Consequences

You are wading,

trudging,

struggling,

in consequences

 

The consequences of your choices

 

And you know that you’ve found freedom

in the confession

 

But the consequences…

 

The result

of your choices

 

they are heavy

and far-reaching

and inevitable

 

and you must wade through

 

the heavy murkiness

that tugs at you

even as you are enveloped in God’s forgiving grace

 

Be strong in Him

keep taking responsibility for the pain caused

and accept that consequences are real

 

We all must face them

 

Except when it comes to our Savior

 

He took our consequences

 

All the consequence of our sin

weighed heaven and earth-sized on His shoulders

and He trudged through the murky waters

until there was

one

last breath

 

and He had drown

in our consequences

 

Thank You, dear Lord.

 

Dear friend, when you find yourself

knee-deep in consequences

 

stop and thank the Lord

 

that He will not leave you stuck in sin,

that He gives grace to the humble,

that He died for you

and

that He truly brings freedom

 

And know that because of HIM

you will not drown in your consequences

– Susie Stewart

 

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

– Isaiah 43:2 (NLT)

 

And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

– James 4:6 (NLT)

 

If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].

– 1 John 1:9 (AMP)

 

But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

– Romans 6:22,23 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Good & Trustworthy

The God Jesus reveals would never do anything to harm us.  He has no malice or evil intentions.  He is completely good.  And the fact that God is also all-knowing and all-powerful makes His goodness even better.  I can trust God even if things look bleak.  It does not matter that God is all-powerful or all-knowing if He is not all-good.  If He isn’t all-good, I will never be able to love and trust Him.

– James Bryan Smith

 

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

– Psalm 125:1 (NIV)

 

He is the Rock; His deeds are perfect. Everything He does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright He is!

– Deuteronomy 32:4 (NLT)  

 

But as we come to know the good and beautiful God that Jesus knows, our struggles take on a whole new meaning.  If God is truly good and is looking out for our good, then we can come to Him with complete honesty.  We can practice honesty when we pray – baring our soul and confronting those hurts that make us doubt God’s goodness by handing them over to Him for healing.

– James Bryan Smith

 

Photo by Susie Stewart