Grace at the Cross

"All the Trinity wrought in the Passion of Christ, ministering abundance of virtues and plenty of grace to us by Him."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 23)

Sometimes we hear that the Father abandoned or turned His back on Jesus when He bore our sin on the cross, as if He couldn't bear to look on sin, or that the Father poured out all His anger on Jesus at the cross so He could bear to tolerate us. But the Trinity is always in unity with each other and never divided against each other. It wasn't that the Father turned His back on His Son; the Father was actually in Christ reconciling the world to Himself at the cross, and the Holy Spirit was touching people's hearts to see that Jesus was innocent of any crime. The Father wasn't angry or pouring out wrath on Jesus; the whole Trinity was together working to bring reconciliation and salvation at the cross. Jesus became sin at the cross and Christ's virtues were brought to us, so we became the righteousness of God in Christ. The cross wasn't Christ having to tame God's anger so He could bear to be around us; the cross was God reaching out His arms to embrace humanity and remove the sin and suffering that plagued us, His beloveds. Angry, false deities demand payment or blood sacrifices in order to forgive sin; our true God who is pure Love freely forgave us of all sin and removed it from us, giving us His own righteousness, life and perfection in its place. The cross was not a place of wrath but of love, not a place of punishment from a harsh deity but a place of grace from a tender-hearted Father!

"God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the message of reconciliation....For God caused Christ, who himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God."

2 Corinthians 5:19, 21 (PHILLIPS)

A Prayer: Thank You for all the grace and goodness You ministered to me through Christ!

Redemption is Done

"That [which] He did in our manhood, beginning at the sweet Incarnation and lasting to the Blessed Uprise on Easter-morrow: so long dured [endured, lasted] the cost and the charge about our redemption in deed: of [the] which deed He enjoyeth endlessly, as it is aforesaid."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 23)

Christ joined HImseld with our humanity, clothing Himself in a robe of human flesh. Thus united with deity, we were involved and were included in everything Christ did for our redemption. In order to redeem or free us from a way of life trapped in sin and confusion and death, He paid the ultimate price, giving up His own life for us. He went down to the grave and defeated sin, death and confusion by rising up from death into resurrection life, life that can never be tainted with sin, misaligned through confusion, or defeated by death. This life is indestructible and perfect, and since Christ united with our humanity, and humanity was included in all He did, we too have died to the old way of living that ended in death, and we too have risen to new life that can never die!  It's a life in union with God, a life lived 'from' heaven and not trying 'to' get to heaven. It's a life that is effortless because it is really Christ living through and in us. It's a life free from condemnation and bondage and corruption. All this cost of our redemption was done by Christ from the incarnation, through the cross, to the resurrection. It is now finished. There is nothing more to 'pay' or 'work' for. We do not have to try by our own effort to reach up to God; Christ by His perfect effort already brought us to God. The work of redemption is complete; we are free! 

"For we must never forget that He rescued us from the power of darkness, and re-established us in the kingdom of His beloved Son, that is, in the kingdom of light. For it is by His Son alone that we have been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven."

Colossians 1:13-14 (PHILLIPS)

A Prayer: Thank You for bringing us out of darkness and into Your light, out of death and into Your life!

Enjoy Your Salvation

"For it is God's will that we have true enjoying with Him in our salvation, and therein He willeth [that] we be mightily comforted and strengthened; and thus willeth He that merrily with His grace our soul be occupied. For we are His bliss: for in us He enjoyeth without end; and so shall we in Him, with His grace."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 23)

Sometimes we can be focused on our sin, our behavior, on our failures, feeling that we must focus on getting rid of sin and making ourselves presentable to God. But God doesn't want us to focus on our sin or on feeling we must do something to overcome it. He simply wants us to enjoy our salvation with Him, and be occupied with the work Christ already completed to rescue us, and how we are already saved and rescued and well! Christ defeated sin so we can forget about it. We can now spend our time thinking about God and His love for us. The more we think of all He already completed for us and how already safe and well we are in Christ, the happier and stronger and calmer we will become.  And we will feel safe enough to be open with God and allow ourselves to be loved by Him, which is what He has wanted all along - just to be in a love relationship with us, His children. And that love He has will naturally overflow to those around us, so more and more people can enjoy being loved. The secret of the Christian life is this - enjoy all God has already done and how free and safe and well you already are in Him, and let yourself be loved! After all, God endlessly enjoys being with us and loving on us, and He wants us to endlessly enjoy Him and His love!

"The Lord makes me very happy; all that I am rejoices in my God. He has covered me with clothes of salvation and wrapped me with a coat of goodness, like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding, like a bride dressed in jewels."

Isaiah 61:19 (NCV)

A Prayer: Thank You for the wholeness and goodness and life you have brought to me in this great salvation!

It Could Not Have Been Done Any Better

"This deed, and this work about our salvation, was ordained as well as God might ordain it. And here I saw a Full Bliss in Christ: for His bliss should not have been full, if it might any better have been done."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 22)

The work Christ did for our salvation was so well planned and well done that the Trinity is full of bliss because of it. God is endlessly satisfied in the offering of the Son who gave Himself in pure and generous love and forgave those who lashed out against Him. And God is endlessly pleased with the victory Christ won over sin, death and shame by bearing our sin to the grave, entering into death and rescuing us from it.  The work is finished and done and complete; there is nothing left for God or us or anyone else to do. We are saved! We are freed! Sin and shame and death are defeated! We're delivered from darkness into light, from death into life, from our sense of alienation into the enjoyment of our union with God. We are alive with Christ forevermore! There is nothing we need to 'do' to get to that point of union life with Christ, for He has finished the work - we are already there! So now we get to enjoy this beautiful union life with Him forever!

"God has brought you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

1 Peter 2:9 (CEV)

A Prayer: Thank You, Jesus that Your salvation work is finished and done! Thank You that there is nothing left for me to do to get to freedom and salvation, for in You I am already there!

Forever Love

"Love was without beginning, is, and shall be without ending"

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 22)

God became a man and walked and talked with us, offered Himself for us, died for us and rose for us. That was a one time event that happened in history. But the love that brought Him to do all that has been going on forever. His love for us is so great that it surpasses all the pain He went through on the cross. His love for us is so great that it makes Him count all that pain as nothing, so long as He rescues the ones He loves. He has been loving us always, eternally, and He will love us always, eternally. It is an unceasing love that has always been and always will be, a love that has never changed and never will change. We have always been loved. We will always be loved. We are being loved right now and now and now by the One who would do absolutely anything for us, all for love!

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases."

Lamentations 3:22 (ESV)

A Prayer: Thank You for Your forever love! It's so good to know I can count on You to always be there for me, loving me.

He Does All For Us

"Then meaneth He thus: How should it not be that I should not do for thy love all that I might.." 

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 22)

For love of us, Christ gave His all. This shows He is not holding back anything from us or resisting helping us in any way. He is doing all for us, all that is possible, all that He can, all that is needed. He is always helping, always healing, always saving, always supplying, always loving, always guarding us. He is not a halfway God; He is an all-the-way God. He is not sometimes for and sometimes against us; He is always for us. He is not sometimes helping us and sometimes not; He is all the time helping us. He is like an ever pouring fountain that is always giving and giving and giving of Himself in love, for all people, all the time! He died for us, and that death on the cross proves that there is nothing He would hold back from us, nothing He wouldn't do for us!

"So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing Himself to the worst by sending His own Son, is there anything else He wouldn't gladly and freely do for us?"

Romans 8:31-32 (MSG)

A Prayer: Thank You, Father, for doing everything for us and holding nothing back!

His Bliss, His Reward, His Crown

"We be His bliss, we be His meed, we be His worship, we be His crown."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 22)

The greatest reward that Jesus got for all His hard work in the Passion, all the suffering and turmoil and pain, the greatest reward was all of us! He did all that hard work and suffered so much so that we could be in a deep and satisfying love relationship with Him. That is all He wanted. That is what gave Him the most joy. We are truly His joy and delight. We are truly His reward and gain. We are truly like a crown He loves, for He loves to hold us high and show us off to all creation as the ones He loves so much. We are simply delightful to Him!

"The Lord will hold you in His hand for all to see - a splendid crown in the hand of God."

Isaiah 62:3 (NLT)

A Prayer: Thank You that I am so dear to You, Lord! You are so dear to Me!

Christ Shows Us the Father

"Christ shewed me His Father; in no bodily likeness, but in His property and in His working. That is to say, I saw in Christ [all] that the Father is."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 22)

If we want to know what the Father is like, we can look at Jesus. He came to show us God's character and working. He is the perfect expression of God the Father, the complete image of God in visible form. The ones who have tried to explain God before were incomplete in their knowledge and in their picture of God. But Jesus, who came right from the Father's embrace in heaven, declared to us and showed us exactly what the Father is like. And this is the picture of God He gave us: a God who loved children and held them on His lap, a God who was moved with compassion for hungry and hurting people, a God who reached out to touch lepers and heal them, who loved hanging out with outcasts and failures, who never hurt a soul but always helped people, who fed those who were in need and treated as equals those society often treated unequally. And finally, He showed us a God who forgave people of every sin against Him, even the sin of murdering Him, and who reached out His arms to embrace us at our very worst and bring healing to our wounded hearts! Christ has shown us once and for all that our God is the kindest, gentlest, most loving and wonderful Father of all!

"No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known]."

John 1:18 (AMPC)

A Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for showing us the Father!

Are You Well-Satisfied That He Suffered for You?

"Then said our good Lord Jesus Christ: Art thou well pleased [well apaid, satisfied] that I suffered for thee? I said: Yea, good Lord, I thank Thee; Yea, good Lord, blessed mayst Thou be.

[Pg 47]Then said Jesus, our kind Lord: If thou art pleased [satisfied], I am pleased [satisfied]: it is a joy, a bliss, an endless satisfying to me that ever suffered I Passion for thee; and if I might suffer more, I would suffer more."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 22)

We have gone through so much pain, sickness, sorrow and hurt since sin entered this world. We have gone through so much confusion, struggle, loneliness, anxiety and fear. We were simply born into this broken and messed up world, and we each have succumbed in some way to the trouble, pain and hurt that can exist here. And Jesus looks on each of us humans not as rebels or evil people, but as children who are hurting and wounded. He sorrows and hurts with us for all the pain that evil has caused us. He sees us not as criminals that deserve punishment but as sick people that need healing. And Jesus wants to make it up to us for all we've been through in suffering in this world. He comes down and suffers our pain and sorrow and bears it upon Himself and takes it away. And He wants to know if we are well-satisfied or 'well-apaid' by what He has done. We think God is offended and needs a sacrifice in order to be paid back for the sin we've done to Him, but Jesus tells us He is not offended but rather compassionate and touched by the pain of our sorrows so much that He wants to satisfy our hearts with His love and comfort and pay us back for all we've gone through, and that is why He offered Himself and gave up His life for us. It was to heal us, to give to us His wholeness and life to make up for all we had lost through sin. He absorbed all the evil, sin, pain, suffering and death into Himself in order to dissolve it and heal us from its wounds. And He brought us the most amazing picture of true love, love that gives up His own life for us, His friends, His family members, His dearly beloveds! We think we owe God a debt of good deeds, or contrition, or repentance for our sin, but God says He owes us a debt of love, as a Father does for His children, for all our pain and sorrow! And He asks, "Are you well satisfied that I suffered for you?" Was that enough to show that He really is on our side, not angry, but instead loves us and only wants to help us? Christ stretching out His arms on the cross is God stretching out His arms to embrace the whole of humanity and to love all our hurts away!

"For His wounds have healed ours!"

1 Peter 2:24 (TLB)

A Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You for seeing my pain and feeling all my hurts. Thank You for giving me healing for all those pains and hurts! I am well-satisfied with all You suffered for me!

A Look of Joy and Triumph

"I verily that if He shewed now [to] us His Blissful Cheer, there is no pain in earth or in other place that should aggrieve us; but all things should be to us joy and bliss."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 21)

Christ's face is full of joy, full of 'blissful cheer.' He is smiling right now because all He suffered was worth it to bring us back home with Him! Though we had been kidnapped and held captive by sin, fear, suffering, sorrow and death, He did what it took to rescue us, save us, free us. Jesus bore our sin for us, bore our pain and sorrow for us, suffered for us, died for us, went to the grave for us, and He overcame it all! His work is finished! Death is defeated, sin is defeated, pain is defeated. We are rescued from sin's and death's clutches and safely rest in God's arms. Only victory and joy await us! If we could see Him standing right here before us, the look on His face would be one of such triumph, such peace, such joy, that we would be lifted up from all pain and filled with the same triumph and peace and joy. We would see in His countenance such love, such acceptance, such warmth, such delight, that we would melt into His arms and know that nothing can hurt us, bother us, or bring us down ever again. He is smiling and laughing and full of such joy because the victory is won and we are free from sin's power and effects, triumphant over death in His resurrection life, safe in His arms forevermore! You see, we were the prize worth dying for, we were the treasure and joy that urged Him on. The joy of having us made all the suffering worth it. To Christ, we are worth it!

"Because His heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be His, He endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!"

Hebrews 12:2 (TPT)

A Prayer: Thank You for what You went through to rescue me. Let me look into Your eyes so I can see what I mean to You!

He Entered Into Our Suffering and Sorrow

"And for every man's sin that shall be saved He suffered: and every man's sorrow and desolation He saw, and sorrowed for kindness and love."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 20)

God could have solved humanity's problems from a distance and administered salvation from afar, but He didn't. We are His kin, His family, His created offspring and children, and He came to us. He didn't leave us to suffer alone. He entered into humanity's problems and healed them from the inside. He chose to become flesh and blood and experience all that we go through as humans on this planet. He chose to feel what we feel and saw things through our eyes. He went through what we go through, all the suffering that has come to this world through broken choices and wounded relationships. He felt all the pain we have felt and He experienced all the sorrows we have sorrowed. He entered into every sickness and loss, every tragedy and isolation. He took all our pain and suffering onto Himself and suffered and bore it, the pain we encounter living in this broken world, the pain others have caused us, and the pain we have caused ourselves through our own sins. He entered into our pain with us and suffered with and for us. He came into the darkness of our world to reach us, to cry and suffer with us, and to heal us and help us and relieve us. He wouldn't let us suffer and sorrow alone. He came. He cared. Whatever we are going through, He has been there. He has hurt with us. And He is the One who lifts us out of that pain! He is the One who heals every hurt of every person, every suffering of every heart, body and mind!

"Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering."

Isaiah 53:4 (NIV)

A Prayer: Thank You for entering into all my sufferings so I know I have never suffered alone! And thank You for being the healer of all my pains and sorrows!

Both God and Human

"He brought in part to mind the height and nobleness of the glorious Godhead, and therewith the preciousness and the tenderness of the blessed Body, which be together united."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 20)

In Jesus God speaks to us and shows us who He is and who we are. Jesus Christ is the joining of God and humanity, the place where God became flesh. He is both 100% fully God and 100% fully human. He is the image of the invisible God and thus shows in visible form what God is like. He shows us that God is all love and kindness, all beauty and grace. He shows us that God is all light, the light of pure love without a trace of darkness, evil or violence. He shows us the height and nobility and greatness of our wonderful Godhead. And at the same time He shows us what true humanity is like. He shows us that humanity is the perfect vessel to contain God's Spirit, that God is perfectly at home in the human body. He shows us there is nothing wrong with our humanity, that it is still very good, just as God made it in His image and likeness. He shows us that humans are precious, and tender and blessed, that we are beautiful and valuable and beloved. So Christ comes to show us the face of God and also the face of humans. If we ever doubt that God is truly good or loving, we can look at Jesus, fully God, and see that God truly is those things to the highest degree. And if we ever wonder if we humans are truly good or loving, we can look at Jesus, fully human, and see that we truly are those things, too. Jesus is the perfect expression of the Godhead and the perfect expression of humanity. And both are very good!

"He has spoken to us by His Son."

Hebrews 1:2 (NIV)

A Prayer: Dear Jesus, in Your eyes I see the Father's love. And in Your eyes, I also see how lovable I am!

The Worthiest Was Utterly Despised

"For He that is highest and worthiest was most fully made-nought and most utterly despised."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 20)

Christ, who deserves the highest honor and praise, who is the best and worthiest of all, was defamed, mistreated, utterly despised and made nothing on the cross. He did this all for us! We had the weight of shame and guilt from our sins on us, and He took all that into Himself and when He was made nought, all that shame and regret, all that sin and corruption, was made nought and dissolved away. He bore our sin on the cross and was made nothing in death, bringing down our sin into the grave and leaving it there, no longer to plague us! He did this for us, so we could feel clean and free from our sin, pure and right, with a clean conscience. Everything we have seen as negative about ourselves He has taken away into death and made nought. It is all gone. It is nothing. It not longer plagues us. All the shame, guilt, punishment, corruption, and death, all the sin and all the effects of sin, are dealt with by Christ at the cross as He is made nothing and makes all that evil and its effects nothing, too! What a wonderful Savior! He deserves the highest honor and praise forever!

"Jesus Christ who is fully God, becomes fully man to the extent of willingly dying humanity’s death at the hands of his own creation. He embraced the curse and shame of the lowest kind in dying a criminal’s death. From this place of utter humiliation, God exalted him to the highest rank. God graced Jesus with a Name that is far above every other name."

Philippians 2:7-9 (MIRROR)

A Prayer: Thank You, dear Jesus, for being so vulnerable and kind and showing such self-giving love, that You would die for us and take all our sins away. You deserve all the love and praise we have to give!

Spirit Over Flesh

"And in this I saw verily that the inward part is master and sovereign to the outward....the inward draweth the outward by grace, and both shall be oned in bliss without end, by the virtue of Christ."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 19)

Sometimes we can think that our thoughts, feelings, worries, and fears are so strong that they overpower us and that we have no choice but to succumb to them. But there is a deeper part to us that is always calm and steady, our spirit. The spirit (our inward part) is always stronger than the flesh (our outward part), because our spirit is one with God's Spirit, the Spirit of power, love and wisdom, the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead! So we find that continually, inexorably, ultimately and eventually the spirit will pull the flesh inward to gaze on the beauty of Christ within and be captivated, charmed and overcome by His great love, and our whole self thus united will be swept up in the resurrection life and love of Christ! Even now it is happening, and it is inevitable, so we need not fear. In fact no fear, anxiety, sorrow or anger can stand a chance against the attractive, mesmerizing tug of His wonderful unconditional love and grace. We are truly free from the slavery to sin and anguish that was in our flesh, free to live in the fresh open air of the Spirit, where we are fully accepted, fully safe, fully whole, fully loved, fully inside God's peace and love.

"And we are free to live, not according to our flesh, but by the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit."

Romans 8:4 (TPT)

A Prayer:  Thank You that my spirit is always gazing on You and that it is a promise that all my outer struggles, worries and fears will fade away in Your gaze!

Jesus Our Heaven

"The inward part is an high, blissful life, which is all in peace and in love: and this was more inwardly felt; and this part is [that] in which mightily, wisely and with steadfast will I chose Jesus to my Heaven."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 19)

Oftentimes when outwardly we are frustrated, angry or emotional, we can sense that there is a deeper, inward part of us that is not going along with those feelings, a part that is calm and steady. This inward part, our deepest self or our spirit, is always at peace and always loving. At our core we are connected with Christ and always looking to Him and receiving His love. Christ is what heaven is all about. His presence is heaven, and that is who is inside of us, His Spirit one with our spirit at all times. When the outer situations or feelings are in turmoil, we can know that our inward part dwells in heaven inside us, just being with Christ. Our truest choice is choosing Him and deep down that's what we want and desire and always choose. Just being with Him is heaven, no matter what we go through here on this earth!

"God's Spirit and our spirits [are] in open communion."

1 Corinthians 2:14 (MSG)

A Prayer: It reassures me that even if my outer emotions and thoughts are in turmoil, deep in my spirit I am choosing You, O Lord, and we are in communion!

Made Naught

"Thus was our Lord Jesus made-naught for us; and all we stand in this manner made-naught with Him."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 18)

All of creation, including all of humanity, is connected to Christ, the source of all created kinds of beings and things. He is the head, source and origin of our kind and is the one holding everything and everyone together in existence. All our being stands or exists in Him. So when He was suffering pain on the cross and dying, He who is the source of our kind and head of our human nature was representing us, and all that happened to Him affected all of us. When Christ dies and His life is 'made naught' as our source and head, we also die and are 'made naught' in Him. In that sense we all died with Christ.  And just like Christ left the things of this broken world through death, we too escaped those things through death in Him. We died to sin, pain, suffering, evil, shame, guilt, fear, anxiety and defeat. All that is of the old, worn out, tainted by sin creation has died with Christ. Christ was 'made nought,' and right along with Christ our old self, our old way of living enslaved to sin and confusion, has been 'made nought,' has come to a complete stop and come to nothing. In this way He gave us escape and victory over all the evil, suffering, lies, and confusion that bound us. How amazing that Christ took something as horrible as His death at the hands of His own creation and turned it into a complete victory over sin and evil for His own creation!

For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been set free from sin."

Romans 6:6-7 (NIV)

A Prayer: Thank You for including me in Your death and bringing to death all the wrongs and sufferings that have plagued me. Thank You for bringing me to a place of freedom from those things!

When He Suffered and Died

"The firmament, the earth, failed for sorrow in their Nature in the time of Christ's dying. For it belongeth naturally to their property to know Him for their God, in whom all their virtue standeth: when He failed, then behoved it needs to them, because of kindness [between them], to fail with Him, as much as they might, for sorrow of His pains."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 18)

When Jesus who is God the source of all creation dies on the cross, all creation shudders with death. The sky goes dark as the Light of the World hangs dying. Creation hangs its collective head in sorrow as the beautiful, loving, tender-hearted, gentle Savior willingly offers Himself to us and for us and breathes His last. And all creation stands in awe at such love that He shows, even to those who killed Him, and how He considers them innocent children who 'don't know what they are doing.' Who can imagine such love, that unconditionally opens His arms to embrace us, no matter what we do, even to the point of killing Him? Even if we kill Him, He holds nothing against us. What kind of love is this? The cross was such a turning point because now we know that He is all love and forgiveness, all gentleness and compassion, all reconciliation and embrace! This is the love we have only ever dreamed about, a love that accepts us no matter what, even when we do the most unacceptable thing imaginable - killing our God. This is a love with not a trace of judgment, not a trace of anger, not a trace of retribution. This is a love we can believe in, trust in, hope in, live in forever. This is the love of God for us!

"It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining....Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.' When He had said this, He breathed His last."

Luke 23:44-46 (NIV)

A Prayer: Thank You for showing us at the cross what unconditional love is!

A Great Oneing

"Here saw I a great oneing betwixt Christ and us."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 18)

There is a great oneing or joining between Christ and us. We are one, in union, in unity with Him. He is our Creator and all things were created through Him, and we all exist in Him. He is holding up and sustaining creation at every moment, so we are all connected with Him at every moment. And He is the source of our human nature, since we were made in His image and likeness. He is the source or image that we were made from. So we are tethered or connected with Him as our origin, the foundation we spring forth from. No matter where we are in our journey, whether we know His name yet or not, He is oned to us and us to Him, in the great connection that we have with our wonderful Creator and Source!

"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

Colossians 1:17 (NIV)

A Prayer: Thank You for holding all creation together. Thank You for holding me together!

His Will Is Comfort, Not Pain

"For it is God's will that we hold us in comfort with all our might: for bliss is lasting without end, and pain is passing and shall be brought to nought for them that shall be saved. And therefore it is not God's will that we follow the feelings of pain in sorrow and mourning for them, but that we suddenly pass over, and hold us in endless enjoyment."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 15)

All our pains, sorrows, hurts and distress shall pass away and be brought to nothing. And we will have joy that never ends flowing from God to us. God never wills for us to be in pain or sorrow. What He always wills for us is joy and peace, beauty and rest. It is not His will that we suffer and He never causes suffering in our lives. He is the One who is removing suffering, ending suffering, relieving suffering. Christ suffered on the cross, bearing all the pain and distress and hurt that has come to humanity, and He both bore it and conquered it for us, bringing us healing and wholeness. He is removing all our pain and suffering, both here and ultimately in heaven. His will is not that we suffer, are sick, are in pain, are lonely, are weighed down with fear or anxiety, are hungry or destitute. His will is that we are comforted, that we are at peace, that we have all we need, that we are happy, that we have endless enjoyment with Him. He will remove all our pain, and even now while that is still being worked out, we can escape within our spirit to His presence and enjoy peace, joy and rest right now. He suffered so that we would be relieved from suffering, and He is that relief for us even now!

"I am the Lord who heals you."

Exodus 15:26 (NIV)

A Prayer: Thank You that You are relieving all my pain and giving me Your comfort!

Secure at All Times

"God willeth that we know that He keepeth us even alike secure in woe and in weal [well]."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 15)

God is always with us. He is always holding on to us. He is always working in our situations to bring good. He is always keeping us. This is true when everything is going well for us and also when it seems all is going terribly for us. Sometimes we may feel very alone, and we can wonder if God is there, if He cares about us, if He has left us to fend for ourselves, if He is angry with us, if we have done something wrong to cause Him to withdraw. But no matter what we think or feel, the truth is that God never ever changes towards us, no matter what we think or feel or do, no matter what we are going through. Bad times (or bad feelings) do not mean He has left us or is angry at us. Whether in 'weal or woe' He is always there, always loving us, always for us, always graciously taking care of us, always keeping us safe in His arms. Our thoughts and feelings may change, our circumstances may change, our behavior may change, but God never changes in His stance, attitude or actions toward us. He is always present. He is always loving. He is always supportive. He is always grace. He is always keeping us secure no matter what!

"The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)

A Prayer: Thank You for always being there for me and taking care of me in good times or bad!

His Glorious Countenance

"[The] glorious Countenance of the Godhead fulfilleth the Heavens with joy and bliss."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 14)

Our beautiful God is such a happy God! His glorious countenance is one of pure joy. He is a smiling, kind, joyful, laughing God. Heaven is God's beautiful presence and it is a presence of pure joy and bliss. One look at His face of joy fills us up with joy! He fills up every moment, every space, every thought, every person with joy and happiness. In His presence we find a delightful party going on, a festive atmosphere, full of much laughter and merriment. For in His presence sorrow and anxiety and fear are all dissolved and everything is light and carefree. Our God is always smiling and joyful, and He is always smiling and joyful towards us, His dearworthy children. He celebrates us and is so delighted with us, His treasures, the favorites of all He created. He smiles because all His children will be home with Him forever, like a wonderful family reunion. He knows there is a great happy ending coming for all, and He makes us to laugh with joy at the freedom and fulfillment He brings - the fulfillment of our deepest dreams of heavenly joy, peace, love and belonging! The happiest place in the universe is in God, and His joy is radiating through everything and turning every sorrow and difficulty into pure joy for us!

"Your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure forever."

Psalm 16:11 )GNT)

A Prayer: It's so good to know You are a happy, smiling God! You fill me up with Your joy!

God's Great Party

"Mine understanding was lifted up into Heaven where I saw our Lord as a lord in his own house, which hath called all his dear worthy servants and friends to a stately feast. Then I saw the Lord take no place in His own house, but I saw Him royally reign in His house, fulfilling it with joy and mirth, Himself endlessly to gladden and to solace His dearworthy friends, full homely and full courteously, with marvellous melody of endless love, in His own fair blessed Countenance."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 14)

The Lord has called us to a wonderful feast at His own house. He does't act aloof or sit apart from us to show He is far above us. He doesn't tell us to serve Him or bow down to Him, doesn't make us do the dishes or demand we worship Him. He has a different and more beautiful way of royally reigning at His party - He reigns over His feast by walking among all of us as our friend, giving us the richest of food and drink, making us feel so comfortable and at home with Him. He reigns over His party by smiling at everyone, filling His house with joy and laughter, gladdening all our hearts with a song of His marvelous and endless love for us! His smile radiates around the room and His presence fills the party with joy and bliss. We are all brought to this party by Christ in His finished work. How amazing that the One who is Lord of all the universe is throwing a party for us, calling us His dearworthy friends! Yes, we are the treasured and honored guests at this party in the Godhead. All He wants to do is fill our hearts with His joy, sing over us of His love, and fellowship and party with us forevermore!

"You feed them with blessings from Your own table and let them drink from Your rivers of delight."

Psalm 35:8 (TLB)

"But here on this mountain, God-of-the-Angel-Armies will throw a feast for all the people of the world, A feast of the finest foods, a feast with vintage wines, a feast of seven courses, a feast lavish with gourmet desserts. And here on this mountain, God will banish the pall of doom hanging over all peoples, The shadow of doom darkening all nations. Yes, he’ll banish death forever. And God will wipe the tears from every face. He’ll remove every sign of disgrace From his people, wherever they are. Yes! God says so!"

Isaiah 25:5-7 (MSG)

A Prayer: I love thinking of You as a God who loves parties and celebrations. I want to celebrate with You forever!

The Fiend Is Overcome

"The Fiend is overcome....he is overcome by the blissful Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ that was done in full earnest and with sober travail."

Julian of Norwich  (Ch. 13)

Christ's Passion, His incarnation, death and resurrection, overcame the fiend, or adversary. He overcame all accusation against us, overcame all the lies and deceit of the evil one, overcame death itself, the thing that the adversary had used all along to bring us into fear and bondage. Christ entered death, suffering like all humans and dying as a human, and when He entered death, He overcame it with His victorious life. The fiend is overcome! It's not that this may happen in the future; it already happened. We are living from victory, not towards it. We are living in the freedom of Christ's invincible life and we know death and evil are not the end, will never be victorious, have already lost. Christ came to destroy the devil and his works, and that is what He did - and He rendered powerless all the accusation and ploys the adversary ever had against us. We have absolutely nothing to fear from any devil for he is already defeated and neutralized and destroyed, and we are already victors over death and evil with Christ.

"Since we, the children, are all creatures of flesh and blood, Jesus took on flesh and blood, so that by dying He could destroy the one who held power over death - the devil - and destroy the fear of death that has always held people captive."

Hebrews 2:14-15 (VOICE)

A Prayer: Thank You for overcoming and destroying any and all evil that was against me. Thank You for freeing me from the fear of death!

Precious, Plenteous Blood of Christ

"The precious plenty of His dearworthy blood descended down into Hell and burst her bands and delivered all that were there which belonged to the Court of Heaven. The precious plenty of His dearworthy blood overfloweth all Earth, and is ready to wash all creatures of sin, which be of goodwill, have been, and shall be. The precious plenty of His dearworthy blood ascended up into Heaven to the blessed body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and there is in Him, bleeding and praying for us to the Father,—and is, and shall be as long as it needeth;—and ever shall be as long as it needeth. And evermore it floweth in all Heavens enjoying the salvation of all mankind."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 12)

The dearworthy, precious, priceless blood of Christ was shed to help us, to save us. And just as it is precious it is also plentiful to overflowing, more than sufficient to do its work. For the life is in the blood, and the blood represents the life of Jesus, poured out for us in love. He gave all that He could give and poured out Himself for us, to make us free! His blood or life went forth and accomplished all its work: it flowed down to the grave and rescued all people from death, it overflowed the whole earth and washed all people from sin, and it flows in heaven and secures for all people a place there with God! When Christ who is perfect life touched death, death withered and gave up its captives, and when Christ who is perfect love touched sin sin was removed from us and its hold on us broken, and when Christ who is perfect light dawned in heaven we all were pulled upward to His rising. We are permanently forgiven and purified of sin, conquerors over death, and connected to resurrection life. What a precious Savior! What precious and dearworthy and overflowing love is shown in the blood and life He gave for us! 

"The blood of Christ saved you. This blood is of great worth and no amount of money can buy it."

1 Peter 1:19 (NLV)

A Prayer: You gave Your own life to free me from sin and death. I see how much You love me, more than I can fathom! I thank You, dear Jesus, with all my heart.

Take His Blood to Wash Away Sin

"And then came to my mind that God hath made waters plenteous in earth to our service and to our bodily ease for tender love that He hath to us, but yet liketh Him better that we take full homely His blessed blood to wash us of sin: for there is no water that is made that He liketh so well to give us. For it is most plenteous as it is most precious: and that by the virtue of His blessed Godhead; and it is [of] our Kind, and all-blissfully belongeth to us by the virtue of His precious love."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 12)

Christ is of our kind, meaning He is our kin. We are family. He, our older brother, came to rescue us when we became captives to sin. And no cost was too great for Him, His love was so strong towards us, even to the point of shedding His own blood, giving His own life so we could be freed. Christ became the ultimate sacrifice to end all sacrifices for sin and show us all our sacrifices for sin are utterly unnecessary. God was never demanding such a sacrifice, but our shame and guilt compelled us to seek one. So He graciously gave us that, and He used His death to conquer sin for us all and take it away. Thus He says to take His blood to wash us of sin. Though many times we feel we need to 'do' something to get rid of the stain of sin on our lives, and we try many religious things to get forgiveness, cleanse ourselves, or somehow make up for our sin, none of that is necessary. Just take His blood as enough to completely deal with it. Consider what He did on the cross as finished and final, God's final word about our sin: Christ took away the sin of the world and it is gone! With sin gone, we are absolutely pure, innocent, and presentable in every way. We are completely forgiven, cleansed, in grace, one with God, freed from captivity to sin and death.There is not a single, solitary religious thing we need to do about our sin. Christ did it all, that's how powerful His precious and plenteous blood is. It is finished!

"Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

John 1:29 (ESV)

A Prayer: Thank You for Your blood shed for me. Thank You that there is nothing I need to do to get rid of my sin, for You already took it away!

Nothing Is Amiss

"All this shewed He full blissfully, signifying thus: 'See! I am God: see! I am in all thing: see! I do all thing: see! I lift never mine hands off my works, nor ever shall, without end: see! I lead all thing to the end I ordained it to from without beginning, by the same Might, Wisdom and Love whereby I made it. How should any thing be amiss?'"

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 11)

If God has planned everything perfectly from the very beginning, and has known how everything would happen all along, and has had the end from the beginning already secure and sure, then how could anything be amiss? If God is wise enough to know how to make all things come out to the best end, and powerful enough to bring that to pass, and loving enough to want the best for all of us, then how could anything truly go wrong in the ultimate sense? If God has always planned for all of us, His created children, to be united in Christ and a part of the fellowship of the Trinity family, and has always kept and preserved us for Him since the beginning, and has always been working in human history to bring about this beautiful plan, how could the ending be anything but perfect and beautiful? No matter that is going on here, or how messy life gets, somehow everything is perfect, somehow everything is working out for the very best in the end. Somehow, nothing is amiss!

"For God had allowed us to know the secret of His plan, and it is this: He purposes in His sovereign will that all human history shall be consummated in Christ, that everything that exists in Heaven or earth shall find its perfection and fulfillment in Him."

Ephesisans 1:10

"From the beginning I predicted the outcome, long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that My plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do."

Isaiah 46:10 (GNT)

A Prayer: Thank You that You are ultimately in charge of everything, so nothing can really go wrong for us; ultimately everything will go right for us with You!

His Perfect Plan

"He changeth never His purpose in no manner of thing, nor never shall, without end. For there was no thing unknown to Him in His rightful ordinance from without beginning. And therefore all-thing was set in order ere anything was made, as it should stand without end; and no manner of thing shall fail of that point. For He made all things in fullness of goodness, and therefore the blessed Trinity is ever full pleased in all His works."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 11)

God always had a beautiful purpose and plan for creating us, and this plan never changed and never will. He knew before creation all that would happen, all the things each person would say and do, every failure and success we would have, and none of that changed His perfect plan or could ever keep it from being fulfilled. His love dream was never in doubt! He made us, and all things in fullness of goodness, and He is absolutely pleased and delighted with us. And we can be sure that He is preserving that goodness within us no matter what wrong turns we make in our lives. We shall stand before Him without end, blameless and innocent and good children, delighted in and loved by our Father forever. That is His love dream from before time began, and Christ has assured this outcome for us all!

"For consider what He has done - before the foundation of the world He chose us to become, in Christ, His holy and blameless children living within His constant care."

Ephesians 1:4 (PHP)

A Prayer: Thank You that You planned our relationship before time began! Thank You that You wanted me and loved me and planned for me to be Your child, and thank You that I will always be Your child! I will always belong to You, Papa!

The Only Doer

"For there is no doer but He."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 11)

God is the doer. He did not leave one single part of our salvation or ultimate existence up to us. He does and did it all. Christ from the cross said 'It is finished.' He completed the work of our salvation. He rescued us, saved us, redeemed us, reconciled us, restored us, freed us, liberated us. He did all the work that we could not do, and He did all the work so there is nothing left for us to do. We are already in the kingdom of God, not trying to get there.  We are already freed from bondage to sin, law, condemnation and death. We are safe. Our position is secure. All will turn out right. The happy ending is certain. He took complete responsibility for us, His dearly beloved creation. And so all that went wrong here on earth He came and repaired Himself, and we will all see the glorious result of that repair! It is such a relief that our salvation is not up to us. It is such a relief that we cannot mess up this wonderful salvation. It is such a relief that it is done and we are already safe and sound. It is such a relief that all we felt was keeping us from a perfect relationship with God is already eliminated. He alone is the doer - therefore, it is done!

"God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity He put us in  right standing with Himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ."

Romans 3:24 (MSG)

A Prayer: Thank You for taking care of everything for me, my life, and my salvation!