Forgiven, Part 11: Worship

Forgiven, Part 11: Worship
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

 
I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys. Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Worship the Lord in holy attire; tremble before Him, all the earth. Then the King will desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, bow down to Him. The twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'Worthy are Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created.' And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation' (Song of Solomon 2:1, Psalm 95:6, Psalm 96:9, Psalm 45:11, Revelation 4:10, 11, Revelation 5:9).

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What does Jesus look like? There are many paintings that show an artist's interpretation of what Jesus looked like. However, when the Bible tells us what Jesus looked like, it doesn't describe His specific physical characteristics. Isaiah 53 tells us "He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him."

The Bible describes Jesus by telling us about His character and His actions. He went about doing good. He had compassion on the multitudes, seeing them as sheep in need of a shepherd. He healed the sick and freed the oppressed. He comforted those who mourned and touched the lives of those who were untouchable. Jesus looked like love...He looked like joy...He looked like the fruit of the Spirit. In His face the glory of God was reflected, through His eyes the heart of the Father was seen, from His smile the favor of God was manifest. Jesus looked like purity and holiness. He looked like everything good and right. The closer we draw to Jesus and learn His heart, the more beauty we see. Like the rose, it is in closeness and intimacy that its fragrance is the strongest and sweetest. As we draw close to Him in worship, we will see His beauty clearly, and as we delight ourselves in His presence, the fragrance of the Lord will intoxicate our souls.

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Lord,
You are beautiful, and I honor You. I want to draw close to You and learn Your mind. I want to walk close to You and understand Your ways. I want to be close to You and know Your heart. Open up my capacity to comprehend the height, depth, length, and width of Your vast love. Each day I want to gaze upon Your face, see Your glory, and become a worshiper of You. 
Amen

#Easter #Lent #Forgiven #RoyLessin #Meetinginthemeadow #devotional #resurrection
 
©2025 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.

Forgiven, Part 10: Justification

Forgiven, Part 10: Justification
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow
 
He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are Thou to take the book, and to break its seals, for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.' He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him (Hebrews 1:3, Revelation 5:9, Titus 3:5, Colossians 1:14, Romans 5:9).

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The shed blood of Jesus Christ has accomplished our justification before God—God receiving us just as though we had never sinned. Because of Christ's shed blood, God can look at our lives no matter how dark, how sinful, or how unclean they may have been and declare us guilt-free! In justification our debts are not only canceled, they are wiped clean; our sins are not only forgiven, they are remembered against us no more.

Justification is a legal term. If we are brought before a judge to be tried for a crime and proven innocent, we have been justified. If we are proven guilty, we cannot be justified, and we must pay the penalty for our crime. The only way we could ever be declared justified once and we've been proven guilty is to have someone else meet the full demands of the law by taking our punishment for us. Christ's blood has justified us because we were guilty, and He took our judgment for us. He is the spotless lamb offered up for the transgressor...the obedient Son taking the place of the rebellious child...the caring Creator yielding His life for His fallen creation.

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Lord,
I praise You that I can stand before You guilt-free. What a great salvation You have brought me. You didn't just pity me, You came to take every judgment I deserved. You haven't just forgiven me, You have regarded my sin as though it had never happened. You are my wonderful Savior, and I am grateful!
Amen

#Easter #Lent #Forgiven #RoyLessin #Meetinginthemeadow #devotional #resurrection
 
©2025 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.

Forgiven, Part 9: Righteousness

Forgiven, Part 9: Righteousness
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow
 
As sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. That I may gain Christ and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels (Romans 5:21, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24, Philippians 3:9, Isaiah 61:10).

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There is a story in the Bible that tells us about a great wedding feast. Everyone at the feast needed to be clothed in the proper wedding garments. A man was at the feast without the proper garment on, and when he was discovered, he was sent away from the celebration.

This story reminds us of the importance of being clothed with the right garment—the clean, pure, white robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Our own righteousness is like wearing filthy garments in God's sight. No one is righteous. We please God not by trying to be better, but by receiving the righteousness which is ours by faith in His Son.

We can never scrub out the stains in our soiled garments by becoming more religious; we can never swap our tattered garments for new ones by making resolutions, or by trying to start over; we can never improve our garment's condition by joining others whose garments seem to be whiter than ours. It is His purity that washes us...His goodness that clothes us...His glory that covers us. We are made and declared righteous by the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone.

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Lord,
It is only by faith that I can begin to comprehend how You could take someone like me and declare me righteous. Your mercy overwhelms me; Your grace is beyond anything I have ever known. Thank You for clothing me with the righteousness of Jesus Christ and freeing me from the bondage of trying to earn my way to You. 
Amen
 
#Easter #Lent #Forgiven #RoyLessin #Meetinginthemeadow #devotional #resurrection
 
©2025 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.

Forgiven, Part 8: Change

Forgiven, Part 8: Change
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow
 
Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come. 'Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.' So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ezekiel 36:26, Ephesians 3:17-19).

When we come to Jesus in our brokenness and need, He receives us as we are, but because He loves us He doesn't want to leave us that way. He has come to make all things new.

His path is a path of hope. His way is a way of change. He doesn't just forgive us, He cleanses us...He doesn't just receive us, He indwells us...He doesn't just justify us, He gives us a new heart. He causes us to hate the things we used to love and love the things we used to hate. He changes us from the inside out. His Holy Spirit comes to live within us, we are born of God, and His love is shed abroad in our hearts. We begin to think as He thinks and feel as He feels. He removes our stone hearts—cold, hard, and unbending and gives us a heart of flesh—warm, tender, and yielding. He gives us a heart to love Him, adore Him, and enjoy Him. A heart of devotion...a heart of communion...a heart of compassion.
Through this change we become clay in the Potter's hands, formed into vessels as He wills...vessels that are honorable in the Master's house, fit for His use...vessels that are filled with the treasure of Jesus Christ.

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Lord,
Only You have the power to change me and the wisdom to know what is best for me. I am safe in Your keeping and secure in the knowledge that I am a new creation in Christ. Mold me and shape me into a vessel that will be pleasing in Your sight, then fill my heart with the love of Jesus Christ. 
Amen

 
#Easter #Lent #Forgiven #RoyLessin #Meetinginthemeadow #devotional #resurrection
 
©2025 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.

Forgiven, Part 7: Holiness

Forgiven, Part 7: Holiness
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow
 
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. I will bow down toward Thy holy temple, and give thanks to Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth. For Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name. O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things. His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. O send out Thy light and Thy truth, let them lead me. Let them bring me to Thy holy hill, and to Thy dwelling places. But as for me, by Thine abundant lovingkindness I will enter Thy house, at Thy holy temple I will bow in reverence for Thee. Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in holy array (Hebrews 4:15, Psalm 138:2, Psalm 98:1, Psalm 5:7, Ephesians 1:4, Psalm 29:2).
 

Jesus Christ is more than a prophet, a teacher, or a good man. As the God-man, He was tempted in all points as we are, but He was without sin. He is God incarnate; Immanuel, God with us; the Word become flesh; the only begotten of the Father that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. One of the great miracles of God is that He forms His life within us. Only He can take an unholy person, place that person back into the world, and empower that person to live a holy life.

Holiness is to our spirit what good health is to our body. Holiness is healthiness. It is the song within us that declares, "It is well with my soul." Holiness is beauty. It is the beauty of God's character seen in the face of Jesus Christ. Holiness is love. It is the cup of the Lord's blessing of goodness, kindness, gentleness, and love being poured into our empty vessels. We become healthy because He is healthy...we become beautiful because He is beautiful...we become loving because He is love.

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Lord,
Thank You that everything about You is good, pure, and right. Thank You that Your way is true and righteous altogether. I want to follow You in truth and walk on the straight paths You have for my feet. I rejoice in Your cleansing, Your renewing, and Your healing presence within me. 
Amen
 
#Easter #Lent #Forgiven #RoyLessin #Meetinginthemeadow #devotional #resurrection
 
©2025 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.