"Father, Forgive them"

“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” – Luke 23:34

While He was hanging on the Cross, Jesus spoke 7 times. Each time His words sketched a clear picture of His love for sinners and His intimate relationship with His heavenly Father. Even despite the excruciating pain, Jesus noticed other people and tried to help them.

In the period before His crucifixion, Jesus’ relationships had also suffered. The 12 friends who had accompanied Him for 3 years deserted Him, Peter denied Him and Judas betrayed Him. The Jewish people for whom He had come, rejected His offer of salvation and had Him crucified. Despite the agony He was suffering on the Cross. Jesus prayed for those that rejected Him and had Him crucified. He prayed that His Father should forgive them because they did not understand the impact of their actions.

The unconditional love and forgiveness of Jesus are still available to you. You can confess your sins with confidence because He is prepared to forgive them!

-         Derived from Living in God’s Love, Nina Smit

I give myself to you

"My life is not my own, to you I belong, I give myself to you. I give myself away, so you can use me.”

God made the ultimate sacrifice for our sake, by sending His Son to die on our behalf. To die. Imagine losing the one thing that is most precious to you. Imagine losing your child, your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, for the sake of some one else.

I struggle to comprehend the idea that someone would do that, for me, a sinner, unworthy of this sacrifice. I use the term sacrifice very lightly, as Jesus voluntarily bore our sins on the Cross so that we may be saved from an eternity in hell. Despite the countless times that we have sinned and wronged God, He finds each one of us worthy of His love, and worthy of His gift to us. Therefore, personally, I think the LEAST that we can do to show our gratitude (not that He expects any reward for what He has done for us), is to give our lives to Him, and completely and utterly surrender to His Will for our lives. He took the time to formulate a plan and purpose for EACH of our lives before we were even in our mother’s womb! How awesome is it to know that God has given each one of us our own, unique destiny?? 

As His children, He has set us apart from all of those who belong to the world, so that we may rise above all the enemies attempts to take control of our lives.

Jesus is our Saviour, who gave His LIFE, so that we may be saved. There’s no greater love than that.

Romans 6: 22-23

"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you real leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" 

John 3:16

I truly believe that the story of Jesus' crucifixion is the greatest love story ever told. In fact, it is not a story, but rather the living truth, and it is what inspired me to start this page.

I’m pretty sure most of you are aware of the scripture:

 John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

It’s safe to say that this is the “golden” text of the Bible, and also the most familiar. Personally, I find it to be the most magnificent love story ever told. It does not deal with human emotions, nor does it deal with a romantic relationship that men and women have. Rather, it speaks about a love that is unconditional, unchanging, unfailing and all-consuming. It is almost unbelievable that someone can love us to this extent! Do you realize what this means??? It means that no mater what we do, no matter what doubts we have, no matter how many times we walk away from Him, and defy Him, He STILL loves us, unconditionally.

How many times has someone done something to you, which you feel they were unworthy of your forgiveness, let alone, your love? Many times, we as humans have allowed anger and hurt to change the love we have for one another. God will not do that. He loves us regardless of what happens. He does not love us for what we have or have not done, but He loves us because of who HE is. HE is a forgiving God. HE is a compassionate God. HE is an understanding God. He sent His very own Son, Jesus Christ, to earth so that He could understand what it means to be human and the struggles that we face. So God understands your every predicament and circumstance. Regardless of what it may be, He will love us no matter what.

Ladies, imagine being captured by a man who loves you more than life itself; who is willing to take His life for you. Imagine belonging to a man who finds you beautiful in everyway, despite ALL of your flaws. Imagine a man drawing you closer everyday, and loving you in the way that you have always dreamed. Imagine a man that pursues your heart, above all things. Imagine a man that can satisfy the deepest desires of your heart. A love like this does not exist in our imaginations. . It is real and it exists with Jesus Christ, our Saviour. The Bible is a beautiful love story between Christ and His Bride. He tenderly pursues our hearts. Isn’t it beautiful?

Jesus loves us so much that he endured hatred, betrayal, lying, beating, spitting, whipping, crucifixion, the weight of sin, and the wrath of God all so that we could come to know His father. He sacrificed his life and perfect communion with God so that we do not have to spend an eternity in hell, but in heaven with God.

That is the ultimate sacrifice.