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By Ric and Mary Joyner

My mom used to say: "I am literally flabbergasted". I am too, and my heart says WOW! Why? First, when we compare ourselves to Christ, we cannot come close to anything He did or WHO He is…The God of the Universe in Human form. As I peer into the gospels, I look in wonder at His mission (to die) and how His people rejected Him. The bible is written to people who believed in God. Remember that fact… we are them. They are us. We must see Him as the Jewish people saw Him in their culture. In His miracles which He did to restore people. In their religious services. In their Holy Book. How can I compare? What if I ask Christ into my life and repent of my sins how then can I change to match the God of the Universe in the flesh? Am I without hope? Don’t people say: “I am not going to church because it is full of hypocrites”? They are right. And they are hypocrites too! We are all broken bits and pieces of life pottery. But then I see this verse, and I marvel that while in this body (it needs to be thinner) which we will discard shortly, I have no power in myself, to stop sinning. No amount of good works at judgment will save me from the ten commandments. We have all lied, we have all lusted after someone, we all have stolen, and we have all used God’s precious name in vain (ever ask yourself why God’s name is a swear-word in any language?). Flatly, we are under judgment from God. We need saving. Christ said He came not to judge but to save. In other words, we are already judged and under God’s wrath unless someone helps us, poor humans. Romans 2:5-6  But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS…(read the verses around these).

But it is up to us to respond to His calling and put trust in His death and resurrection. Each person’s SIN penalty is paid when Christ voluntarily took it to the cross. A true gift from God just like the air we breathe, the family we enjoy and the good food we eat.

But how do I walk out my life to honor His sacrifice because I am going to sin again? I am going to fail again. (you know…the broken life pottery thing?)

I am in astonishment of this fact: Galatians 3: 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Read the verses in context around it because they are so encouraging). By faith, we can “put on Christ’s righteousness” because we don’t have any! How? We identify with His death BY FAITH. Thus, when He was raised from the dead we are raised too…now and in the future! We have eternal life. WOW!  2 Cor 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation... See that? We now can share the good news with people that they too can be reconciled to God and not remain in our sinful states. Wonderment!

The broken life pottery pieces come together now! We are a new pot with new hope and new life. We clothe ourselves with Christ, and by doing so, we are “clothed” with His righteousness. Not mine because I don’t have any, but HIS!. Now doesn’t that make you joyful? My heart soars when contemplating walking in His clothes! Doesn’t that make you want to live your life asking Christ to change you to obey Him through His Spirit! WOW! Take the first step by asking for that reconciliation. Romans 10:13… for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

Call on Christ and see your broken life come together.  If you did this after reading, please let us know.