The Great Exchange

Tuesday August 18, 2020

We have full assurance of receiving what we ask for, when we humbly come before God and ask Him to remove our shortcomings. Through Jesus, God has already prepared a way for us to be forgiven and set free. Reviewing our past may have brought about many regrets over the things we have done. We have hurt both ourselves and others and, in sobriety, we are ashamed of our past behaviour. However, we need to let the guilt and shame be removed together with the shortcomings, otherwise our past may hinder our future.

For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us! (2 Corinthians 5:21 TLB)

When Jesus died on the cross, He had been cruelly beaten and stripped of everything He owned. The punishment for the guilt and shame of the world’s sin, including yours and mine, was put on Him. Jesus paid in full the price owed; therefore, we should never allow the evil one to bring accusation against us. Jesus suffered painfully for the guilt and shame of our sin. If the evil one can convince us to wallow in our regrets, then we are not upholding the truth of what Jesus did.

But he was being punished for what we did. He was crushed because of our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were healed because of his pain. (Isaiah 53:5 ERV)

Some of us may not understand the exchange that took place at the cross. Because of the sacrificial death of Jesus on our behalf, God is willing to forgive all those who believe that Jesus died in our place for the wrongs we have done. When Jesus cried out “It is finished” He was basically saying “It is paid in full”. Rather than wallowing in self-pity about what we have done, our reaction should be one of joy and praising Jesus for ALL that He has done.

The Lord will reward him with honor and power for sacrificing his life. Others thought he was a sinner, but he suffered for our sins and asked God to forgive us. (Isaiah 53:12 CEV)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for Jesus who paid the debt in full for my sins. I am so grateful that through Him all my shortcomings have been removed. Amen

More information on this and other related topics @ http://www.partnersinhope.ca/life-with-god-in-recovery-resources/

The Great Exchange

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