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bigmike

John 15:5 (LSB) 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Without Him, I can do nothing. In fact, without Him, I am nothing.
On my own, I am filthy; dirty with sin.
On your own, you are filthy; dirty with sin.
Our righteous acts have no bearing on our standing with God.
There is nothing we can do in and of ourselves to earn a right standing with God.
This sounds very disheartening, as if it is impossible for us to know God or receive His favor or forgiveness.
We might even get the impression that His favor and forgiveness are out of reach.
And in the natural sense, they are.
But though these things are impossible with man, with God, all things are possible.
Matthew 19:26 (NKJV) 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Despite this seeming so bleak, there is hope!
That hope is found only in the blood of Christ, which was shed for you, for me, and for all mankind.
And through that precious, perfect blood, our sins are washed away if we put our faith in Him and we repent.
And if we do that, we are no longer dirty. We are no longer filthy before Him.
When that pure, holy blood of Christ washes over us, we are made clean and holy in His sight. That blood makes us righteous.
It is the gift of God. And though it cost Jesus everything, He offers it to us freely.
And that distance between us and God? It is removed by that same blood, giving us direct access to the Father Himself.
So, fear not!
Know that if we have applied the blood of Christ to our life and repented of our sins, we have been made clean. No longer do we bear the stench of sin, but instead, we bear the sweet aroma of forgiveness and redemption in the name of Jesus.
Amen

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