Tag Archives: repentance

May 24; If God Answers Prayer

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2 Chronicles 6:1-7:3; I Kings 8:22-61

When I read Solomon’s prayer for the dedication of the Temple, I can’t help but think of our world, the Church in 2019, and the USA. Solomon prays believing God answers prayer, and knows he is speaking to a forgiving God.

Solomon says, “when,” not “if” we sin. Everyone sins. And God punishes sin. Solomon is asking God to forgive sinners when they repent, something we know God loves to do.

Solomon is praying on behalf of the nation. It’s something we should be doing, too. “God, forgive us. Send revival to  your Church. Return this nation to one truly ‘under God.'”

We pray for us, for them. But do we pray for “me?” It’s easy to pray for the big picture. Sometimes not so easy to make it personal. We can pray all day long that this nation will humble itself and seek God. But you and I are not responsible for this nation.

We are, however, responsible for our own hearts’ condition before a very Holy God. Do you pray, “Humble me, Lord?” That’s actually kind of a scary prayer when you think about it.

Do you pray that God will deal with sin in your own heart, or just the sin of abortion in the land? Do you pray God will convict those caught up in the sin of homosexuality, and ignore His convicting hand on some sin in your own life?

Oh, I believe with Solomon, that God can hear from heaven and forgive… and return us to the land. God can turn things around in this nation, in His Church, and in the world.  But it has to start with you. With me.

If God is going to answer prayers for this world, it will be because you and I have humbled ourselves first. I believe God can turn things around, one repentant soul at a time.

Might as well start with you and me, right?

March 13; No Admittance

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Deuteronomy 1-2

God inspired Moses to give a history lesson to the Israelites poised and ready to take the Promised Land. None of these Jews remembered the Exodus from Egypt forty years earlier. Most of them hadn’t been born when their parents and grandparents crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. Many of them weren’t even born when their parents refused to take the Promised Land forty years earlier.  So Moses wanted to be sure this generation knew the truth, knew exactly why their parents had turned about a two week walk from Egypt to Canaan into forty years of bouncing around in the wilderness.

Their parents were whiners. But it wasn’t their persistent complaining that caused God to shut the door on the Promise.

Their parents were disobedient. But their disobedience wasn’t the reason they were kept out of Canaan.

Their parents worshiped idols. But it wasn’t even their idolatry that caused them to die in the wilderness.

Moses wanted this generation – and ours – to know that the reason none of their parents and grandparents stepped foot into the Promised Land was because of unbelief. They closed the door themselves when they refused to trust God.

And that’s still true today. The only thing standing between an unsaved person and God is unbelief.

Do you believe God when He says Jesus is His Son, and the ONLY way to God? You may be a liar. God can forgive that. You may be an adulterer or a homosexual. God can forgive that. You might be angry, hateful, jealous, dishonest… All forgivable. You might even consider yourself agnostic, atheistic, Muslim, Mormon, Buddhist… all of which God can forgive…

if you believe. If you repent while your heart is still beating.

I John 1:9 If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

But, friend, you will not see God or know what it’s like to walk with Him in this lifetime if you don’t believe in Jesus, if you don’t accept God’s forgiveness bought for you when Jesus died on the cross. The truth of Scripture as seen in the Old Testament and the New is that there is a “No Admittance” sign on the gate of heaven for anyone who has not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Your past doesn’t matter. But what you do with Jesus really does.

March 4; Unforgiven

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Numbers 14-15

Mark tells us in his gospel that there is a sin God will not forgive. It’s not the sin of homosexuality, or even the murder of babies still in the womb. It’s not adultery, or idolatry, or stealing…

Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.

What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? I hope you’re sitting down.

But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him. (Numbers 15:30-31)

The next paragraph in chapter 15 gives an example. A Jew who knew that God had demanded the Sabbath be kept holy, went out and gathered wood anyway. Right there in front of people, an in-your-face defiance of God’s Law. The consequences? They took him outside the camp and stoned him to death.

Have you ever knowingly sinned against God? I’m pretty sure I know the answer to that. Even Paul struggled with this issue. Romans 7:15-20 is his admission that sometimes he did what he knew he shouldn’t do, and sometimes he didn’t do what he knew he should. So are we to assume Paul could not be forgiven?

I am reminded of 1 John 1:9. Does God forgive sin or not? The Bible is clear that God forgives a repentant soul. He is faithful and just. But, an unrepentant soul He will not forgive.

And that’s what I feel God would have us consider today. If you are knowingly holding on to a sin, maybe hatred or jealousy, dishonesty, adultery, homosexuality, gluttony, laziness…, be warned:

God does not forgive an unconfessed sin. He calls it blasphemy. And He takes it very seriously.

February 19; It’s Not Just About Food

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Leviticus 11-13

In these chapters we read the instructions God gave the Jews for following the Law. Much of it has to do with keeping God’s chosen people healthy. It’s not just an exhaustive list of rules. Following the rules resulted in a robust, long-lifed, group of people who were more robust and lived longer than their neighbors. Following the rules made God’s people stand apart from the crowd.

Let’s see what these chapters have to do with our walk with God in 2019.

Chapter 11 teaches that the disease of sin can be ingested if we aren’t careful. Just like the Jews were told to avoid certain disease-carrying animals, we are told to flee sin, guard our hearts and minds, think pure thoughts, come out from among them and be separate. The Jews were instructed to not even touch an unclean animal, much less eat it.

Some of us don’t necessarily participate in blatant acts of sin. But I wonder if we’re not guilty of getting close enough to bump into it, or have it rub off on us. Do we understand if sin touches us, it makes us unclean? I believe God would have us consider what it is we are taking in, in the music we listen to, to the books we read and shows we watch, to the places we go and the people we hang with. How close can we get to sin without it effecting us? I think God is telling us to be aware that sin is a fatal disease we can catch if we eat the whole hog, or if we just touch it to see how it feels. The solution? Don’t go there.

Chapter 12 tells us we are born unclean. The Bible makes it clear we are all born with a sin nature, a will to sin. But we also see time and again that God forgives sin. The women here in Leviticus were instructed to make atonement for their uncleanness in a very public way. I think one reason God instituted the baptism ceremony is because of that same idea – a public declaration that “I am clean by the work of Jesus on the cross.” Buried in sin. Alive in Christ. And we want the world to know.

And chapter 13 instructs us to examine ourselves, not to allow a “tiny sin” to exist in our lives, because “tiny sins” grow into infectious diseases resulting in separation from God in this life and eternity. It tells us that sin isn’t simply skin deep, not a zit that will go away on its own.

God is telling us sin is a cancer that destroys us from the inside. It’s leprous, ugly, and like leprosy caused finger and toes to fall of, rendering the diseased person crippled, sin causes us to lose our witness, rendering us crippled in our usefulness to God. I believe God is instructing us to take an inventory every day of our lives, search our hearts on a regular basis, identify the plank in our eye and remove it. If we don’t, we’ve got to know that it won’t get better on its own.

I hope you’ll read these chapters today. When God is talking about things to avoid,  a disease, or an uncleanness, consider the sin that would entangle you today. Hear God’s solution to your sin problem. Don’t just look at this as a list of do’s and don’t’s for a people long gone. Let God speak to your heart about your walk with Him today.

It’s not just about food, or child-bearing, or leprosy. God wrote this for you.

 

Ezra 4-10; Seriously Seeing Sin

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What do you do when you are forced to face a wrong you have done? Do you accept the reprimand thankfully, do you take responsibility, ask forgiveness, and try to rectify the situation? Or do you get angry, place blame elsewhere, or blow it off?

Adam blamed Eve. And for most of us, that is our first inclination, too.

Not so Ezra and the Jews we read about in these chapters. Ezra prayed, and wept, and threw himself down on the ground in front of the temple. He met the truth of sin with agony and sorrow. The Jews followed his example.

With their repentance came drastic action. How do you correct the effects of a grave sin? Do you commit a “lesser” sin to rid yourself of the “greater”?

I’ve read several sources and their’s are varying opinions of the actions taken by the Jews. Some say, “Yes, of course. God commanded they not marry foreign women. Anyway, it was merciful to divorce them. The law provide for stoning them. They got off easy.”

Others say, “No way. God hates divorce. Marriage is forever. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

Honestly, I think both sides are right to a degree. Which makes this a very confusing passage in my mind. I notice Scripture does not use the words, “God said…” in reference to this drastic action. It seems to come as a response to a great revival, but not a direct order from God.

And I notice that each case was reviewed individually. Each marriage carefully examined before sentencing. I think that might imply there were some foreign wives who abandoned their idols and worshiped God with their husbands. Those marriages may have survived the cut. (purely my opinion)

What is undeniable is the seriousness with which God looks at sin. God inspired Ezra to name names. Every man who had married a foreign wife is listed here at the end of Ezra’s book. Name after name of the guilty is recorded for us to read thousands of years later.

What this Scripture says to me is that first of all, I need to be careful about going off half-cocked following an encounter with God. I want to be led by the Spirit, and not get ahead of what God is doing in my life.

Secondly, I need to take sin as seriously as God does. Sometimes He requires drastic action to purge sin from our lives. But if we never commit the sin in the first place, the drastic acton won’t be necessary.

Remind me of that truth, Dear Lord. Make me so in tune with You that I recognize sin before I commit it, and run! But when I sin and You point it out through Your Word or through the voice of one of Your children, help me to accept it graciously, and repent. Father, if there is drastic measures You need to take to purge sin from my life, do it. But I’m going to need You to help me every inch of the way. I only know I want to be a woman who sees sin as seriously as You do

1 Kings 1-2; You Can Fool Some Of The People…

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I’m always impressed when I read how David handled the bully Shimei as recorded in 2 Samuel 16. He ignored the mean things Shimei did and said. Then, in chapter 19 we see Shimei coming back to the king, asking him not to hold that whole bullying thing against him. David promised he wouldn’t kill him. And the bullying seems to have stopped.

But now David is at the end of his life. Solomon is king. And we read in 1 Kings 2 the advice David gives his son. I have to say I was a bit surprised that David included Shimei in his list of people for Solomon to beware of. He even told Solomon not to consider Shimei innocent, and suggested Solomon “bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.” That’s harsh.

What is it about Shimei that I’m not seeing? He said he was sorry, didn’t he? I went back to read 2 Samuel 19:16-20. What I notice is an admission of guilt, and a request that David let bygones be bygones. “Just forget it,” Shimei seems to say.

I think I’m seeing a “Sorry” on the level of a child being forced to apologize for hitting his sister, followed by an unspoken, “Not.” The words are there. But was Shimei’s heart in it? Evidently David didn’t think so.

God does let us into Shimei’s real character as we read in 1 Kings 2:36ff. Shimei agreed to terms set forth by King Solomon. But as soon as it suited him, Shimei reneged. Rules just don’t apply to you, do they, Shimei? Solomon ended up teaching Shimei the ultimate lesson.

As I sit here and think about old Shimei, I asked God what He would say to us through him today. I thought about the number of times I’ve gone to God and asked forgiveness for a sin I knew I’d commit again. I thought about apologies I’ve made to get myself out of trouble, not necessarily because I was truly sorry for what I’d done. The words were there. But my heart wasn’t in it.

David wasn’t fooled by Shimei’s confession. And God is never fooled by mine.

When I was a child there was a kids’ show on TV. The host ended every program with the words: You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time. But you can’t fool Mom.

Well, moms, you know that probably isn’t always true. But, dear one, rest assured we might fool each other with right words, but God sees our heart.

And He is never fooled.

_______________________

We are still waiting for Hurricane Irma to do its worse on the coast of Georgia. Do you want to hear the good news first, or the bad? Good news is that the eye of the storm looks like it will stay far enough to the west that our part of the world will be spared the brunt of the storm. Still expecting heavy rain and wind, with some flooding. Some trees are already down according to reports. Thats the good news. The bad news? I decided to evacuate to a small town just east of Atlanta, directly in the projected path of Irma. I think she’s following me.

In reality, this storm is nothing to joke about. There are millions of people who are being impacted by this deadly force. Please continue to pray. May God have mercy.

I Samuel 18; Expect To Feel Miserable

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Wow. I just had a wrestling match with Scripture. Have you ever questioned something you read in God’s Word that you could not get past? I had that experience in verse 10 of this chapter:

The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul.

I don’t know about you, but major questions come to mind when the Bible tells me anything evil came from God. Verses like I John 1:5, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all,” and James 1:13, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone,” come to mind. But here it is in black and white. An evil, or distressing spirit FROM GOD was thrown at Saul.

I went to commentaries on my shelf and on the internet to try to makes sense of this. And  I’m glad I did.

Why would the Spirit of God come upon Saul in a distressing way? I was reminded that Saul had chosen sin over obedience. He chose his own desires over repentance. And in doing so, the Spirit of God had left Him. (16:14)

Here is what I think God would have us consider today: When we disobey, when we choose sin over purity, and then when God removes Himself and His blessings from us, we should expect to feel crummy about it. We should never imagine that God is going to watch us walk away from Him and not convict us.

Saul was under major conviction. His soul was at war within him. Of course Saul was distressed.

Friend, God does not cause anyone to sin. He is Holy. But He is not going to sit back and watch you throw your life away. Expect conviction. Expect distress. Expect to feel uncomfortable, depressed, anxious, if you are harboring sin in your life.

Saul’s response to this great conviction from God was to pick up a spear and throw it at David. Saul held on to his jealousy and anger instead of repenting. As we read on, we’re going to find out this is not the last time God will send His convicting Spirit to Saul. God is never one and done. (I praise Him for being the God of second and third… chances)

God is working in the hearts of every person on this planet. Don’t think that doesn’t mean you. God loves you enough to make you feel miserable when you sin.

Expect it. Then repent and experience the joy that will follow, the sweet fellowship with the God of the Universe who loves you to death.

Deuteronomy 30-34; The Law and Grace

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What is your definition of grace? When you think of God’s grace, what comes to mind? Jesus? The cross? Forgiveness? Eternal life? What about, the Law?

I’ve heard religion criticized for being a list of rules, of “don’ts.” And actually, Moses reminds us it is. The Law is a very big part of this thing we call Christianity. Even though we know the Law is powerless to forgive sin.

The Law reveals sin, though. And in doing so, it points us to our Savior.

I guess God could have left us to our own devices, not defined sin for us, then sat back and watched us unknowingly crash and burn. Like a cop who knows the speed limit sign is missing, then pulls over unsuspecting drivers and tickets them for driving too fast.  Sorry, boys, not knowing the speed limit doesn’t change the speed limit.

Not knowing what sin is doesn’t change what sin is.

But God is full of grace. In Romans 7:7, Paul tells us he would not have known what sin even was if it had not been for the Law. I wouldn’t know what light was except for the darkness, what health was if it weren’t for sickness, what joy was but for sorrow. I wouldn’t know what forgiveness was if I didn’t know I needed to be forgiven.

Deuteronomy 33:3 tells us God loved the people, He held them in His hand, they worshiped Him, and God gave them the Law as a possession, an inheritance. God gave them the Law as something precious, not because they deserved it, but because He graciously wanted them to know their boundaries so they wouldn’t cross over them. Then He could bless them, like He longed to do.

The Law is still in effect today. Those boundaries are still in place. Idol worship is still a sin. Adultery, lying, dishonoring parents are still sins. And because the wages of every sin is death, God wanted to spell it all out so we would not be caught unawares.

He wanted to give us life instead of death. A life, as sinners, we don’t deserve. That’s grace. And in a very real way, the Law plays a big role in God’s grace.

Grace greater than all our sin.

God, thank you for letting me see your Law as an act of grace. You want us to know what sin is so that we are quick to repent of it, to accept what Jesus did on our behalf, and to enjoy unbroken fellowship with you. That’s grace. Thank you for grace that is even greater than my sin.

Genesis 35-36 Revival

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One commentary I read called 35:1-7 the first recorded revival. I remember going to many revival meetings in the church where I grew up. In fact, I went forward during one of those services and cemented my faith in God, repented of sins, and determined to live for Him from that day on.

Jacob sinned. His family worshiped idols. But in chapter 35 they all chose to leave those idols behind and follow the Lord. They buried the idols, and the people moved on. Their worship of God was revived.

I will admit that since that Thursday evening in 1967 when I knelt at the altar during that revival meeting, there have been other times of revival in my life, other sins I had to confess, other idols I had to bury in order to obey God. My walk with the Lord hasn’t been one and done, but rather a series of times of fellowship with my Savior, followed by a drift, then sin, then conviction, repentance, and revival.

I kind of sound like the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.

I don’t know where your walk with the Lord is right now. But I would encourage us all to consider a time of revival. Can we ever walk too close to the Savior, be too free of sin, or too cleansed?

We are the Church. I wonder if it’s time for the Church to allow God to revive us one soul at a time, until the Church is exactly where God would like us to be.

 

Genesis 9:18-23 – Restoration

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Proverbs 10:12 says, “Love covers all sin,” and that is what we see when Shem and Japheth covered Noah’s naked body. It was the right thing to do. And the way they did it expressed their love for their father.

But covering their dad’s nakedness didn’t erase Noah’s sin of drunkeness.

I’m convinced that many of our modern churches have neglected that fact. God’s love doesn’t cancel out the penalty of sin. His love covers us like a blanket because He IS LOVE. God so loved the world…

But He is also holy and demands holiness of us, His children. He is quite clear that every sin comes with a serious consequence. Every single sin.

We can learn a lesson from Noah’s sons. And it has to do with our reaction when we see a believer sinning.

First, they didn’t ignore it, rationalize it, or judge him for it. They went to him in love and restored his modesty.

Second, they didn’t go around talking about it. Their actions were private and respectful. And they kept it that way.

When we see a brother or sister living with a sin, we need to approach them like Noah’s boys approached their dad. We shouldn’t ignore it, or gossip about it. We need to take that blanket of God’s love, and see if there is some way to restore them, to encourage them to get right with the Lord. Then, we need to walk away and certainly not talk about it to others.

May God find us faithful as we hold one another accountable out of love. And let’s be in the restoration business for Jesus’ sake.