Sin Is All Gone

"In God that sin was all done away."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 50)

Christ didn't come just to forgive sin, pay our debt for sin, take our punishment for sin, atone for sin. He came to take sin away! It is gone, doesn't exist anymore, is not on us or part of us. It has been annihilated and destroyed in our lives. We have been brought over to resurrection life, the heavenly and eternal and invincible life of Christ Himself, for we are part of His body and are in the realm of resurrection with Him, sharing in His victorious, endless, sinless life! We are truly in a realm, in a  place, where sin does not and cannot exist, the realm of being in the risen Christ. For there is no sin, blame or death in Christ, and that is where we are. We are beyond the reach of sin, shame, blame and death. We are in Life now and we are never going out! For in Him "sin was all done away!"

"He came to eradicate sins, that there is not the slightest bit of sin in Him."

1 John 3:5 (VOICE)

A Prayer: Thank You for putting me beyond the reach of sin, blame and death - in You, in Your risen Life!

Holy as the Angels

"Then was this my marvel that I saw our Lord God shewing to us no more blame than if we were as clean and as holy as Angels be in heaven."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 50)

Guilt, blame and shame seem to plague us sometimes, with feelings not just of guilt for things we have done but even shame for just being who we are. We can feel not only wrong in our behavior but wrong in our very identity. Yet God does not show any blame, condemnation or accusation towards us. He never shames us for what we've done or who we are. In fact, God doesn't see anything wrong with who we are at all. He sees what we often cannot see: the good, noble person He created. No matter what our behavior, thoughts or feelings, our identity remains unchanged. We are simply His children made in His good image and therefore, good. God even called us "very good" when He created humankind. So while we see ourselves as messed up, shameful or bad, God keeps on seeing the truth about us, seeing us as pure and clean as the angels in heaven! This is how He has always seen us and always will, simply as little children who are innocent and sweet, who get in messes but really don't know what they are doing, who are essentially good by nature, who are beloved and valuable. Christ came to take away the sin and death that plagued us and to bring us righteousness, but this was all for us, so we could feel clean and pure before God and be able to enjoy relationship with Him without fear or shame. For our Father God has never lost sight of our true innocence.  He has held onto our true identity all along. He has seen us as innocent kids all along. He has called us pure and holy as the angels all along! He is holding us in His arms right now as a Father would hold his little child, rocking us to sleep and singing over us a lullaby of innocence, goodness and belovedness. We are His very own darling children who are perfect in His eyes. Nothing could ever change that!

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"

1 John 3:1 (NIV)

"He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn."

Psalm 37:6 (NLT)

A Prayer: Thank You for never shaming me but always affirming me!

How God Sees Us

"By the tempest and the sorrow that we fall into on our part, we be often dead as to man’s doom (judgment, decree) in earth; but in the sight of God the soul that shall be saved was never dead, nor ever shall be."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 50)

Here on earth man and man's law judges us all guilty sinners worthy of the punishment of death. Man's justice tends to say that wrongdoing must be punished or paid for. The payment required for heinous sin is death. The Old Testament law of the Bible highlighted this type of justice and showed man's desperate need for mercy and grace in the midst of the law's decrees of guilt, condemnation and punishment.

Yet God's way is so different and is seen in the New Testament. The law only brought condemnation and death, and increased the amount of sin. Yet God's way of grace eliminated condemnation, freed us from death and took away sin! The law considers us dead because of sin, yet God never does. God only sees a pure child of His very own, who has needed healing and help in all its suffering, and who Jesus came to seek and to save. To God we have never been too far gone, wretched dirty sinners, willful rebels, or as good as dead. To God we have always been good-hearted souls who have been trapped by evil delusions and needing of rescue and liberation.  Even when we did the worst thing and killed God's only begotten Son, Jesus said we didn't know what we were doing. Christ conquered sin and death for us and brought us to new life with Him in the resurrection, life beyond the reach of sin and death, life in relationship with Him forever. God has seen us in Christ all along, has seen us as new creations in Christ all along. He has seen us pure and innocent, clean and holy, alive and free. He has always seen us in Christ's resurrection life, running freely and joyfully with Christ, vibrant and victorious. He has never seen sin on us or seen death holding us. He has always held us in light, in love, in life! He has always known sin and death weren't the truth about us. He has always known purity and life were the truth about us. He has always known us as His good children, and He has always known He would bring our true identity to light and expression through Christ!

"You are not under law but under grace."

Romans 6:14 (ESV)

"Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people."

Ephesians 1:4 (CEV)

A Prayer: Thank You for always seeing the truth about me - righteousness and life in Christ - even when I could only see sin and death.

Already in Peace

 "Contrariness is cause of our tribulations and all our woe, and our Lord Jesus taketh them and sendeth them up to Heaven, and there are they made more sweet and delectable than heart may think or tongue may tell. And when we come thither we shall find them ready, all turned into very fair and endless worships. Thus is God our steadfast Ground: and He shall be our full bliss and make us unchangeable, as He is, when we are there."

Julian of Noriwch (Ch. 49)

Right now we are changeable in our thoughts and behaviors. When we see God's love for us, we find it easier to relax and love ourselves and others, and we find ourselves to be more at peace within, which is in alignment with God's own nature of love and peace. But other times we may lose sight of God's love for us or suffer tribulation so that we may temporarily see only through our physical senses, and we may find ourselves in turmoil, frustration, tension, struggle and even anger within. Yet we are still aligned with God's peace and love within, even if we can't always see or feel it. And all those feelings and even behaviors that come from frustration, anger or unpeace have already been taken by Christ, who absorbed all our pain, sin, suffering and wrath on the cross, and brought up to heaven transformed into righteousness and purity!  So every negative emotion or even sinful thought or behavior we may go through here on earth has already been taken away by Christ and turned into righteousness, peace and beauty. On the cross He became our sin and we became His righteousness. That is an eternal event that is applicable for all time. All the struggle, anger and strife within us has already been pacified and transformed into love and peace by Christ through His finished work. 

So how do we handle those irritated or tense feelings? Maybe we can treat them the same way God does, for He always extends love and peace, and Christ in His love and peace embraced us at our worst moment and melted away all the angst of the world, making us all clean and pure and alright. So we can extend grace to ourselves, just as Christ always does. We can love ourselves in our dark moments, knowing that's not the deepest thing about us, but that the deepest thing about us is the peace of God. We can know that in Christ we have actually already won over any negative thought with the truth of His peace, knowing that all that anger and hurt has been healed in heaven and we will see it manifest visibly, either here on earth or when we arrive in heaven.  But either way, we have been made unchangeably good, calm, peaceful, victorious and sweet by Christ, and that's heaven's reality right now!

"When I was upset and beside myself, you calmed me down and cheered me up."

Psalm 94:19 (MSG)

A Prayer: Your peace is already reigning over my restless mind.

He Ministers Peace to Us

"God is our very Peace, and He is our sure Keeper when we are ourselves in unpeace, and He continually worketh to bring us into endless peace."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 49)

He is always ministering peace to us, the peacefulness of His own presence. That means God's peace is always dissolving any and all struggle, tension, anxiety and stress within us, and it will keep on ministering to us till we come to rest. His peace is like the gentle waves of the sea lapping continually onto the shore, caressing the sand and soothing with rhythmic sounds, like the rocking of a baby to sleep. In His presence we find perfect peace that this world cannot give and cannot take away. We find the peace of heaven, eternal peace, the peace of knowing God has everything in His hands and everything will be okay, everything is okay somehow. He is constantly leading us by the still waters of His heart, constantly restoring our soul, constantly filling our cup with His perspective, His calmness, His own Spirit. He quiets all the clamoring voices, saying "Peace, be still," till we hear only His whisper to us and know only His presence with us. Nothing can reach us here to disturb or challenge this calm place we are in with Him, in His arms, in His strength, in His peace.

"It is My own peace that I give you."

John 14:27 (GNT)

"He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul."

Psalm 23:2-3 (NKJV)

A Prayer: You are my peace.

The Work of Goodness

"(We are blissfully safe:) that is to say, full pleased with God and with all His works, and with all His judgments, and loving and peaceable with our self and with our even-Christians and with all that God loveth, as love beseemeth. And this doeth God’s Goodness in us."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 49)

What does it mean to be experiencing the bliss of our salvation? It is to be pleased with God and His works, understanding that He is all love and never harms or does violence. It is to be pleased with all His judgments, knowing that His judgment is positive, calling the whole world innocent and clean. It is to be loving and peaceful with ourselves, accepting ourselves just as we are and seeing ourselves as God's good children, because we know God loves and accepts us just as we are as His good children.  It is to be loving and peaceful with all people, because we know that they too are all God's children, loved and accepted by God and therefore we are all one big family of God. We don't have to strive to be like this or work at it. God's goodness naturally produces this effect in us. His unconditional love and grace naturally softens our hard edges, eases our tension, dissolves self-hatred and calms any anger. We find ourselves relaxed and able to enjoy God, ourselves and others. We love as Christ first loved us. This is the beautiful result of God's grace and love within us. This is what true Christianity is all about: not judging and harshness and rules and punishment, but love and grace and peace and unity! This is the birthright of every child of God, this is what it's like to be in God's family, this is God's love goal and promise that He will fulfill in us!

"We love because He first loved us."

1 John 4:19 (NIV)

A Prayer: Because You love me, I love myself and other people.

Securely Safe, Blissfully Safe

 "Though we, by the wrath and the contrariness that is in us, be now in tribulation, distress, and woe, as falleth to our blindness and frailty, yet are we securely safe by the merciful keeping of God, that we perish not. But we are not blissfully safe, in having of our endless joy, till we be all in peace and in love.."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 49)

We can rant and rave, get in trouble, lash out at others and hate on ourselves, yet all the while God holds us in His arms and loves us unconditionally. No matter how we blow it or mess up, due to our weakness or simply being blind to how loving God is and how He is always with us as a Friend, it doesn't matter. We are still securely safe in His arms. Nothing can take us from Him or His love, even our own mistakes, ravings, weaknesses or blindness. Nothing! We don't really enjoy that safety, though, till we hear the good news of Christ being in us and us being in Christ, in perfect love no matter what, as innocent children of God free from all our sins. When we hear this wonderful Good News, that we are safe with God no matter what and always will be His innocent children held in His arms, then we can relax and begin to find peace with ourselves and with others. We are then blissfully safe, enjoying more fully all the safety, belonging, love and harmony that is already ours in Christ. It's like when a scared, upset child wakes up from a bad dream to find themselves safe at home, and they relax and are able to smile, play and enjoy family life. They were always safe at home, they just needed to wake up and realize it. So we are always in God and securely safe whether we know it or not, and when we do realize and experience that and it affects our lives, we are blissfully safe in God's endless joy, peace and love.

You are my hiding place; You, Lord, protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance.

Psalm 32:7 (AMP)

A Prayer: To know I am safe with You -  no matter how I act or how I feel - fills me with joy! I just want everyone to know they are safe with You!

Sheltered in His Love

"For though we feel in ourselves, [frail] wretches, debates and strifes, yet are we all-mannerful enclosed in the mildness of God and in His meekness, in His benignity and in His graciousness. For I saw full surely that all our endless friendship, our place, our life and our being, is in God."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 49)

So often we can be in turmoil or have negative thoughts or emotions within us, tensions and strife within ourselves or with other people. But still, even in the midst of those tumultuous inner storms, we are enclosed in God's love and goodness and peace. We are living in a palace of peace, God's own heart, even when we don't feel that peace completely within us. God wraps us up in His love, kindness and gentleness even when we don't have love, kindness or gentleness.  He holds us closely in peace and quietness and acceptance even when we are not accepting others or ourselves. We may think we are wretched, may sometimes feel and speak and act wretchedly, but God still holds us close in love, still holds us close in peace, still calls us His beloved friends. He is our real life, not the crazy thoughts and feelings inside our brains. Our true self, our true place, is in Him in infinite peace and love, not in any stormy, antagonistic or troubled thoughts that come along. We're always wrapped in His friendship and always cherished in His heart, and no feeling, thought, word or act from us could ever change that. So whether we always feel or know it or not, we are always held safely in the shelter of His love.

"You are my hiding place. You will keep me out of trouble and envelop me with songs that remind me I am free."

Psalm 32:7 (VOICE)

A Prayer: You are my shelter from angry thoughts and troubled feelings. I am Your beloved one, found in Your peace and love.

Where God Is, Is Peace

"For I saw full surely that where our Lord appeareth, peace is taken and wrath hath no place."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 49)

Wherever God is present, there is peace. In His presence there is never any striving, any tension, any strain. In His presence unrest disappears, agitation fades away, turmoil dissolves into stillness and rest. He is always saying into our stormy feelings and circumstances, "Peace, be still." Anger and discord, struggle and conflict just cannot exist in His presence. He is our Peace. With Him we find the quietness, the tranquility, the calm we are looking for, all within His eyes of love and friendship. With such a great and loving Friend, we feel safe and at peace and only want to extend safety and peace to those around us. In God is true peace, and we have that peace in Him right now. We have not our own peace or any peace from the world, but God's very own peace. That is the peace we live in today!

"God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:7 (GNT)

A Prayer: With you, I just can't stay mad or upset for long! You always bring my agitated mind to rest. 

Dissolving Our Anger

"For He that wasteth and destroyeth our wrath and maketh us meek and mild,—it behoveth needs to be that He [Himself] be ever one in love, meek and mild: which is contrary to wrath."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 49)

God works in us to dissipate and dissolve all the tension, antagonism, anger and strife within us. He soothes our hearts, calms us down and fills us with His loving perspective. He loves us unconditionally, no matter how hateful and wrathful we feel or act, and this gracious stance toward us melts our defenses and brings our stormy hearts to stillness and peace. If God loves us even when we act out or feel so frustrated, He will always love us, and knowing this love and gentleness and kindness brings us to feel loving, gentle and kind as well. If God is always drawing us by His love to gentleness and peace, doesn't that mean He Himself embodies gentleness and peace? Such gentleness and peace is the opposite of wrath. Our God draws us away from anger and toward humility and love, because that is how He is. God is gentle and unwrathful, so to be godly is to be gentle and unwrathful. This peaceable character of God is seen in the fruit the Holy Spirit bears in us, the fruit of God's own nature:  peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness and self-control. We have a God who is only full of humility, kindness, gentleness and love. The essence of His character is this gentle and peaceful demeanor toward all people, no matter what they are like. That is what He brings us to be like, because that is who He is. Wrath is truly foreign to God's character!

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

Galatians 5:22-23 (NET)

A Prayer: Thank You for having no wrath or anger towards me, ever. I never need to be frightened of You. And thank You for getting rid of my own anger! 

Friendship is the Opposite of Wrath

"For wrath and friendship be two contraries."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 49)

Anger or unrest is the exact opposite of friendship and peaceful relations, so anger or wrath never applies to the attitude of God towards us! He is always holding us close in the bond of perfect friendship and His attitude is always perfect accord. In fact, Christ has brought us into the friendship circle of the Trinity itself, which is the most perfect friendship and most agreeable fellowship of all. There is complete accord, openness and always-pouring-forth love among all the members of the Trinity, and that is the friendship bond that we live inside in Christ. This fellowship of the Trinity knows only concord, unity and peace; wrath and animosity and tension do not exist here. And because Christ has brought us inside this Trinity fellowship, wrath and tension do not exist for us, either. We are safely sheltered in the perfect, tender, gentle friendship of God!

"Our Leader Jesus Christ has welcomed us to fully participate in the same friendship that He and the Father enjoy."

1 John 1:3 (MIRROR)

A Prayer: I love being caught up in the love relationship of the Trinity family! I have found my home and it's right here in the circle of Trinity love!

Always Our Friend

"Therefore to the soul that of His special grace seeth so far into the high, marvellous Goodness of God, and seeth that we are endlessly oned to Him in love, it is the most impossible that may be, that God should be wroth."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 49)

God is always our Friend, always, always, always. He is the Person we can count on to always be there for us, always support us, always cheer us on, always believe in us. He is the One we can count on to always love us, care about us, understand us, be on our side and by our side. We are oned to Him in love, the highest bond of friendship. When we feel we are friendless, we aren't, because we always have this Friend like no other to walk through anything with us and always have our back. Looking at Him, seeing how He is just pure goodness and pure love, seeing how we are bonded together in friendship with a bond nothing can break, we see that there is no way God could ever be angry with us. No matter what we do or how we fail, even if we turn our back on Him, He won't turn His back on us. He won't reject us, won't leave us, won't get irritated with us. He is our Friend.  We just cannot change God's demeanor towards us. His demeanor is unfailingly loving, open, tender-hearted, accepting and loyal. He is loyal to us and at peace with us no matter what. He is only one way - friendly. That is His permanent way of being and His eternal character. That is just who He is. That is what His love means, what it means to say that "God is Love" - it means we always have a Friend in God!

"A friend loves at all times."

Proverbs 17:17 (NIV)

"Love is patient and kind....It is not irritable."

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NLT)

A Prayer: You are the best Friend I could ever have. Thank You for never getting irritated or angry with me. Thank You for always extending kindness and love to me!

Grounded in Love

"Our life is all grounded and rooted in love, and without love we may not live."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 49)

It is so comforting to know that our whole existence is held within the love of God. His love for us is the ground of our lives, the reason and purpose for which we were created, and the very source from which we were made. We were literally made of love, made of God. His love for us is like the root of our life, from which we sprout and grow and flourish. In fact our lives cannot flourish without the nourishment of God's love. His love is supporting our life, keeping us in life, keeping all of creation in life. How wonderful to find that the One who holds this created cosmos together is wearing a smile, is for us and not against us, is constantly loving us and not judging us, is gentle and good! At the heart of the Universe is a Personal God who is Good, who is unfailingly kind, who is pure Love! This whole universe is built on the foundation of God's Love for us all! We would not even exist without His love. God, who is Love, is the center of us all, the center of all that exists, and He holds up all things through the Son, who is the exact image of Love and holds all things in His hand by the power of Love. This Love is the heartbeat of all creation, the heartbeat that echoes through our lives at all times, beating out the enduring message: "I love you without condition and My love for you will never end." We are being held right now in the arms of a Love that will never let us fall, never let us down, never let us go!

"In Him all things hold together."

Colossians 1:17 (ESV)

"Your love has always been our lives' foundation, Your fidelity has been the roof over our world."

Psalm 89:2 (MSG)

A Prayer: I'm so thankful that Your love is holding me right now.

No Need for Forgiveness

"Our Lord God, anent (with regard to) Himself may not forgive, for He may not be wroth: it were impossible. 

Julian of Norwich (ch. 49)

From God's perspective, He has no need to forgive because there is nothing He sees as an offense. Forgiveness is letting go of an offense, but one can't have or need forgiveness if noone is offended. God is not offended by us. The sin in our lives He sees as sorrow and suffering, not as willful and wicked offenses against Him. He looks at us and sees friends and beloved children, who are weak and get caught in traps, who fall in ditches and can't get out, who are deluded by sin and become enslaved to it against their true will. From His point of view there is an infinite understanding of why we do the things we do, with our life history, influences, wounds and struggles. His infinite understanding, patience and love for us mean that He is not offended by us. He simply has more compassion for all the pain we are going through from the sin that so easily entangles us. God is not offended by us! So of course He is not angry or wrathful. Of course He sees nothing to forgive, has no need to forgive. God loves and understands us and pities us in our suffering from the tyrant sin. He is always on our side against the things that hurt us, even if it seems we sometimes foolishly choose those things!

"As a father is kind to his children, the Lord is kind to us....He knows that we are weak humans."

Psalm 103:13-14 (EASY)

A Prayer: It is a great relief to know it is impossible to make You angry with me! It is a great relief to know that I could never offend You!

To Slacken Our Wrath

"The mercy of God and the forgiveness is to slacken and waste our wrath."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 48)

It is eye-opening to see that salvation is all for our benefit, not God's. We have a God who is always loving us, always accepting us, always has His arms open wide to us in friendship, always expresses friendship towards us. Since He never turns away from us, never gets offended with us, we see that salvation isn't to change God's mind about us but to change our mind about God. We may feel resistant to God out of fear or guilt or out of confusion because of erroneous images of God that we have been taught.  God  breaks down the walls of defensiveness and fear we have built up against Him. He shows us in Christ that He is all loving and gentle and friendly. He gives us all forgiveness and has compassion on us as those who are wounded and in bondage and need rescue and help. So Christ's loving act on the cross slackens and dissolves our wrath, not God's. It appeases us, not the Father. It reconciles us to God, not God to us. It was all for us! We needed saving from lies, confusion, fear, shame, anger, struggle, bondage and pain. Christ rescued us. He rescued our minds from the lies we were caught in and rescued our bodies from death. Now we can walk with God in peace and love and acceptance and joy! What a Savior and what a salvation!

"Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living."

Psalm 116:7-9

A Prayer: Thank You for always being at peace with me.Thank You for dissolving the anger inside of me so I can enjoy Your friendship! 

The Reward Grace Won for Us

"For I saw full surely that ever as our contrariness worketh to us here in earth pain, shame, and sorrow, right so, on the contrary wise, grace worketh to us in heaven solace, worship, and bliss; and overpassing. And so far forth, that when we come up and receive the sweet reward which grace hath wrought for us, then we shall thank and bless our Lord.."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 48)

The law says that those who sin deserve pain, shame and sorrow. But grace says that those who sin receive solace, worth and bliss! How can this be? It is because Christ through grace has won a reward for us in heaven. He has bonded us with Him and we are standing in His perfection and joy, and all the blessings of heaven that are His, He shares with us. This is not something we have to earn or maintain perfect performance in order to have. This is a gift, this is what grace is all about! We are under grace, not law. So no matter what human judgment on earth may say we deserve, in heaven grace is pouring out love, acceptance, glory, honor and bliss on us! These gifts are all freely given to us in Christ, and are the heavenly and eternal reward that grace has won for us! That means that no matter how we blow it down here, we are known as righteous ones in heaven, we are winners already in heaven, we are glorified and honored in heaven, we are given the bliss of heaven! It's a free gift that Mr. Grace Himself, our beautiful Lord Jesus Christ, has won for us and gives to us freely and unconditionally, with no strings attached. 

"How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him."

Ephesians 1:3 (MSG)

A Prayer: Thank You for the blessings You have already given me freely, by grace!

Grace Overpassing

"For I saw full surely that ever as our contrariness worketh to us here in earth pain, shame, and sorrow, right so, on the contrary wise, grace worketh to us in heaven solace, worship, and bliss; and overpassing."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 48)

We may be failing here on earth, may have struggles and hangups that we never seem to overcome. We may struggle with shame or guilt or condemnation. But the reality about us is that we are actually already a totally new and pure and complete creation in Christ, resurrected with Him and reigning with Him in heaven. We are not failures, shameful and unworthy, or ruined, or lost. We are not truly in the realm of sin or death, where law and punishment rules, at all. We are truly in the heavenly kingdom, Christ's kingdom of love, where grace rules. We are already receiving honor and bliss that overflows in superabundance. Our righteousness, purity, and wholeness can't be improved upon because it is the righteousness of Christ in us. Our relationship with God can't be any better. We are already perfect, sinless, one with God and victorious. Christ has done it all for us in defeating sin and death and shame in our lives. There is nothing left to be done about all that. So we can enjoy what He has brought us into already -  new creation life, sharing in His resurrection life. We are living resurrection life even now. All because of His overwhelming gift by grace!

"Now, in the light of your co-inclusion in his death and resurrection, whoever you thought you were before, in Christ you are a brand new person! The old ways of seeing yourself and everyone else are over. Acquaint yourself with the new!"

2 Corinthians 5:17 (MIRROR)

"He took our sorrows, our pain, our shame to his grave and birthed his righteousness in us. He took our sins and we became his innocence."

2 Corinthians 5:21 (MIRROR)

A Prayer: Show me my new creation reality in You!

Grace Works

"Grace worketh: raising, rewarding, endlessly overpassing....Grace worketh our dreadful failing into plenteous, endless solace; and grace worketh our shameful falling into high, worshipful rising; and grace worketh our sorrowful dying into holy, blissful life."

Julian of Norwich (Ch.. 48)

Grace, wonderful grace! Grace is God's blessing coming to us always, without our effort, earning or even asking. That is because grace has nothing to do with law or requirements or self-effort. We don't have to work to gain it and we cannot by any failure lose it. Grace is unconditional. It just comes. It is unconditional love, unconditional acceptance, unconditional gifts, unconditional blessing! Grace is God turning every bad thing into something wonderful, beyond even our wildest dreams. That is because grace doesn't just abound, it superabounds! Failure has been turned into comfort, falling has been turned into rising, death has been turned into life, all by the finished work of grace done by Christ for and in us! 

By grace God raised us up with Christ into His resurrection life, life that is unconquerable and invincible, life that never ends, life that is always fresh and sweet and good, life that is always full of God, full of love, full of joy. By grace God made us to ascend with Christ to heavenly places, and we are seated with Christ before the Father in heaven, so we are reigning over every problem and sin already. And by grace we have been bonded into the relationship of the Trinity and take part in the relationship of the Father and Son. You could not ask for a more perfect, wonderful, stable, intimate, deep, amazing or eternal relationship with God! That is the essence of eternal life, to know God so fully and intimately and enjoy Him! All this we have by grace, and it was accomplished completely in and by Christ before we were even born! We were born into a state of grace and could never be "out" of it. Christ has made everything so safe and secure for us. All that is left is to see what we have already and enjoy this wonderful life with God that we have by His grace.

"This is how grace rescued us: sin left us dead towards God, like spiritual corpses; then comes the resurrection of Christ, in that moment, He simultaneously co-quickened us. While sin proved how dead we then were, grace reveals how alive we now are.

(As much as we were co-included in His death,) we are co-included in His resurrection. We are also elevated in His ascension to be equally welcome in the throne room of the heavenly realm where we are now seated together with Him in absolute authority. We are in Christ Jesus.

Timeless perpetuity (the eternal future) will continue to tell of the surpassing excellence of His grace towards us. Grace exhibits excessive evidence of the fact that we are embraced in God’s kindness because we are associated (positioned) in Christ.

Your salvation was a grace thing from start to finish, you had no hand in it; because it is all God’s gift to you, because He believes in you."

Ephesians 2:5-8 (MIRROR)

A Prayer: Thank You for Your wonderful grace that blessed me in Christ beyond my greatest imaginations!

Mercy Works

"Mercy worketh: keeping, suffering, quickening, and healing; and all is tenderness of love."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 48)

God's mercy or compassion works in our lives no matter what. We cannot fall too far and cause it to stop working in us. No matter how low we go or how big a mess we make, His mercy still works in our lives, His compassion still works in us. 

Mercy keeps us. God's compassion holds on to us through all our trials, sufferings and failures. It keeps us safe and sound in Christ always.

Mercy suffers with us. God in compassion feels all the hurts we feel and suffers all the things we suffered. Christ took on the weight of all the sin and sorrow and pain of the whole world on the cross. He bore it away so we don't have to bear it. 

Mercy quickens. It is God's compassion that raises us up from the dead and dark places our minds get trapped in, the death and darkness our bodies are susceptible to. God in compassion brings life to the dead, raising us up with Christ to new life, showing us there is always hope and always a happy ending. 

Mercy heals. All the wounded places in us get comforted, soothed and healed by the love and compassion of God. He has entered into our sickened minds and healed them from the inside out, dispelling the darkness with His light. He is there. He cares. He hurts with us and heals us. He loves us and lightens us. Mercy works so beautifully in our lives, never ceasing, never failing!

"I've picked you. I haven't dropped you. Don't panic. I'm with you. I'll give you strength. I'll help you. I'll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you....I, your God, have a firm grip on you and I'm not letting go."

Isaiah 41:10, 13 (MSG)

A Prayer: Your mercy never fails me.

Mercy in our Falling

"We die in so much as we fail of the sight and feeling of God that is our life. Our failing is dreadful, our falling is shameful, and our dying is sorrowful: but in all this the sweet eye of pity and love is lifted never off us, nor the working of mercy ceaseth."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 48)

It was when Adam and Eve lost sight of God, and who they were to God, that they fell into sin and death. God is our very source of life and being, and losing sight of Him and our identity as His good children causes us to sink into wrong beliefs and behaviors. It brings only corruption and death. Yet His mercy and love never lift from us. His sweet eye of pity and love still rests upon us. He remains the source of our life and the One who holds us in His hand. He refuses to let us go into nothingness and death; He rescues us and lifts us up into eternal life with Him in Christ! This is a finished work. The victory over sin and death is already won. We are saved and safe. We are brought up into the relationship Jesus has with the Father, a relationship that is secure, eternal, unchanging and perfect. We are in a perfect relationship of perfect love with God. And it all began with the lovely and unceasing mercy, pity, kindness and love of God for us, His created children!

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy."

Titus 3:5 (NIV)

A Prayer: Your love and mercy saved me!

All Things to Good

"Mercy is a sweet gracious working in love, mingled with plenteous pity: for mercy worketh in keeping us, and mercy worketh turning to us all things to good."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 48)

His mercy is His compassion for us in our troubles and hurts, our confusions and sins, all coming from His perfect love. It is the endless, unconditional compassion He shows towards us when we fall, fail, hurt or get lost. It comes from love and it is full of love and only love. It is the compassion He shows towards us like a shepherd with His sheep: He sees us like little sheep that get lost and need help and rescue and love, and He is the Good Shepherd always taking care of His little sheep. His mercy is tender, understanding and kind, never scolding or angry or disappointed. It is gentle and helpful and healing. This mercy keeps us safe no matter where we fall to, no matter where we roam, so that we are never out of God's loving hand and never in any ultimate danger. And this mercy turns everything to good for us, so every wrong turn just advances us on our journey, every sin just ends up bringing blessing, every hurt gets turned into glory. 

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end."

Lamentations 3:22 (ESV)

"And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd."

Mark 6:34 (NKJ)

A Prayer: Thank You for keeping me safe with You.

Kept Soaring in Him

"For the ground of mercy is love, and the working of mercy is our keeping in love."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 48)

Christ's wonderful mercy or compassion is seen in the way He is our Keeper, holding onto us always, keeping us in His love and presence and victory. He is like an eagle carrying us on His strong back, so we are soaring on His swift wings, and we just keep going up with Him, no matter what. He has us bonded to Him in love and oneness, so that we can never fall out of Him or lose altitude. Instead, we just keep going up and up. Mercy has found us at our lowest point, picked us up and taken us to the highest point, and is keeping us there - right now we are soaring with Christ in heavenly places. That is the amazing grace of God!

"In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them.."

Isaiah 63:9 (NLV)

"I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself."

Exodus 19:4 (NLV)

A Prayer: I'm soaring with You!

He Forgives Our Wrath

"For we by sin and wretchedness have in us a wretched and continuant contrariness to peace and to love. (Yet) shewed He full often.. His lovely Regard of Ruth and Pity."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 48) 

He loved us even to the death, even when we in our misguided rage put Him to death on the cross. He forgave us, loved us, accepted us even at that horrible moment. When we did our worst to Him in all our confused frustration, He did His best to us and forgave the whole world! Whatever wrath or stubbornness or unkindness we feel inside or lash out with toward God or others or ourselves, He has already forgiven. He even says there is nothing to forgive, for we don't know what we are doing. We are little children who are hurt and confused by the lies we have been told of God being angry and of us being unworthy and unlovable. We have lashed out like little children in a tantrum of confused rage and hurt and He, Pure Love, doesn't hold it against us. He doesn't even see our anger, tantrums or hatred. He only sees His beloved children trapped in confused thinking, trapped in systems of judgment and division. He only looks on us with the eyes of love and compassion, only acts towards us with love and compassion. And His loving act towards us is to free us from the bondage to lies and wrong thinking, this way of sin that leads only to destruction. Athanasius of Alexandria spoke of this when he wrote that Christ came "to set free all beings in Himself, to lead the world to the Father and to pacify all beings in Himself." So Christ did not go to the cross to pacify a raging God but to pacify a confused and hurting humanity that was raging against the very One who had nothing but love to offer. He understood that we were wounded kids who didn't know what we were even doing. He came as a propitiation for our sin, a turning away or assuaging or pacifying of OUR wrath, not God's! 

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2 (KJV)

A Prayer: Thank You for understanding and forgiving the wrath and struggle I sometimes feel inside! Thank You that all my sin is gone, taken away at the cross!

Wrath is in Us, Not God

"For I saw no wrath but on man’s part; and that forgiveth He in us. For wrath is not else but a forwardness and a contrariness to peace and love; and either it cometh of failing of might, or of failing of wisdom, or of failing of goodness: which failing is not in God, but is on our part."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 48)

We may have been taught that God is angry with humans because of their sin. We may have seen God as so angry that He was ready to lash out and destroy or punish humans, till Jesus stepped in and took the brunt of that anger, letting God pummel Him at the cross, and that this act assuaged God's anger, calming Him down so He could tolerate or forgive us.  Yet we find out that the ones who had the wrath and anger, the ones prone to lashing out, were humans and not God at all! God has been there before us always, with open arms, yet we have been blinded by confusion and have had contrary feelings. When you are convinced God is against you and angry with you, it can make you feel against God and angry with God. So our dear tender-hearted God became flesh and blood to visibly show us the face of God: not an angry and unfriendly face but an accepting and loving face! Wrath is simply a lacking of peace and love, and so we see that God, visibly revealed by Jesus, is peace and love, is the opposite of wrath. And He completely understood, absorbed, and forgave all the wrath in humanity, all the lack of peace and love ever found in our lives or behaviors. Christ on the cross is God absorbing all the wrath of humanity and dissolving it in His love, for God has only love to give us, never wrath. For He does not conquer evil with punishment or rage; He simply overcomes it with forgiveness and goodness!

"With love I have held out my hands day after day, offering myself to this unbelieving and stubborn people!”

Romans 10:21 (TPT)

"Overcome evil with good."

Romans 12:21 (NIV)

A Prayer: Thank You for never failing to show me love, even in the midst of my wrath.

The Way of Mercy

"But our good Lord the Holy Ghost, which is endless life dwelling in our soul, full securely keepeth us; and worketh therein a peace and bringeth it to ease by grace, and accordeth it to God and maketh it pliant. And this is the mercy and the way that our Lord continually leadeth us."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 48)

He is always in us by the Spirit, dwelling within as our Friend. And no matter what negative feeling we have, no matter what mistake or confusion, He is always loving on us and showing us compassion. He is always reminding us we are secure. He is always telling us the truth of our belonging and our union with Him. He is always reassuring us that He won't leave us, no matter what we do. We are safe in His keeping. And He is always working peace in our heart, bringing us to be at rest and calm. He is always reminding us of His perspective, to see that He is taking care of everything. He is always loving us till we calm down and tensions cease. He is always loving and accepting us right where we are, just as we are, with no requirement to change, and yet it is in that embrace of unconditional love that we find ourselves changed, and we feel we can relax and be able to love ourselves and others. Rather than feeling tense or agitated or angry, He brings us to feel relaxed and gentle. Rather than feeling rigid or judgmental. He brings us to feel adaptable and empathetic. Whatever selfish or negative feeling we may be having, He doesn't judge or berate us, He simply loves on us. He keeps on embracing us and reminding us of how special and accepted and beautiful and innocent we are. And we find the negative feelings dissolve in the light of His love and tenderness. This is how He shows mercy to us, and it comes to us unceasingly. We can never outrun or outsin the mercy and compassion of God!

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."

Psalm 23:6 (ESV)

A Prayer: Your compassion for me melts my heart and dissolves all my bad feelings.

Weak, Yet Strong in Christ

"Man is changeable in this life, and by frailty and overcoming falleth into sin: he is weak and unwise of himself, and also his will is overlaid. And in this time he is in tempest and in sorrow and woe; and the cause is blindness: for he seeth not God. For if he saw God continually, he should have no mischievous feeling, nor any manner of motion or yearning that serveth to sin."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 47)

What is the reason that people fall into sin? It is not that we are inherently evil and rebellious, because God made humans with a good nature like His own. But people, unlike God, are changeable and frail. We can get confused and be unwise. Though we have a good core and know that we are meant to be loving and kind, we are weak and our will to do good gets overwhelmed by our strong emotions, passions, and desires connected with this world. And most importantly, we are blind and cannot see God. If we could truly see God, who is only pure unconditional love, who is embracing and protecting us at all times, giving us a place of safety and belonging with Him forever, accepting us with no chance of ever being rejected, we would not have any desire or movement toward sin. We would see we have all we long for in God and feel totally satisfied, safe and beloved. But dwelling in human flesh in this material world, we cannot see the spiritual naturally. 

So Christ came, God becoming flesh to live and walk among us. Jesus is God become man, both human and divine. He comes before us as someone we can see, hear and touch. He comes to show us the face of God, to show us He is all love, and to show us we are in His image of love and belong to Him. He comes to free us from our bondage to sin and open our eyes so we are not blind or in the dark anymore. He comes to give us His power over sin, His sound mind that thinks clearly and wisely, His life that conquers death, His righteousness that is unchanging. He comes to give us Himself, for He is one with us forever, giving us freedom from sin's power and freedom to enjoy wonderful relationship with God. We may be weak and frail humans, but our Brother Jesus is strong and sure, and He has saved us from sin, darkness, and corruption and brought us into life with Him forever!

My body and my heart may grow weak, but God is the strength of my heart and all I need forever.

Psalm 73:26 (NLV)

A Prayer: Thank You for upholding me with Your strength!

Wonderful Mercy

"By the teaching that I had afore, I understood that the mercy of God should be the forgiveness of His wrath after the time that we have sinned... I took that the forgiveness of His wrath should be one of the principal points of His mercy. But howsoever I might behold and desire, I could in no wise see this point in all the Shewing.

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 47)

We may have been taught that mercy is God holding back the wrath and punishment that we deserve for our sins. But Julian saw something different in God's revelation to her. She didn't see wrath anywhere in God. So if there is no wrath coming from God to us, then mercy must mean something other than "holding back wrath." Julian comes to see that God's mercy doesn't have any connection to anger, violence or punishment. God's mercy is instead connecting to His intense tender feelings of compassion for us who are hurting and suffering from sin and its effects in the world. The Hebrew word for mercy comes from the word for "womb," a place of connection, safety, tender care and love. God has the tender feelings of mother love towards us when we are hurting, even if we caused the hurting ourselves. He has no anger, only compassion. So Christ on the cross was not diverting God's anger against our sin onto Himself so we could be forgiven; there was no anger on the part of God at all, and He certainly didn't need to vent His anger in order to be able to forgive us. Instead, Christ on the cross was taking upon Himself all the pain and suffering and hurt that humanity has suffered from sin, feeling every hurt and pain that we feel out of intense love for us. With compassion, tender emotions, and kindness, He bore that pain away from us and into the grave, where it will stay forever. Mercy is compassion that knows no bounds, that suffers along with the hurting one, that cares for people like a mother would her tiny baby. Mercy has nothing to do with judgment or anger. It has everything to do with compassion and love. That is how wonderful our God is, a God who is pure love and nothing else!

He surrounds me with loving-kindness and tender mercies.

Psalm 103:4 (TLB)

A Prayer: Thank You for the mercy and tenderness You always show me!

Fully Oned to God

 "For our soul is so fully oned to God of His own Goodness that between God and our soul may be right nought."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 46)

We are "fully oned to God." Nothing can ever come between us. We always have the perfect friendship with God. There is never any distance between us. There is never any separation. There is never any offense, misunderstanding or estrangement. There is only perfect harmony and intimacy. We are completely accepted with no way we could ever be rejected. We are completely loved with no way we could ever be disdained. All that is between us is pure love, pure delight, pure joy, pure unity. We have a bond nothing can break. We can't fall out of God's arms, can't sin our way out of His love, can't ruin this relationship no matter what we do, think or believe. We have been put into an unbreakable union, and through Christ we are already brought up to heaven and sealed into eternal union with God, brought up into Christ's own love relationship with the Father. Can anything ever come between Christ Jesus and the Father? No! Then nothing can ever come between us and the Father. We are in the fellowship circle of the Trinity. We are safe in the place we've been created for and have always belonged. We are in Christ, in God, in happiness, in love. We are home!

"Your life is hidden with Christ in God."

Colossians 3:3 (GW)

A Prayer:  I love being oned to You!

Nothing Between Us

"God is the Goodness that may not be wroth, for He is not [other] but Goodness: our soul is oned to Him, unchangeable Goodness, and between God and our soul is neither wrath nor forgiveness in His sight.

Julian of Norwich (ch. 46)

The first century Christian leader, Clement of Rome, wrote that "God is free from wrath toward all creation." God is only good. There is no mixture of bad in Him. He is pure goodness and nothing but goodness, and this goodness leaves no room for evil, anger, wrath, violence or vengeance. We are one with this Pure, Unchanging Goodness. We are aligned with Him, in unity with Him, at peace with Him. There is nothing but peace between us. There is nothing but goodness between us. There is nothing but harmony between us. There is nothing but friendship between us. So being oned with goodness like this, oned with God like this, how could there be any offense, disunity, misalignment or upset between us? How could there be any irritation or wrath? God is totally at peace with us and nothing changes this peace. Nothing we do ever alters our relationship because God is holding us in oneness with Himself. According to God there is not even a need for forgiveness, because there is nothing to forgive. All is well. All is friendship and peace. We may see our sins and think fellowship is disrupted or that God is offended or angry, but God doesn't see our sins. He sees only a beloved innocent child of His very own. He has already overcome all our wrongs with His goodness, for Christ took away all our sins at the cross so we could feel clean and relaxed with God. We might have felt uneasy about our relationship with God, but He never feels uneasy about us. He is always extending love, grace, peace, healing, joy and friendship to us. He wants to put our minds at ease and let us know there is absolutely nothing between us and God, and nothing can change the love He has for us. He is at peace with us. He is at rest about us. He is fine with us. We are in oneness with Him, a place where there is no possibility of anger, rejection, disappointment or loss of fellowship!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness (graciousness, mercy, compassion) endures forever."

Psalm 136:1 (AMP)

A Prayer: Thank You for Your goodness that radiates only mercy and love towards me always!

Wrath Is Against His Unity

"For He is God: Good, Life, Truth, Love, Peace; His Clarity and His Unity suffereth Him not to be wroth. For I saw truly that it is against the property of His Might to be wroth, and against the property of His Wisdom, and against the property of His Goodness."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 46)

God is a Unity. All His characteristics align with each other and are never in opposition to one another. He is the epitome of Love. All His attributes stem from Love, and He exudes goodness, life, light, joy, peace and kindness. His character is represented by all the fruits of the Spirit pouring forth from Him at all times. Wrath is absolutely opposed to this goodness and gentleness of character, opposed to the very essence of God's nature which is Love. Love is who He is, so wrath is not who He is. The ancient Epistle to Diognetus, a Christian letter from around 150 AD, talks about this wonderful unity of character in God, saying, "He was always of such a character, and still is, and will ever be, kind and good, and free from wrath, and true, and the only one who is [absolutely] good." Bible passages that seem to show God as being wrathful in the Old Testament can be seen as simply a misunderstanding or incomplete revelation of who God is, with the full revelation being seen in the Son of God who had infinite kindness and forgave all who hurt Him. The wrath of God mentioned in passages in the New Testament can be seen as the passion of God to obliterate all the things that hurt His children - in other words, the passion of God against sin and death, not against His children! So there is absolutely no wrath or anger in God against us at any time. It is simply unfitting to the all-loving, all-wise, all-powerful Being we call Father and Friend who radiates only patience, kindness, gentleness and love. For God is a Unity; He is only love, only life, only light, only gentleness. He is only one way, not two. Jesus showed us the true character of God so plainly in His actions and words. He showed us a God who is so gentle that children would run to Him and sit in His lap with no fear and people who were called great sinners would seek out His company without fear of condemnation or a tongue-lashing. What a beautiful, calm, patient and gentle God we have! It is simply impossible for Him to be wrath!

"I am gentle and lowly in heart."

Matthew 11:29 (ESV)

A Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for showing us a God that is love and not wrath. Thank You for showing us we never have to be afraid of God!

Mercy Not Wrath

"Methought it was needful to see and to know that we are sinners, and do many evils that we ought to leave, and leave many good deeds undone that we ought to do: wherefore we deserve pain and wrath. And notwithstanding all this, I saw soothfastly that our Lord was never wroth, nor ever shall be."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 46)

We see the sins, the evils that are done by men. We see the acts that are good that we don't commit and the acts that are bad that we do commit. We see the bad attitudes, the inner prejudices, the hateful thoughts. We see the impure motives and selfish ways. We see that according to the law or legal justice, we deserve wrath and punishment. 

And yet...God is never angry with us and never shall be!  Isn't it the most wonderful miracle to look into His face expecting nothing but wrath and condemnation and to see only love and compassion!  No matter what we do, we cannot ever, ever make Him lose His temper or "be the last straw" that sends Him over the edge in fury and punishment. We have feared His anger, His rebuke, His punishment, His rejection. And He keeps showing and telling us, in His perfect Son who forgave all who murdered Him, that He is only love and forgiveness and healing and never wrath and condemnation and punishment. He is the infinite One, infinite in patience, kindness, compassion and tenderness. It seems too good to be true, but it is: God is never wrathful and never will be! He knows every one of us has failed and sinned and disobeyed. Yet He uses that occasion of everyone's failure to show mercy upon everyone by sending His Son to take away every sin, every failure, every penalty or consequence or punishment that sin could ever bring down on us. (And let us notice that it is sin that brings the wages of death on us, not God. God brings the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!) Jesus hanging on the cross, forgiving everyone, shows us God is all mercy and compassion and no wrath or punishment. What a wonderful God of all comfort, Savior of the lost and Friend of sinners!

"For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all."

Romans 11:32 (KJV)

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 6:23 (NIV)

A Prayer: Thank You that when we have expected wrath and punishment, You have given only mercy and salvation and life!

Never Angry

 "Our Lord was never wroth, nor ever shall be. For He is God: Good, Life, Truth, Love, Peace; His Clarity and His Unity suffereth Him not to be wroth."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 46)

Not only does God promise never to be angry with us right now, but we find He has never been angry with us in the past and never will be angry with us in the future. It is just not in the nature of God who is love to have anger or wrath towards us.  These things just don't fit His character or accomplish His purpose, which is always to love, heal, forgive, save and uplift. What a relief never to have to fear any anger or wrath from God. What a relief to know He is a safe God who won't blow up at us or erupt in rage at any  moment. What a relief to be able to trust this gentle and patient and understanding God who never loses His temper, never lashes out at us, never would hurt or harm us! We are safe with Him. We can open up with Him and share our worries, weaknesses and even failures because we can know that He will only embrace, love and care for us and never rage, punish or reject us. He will never, ever get angry with us. Wrath is not part of God. God is ALL love and NO wrath. What a blessing to know this!

"God is Love."

1 John 4:8 (NIV)

"Love...is not provoked to anger."

1 Corinthians 13:5 (GNV)

A Prayer: I am safe with You.