so temporary...

As I sit here and write this, I ponder on the phone call that I received a few hours ago. My 'grandma' (not blood related) is probably going to meet Jesus tonight. Bad fall, old age...they don't mix well.

It, of course, makes me think about our life on earth and how temporary it is. How this is not my 'home'. It is only for now. Heaven is my home, where I belong.

I decided to pull out the book of Galatians, and I ran across the freedom that we have in Christ and life in Him!
The Message describes it as this:

"What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is is not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily."

Gahhh the freedom that we have in Christ! I recently came upon a person very dear to me who thought that, in order to get to heaven, we must 'be good, do good things.' How discouraging/ discomforting/all of the above. To think that I would ever have to be good enough to get to heaven. To think that its something I do. To think that every day I would wake up telling myself, 'Mindy, you must be on your best behavior today if you want that eternal life.' That is not freedom. That is not living a life because of God's grace. That is living a guilty, convicted, no good life in which there is no escape!

Good news, ladies and gents! Because of faith in Christ, we have total FREEDOM! The whole purpose of Jesus' death was because of my sin, your sin. He literally died the most sinful human being, not because he himself ever sinned, but because he carried all of my crap on his shoulders!! How awesome that he made that sacrifice for me, for you. Once for all!

I bring up my grandma because I think of how many people may pass without that freedom. To all of you who have lived your lives/ are currently living under guilt, not feeling good enough for our Lord, under the impression from other people that you have to DO SOMETHING for God, to get into heaven, I apologize on their behalf.

Be free! Know that we have a LOVING God who knows that it is not even possible for us to be good enough for him because of our human nature. That's why he saved our lil booties! He gives us his love, his forgiveness, his grace every single day because he knows that we need it and because he knows that it gives us freedom from everything that tends to weigh us down.

"..who loved me and gave himself for me."