East to West

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

Dear Friends,
This is one of my favorite verses! It shows how amazingly forgiving our God is. It tells us how far God separates us from our sin when He forgives us. Have you ever thought of how far the east is from the west? Think about it. If you travel north, you eventually get to the North Pole and start going south. However, if you travel east, no matter how far you travel, you will NEVER start going west! And if you travel west, you will NEVER start going east. So, that's how far God has removed our sin from us- it can't be measured because it's never ending! Wow! Wow! Wow!

It can be hard for us to understand just how forgiving our God is because we tend to be just a bit less forgiving, right? I know I'm far, far less forgiving than Him. But Colossians 3:13 tells us "as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." Eeeek!  OK, so God wants me to forgive when someone says they're sorry. Yes. But, what about when they aren't sorry? Guess what, God still wants us to forgive them. Our forgiving others is NOT dependent on whether they are sorry or necessarily deserving of that forgiveness. We need to forgive others solely because God forgave us, pure and simple. And honestly, when we forgive, it does as much good for us as it does the other party because we can let go of the bad feelings. Is it always easy to forgive? No. But remember, God is with you. He has removed your sin as far as the east is from the west!! He will help you to forgive others just as He has forgiven you.

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Send Me, Freedom in Christ, Typewriter Blocks Alpha, Typewriter Text background, Chunky Lowercase, & Seek Him. I used watercolor crayons for the background. To do a background like this, I generally use 3-4 colors. For this page, I used 3. I get my brush really wet and get the color from the tip of the crayon onto the brush. Then I dab the color onto the page in an up and down motion rather than strokes. I dab each color into certain areas, blending as needed. I finished the background by splattering the page with the darkest blue.

Our God is unimaginably forgiving. I hope you'll remember this verse any time you feel like you or someone else is unforgivable.

And, since today is Memorial Day, I just want to say that I am deeply grateful for the ultimate sacrifice of those who died for our country. May their courage and dedication never be forgotten.

Have a blessed week! Andrea