More than my next breath
More than life or death
All I'm reaching for, I live my life to know you more
I leave it all behind, you are all that satisfies
To know you is to want to know you more
To know you is to ache for more than ordinary
To know you is to look beyond the temporary
To know you is believing that you will be enough
Cause there is no life without you
(Casting Crown, "To know You")
I just watched the movie "Amish Grace"... all alone, on New Years Eve, sick.... and it brought me to this place again, the place where I just cannot comprehend my Lord, my God, the depth of His love, the brilliance of His plans, getting another glimpse of who He is..... and I cry, but I cry because it is just so amazing and so mind boggling....
The movie is telling the story of the Amish Schoolhouse shooting, a true story, when for a little while in this secular and lost world of ours He and Who He is was in the Headlines of all News Stations... when the forgiveness of the Amish people baffled the world and made them all take another look.
Forgiveness in the face of such tragedy, such violence and disregard of all that is sacred... innocent, Amish children, randomly shot and killed....
Watching this movie right now made me fall in love with Him, the lover of my soul all over again...
We are in awe of the Holy God, the Almighty Creator of the Universe, we are grateful for His plan of redemption and as we draw closer to Him and get to know Him more and more we are learning of HIs goodness, His love and His grace....
The Story of Redemption as it unfolds throughout the Bible is the most amazing story, a story that only our God could have come up with...
Grace, the unmerited favor granted to an undeserving mankind... extended to reconcile us with the Father, His just and holy wrath poured out on the sinless Son... debt paid, redemption for all those that believe... Grace lived out through Jesus' sacrifice to give us the one tool we need in order to be able to live a life of love and unity... live the way God intended for us to live....
Jesus, when asked which was the most important commandment said this: "The most important one is this: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength'. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” ( Mark 12: 29-31)
Everyone knows that without forgiveness loving one another is a rather difficult thing to do.... that's why Jesus teaches His disciples to pray like this:
"And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." and then goes on to say: "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." ( Matthew 6:12, 14-15)
This last year in my life has had many people very close to my heart sin against me over and over again, the pain and the hurt was immense.... by God's grace and His work in my heart I have forgiven all those sins and reconciled with the ones that hurt me... instead of a heart full of bitterness my heart is full of love... forgiveness has not only severed the chains that bound me to the offenders but allowed relationships to be restored... love, unity and peace to be there as much as possible in those kind of circumstances...
Watching the movie brought me to tears tonite because of the sweet fragrance of Jesus that was imminent throughout the whole story... sadness, tragedy, pain.... through forgiveness love and restoration in the end...
I am thankful that a movie like this is out there explaining to the world what following Jesus is all about... you all need to see it..... Let's make FORGIVENESS the main ingredient of 2011, because you all can be sure of this... there will be conflict, hurt and pain.... like every year... it is what we do with it that is going to make the difference...
