Joy In Every Step

Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine encouragement. This is Joy In Every Step with your host, beloved preacher, retired teacher, and faithful faithful servant of the Lord, Sarita Bernadette. Each week, Sarita shares heartfelt messages rooted in the Word of God, filled with wisdom, joy, and the gentle reminder that God cares deeply for you. Whether you're walking through the valleys or dancing on the mountaintops, Sarita's voice will guide you back to his promises step by step. So open your heart, settle your spirit, and take the next step in faith with Joy In Every Step.

Hi, I'm Sarita Bernadette, and this is Joy In Every Step. We wanted to take another opportunity today to just say thank you. Thank you for following the podcast and for listening for almost a whole year. We'll share more about how we'll mark that special milestone coming soon. Isn't that incredible?

A whole year already. Many of you have deeply connected with the last three episodes centered on the topic, no condemnation. So we wanted to do a brief recap and just encourage you to go back and take a listen if you've missed those three episodes. Romans eight verses one through three. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh to deal with sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. Friends, Jesus paid it all. Grace is a free gift. Once we're in Christ, we're governed by the spirit of God.

We're seen as righteous because of the finished work of the cross. We shared some scriptures that we believe demonstrate the fact that we are loved by God and worthy of freedom from shame, blame, guilt, condemnation. So I want to review a few of those with you. In John nine, Jesus is coming from the temple in Jerusalem after having been confronted by a group of religious leaders who accused him of blasphemy and tried to stone him. And as he's walking along, he encounters the man born blind, and he takes the opportunity to correct the long held belief that sin and illness are directly connected.

Are you hearing me? In John nine and three, we see Jesus answering, neither this man nor his parents sinned. He was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. The the disciples had asked, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents?

That he was born blind. And here, the Lord makes it clear. Instead of looking for a cause or something to blame, when we're hit with the vicissitudes of life, we need to shift our focus, beloved. We need to shift our focus and look at the ways the situation might manifest god's power, mercy, and glory. God is not looking to punish his children.

He does not hold our sins against us. Psalm 100 three:eight-twelve. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always accuse nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him. As far as the East is from the West, so far he removes our transgressions from us. God responds to our mistakes with compassion. He is ready to receive us when we turn back to him. He wants to hear repentance and a contrite heart, but remember, skip the self condemnation.

If the prodigal son had not accepted his father's grace, he would have lived in self inflicted shame. He would have spent the rest of his life as a servant. Micah seven nineteen reads, He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.

God is so faithful. We mess up, but the Lord continues to show us mercy and loving kindness. He forgives us completely and totally. In that last episode, we explored the legal meaning of the term condemned as it describes a defendant who has been convicted of a crime and formally sentenced to some kind of punishment. The most extreme being capital punishment or the death penalty.

Colossians two verses thirteen and fourteen reads, you were dead because of your sins and because of your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ for he forgave all your sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Beloved, the forgiveness we've received through Jesus Christ has wiped out our record of debt. It's removed our past, present, and yes, even future guilt.

No condemnation indicates a permanent verdict change. Instead of standing before the Lord as a guilty defendant, we are fully pardoned and legally declared not just innocent, but righteous. Remember the woman caught in adultery from the eighth chapter of John? Because she was open to receiving the forgiveness of Jesus, she did not have to continue to live in condemnation, and therefore she could go on to be a witness for Christ. Once again, first John three verses 20 through 22.

Whenever our hearts condemn us for God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we can have boldness before God and we receive from Him whatever we ask because we obey His commandments and do what pleases Him. Receive the grace extended to you my friends. Don't allow condemnation into your heart. Remember, God loves you and so does our little crew here at Joy In Every Step.

Thank you so much for listening. I'm Sarita Bernadette and I'm grateful you chose to spend some time here with me. Feel free to share this episode with someone you know would appreciate it. You can find Joy In Every Step wherever you listen to your podcasts and do give us a follow there. Do check out the website at joyineverystep.org See you next time.