Lessons From the Countryside

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Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, countryside lessons, devotional, devotional blog, devotions, encouragement, family devotions, grace, mercy, our covering, resting in His righteousness, Robe of righteousness, sheep, sin, standing in grace, walking with confidence

I know this week is supposed to be part 2 of “Preparing the Soil”, but I just can’t help but tell you what I came across the other day on my way through the countryside. I saw a flock of sheep. Big news, I know, but these were not just any sheep, they were the kind where their faces were black, but their wool was as white as snow. I couldn’t help but be reminded of God’s grace. His grace covers us like nothing else can. We don’t have to work for it. We just have to receive it and it swallows up our sin so that none of that darkness can ever be seen again. Romans 3:24 tells us that our Lord Jesus redeems us by a gift of His grace. Just as those sheep did nothing to have that white wool, we do nothing to receive God’s grace but simply accept it.

Isaiah 61:10 says, “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness…” That white wool covering those dark little bodies was such a beautiful picture of my sin being fully covered with Christ’s robe of righteousness. My righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), but His righteousness covers all. As I looked as those sheep, I couldn’t help but be thankful that all God sees when He looks at me is His Son’s righteousness. He no longer sees my sin, but just a beautiful white robe, clean and pure before Him.

Romans 5:20 says, “And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” Just as a sheep cannot grow bigger than their wool, we cannot sin too much for God’s grace. His grace will always exceed our sin. We can always be covered. His grace is measureless!  Even if all we see is the blackness of our sin, even if when we look in the mirror and only see the bad, when Christ looks at us, He sees His robe of righteousness. Romans 5:2 tells us that we stand in His grace. So no matter what we see, if we are abiding in His presence, His righteousness is our covering. When we think others are only seeing the bad, they are actually seeing Christ.

This reminds me of a T.V. show I saw yesterday. It was a beauty pageant coach training a beautiful young girl how to walk in the upcoming pageant. This girl was gorgeous, but all she saw was some imaginary bulge. She couldn’t walk with confidence until she saw what her coach saw. We can’t walk confidently in Christ without seeing what Jesus sees. Jesus is our Coach and He sees His righteousness covering us just like that white wool covering those sheep. He sees His grace. He sees His mercy and He sees His love for us. He wants us to stand in that confidence and He wants us to walk with assurance knowing that we are a child of the King.

So, let’s get a picture of some sheep with black faces and beautiful white wool, (or get some for our back yards), and remember that Christ sees us covered with His grace and His grace is always more than our sin. Our God is marvelous! Let’s give Him praise today!

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Seeking Hearts Ministries

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Guilt or God?

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assumptions, Good Shepherd, guilt, guilty Christianity, helping others, sheep, wisdom, wolves, wolves in sheep's clothing

A really odd thing happened to me the other day. As I was writing a blog about being God’s light where you are, having a passion for others and that kind of thing, my doorbell rang. There stood a teenage boy and his small sister asking me about trimming my trees. They wanted to know if I could pay them to clean up my yard. It was in the middle of a school day, my dog was barking to beat the band and there stood a boy and his sister asking me about my lawn. To say that things didn’t feel right would have been an understatement.

As I was speaking to him, I thought about human trafficking issues that I have heard about in regards to children coming to your door. I also thought about the fact that they should have been in school and wondered if I should call someone. In a moment of complete honesty, I would have to say that I even thought, “Would you please leave so my dog will shut up.” Yeah, if you haven’t guessed it by now, my spiritual gift is not mercy, but the whole situation was just really strange.

When I turned down the offer to have my yard picked up, things got weirder. I won’t go into any more details, but the boy kept asking me about things and I just kept saying, “No”. At this point, it was so strange that I even thought about calling the police. Things just didn’t add up. Even the way they were standing seemed calculated and just a little “off”.

They eventually left and I sat back down to my computer to finish writing about sharing Jesus. As you can imagine, the guilt was strong. Here I was writing about having a passion for others and a few moments before I couldn’t wait to get a couple of strangers out of my yard. I sat at my computer and asked God if I should have helped. I almost got up and ran after the strangers, but do you not what He said? He said, “No.” As clear a voice was in my spirit as I have ever heard from Him. The guilt was still really strong and so I kept asking and He kept saying the same thing, “No.”

As I mulled the situation over the next few days, I remembered Matthew 10:16. It says, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” God’s Word tells us that we are sheep among wolves. The sad part is many wolves look just like the sheep. That’s why we must be so close to the Shepherd that we can hear His warning to flee, or His admonition to help.

Sheep are not naturally wise. They are a little too trusting at times and so are we. James 1:5 says, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach and it will be given to him.” We need to ask God for wisdom daily and in every situation that comes into our lives. We need to be armed with the wisdom of God in advance.

The sad truth is that the world thinks the church is stupid and oftentimes they are right. Some individuals truly need help and we need to help them. We are called to help them (Mark 9:41), but others simply view the church as a piggy bank. We have been entrusted to do God’s work with God’s resources and we need to be wise.

So, I’m not giving you an excuse to be selfish and not use the resources that God has given you to help individuals in need. But, I am saying please be wise. Please never assume that a person needs help because they appear to need help. Remember that in Joshua chapter nine the children of Israel were tricked into taking care of people that did not need to be taken care of. God wants us to be wise and not let our guilt rule us. Satan knows that Christians are commanded to help those in need. Don’t think that he won’t stoop so low as to manipulate us into situations that are not of God.

So, please pray today and ask for the wisdom that only God can provide. Don’t be scared either. Yes, there are many wolves, but there are many precious sheep as well and as long as we stick close to our Good Shepherd He will tell us the difference.

Seeking Hearts Ministries