Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

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The Work is Finished {No Matter What Monday}

July 31, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Christ's work for your salvation is finished. Biblical encouragement, Scripture, and devotionals for women.

I’m a list-maker. Are you? If not, I’d love to hear how you function – I’d never survive without my lists! I’ve got my daily list, my weekly list, my monthly list, and my “someday” list. (It’s a rare, exciting day when I cross something off the someday list!) Making sharp little checkmarks next to completed tasks makes me smile.

If you find me curled up in bed with a book or plopped down in a recliner in front of the tv around 9pm, it means my list for that day boasts a lot of checkmarks. I don’t sit still unless the day’s essentials have been completed and the non-essentials bumped to the next day’s list.

So I find it fascinating that nine times in the New Testament, we read that Jesus Christ is seated at the Father’s right hand. Jesus lived and died for us. He rose again. Then He ascended to heaven, and when He got there, He sat.

“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:12)

Christ’s sacrifice of Himself on the cross completed the work required by God for our salvation. He fully paid the debt we owed because of sin. Yes, there is work that God asks us to do as His redeemed people. But the work of salvation is finished. The sacrifice offered by the prefect Lamb of God was complete and sufficient.

Jesus Christ completed His mission, returned home to the Father’s side, and sat down. As we go about our tasks this week, whether we’re checking off a list or just doing the next thing, let’s joyfully remember that our Savior completed the most important work for us.

No matter what you face this week, remember that Christ’s work for your salvation is finished.

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Your Debt is Fully Paid {No Matter What Monday}

June 12, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Your debt is fully paid. Biblical encouragement, Scripture, and devotionals for women.

It’s happened to me twice now, and each time was surprising and impactful.

I’ve pulled up to the Starbucks window and found out that my (grande, non-fat, one-pump-caramel) latte was paid for by the driver in front of me. It feels strange to receive my drink without giving anything to the cashier. I accept the gift of a free latte because someone I don’t know paid the debt I owed.

It’s a beautiful picture of the Gospel. Romans 8:1 tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Condemnation is not a word we like to discuss. But God’s Word is clear that we are all sinners, and our sin deserves God’s punishment.

So how can Romans 8:1 say there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus? Has God decided to look the other way? Did He change His mind about sin? Is He just being nice?

There is now no condemnation because Someone else paid for our sin.

On the cross, Jesus took the punishment our sin deserved. God is fully satisfied with Jesus’s sacrifice and will not demand payment from those who are in Christ. Our debt has been paid. We freely receive the gift of God’s grace.

As we drink deeply of His grace, we are set free from trying to convince God and others that we’re good enough. We don’t have to keep looking around, hoping to be a little better than the next guy. We don’t have to keep striving, hoping the good works will outnumber the bad.

When Jesus took your punishment, He gave you His perfect, sinless record. If you are in Christ, when God looks at your life, He sees what Christ has done. You can walk in the joy and freedom of God’s grace.

No matter what you face this week, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

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Christ Died for Us {No Matter What Monday}

August 1, 2016 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Romans 5-8

Most of us will never face the excruciating decision of whether or not we will die to spare someone else’s life. But think with me for a moment: For whom would you die? A family member or close friend? If you were in the unimaginable situation of choosing between your life or your child’s life, would you die for your child? There are loved ones I would die for, but I have to admit, the list for is short.

What if a criminal broke into your home and stole all that you had. He robbed you blind, showing his disdain for you, your family, and your belongings. Then an even nastier criminal found him, dragged him to you, and gave you a choice: your life or his. Would you die for the one who hated you? What if the choice was between the criminal’s life or your child’s life? Would you sacrifice your son or daughter to spare the criminal? I wouldn’t.

But God did.

Romans 5:6-8: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

While we were yet sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for us. We can confidently trust God’s love for us, because He proved it on a real day in history, when a real man who was also the Son of God bled and died to save us from God’s wrath. The Father did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up so His enemies could become His children (see Romans 8:32).

No matter what we face this week, we can trust God’s love is true, because Christ died for us.

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Our Hope Enters Behind the Curtain {No Matter What Monday}

April 18, 2016 by Marissa Leave a Comment

behind the curtain (2)

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. 

Hebrews 6:19-20 (ESV)

 

Last week we talked about the anchor of our hope being in God’s sure and steadfast promises. But what about the rest of the verse?

 

Our hope is described as entering the inner place behind the curtain. Now, I know that can sound like a bunch of theological gobbledygook. The inner place refers to the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwelled in the temple. Once a year, the high priest would take a blood sacrifice and enter into the inner place to atone for the sin of the people and remove their guilt.

 

When the author of Hebrews says that Jesus has gone on our behalf into the inner place, he’s saying that Jesus’ sacrifice has taken away the guilt of our sin. Jesus’ blood qualifies him to enter into the place where God dwells. And when it says that Jesus is a forerunner, it means that we will follow him there.

 

When we cast the anchor of our hope, it lands in the place where God dwells. And our hope-anchor is there because Christ died once for all as a sacrifice to remove our guilt, rip the curtain that separated us from God, and secure our access to the inner place with God.

 

This is our sure and steadfast hope. Not hope in our own abilities or good works or trying to do a little better than yesterday. Not hope in promises that may or may not be true when we need them most. Our hope for salvation, for daily life, and for peace in the midst of a storm comes from one sure and steadfast anchor: the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us.

 

So no matter what we face this week, our hope is in Christ, who entered the inner place behind the curtain as a forerunner on our behalf. 

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marissahenley.com

I write to remind myself of the truth of God's promises. I share my writing here in case you need to be reminded sometimes, too.

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Click the image above to learn more about Marissa's books: After Cancer and Loving Your Friend through Cancer

Recent Posts

  • Finding Hope Amid Severe Illness {Guest Post for Ligonier Ministries}
  • God’s Faithfulness in a Winter Season – Part 3 {Guest post for enCourage}
  • God’s Faithfulness in a Winter Season – Part Two {Guest post for the enCourage blog}

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