Thank God for Jesus

When we read our Bibles, it is so easy to want to skim over the things that just don't seem relevant to our lives today. Like most of Numbers and a good part of Leviticus. But regardless of whether the information seems slightly out of sync with our current reality, the principles are still there and they never stop applying.

It only takes a hot minute to realize that Jesus should never have been convicted of anything when you read Deuteronomy 19. Between a desperate search for false witnesses and what can only be described as incredibly biased judges, He couldn't have gotten a fair trial to save His life.....literally or figuratively. But He knew that would happen and He came anyway. Why? Because He loves you and He loves me just that much.

But what's so interesting is that the words of Deuteronomy 19:15 are words that we ignore. Repeatedly. And we do the exact opposite of what they declare constantly.

One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime 

or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established 

by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 

And by the way, I am not talking about gossip, idle chatter, or the whispers that circulate a room faster than the smell of burnt popcorn. I'm talking about the voice in our head. The one that has us in a jail cell before we can even defend ourselves.

When I started reading She Is Free by Andi Andrew earlier this week, I began a new practice. I read, I underline, but now I take notes, write out my little truth bombs (which pretty much always blow up my life), and write out questions to God knowing that when the time is right, He will answer them. 

Two truth bombs from earlier this week include:

The truth that I believe is evident by the choices that I make and is manifested by the fruit my life produces.

What I most believe in my mind results from the words I speak to myself which originate and overflow from my heart. 

Yep, those were fun.

But then the other day while I was doing my workout, I really started mulling those things over while I was listening to a playlist created by Stacey Thacker on Spotify that correlates with her book Is Jesus Worth It? When I was done, I wrote this:

The lies and perceptions I accepted as truth led to decisions that put on the altar of sacrifice my dignity, self-respect, character, integrity, worth, and value. All of this was done seeking what I wanted and was willing to try to keep regardless of the cost. However, what I was trying to attain, retain, and maintain was still a knock off version of the designer original unconditional love and acceptance of God.

And that my friends, sums up my late teens to early twenties.

The fact is, we ignore Deuteronomy 19:15 because we take what we see about ourselves from our own perspective as Gospel truth. But the Gospel truth is that Jesus didn't come to condemn us, He came to save us. That tiny little baby, left His heavenly home to be born of a woman and die on a cross so that we would stop being our own worst enemy and the biased judge and tainted witness in our own lives. As much as we might have a propensity to act like the pharisees, saducees, and keepers of the law towards others, we are the absolute worst of those to the person we see in the mirror.

It is December 16th and Christmas is coming in nine days. Nine. And I pray that between now and then, we will start to realize just what the birth of Jesus means for us as individuals. Yes, we absolutely need to focus on what it means for the world and our purpose on this earth, but unless we truly, really, and deeply fall madly in love with Him for what He's done for us, we can not give the world what we don't have for ourselves. Can we wake up Christmas morning and with absolute conviction declare I know You came for me and that I alone would have been enough reason.