Could It Be Any Clearer?

 Working in Mental health in California, or at least Shasta County is a bit challenging. It actually has made me sad because there are no resources in this county presently for those who are truly sick. In CA when someone has mental health issues they are often defined as a "5150". Just four numbers and you can be labled for the rest of your life. It can affect your job, your identity, and future decisions. It will be in the "system" wherever you go. 


What if your past, the times you have made an impulsive decision,  made some poor choices or just went through a difficult time in your life, and it was there to always remind you. 


In my past I had a period of time that was very difficult for me to get through. But I made it and I used it to help others. I look back on that time now and I am so glad for the grace of God and the love of my children. 


What if God labled you? Never forgot your mistakes? Never forgave you? That is what some of us walk in when we think we have to ask Christ to forgive us of our sins. Christ died for our sins, all of them!


I recently heard a teaching by Seth Dahl of how he would go through every night asking God to forgive every sin he committed that day. The realization, what if you forgot one? And because of that you would end of in hell instead of heaven?  Christ forgave all your sins, not just the ones you confessed. 


 Romans 6:6- 11 The Message Bible:
"Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did."


I love the Message Bible, how clearer could it be?  Patricia