Soul Piercing

God's Word is Awesome. I mean that literally, not the skater-dude version of the word. His Word is awe-inspiring.

And sometimes it is so annoying!  A few weeks ago, I had had a pretty big disagreement with my parents.  It wasn't my fault!  Mom was irritated at someone else and it came out on me.  Then I got blamed for something I really didn't have any part in, and got in more trouble because I tried to explain to my dad, who's hard of hearing, what was going on.

Great sob-story, right?

Yeah, actually part of it was my fault... Everything I wrote above is true.... technically.  The part I left out was when my mom got mad at me, I got mad back. If I had obeyed and given her time to calm down rather then challenging her for my right to be treated like the best daughter in the world, it wouldn't have escalated to the point it did.

Maybe it seems like I was justified in my sinning. But the Bible says to honor my parents... it doesn't stipulate that they have to be treating me fairly.

So here's what it amounted to:

I dishonored my parents
Therefore I was dishonoring God,
Therefore my sin was against Him and my parents
Therefore Someone had to pay, which was Christ Who died for my sins - all of them

Ouch. My bad attitude meant that Christ had to die? That moment of "justifiable" frustration had a pretty hefty price tag.  But that is how God views sin.

And here is where the Bible becomes annoying. Have you ever known you were doing something wrong, but wouldn't admit it? Well, like the good little girl I am, after being so wrongfully treated, I am going to read my Bible. That's right!  Look at me, I'm the righteous one here!

So I knew I was wrong, but I really didn't want to get convicted... One of the most encouraging books in the Bible is Psalms, right? It's all about praising God for His Majesty and Glory...

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek [after God]: God [is] not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous; thy judgments [are] far above out of his sight: [as for] all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for [I shall] never [be] in adversity.  Psalm 10

I'm positive that that was not in there earlier!

The Word of God is described as "quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

But God is faithful to forgive us our sins, He has cleansed me from this, and all other unrighteousness through His blood on the cross. I don't live daily with guilt, I rest expectantly in joy.

My pastor preached a number of sermon lately about apologizing for your two percent wrong.  (I actually disagree with him a bit here. Because even if it's only your two percent, it becomes a matter of pride that I was only two percent wrong). But nonetheless, here is another example of God giving me a lesson and then giving me a test afterwards...

Because of Him,
Missa