A Christ Follower: The Journey

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.     Romans 5:1 A person committed crimes that brought him before the Judge.  The law, under which he was judged, declared him to deserve to be punished.  Yet, after considering "the preponderance of the evidence," he was declared NOT Guilty.  He was freed to live a new life!   Each one of us has broken God's law.  Under the "Law of Sin and Death," if you committed sins... or broke God's law... you were condemned; yet, once a year, a High Priest would sacrifice a lamb (Or some other sacrificial animal on your behalf.)  In the Egyptian times, in the Bible,  it was the Passover Lamb. The death penalty was satisfied (the fine was paid) by the sacrifice of the "lamb of God,"  The lamb was the best of the flock, with no flaws. This was called atonement or the turning aside of God's wrath.  This would also be a form of justification.  ...

  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.   Jesus   I was just thinking about friendship, and it occurred to me that I can probably count on one hand those people with whom I would confide my story.  I can count on one hand the people with whom I would provide the title of my friend.   Oh there are people with whom I am friendly and, towards me, they are friendly.  Yet we are not friends. There are people who have gotten really close.  There are even people who think of me as a friend because of all I have given to them; yet I have no sense that I am indeed their friend. In fact, if I needed them, I am fairly certain I could not rely on them in anyway that they have relied on me.   I guess this is why I am kind of amazed when I hear Jesus telling us that He considers Chri...