The thief who denied hell and stole Heaven

by Margaret Kazmeirczak | Jan 30, 2017 | Comfort, Encouragement, Faith, Forgiveness, Grace, Monday Memories, Heart"Wings"blog.com

The thief who denied hell and stole Heaven has an amazing place in history. 

The thief is the one person who saw the truth of Jesus’ message. Those around him were grieving, shocked, taunting, or disinterested in the crucifixion, but the thief stole the show. He saw his opportunity, to rob hell of his soul and to repent of his past heinous crimes. For this he would be remembered for all time.

He saw his opportunity to rob hell of his soul and to repent of his past heinous crimes.

The robber understood he deserved to die.

The thief in his understanding knew that he deserved his crucifixion. His pain and subsequent death were of his own doing. He had deprived many of precious things through the manor of his trade as a robber. He no doubt robbed wives of husbands, children of their fathers and vice versa. Now his crimes were to rob him of his life. But his salvation hung beside him.  

“Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

As the robber gazed on the man beside him the scales from his eyes fell. He did not see another criminal, but the Son of God. His soul leapt for joy but the devil cringed in the dark periphery surrounding the revelation, watching as the first sinner gained entry into Heaven. “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” (Luke 23:40)

Jesus said “I tell you the truth,  today you shall be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)

How comforting for Jesus in his agony to be recognised for who He really was. The thief, a man of the world, who did not know Jesus from His ministry, bowed down before his Saviour King. When Jesus died Heaven rejoiced and the sinner danced, he had stolen his greatest prize at the last moment – his redemption. 

The memory of the thief.

Today let us remember the lesson of this man who denied hell and stole Heaven, as we hang on our own cross of life. Let us see what the thief saw – God’s Grace. 

Do you see as the thief saw?

God loves us no matter what we have done - FACT

When I feel overwhelmed by anxious thoughts there is nothing more comforting than looking at Jesus upon the cross. Why? Because that is the beginning of everything. From the cross Jesus rose again and took my sins with him. He cleansed me, gave me hope and filled me with joy. A joy that knows, no matter what, Jesus, God in human form, loves me, an unworthy fool. 

This knowledge takes my breath away. It has me on my knees. 

GOD LOVES ME.

He did this tremendous deed for me.

He embraced my sin, my folly, my selfishness. 

The Creator of the world died for me so that I could be re-united with him. 

God wants me back in the fold. His love is so enormous, larger than the universe and He wants me to be part of it. 

If you ever say you are not worthy, remember who loves you, who made you. God thinks you are incredible, worth dying for. Breath that truth in. It is awesome. 

"God showed us how much He loved us by sending His only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sin." I John 4:9 –10

"So we praise God for the wonderful kindness He has poured out on us because we belong to His dearly loved Son. He is so rich in kindness that He purchased our freedom through the blood of His Son, and our sins are forgiven." Ephesians 1:6-7

"For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." II Corinthians 5:21

Sinless took our sin because of love. This is our example.

Do I reflect this love, do you?