I am the recipient of the unconditional love, grace, and compassion of Jesus Christ. Therefore, my identity is based solely on the fact that Jesus has saved me and is saving me. My identity and my way of living are based exclusively on the fact that Jesus is Lord.
"As sinners we need a spiritual strategy for dealing with our own sinful tendency to put the best possible interpretation on our own motives while putting the worst possible interpretation on those of our opponents."
Zacchaeus had experienced that grace and kindness from his new Lord. Now, he was going to live by it in his own life.
"Father, restore our souls in Jesus Christ, that we may be merciful and kind, even as Thou art."
"God gives us real treasures; we are rich people, but only if we put this capital into use. Forgive your brother; then you will also get peace for yourself. Otherwise you are a dead spiritual capitalist."
"Jesus walked the earth rehumanizing the dehumanized and cleansing the unclean. Why? Because his heart refused to sleep in. Sadness confronted him in every town. So wherever he went, whenever he was confronted with pain and longing, he spread the good contagion of his cleansing mercy. Thomas Goodwin said, 'Christ is love covered over in … Continue reading Quote of Note #192: Love in Human Flesh
"Often we need to be shocked into an awareness of the motives that really shape our thoughts and actions, and we must respond to these revelations by pleading for the mercy that will allow us to repair our ways. All of this must happen in contexts where the basic issues of sin and grace are … Continue reading Quote of Note #191: Motives and the Public Life of Christians
“Almighty God, you have taught us through your Son that love is the fulfilling of the law. Grant that we may love you with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.[1] Luke 10:25-37 (NIV)25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he … Continue reading Pastor Note #134/Bible Note #55: Love of Jesus, Love of Neighbor
"To believe in repentance is to believe there will be repentant murderers who will meet their victims in paradise, to believe there will be repentant slanderers who will meet those they slandered in heaven, to believe there will be repentant thieves who will meet those they've plundered in heaven." Leonard Sweet, Rings of Fire: Walking … Continue reading Quote of Note #170: Repentance
"To forgive is divine. It makes us look like our heavenly Father. And we accomplish forgiveness through His Spirit living within us. There is no other way. But it is a choice we must make individually to yield our right to strike back or to get even and to instead offer forgiveness. To pardon our … Continue reading Quote of Note #169: Forgiveness and Freedom
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 