Greetings from Austin St.

The children in my classroom will not stop talking. With my principal’s observation of me teaching and my children learning approaching in the morning this is driving me a little crazy. I was sharing my tale of woe with Bruce at dinner tonight and he reminded me it was a full moon. I had not paid attention. A full moon seems to affect the behavior of children and not in a positive way. I think I will pray about this tonight and speak firmly with them in the morning prior to the observation. I am also not above a bit of bribery.

Hebrews 8: 12 says, “I will forgive the wicked things they did, and I will not remember their sins anymore.” God is either the God of perfect grace or He is not God. Have you ever screwed up? I know, silly question. We all have messed up at one time or another. Most of us fall off the path on a daily basis. Sometimes we mess up on accident and sometimes we walk right into the place of separation with our eyes wide open and with the full knowledge of what we are doing. I am talking about sin. (Oh No!!) When I have my prayer time and I get to the part about forgiveness; I often remember sins of the past and ask forgiveness for them once again. And I carry my sin around with me even after I have asked for forgiveness from the sin. I don’t know about you, but I usually recommit the same infractions over and over again. And even though I am truly repentant, I find myself back in the same bin of trash again.

He says, "I will forgive”. Not, “I might” or, ”maybe - if you get better” or, “ if I get around to it” or, “if you promise not to do it again”. He says, “I will forgive.” And then I read this passage and I read the word remember. God tells me in His Word that He will remember my sins no more. Even though I do the same thing over again, God still forgives me each and every time and then He forgets. This is the God of the universe, the creator of all, the Voice that told Jesus, “You are my beloved Son in whom I Am well pleased.” This is the God who set aside His omnipotence and came to earth, who lived in a family so we could know Him.. This is also the same God who sacrificed His only Son for the forgiveness of our sins because of His love for us. He forgives us and then He forgets, because He is God. We can be pretty good at forgiving, but we are not so great at forgetting. I guess that is because we are not God.

And who am I that God should forgive me? I am His child through the blood of His Son. And He loves me. (Please insert your own name.)

Each day the children in my classroom start the day with a clean slate of behavior expectations. If they stray from those expectations I mark it on their folder and a consequence is delivered. But the next day the slate is clean again. I have a record of their behavior both negative and positive. Again, I am not God. God does not keep a list of our “infractions.” God, because of His amazing love for us and through the blood of Jesus forgives us and forgets our sins and transgressions. If God can forgive us for the death of His Son, then we need to act in accord. We need to accept the forgiveness He offers and stop beating ourselves up, for Jesus took all of our sin upon Himself. That gives us a chance to start with a clean slate each moment of the day. And then in celebration and faithful response of the gift of forgiveness, we should pass that forgiveness onto others through the love of God and the life of Christ in our own lives.

Take joy in the journey friends. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.