Footprints in the Snow

I woke up this morning to a fresh blanket of snow. It is a beautiful coating of nature that I always appreciate, in small doses of course, we are in the south! The newly fallen snow covered the footprints and track marks from the days before. They are completely gone without a trace. You couldn't detect the footprints, animal prints, or sled tracks no matter how hard you tried. This brought to mind how we have the opportunity to start new everyday. We can't change what happened yesterday but with each morning we are given a clean slate to fill with the actions, words, and thoughts of our choosing. This applies to how we treat our "people", the food we put in our mouth, and most importantly our relationship with God.

Some have the idea that they are not good enough to be accepted by God. They feel their past is too ugly, even as recent as yesterday, that their sins are too great and they are simply unworthy of God's grace, mercy, and forgiveness. This is simply false!

As I was writing the first paragraph of this post, a dear sister sent me a quote that she stumbled upon on her morning scroll, "If your experience with Christianity has left you with more guilt and less joy, then you found religion not Jesus." That pretty much sums it up! Religion and Jesus are not synonymous and should not be confused. Religion is human driven. Human beings will disappoint every single time because we are just that, human. No matter the level of faith or how closely we walk with God, we are not without blemish, we continue to be sinners and continue to have a need for Jesus, which is the whole point of the cross. Anyone who claims they have it all figured out, that they are living a flawless life, is seriously mistaken.

"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

-Romans 3:22-24

This is why we need Jesus, ALL of us!

I have been walking with God for quite some time, some years very closely while others I have been very far away. Some might have questioned if I even knew Him at all, yet He never left me. He never stopped loving me, he never stopped chasing me.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

-Romans 8:38-39

I have a multitude of sins, I am flawed, I am not without blemish but I know in the depths of my soul that because I have given my heart to God, when I come to Him with a repentant heart, my sins are forgiven; they are washed away. Like the fresh blanket of snow that has covered the footprints from the days before, the blood of Jesus covers my sins from the days, months, and years before. He sees them no more.

"In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back."

-Isaiah 38:17

"...For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

-Jeremiah 31:34

This does not mean that I am free from scars on my heart or that I have not suffered the consequences for my sins but I believe to my core that because I have surrendered my heart to Jesus that my eternity is secure and nothing can change that. God goes on to do more than forgive us of our sins. He promises to restore us when we seek forgiveness. I cling to this promise, so much so that I had it tattooed on my arm to constantly remind me that He can and will completely restore me. I will be renewed!

"Therefore this is what the Lord says: 'If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me...'"

-Jeremiah 15:19

No matter the sin, no matter the past, there is no need to walk in shame and guilt. As daughters and sons of the Most High, we are free! The price of my past, your past has already been paid. We are debt free! We are free to walk in grace and mercy! Shame and guilt are not of God, they are not of Jesus! Shame and guilt come from this world, the world that is ruled by darkness. Shame and guilt are tools that Satan uses to hold us captive and keep us from walking into our purpose.

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

-Ephesians 6:11-12

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

-Lamentations 3:22-23

"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."

-Psalm 51:7

Today is a fresh new day, claim it! Walk in the confidence of His forgiveness!