Cain murdered his brother Abel in a moment of rage. His outburst lacked the subtle disconnection of our modern weapons of war. This was no drone strike from 10,000 feet. It was not a sniper's bullet from 1,000 yards. It was a bloody, violent, deeply personal act.
     When God confronted Cain, He let Cain know that Abel's blood, soaked in the ground, was crying out to Heaven. What did the blood of Abel cry out for? Judgment! Justice! Condemnation! Vengeance! A Curse!
    Thousands of years later, the Son of God was systematically tortured and killed in a bloody, violent act. His blood too soaked the ground that day. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the blood of Christ "speaks a better word" than the blood of Abel.
   If the blood of Christ is speaking, what is it discussing?  What does it say?  It cries out, Grace! Mercy! Forgiveness! Peace! The blood of Christ covers the guilty, the broken, the wounded in a gentle blessing. Shields them from guilt, shame, and despair. It speaks a better word.

     So what about you? When you speak today, who will you sound like?

     My English is great.  My Spanish is mediocre. But I deeply I desire to become fluent in Grace.

         Genesis 4:10   |   Hebrews 12:22-24  |  Romans 12:14  |  Luke 6:27-38  |  Romans 8:34  |  I John 2:1-2

     What if?
     What if you lived in a reality where your Heavenly Father was not opposed to you? What if He was not frustrated, not disappointed, not obligated to put up with your stupidity? What if you lived in a universe where God was simply Love? (Not begrudging, mandatory love, but something of a different sort) What if you discovered that it when it comes to you, He brings only mercy, only grace, only kindness, only compassion.
     What if it were true that His banner over you was Love? What if that banner had no ad space left for condemnation? What if there was no room in the conversation for disappointment? What if you discovered that the Creator God held nothing more than acceptance for you?
     What if God only loved his kids, and never shamed them, never rejected them, never condemned them?
    There is some part of us that insists on seasoning His pure love for us with judgment. We reflexively expect condemnation to accompany His gentle kindness. We weave judgment, wrath, and justice into the words He speaks.  What if God was for me, not against me? What if there truly was zero condemnation for those who are in Christ?
     Look at Joe.  On Monday Joe is 'bad.' On Tuesday Joe thinks he is pretty 'good.' Wednesday and Thursday go downhill, but Friday is stellar.  Is God bipolar? Is He alternately loving and hating Joe, depending on his performance? Does He update His status hourly? By the minute? Or is God just confused? Does He both love me and hate me at the same time?  Does He offer both judgment and wrath alongside grace and mercy? Is this a game where I try to pick the correct hand, the hand that holds Love?
     What if it were always true that God is only for me, not against me?
     What if the judgment against my brokenness was somehow suspended?
     What if God really was love?
     What if, even in my darkest moments, my deepest temptation, my ugliest failure, God is still only love for me? What if there is no part of God that kicks me when I'm down? What if there is no part of God that judges and condemns me when I fail? What if there is no part of God that is secretly angry with me?

     What a crazy thought! An alternative universe, where someone . . . has somehow. . . taken away God's judgment, His anger, his wrath for me and left only reconciliation, in spite of my weakness.

       What if?

                                    Romans 8:1  |  Hebrews 12:24  |  1 John 2:1-2  |  Romans 8:28-39  |  2 Cor. 5:19, 21