A Note on Forgiveness & Consequences

Without going into details, I'm currently in a situation where I'm dealing with the consequences of hurting someone.

(Not like, legal consequences or anything, just like...spiritual, emotional ramifications.) 

The pain and sadness that's come with this have been a good reminder to share this message with fellow Christians: God will forgive you, but He's not obligated to bubble-wrap you from the consequences of your sins. Under the New Covenant we're free from being condemned to eternity without God for our sins. But this is not a get-out-of-jail-free card, figuratively or literally.

If you commit a crime, God is faithful to forgive you when you repent, but the state will rightfully prosecute you.

There are even still consequences when the person(s) you've wronged has forgiven you. Consider someone who's been hit in the face with a cinder block (no, this was not my offense) - Christ has paid the penalty for that sin on the cross, but the face of the victim will take a long time to heal. Their forgiveness won't make their wounds any less painful or sensitive to the touch, any less swollen or blue. And their forgiveness certainly doesn't obligate them to trust you again, immediately or maybe ever.  

Let us strive to live under God's grace rather than trample upon it.

Cpt. Bud's Devotionals, 9-20-15: "Queen Elsa Rhapsody"

This past Tuesday saw my last performance of my "summer job," playing Queen Elsa at children's birthday parties. I probably could have kept up the performances through the winter (fitting, as the character is from a movie called Frozen), but at this last party, I exhaled a little too hard and the paunch of my Elsa costume tore. This job playing Queen Elsa was a tough one. Not just because I've still never seen Frozen and didn't know what to say to the kids (besides "you kids go play - ol' Captain Bud needs to sit down"), but also because a nagging thought stayed in my mind, namely, a statute in the Torah (the Mosaic Law) that forbids transvestism.
I tried to remind myself, "It's not like I'm Tim Curry in Rocky Horror. And I'm not wearing this stuff to fill some sensual thrill."

God reminded me of what He spoke through the great prophet Jeremiah to disobedient, wandering Judah: "For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you'" (Jeremiah 7:22-23).

Obey God's voice. And what does God's voice speak to us under the New Covenant sealed by His own blood on the cross, a Covenant foretold by the Torah itself? God speaks, saying we are not under the threat of a cosmic hammer; we are not under the world's misconception of God - we are under the law of the true God. Not the Law of the Moses, the Torah, that beautiful prelude of salvation to come, but the law of grace and righteousness in Christ Jesus.

As I learn more that Christianity is not about rules and fear, I realize that the "secular" world has barked more orders at me than any pastor ever did. The world tells me: "Don't do this, don't do that. Don't say this, don't say that, lest you feel the wrath of Twitter and a boycott. Don't eat this, don't eat that. This is now acceptable, that is not. Saints worthy of praise are: Darwin, Dylan, Reagan, Roosevelt, O'Reilly, O'Maher. And, beware of boogeymen and devils like the Illuminati and vaccines that cause autism."
The world makes for a fickle god with its own unstable religious doctrine. A doctrine of rules and regulations, of exclusion and prejudice, of ignorance, of humiliation, with no redemption unless Oprah can get a tearful interview from it.

I thank God that His voice commands no such things. I thank God that His voice calls me back to Him when I stray, reminds me of the unkillable truth of His joy when I'm alone. I thank God for such a beautiful voice to obey.

OHMS,
Cpt. Bud Sturguess
"Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!" -2 Corinthians 3:7-11

Cpt. Bud's Devotionals, 8-16-15: "You're a Wonderful Piece of Work, You Smelly Moron!"

I saw a spider in the bathroom last night, so I went to a hotel. From the dresser drawer of my hotel room, I picked up the Gideons' Bible, open at page one, and noticed it reads, "He rested from all His work which God had created and made." I know what other Christians mean when they say "I'm a work in progress." They're saying, "I still struggle, I still stumble, but Christ's grace overwhelms my sin and gives me strength." (In other words, they describe a Christian.) And while I understand what they mean when they say "I'm a work in progress," I would suggest that we are actually completed works.

The author of Hebrews touches deeper on God resting from "all His work" on the seventh day, which He sanctified, alluding that this not only refers to Creation, but to all of God's work - including a plan for salvation: the sacrifice of His own Son on the cross to atone for all of our sins, including all of our self-righteous works which we mistake for true righteousness, His resurrection from the dead, to resurrect all of us dead in sin to life in Christ, and dare I say He rested from every work He has done for you and me as individuals. The work of helping me overcome my habit of dealing three-card monte at retirement homes, and the work of giving me wonderful things to say to proclaim His name. It's the same for you and every one of the works our Lord has done for you, both great and small.
You're a completed work - you're not there yet, but God is. And He's has already seen you completed. Remember the apostle Paul's words: "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
OHMS,
Cpt. Bud Sturguess