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11 But when the Messiah arrived, high priest of the superior things of this new covenant, he bypassed the old tent and its trappings in this created world and went straight into heaven's "tent" - the true Holy Place - once and for all. 12 He also bypassed the sacrifices consisting of goat and calf blood, instead using his own blood as the price to set us free once and for all. 13 If that animal blood and the other rituals of purification were effective in cleaning up certain matters of our religion and behavior, 14 think how much more the blood of Christ cleans up our whole lives, inside and out. (Hebrews 9:11-14 The Message Bible)
Happy Tuesday dear ConCafe People! May the fullness of God's love be poured over your head, heart, and hands as God's sign that you have the authority and permission to get to work for Him in all areas of your life. Can you, dear Reader, do that? Of course you can! Dear prayer warriors, please lift up the premie born with several factors against him; now he's facing pnuemonia and other complications, but nothing greater than God's power, please lift up your prayers for this sweet baby. Pray for all who need prayers; pray for one another, and lift up your needs to the Lord!
Thank you to all who prayed for me, sent me cards, texts, emails, and phone calls! Yes, getting love as one grows older is very important to us, and to me! I felt blessed and loved! I've had three consecutive days of love! Even our dog, Wesley, accompanied Carli into our bedroom to wish me a Happy Birthday! He was very cute. He doesn't yet know all the words to The Beatles' version of Birthday, but he sure wags his tail in perfect time!
As a 9 year-old working in a grocery store, with permission from my parents to buy a snack from time to time, it became easy for me to grab an ice cream cone or candy bar and lift it so Mr. Chapa could see it and I would say, in perfect Spanish of course, ¡Apuntalo! which means, "Charge it to me!" What a smug satisfaction for a nine year-old to have that sort of power. What I did not realize was that in addition to the snacks that I was charging, there was the matter of the weekly groceries that my parents charged on our tab at Chapa's Grocery. For Mr. Chapa to have that kind of faith in us and so many others, well, it was an act of faith on this Christian man's part and a necessary part of making ends meet, and quite honestly, keeping people alive. When it was all said and done, in 1965, the economy made it necessary for my Dad to move to Houston without us to find work. He had tried everything and did not have much luck. His dream job, and my supposed dream job too, of being a milk man was yanked out from under him when the creamery closed and moved South to Harlingen, Texas. Soon, my Dad's move became our move too. I thank God for his faith to move to an unknown place to find work, and for my Mom to holding it all together with five kids worried and nervous for our absent Dad. I also praise God for my Mom's uncanny ability to save money. Because not a year later, of living in Houston, she wrote out a check for what we owed Mr. Chapa and they mailed it to him. It was a large amount of money in those day's standards, but it blessed my heart to see my Dad and Mom fulfill their obligation to a kind grocer named Juan Chapa. I also grew up with that mindset of not wanting to ever owe anyone anything. I remember the celebration of seeing the receipt sent back from Kingsville with a red stamp on it: PAID IN FULL! Hallelujah! Being Methodists we were free to dance and I don't believe any of us did, but inside our hearts we were dancing away. Our debt had been paid!
The writer of Hebrews knew all about this. His tradition had taught him that when the high priest of the temple entered in to the holy of holies and offered up the sacrifices and burnt offerings, God was writing on the tabs of sins the same message on each; PAID IN FULL! But this writer truly celebrates Who this was, Who once and for all, paid all the debts and not with the blood of scapegoats and other livestock and animals, but with His blood, He paid it all! His blood on the cross was enough; His death was the last death we needed to suffer because of sin. Jesus showed us He could die for our sins, and three days later, arise from the dead and bring the entire matter to a close. Our sin-debt was paid. Yesterday's Gospel message was all about God's love from the Old Testament and this is New Testament reality; Christ Jesus showed us what true love from God does look like and what it can do for all men and women, all boys and girls; pay the price of our sinfulness and make us new creations in God. As fas as this writer is concerned, this is a new reality; no longer would it be necessary for goats, oxen, cattle, birds, etc. need to die in our place; the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world, so that all who believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!
Dear one, it matters not what you have done, or what you think of yourself for having done what you have done, you are free enough to ask forgiveness, and you will receive it. A true story that I heard just yesterday was told by a priest who had gone to the hospital in his village to pray for the sick. As he was preparing to leave for home, he saw a nun in the hallway outside the door of a man. She said, "Father, you must go in and pray for this man, he is dying and this may be his only chance of salvation and getting into Heaven." The priest went in only to have the old man rail at him with terrible words and threw him out. The priest frightened at this welcome went out and again, the nun was there and said, "Father, please do not give up, share with him what he needs." The priest was reluctant but admired the nun's determination to have this man saved. He went in and said that it did not matter what he said, he was going to hear a prayer on his behalf and the old man said there was no hope for him. He confessed that something he had done many years ago condemned him to the fires of hell, and he deserved it. The priest asked what he had done. The old man said his job was to lower the crossing guards on the railroad on the main street of that village and one night he was so drunk he did not do it and a family in a car, with both mother and father in it, along with three children, were killed by a speeding train. "For those lives, I deserve to die!" the old man cried. The priest held the old man's shoulder and said, "The car that your'e talking about was my family's car and yes, my mom, dad, and brothers and sister were killed that night. I was not feeling well and I could not go with them; but I know that God has forgiven you, and I forgive you, and my family has forgiven you as well." The old man finally relented to hearing the prayer and receiving Holy Communion. The words he thought he would never hear gave him peace and two days later, he was able to die in peace. PAID IN FULL.
Dear one, you may think the "bill" is too long and the cost too high for you to ever pray it completly off, but that same message from that priest to the man has come to you through God's word; your sins, your debts have been PAID IN FULL by Jesus Christ. Receive that and be glad!
PRAYER: Loving Father, help all who hear or read this devotional, who have yet to hear those words for their own souls hear it now. PAID IN FULL is what Jesus has written on your account. Your sins have been washed away, and God's peace can be yours now and for always. May it be so in this heart, mind, and soul of this dear person; we ask it in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Share the good news of PAID IN FULL with someone today!
Receive my blessings of hope, joy, and peace!
Pastor Eradio Valverde
