Forgiveness

Things I don't understand:

• How it can rain when the sun is out
• The Human Body
• Scremo
•  The limited amount of concentration my brain is able to hold
• God's Grace and Mercy

Like ever single other person on this earth, I'm a sinner. I've messed up countless of times in basically every area that you can mess up in. The amazing part of me messing up though, is that no matter what I do, no matter how many times I do it, if I ask for forgiveness, God gives it.

I've gone down some tough roads in my few 18 years of living. From boys to drugs, it's been real interesting. Tonight, while talking to one of my past Kamp konsulars, I was reminded of the amount of forgiveness that God has given me just in this past year. This isn't a long blog. It's not going to have some creative metaphor. It's simply me just sharing how gracious and loving our God is, and some of the experience I've had with it.

I'm not going to get into every major thing that's happened in my life, because that could take the rest of the night to do, but I am going to dip into a one major one. .


Drugs: Sophomore year of High school. Boy. Those were.... interesting times. I can honestly say I've never been more lost in my entire life, then that year. I began smoking weed, partying every weekend having "fun", you know, the typical angst teen let-me-life-my-life type of kid. During that year, you could definitely say I became a "pot-head"along with throwing in there that I was a potential alcoholic (bringing drinks into work and taking shots before school). During this time, there was a while where I denied my faith and belief in God. After attending Kanakuk Kamps for a month, I had a complete change in attitude, life choices and began living, for the first time, a life that was committed to God.
Before i made that commitment, I had no hope for myself. I planned on leaving the gates of that Kamp and going back to smoking 5 times a day. I didn't want Jesus in my life, and I made that pretty clear. Thankfully, He didn't give up on me. And amazingly, He forgave me for everything I did, said and am still going to do in the future.
Ephesians 1:7 says "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace"
Like. What? Let's look at that word redemption. What is it? From the Greek word, άπολύτρωσις , apolutrōsis meaning: to let go free for a ransom. Let go: from sin. Ransom: His life.
You hear it a lot in Sunday school but have you ever taken the time to just listen to it and let it sink in?

Jesus Christ, son of the King, came down from heaven and died for you.

Like. What? I can't.

Jesus was chillin up there on a throne and said hey. I want those guys down there to be with me. So, he came down from the coolest place ever, and landed in a manger in a barn surrounded my animals and probably smelled like poo. He lived as a man (which is worse for him than if we were turned into cockroaches one day) and then was ridiculed, outcast ed and killed, so he could chill with us. Us. Us sinners. Us entitled, disobeying, undeserving children. The fact that there is someone who loves me that much, amazes me each day. 

If you're reading this and you haven't experienced God or are not walking with Him. I highly encourage it. Don't say "your sins are too big for Him to forgive" because they aren't. Saying your sins are too big is saying that Him dying on the cross wasn't good enough. Don't say "you sin too much, he can't forgive you" because that's wrong. Everyone sins. No one is perfect. He knew you were going to sin in the past and He knows your going to sin in the future. How?.... He's God. He knows. The point of the cross was so you could be forgiven then, now and forever. 

Also.... This was longer than I thought it would be. Sorry for lying about it being short.