3 Shoulder to overhead, 185/135
6 Chest to Bar Pullups
9 Clapping Pushups
Post time to comments. Compare to 10/11/13.
25 Names of Jesus Christmas Study
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:23-24
Redemption
by: Keri Culbertson
We have sung in church, “my redeemer lives, my redeemers lives,” but have we thought about what that means? We toss it around, but do we really grab ahold of its meaning?
In your heart & soul, what does it mean that God is your Redeemer?
Listen to this, to redeem- is permanent removal from captivity!
I love that! It is permanent. His redemption for my sin is permanent. His love is permanent. It’s not conditional. His forgiveness is permanent. We cannot earn this great gift- of being released from sin. Christ’s death on the cross released us from sin and death!! As my daughter Joy, who is 3.5 years old, told me the other day in a whisper voice: “God is a SUPER HERO.” Yes he is. He has won the war against sin and death for you and me! Get excited...
Romans 3:20 The Message, “Since we have compiled this LONG and sorry record as sinners and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by the means of Jesus Christ.”
Are you getting a hold of this? Christ died for you and redeemed you! Oh friend, if we can get a glimpse of what this means. How graceful and giving and loving God is. He loves you so much.
I’m going to take you to a tender place, you ready? My husband and I are in the “waiting” period, much like pregnancy, and it is the expectancy period of our International adoption. We have waited before on children but this time is different than any other journey. We are “waiting” for our referral, which is the information, the agreement and the precious pictures and background on this little girl under 2 years old from China. We call her Sister. (We do have a real name but this is her name for now in our home and with friends.) She will have dark hair and dark eyes and fair skin. Sister is almost definitely in an orphanage waiting on us. She is not held enough, she is not tucked in at night by her momma(me). She is not changed more than a few times a day and soiled for too long. She is most likely sharing a bed with another child. She does not have anything of her own. She has been sick a lot and its gone untreated. She has cried for too long and no one has come! She has not seen enough sunshine or played outside of her bed near enough. She does not have family relationships, she will never be educated- her future looks grim in that orphanage. She is hungry more times than I can bear. I am her momma and I am heart sick to bring her home!! We pray for Sister everyday. Many times a day. When I tuck Joy in at night, I pray with all my heart that someone is tucking Sister in too. I pray she was held “extra” today. That a nanny is meeting her needs this very moment. Heartsick. When Joy asks me to sing “lullaby and goodnight” to her, I gladly do. Then I sing it to Sister. Sometimes I cannot finish the song for my own emotions.
God showed me a few Sundays ago this: I am heartsick to hold Sister, tuck her in, feed her, love her, pray for her, rock her in my big brown rocking chair. Bring healing and security and Jesus’ love to her. To RESCUE her from her surroundings, NOW! I want to rescue her, from this captivity she is in, but God showed me that he is heartsick for us in this same way.
As our Father, he is eager to rescue us from captivity! Our lives looked pretty grim and hopeless without Christ. He saved us and redeemed us by the work of the Cross!! And oh, what a gift, to rescue us from sin and eternal death.
Did you know the bible talks about us being adopted into God’s family?
Galatians 4:4-7 ”God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnaped by the law. Thus we have been set FREE to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Abba Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.”
Oh that passage is full of treasures, dear friend.
Read this quote about adoption:
“My friends...adoption is REDEMPTION. It’s costly, exhaustive, expensive and outrageous. Buying back lives cost so much. When God set out to redeem US, it killed Him” Derek Loux
Are you getting a glimpse of what redemption means?
In summary- He has rescued you out of captivity and adopted you. He is heartsick to be with you, to be your Redeemer, to be the lover of your soul. To show you permanent release from captivity! It cost His only Son to set you free- but He did it. He is loving. He is personal. He is sincere. He is trustworthy. He is kind. He died just for you. He wants you to call him your Redeemer. He said we were worthy of His redemption and his love!! Oh how he loves us.
P.S. If you have a few extra moments, please check out Chris Tomlin's Jesus My Redeemer.
Manna2Go Note: Since writing this article, the Culbertson's have welcomed Sister home. She is so loved, and it has been a joy to watch her thrive in her forever family. If you have any questions or interest on international adoption, Keri would like to encourage to visit CCAIfamily.org.
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