Paid in Full - Karen Huffaker

He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:14 NLT

I love seeing “Paid in full” on my accounts.

As I sat at the kitchen table, trying to enjoy a quiet breakfast with my morning coffee, notifications rang that familiar sound. Statements of accounts came in on my cell phone. Whether by electronic means or old-fashioned snail mail, monthly statements will come as surely as the sun rises.

These statements give the status of my account with that business, company, or entity. Some indicate how much I owe and the date I must pay or act. Others confirm I’m up to date, along with any remaining obligations. Still others state my account has been paid in full and satisfied. Hopefully, I’m in good standing with them all. Woe to me if I’m not.

I’m glad God doesn’t send me a statement each month about my account details that lists all my failures, shortcomings, and sins. To have my sins tracked and documented and then sent to me would be unpleasant, to say the least—even horrible.

Thankfully, Jesus has paid my account in full. He has paid for all my sins–past, present, and future. Jesus covered me and my account with His blood on the cross. Once I believed and accepted Him as my Savior, my sin debt was covered and wiped away. He forgave all my sins.

I don’t owe anything more on my account. Having been saved by grace through faith in Jesus, my gift of salvation is assured. I am grateful for God’s great gift to me.

What is the greatest gift you’ve ever received?

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Karen Huffaker is a freelance Christian writer. She has taught children’s Sunday school and single mom’s Bible studies and written poetry. She is from the Deep South and loves reading Christian books, devotionals, genealogy adventures, fishing, and all things family. She is also passionate about her grandchildren’s sporting events. 

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Loving, Faults and All - Martin Wiles

Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Ephesians 4:2 NLT

Loving, faults and all, is sometimes easy and sometimes tricky.

Never had I encountered such suspicions as I did at my maternal grandparents’ house. Mom grew up on a farm. Mom’s only sister married and moved a stone’s throw away. I visited often to see my grandparents and hang out with one of my first cousins.

Visits without stories and suspicious happenings were uncommon. My aunt talked about the hag—an impish beast who came out at night, jumped on a person’s night, and paralyzed their bodies. My cousin referenced a white horse that roamed in my grandmother’s front yard. And the stories continued.

As we made our way to my grandmother’s funeral, another cousin felt my grandmother’s hand stroke her hair. Then there was the handprint that suddenly embedded itself on the same cousin’s brass bed while we were at the funeral.

After my uncle died, my aunt soon found evidence of his living spirit. A leaf floating down the hallway. The rose that mysteriously fell from its resting place in the arrangement while the minister pronounced the final words over his body.

Mom and Dad found these stories humorous—as did I. We weren’t the suspicious type. But we loved our family just the same. They were, after all, our family.

Paul encouraged believers at Ephesus to do the same. None were perfect, but a common bond joined them: Christ. Believers still are.

I’m often tempted to find fault with others. In those moments, I remind myself I have my own trunkful of faults. They may not be sinful habits, but they are blemishes, nonetheless. Paul’s instruction challenges me. Finding fault with others is the easy way out. Looking for the good—along with encouraging and loving them—takes patience, something I’ve never had large doses of.

Remembering we are all pilgrims on a similar journey also makes it easier. Loving the really difficult-to-love—my enemies and those not like me—means allowing God to remind me His Son also died for them.   

When loving others seems challenging, remember God loves you—faults and all.

Father, help me to love others with the same love You love me. 

Tweetable: Do you love others, faults and all? 

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Flashback Friday - Why Did Jesus Die? - Martin Wiles

Why Did Jesus Die?

Series: Hey God…I Have a Question

For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Hebrews 10:4

As a grammar instructor, I teach my students four types of sentences: imperative, exclamatory, declarative, and interrogative. Imperative sentences give a command or directions. Exclamatory sentences express excitement. Declarative sentences are normal sentences, and interrogative sentences ask a question. Imperative and exclamatory can occasionally be confused because both can end with an exclamation mark. Interrogative sentences are perhaps the easiest to identify because the ending punctuation is always a question mark and because they begin with the infamous “w” words: why, what, where, when. Read more...

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Throwback Tuesday - What Was It Like to Watch Your Son Die? - Martin Wiles

What Was It Like to Watch Your Son Die?

Series: Hey God…I Have a Question

I watched his labored breathing, waiting for the moment when his chest would cease striving.

As a minister, I was often associated with death, but the calls usually came after the fact, not before.  My father is the only person I can remember watching die. As my mother, wife, and I stood around his bedside in Atlanta, Georgia, our emotions flowed as we watched him taking his final breaths. We had made the difficult decision…at his behest, to remove him from life support and let nature take its course. After 45 minutes of eternity, his chest stilled, and the scribbling on the nearby monitor straight-lined. He was gone. Our reactions differed, but sadness flowed through each of them. Read more...

Tweetable: How do you feel about Jesus' death? 

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