Part of text conversations I had with a friend
Me: (Sharing a reflection from another friend today.)
“If your sins hang over your head, this message is for you. Micah 7:18-19, emphasizes God‘s complete and total forgiveness. It reads, “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of Your heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on you; He will subdue and tread your iniquities under foot. He will cast ALL your sins into the depths of the sea.” The imagery of casting sins into the sea signifies that they are removed from you, beyond retrieval, and forgotten by God. When you come to Him, He says in, Jeremiah 31:34 “And your sin I will remember no more.” That is His promise! There is no sin greater than His grace!”
Me:
I have believed that all my sins were forgiven at the moment of my profession of faith in Christ and my baptism at age 10. And they were in that moment, the point of justification. But it was the Promise that all unrighteousness, past, present and future would, from that point, forever be forgiven and viewed by God through jthe lens of Christ’s redemptive atonement. But as those sins of my past, present, and any arising in my future occurred or were brought to light in my soul, it would become made known to me through the illuminating, convicting work of the Holy Spirit. It was, is, and will continue to be my reliance on that justifying-grace Promise, my assurance of my faith in Christ’s work on the cross and my repentance in the moment of the conviction that appropriates the reality of that Promise and does the sanctifying-grace work in each moment that brings joy in the journey toward greater knowledge of God, wisdom to know how to lean further into Christ, and experience the growth in righteousness being fulfilled. All of the sufficiency of God’s grace for every need was promised all those decades ago. And He has been faithful at every point to melt, mold, fill, and use me for His glory, others’ gain and my good as I have submitted myself, sometimes reluctantly and resistantly in the process of His refining work of consecration. I have learned to be content in the Potter’s hands and affirm “Thy will be done.” And as is said of Christ, suffering led to obedience and obedience has brought joy.
“…..free us (from suffering) for joyful obedience.”….. from the communion liturgy with my parenthetical addition.
Him:
Or is it free us (in suffering) for joyful obedience. ? 😭😵💫🤯
Me:
Yes, I think it is. You generally do sharpen the focus.
🤣
Me:
Those little prepositions are very potent…. And pointed. I had an English teacher in 6th grade, Mrs. Maddox, who said a preposition can generally describe any posture a squirrel can take in relation to a tree…..
• about
• above
• across
• after
• against
• among
• around
• at
• before
• behind
• below
• beside
• between
• by
• down
• during
• for
• from
• in
• inside
• into
• near
• of
• off
• on
• out
• over
• through
• to
• toward
• under
• up
• with
To be precise in communication they aren’t generally interchangeable… a small change can make a big difference in perspective, in seeing the squirrel or not seeing the squirrel….
I have tended to think of the presence and movements of the Holy Spirit a bit like those of a squirrel to a tree (me!) since remembering her words many years ago.
Him:
😳
That’s hilarious!
Me:
Every time I am looking face to face at a squirrel on the birdfeeder out my kitchen window I am reminded of Mrs. Maddox’s presence in my life. It’s hard to be mad at the squirrel.
Some people, like the cartoon dogs that are constantly alert to and chasing after squirrels. But the dog may be completely unaware of it when the squirrel is still and motionless.
The tree just does what it does and the squirrel makes use of the tree for much of its activity, if it’s a tree the squirrel has found useful and hospitable….
Me: Later today
Seen and noted. I think the notion of sowing and reaping for many involves something more akin to Johnny Appleseed casting seeds as he went from place to place, not so much as true labor of cultivating, planting and harvesting in fields year in and year out…
Both require trusting God. But the latter is far more intensive, risk-laden, with potential for disappointment and loss, and requires greater persevering faith in God’s goodness, sovereignty and provision, it seems to me. Year in and year out, I think the latter image molds the sower for resilience and is a greater invest ment of self with God in the process. It’s the picture of discipleship, it seems to me.
The former is perhaps a picture of evangelism?
Both are worthy and needed, but the two are not always done by one person, though Paul is probably the best example I can point to as being sensitive enough to the Spirit to fill either role, as led and discerning enough to use either opportunity as presented to him.
I have a friend, GMC affiliated now retired UMC elder, Dr.Ken Taylor, also pastoral counselor, who told me one time he doesn’t like the posting on social media of random scriptures with no context, comment, or personal application. I’ve thought about his statement. I do that sometime. And I see other such memes that are sometimes very good, able to remind me of something about God and I go, “Yes!” I do prefer those, however, that engage readers as a teachable moment by adding context, insight, or application. But the Bible says God’s Word goes out and will not return void. God can use either
One for different people in different times and places. The. beauty of sowing, however it is done…..
Him:
Amen! If they aren’t against us they are for us and maybe even with us. The Word never returns empty.
And yes, farm life sucks. LOL!
Noted for you, Tamyra… Whitfield was Calvinist and more into large group evangelism and closing the salvation deal with baptism.
Wesley was more a discipler, dig deep. Help them grow in depth and breadth of personal faith in sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. He learned to operate in both modes, however- evangelism and discipleship and that is how Methodism spread so rapidly…. Cultivating deep and lasting roots of faith. They got away from that after the rise of Pentecostalism, which Methodism birthed in the late 18th and early 19th century…the move toward social and political cultural accommodation and influence harmed Methodism greatly and eventually caused the split in recent years, in my observation, and the offshoots returning to idiscipleship focus as well as evangelism.
Cathy Byrd 7/23/25