Resident Alien Day3: holy dress-up

"So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. 
 And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. 
Never be without it. "

 Colossians 3:112-13 (The Message) 

I mess-upper. Period. 

You mess-upper too. Period. 

When you wake up in the morning this is a good thing to remember you are mess-upper. After I say thank you I pray a number of prayers before I leave my bed. 

"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us..."

This is the prayer for the mess-uppers. It is a prayer of forgiveness. It is a balm for the sin-sick-hurt soul. It releases the poisons of un-forgiveness and self-righteousness.  Only those who mess up and have people mess up on them should pray this. 

Some mornings we want to hide from God and stay under the covers so we do not have face what we have done or what others have done to us. If we only woke up after a perfect day no one would ever be able to leave their beds. 

The only way we can live as resident aliens is if we embrace and flesh-out the forgiveness God has offered us. This is not a call to be a holy-door mat. God calls us into account with him and each other. We are asked to keep it in proportion to the forgiveness we have been granted in Christ.  

"God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
    his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
    How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
    He’s all I’ve got left."

Lamentations 3:22-24 (The Message)

Arise Oh, Sleeper! You have been forgiven...dress-up in holy love