to find love. Dave has taken on a manager role at Lockheed and had the role of laying some people off, which was really hard. He also resigned as an elder at our church. A decision that was painful and long. His mom also passed away this year from cancer. SO things at our home have been hard and “messy” this year. But one thing has remained the same…..God has never once failed us! He has shown up in big ways. Most of our fears for our children have come true. Any control we thought we had has been broken. All we have is Jesus to save us. And he pulled us out of the pit many times this year. Not only pulled us out, but has given us a firm foundation to stand on. Our feet will never slip. We will never fall. And we have received God’s love and know him in ways that we never thought possible. We are so thankful for our messy year.
We pray that you had a year full of joy and wonder. But if your 2008 is starting a little “messy”, don’t fear. Remember to look up at the only One that matters. The One we live for. The One who lived a messy life for us so that we wouldn’t have to live with control, fear or doubt. Jesus will never let you down. He will hold you up when you feel like your falling. Cling to Him and you will not fall.
We would love to pray for you. Feel free to send us an email and let us know how we can pray.
We all send our love and pray that 2008 will hold adventure, love, hope, laughter and just a tiny bit of messiness in your lives so that you can see how big our God is!
Shalom, (Peace in Body, Mind and Soul)
Dave, Kathi, Nikki, Nathan, Tori, LuLu, Branson and Caleb
We are winding down from the Christmas rush and starting to get back to real life. Real life…… here at the Reginato household real life has been messy. On the up side, we adopted our two beautiful boys, Branson 5 and Caleb 2, in March. What joy (and messiness) they bring to our home. We have the broken glasses and scuffed up walls to prove it. Branson is a sweet, tender boy that saw much violence in his little life. We are working on healing his wounded heart. We got Caleb when he was only 8 weeks old, but before that he was in 3 different homes- not including ours. Caleb is strong willed, busy, and really loud! But he says the funniest things that make us laugh everyday. Not to mention he’s just a tad bit spoiled being the youngest of six. Tori is almost 12 and is starting guitar and growing in her faith. She is in the Jr. High group at our church and is showing real leadership qualities. I’m still home schooling her. LuLu started public school in October and is excelling in every area. She has struggled in her relationship with me and so I couldn’t keep her home for school. But we are working on healing her heart as well. Nathan is 15 and is finding that he has a gift for public speaking. He is taking a Speech and Debate class and is really doing well. Nikki is 17 and not living with us right now. She has dealt with so much pain in her life that she ran from us in every way. We still talk to her, but her heart is struggling to find love. Dave has taken on a manager role at Lockheed and had the role of laying some people off, which was really hard. He also resigned as an elder at our church. A decision that was painful and long. His mom also passed away this year from cancer. SO things at our home have been hard and “messy” this year. But one thing has remained the same…..God has never once failed us! He has shown up in big ways. Most of our fears for our children have come true. Any control we thought we had has been broken. All we have is Jesus to save us. And he pulled us out of the pit many times this year. Not only pulled us out, but has given us a firm foundation to stand on. Our feet will never slip. We will never fall. And we have received God’s love and know him in ways that we never thought possible. We are so thankful for our messy year.
We pray that you had a year full of joy and wonder. But if your 2008 is starting a little “messy”, don’t fear. Remember to look up at the only One that matters. The One we live for. The One who lived a messy life for us so that we wouldn’t have to live with control, fear or doubt. Jesus will never let you down. He will hold you up when you feel like your falling. Cling to Him and you will not fall.
We would love to pray for you. Feel free to send us an email and let us know how we can pray.
We all send our love and pray that 2008 will hold adventure, love, hope, laughter and just a tiny bit of messiness in your lives so that you can see how big our God is!
Shalom, (Peace in Body, Mind and Soul)
Dave, Kathi, Nikki, Nathan, Tori, LuLu, Branson and Caleb
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