Purely & Graciously His

  Hear My Confession By Jennifer Moodie 7/31/2022 Today in my church, as we do often, our congregation read a corporate confession of sin. It went like this:  “Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed,  by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.  We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.  For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name, Amen .” I absolutely love this. I need this. I am so thankful for this practice. I love that I can sit amongst my brothers and sisters in the Lord and acknowledge that we have sinned since we last saw each other. There is no hiding it and pretending because we are confessing. Together.  I don’t have to pretend as if I have it all together when I come to church because I know that I will be confessing m

  Dear Younger Me By Jennifer Moodie 7/20/2022 Dear younger me, You were a little miss “goody two shoes”, having a big head and believing that your standards, spiritual disciplines, and fear of disobeying was what gave you a good relationship with God. You asked Jesus into your heart over, and over, and over again because you desperately desired to be saved, but couldn’t be good enough to think you were. You lived a life of absolute fear- fear of breaking the rules, fear because you wanted so badly to break those rules, and fear of going to hell when you finally broke them.  -But someday, you will understand salvation, the law/gospel distinction, and you will have rest and assurance.  All through your teen years you were desperate for love. You wanted nothing more from life than to be a wife and mother, and you were heartbroken over ever boy who didn’t promise to give you that. You “laid out fleeces” like Gideon, bargaining with God to give you a sign as to which boy you had a crush on

  by Jennifer Moodie 7/12/2022 I see you.  You aren’t invisible to me.  I know what you are feeling. I have been there, too. You are the “crushed rose”, the water with spit in it, the chewed gum, the tape that no longer sticks… You know all the analogies. You have lost the thing that made you most valued…. Your virginity/purity. At least that is what you have been told. But what now? Is there any recovering? Or since you are now “tarnished” is there any point in trying anymore? Should you just give up and live a life of sexual promiscuity since once your virginity/purity is “lost” it can never be found again? Will any man want you now that you are “used”, and “tarnished”? Are you desperately trying to hide it, or pretend like it didn’t happen? You may be afraid of the repercussions from your parents, peers, or church. Are you feeling crushed by the weight of the guilt and shame? Beloved…oh my dear beloved, cherished sister in Christ. Jesus wants the rose.  Perhaps you believe that to