Tag Archives: salvation

July 14 – Grieved

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Amos 6-9

As I read these chapters today I am reminded that there is danger in getting comfortable, in feeling secure, in reclining on beds of ivory, sprawling on couches, eating and drinking, without caring that people are dying and going to hell.

May we never have the attitude that “At least I’m ok. My salvation is eternally secure. Let the rest of the world get what they deserve.” God calls it “the arrogance of Jacob” (6:8) which is the same as saying, the arrogance of God’s people. That’s me. That’s you if you know Him.

God is grieved over sin, over people dying without the Savior, over disobedience and hate.

Grieved.

Am I too comfortable to care?

July 13 – Seek God And Live

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Amos 1-5

“For three transgressions…and for four  I will not revoke its punishment.” God spoke these words to Amos eight times, referring to eight groups of people who sinned against God. In chapters 3&4 God declares that all the tribes of Israel are guilty, none worship God as He deserves and demands. And because of it, God is going to punish them.

But in chapter 5 another phrase is repeated several times. “Seek me that you may live.” Seek the Lord, seek good and not evil that you may live.

I believe God would have us apply these same principles to our individual lives. God will not revoke punishment for sin. Period. Not ever. Every sin comes with a death sentence that must be paid. That will be paid. There is no getting around it. Not for the murder of five policemen in Dallas, and not for that snide remark made about a coworker. Not for adultery, or for that little white lie. Every sin will be punished. God will not revoke its punishment.

But God tells us to seek Him – and live. Now that doesn’t mean He overlooks sin in those who seek Him. That means when we seek God, ask for His forgiveness, our sin debt is marked, “Paid In Full.” The thing is, your sin debt (death) is already paid. Jesus died once and for all.

So it’s sad when people continue to try to pay the debt of their sin on their own, refusing what is already theirs. It’s like thinking you can take care of the national debt by giving them the change in your pocket. Are you kidding me?

Someone is going to die for your sins. You can accept the fact that Jesus has been there, done that on your behalf. Or you can face God without His Son and offer Him the change in your pocket. Dear one, your payment won’t come close to covering your debt. You will be handed the death sentence. And God will not revoke that punishment just because you were a nice person.

God is inviting you to get to know Him. Read His Word. Pray. Accept Jesus as your Savior, your only hope of life. Recognize the many ways in which God is trying to get your attention. Consider His creation and bow before a Holy God who loves you, who gave Himself for you, who died so you wouldn’t have to.

I mean, He’s already paid the bill. Just accept it.

 

July 7 – Commitment Is Personal

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2 Kings 12-13, 2 Chronicles 24

Joash’s story always makes me sad. As long as the priest Jehoiada was there, the young king honored God and encouraged the Jews to obey Him. “Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.” (2 Chronicles 24:2)

The sad part begins when the priest dies and Joash is left on his own. For the first time in his life he didn’t have that old man looking over his shoulders. Joash didn’t choose well. Read it for yourself in today’s chapters.

I am reminded that faith in God is personal. I am not a Christian because my parents were. I can’t assume my children will follow the Lord just because I am devoted to God.  It’s a decision everyone must make for themselves.

Have you chosen to follow God because you realize YOU are a sinner before a Holy God? Have you repented of your own sin, and accepted Jesus death on the cross as something He did for YOU?

No one can decide that for you but you.

 

June 30 -Sympathy and Death

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I Kings 20-21

Sometimes I think we Christians are too soft, too trusting, too passive, afraid to “judge”, and are satisfied to sit back and let “God’s will” be done.

God told Ahab to destroy the Arameans, and God would give him the victory. But when some of the enemy put on their sad faces and pulled the “we’re family” card, Ahab let them go, including King Ben-hadad. God told Ahab his disobedience would cost him his life.

God has plainly told His children to get rid of ALL sin in our lives. Poke out your eye if your eye causes you to sin. Be holy. Flee youthful lusts. Resist the devil. Walk in the light.

It’s when we begin to look at sin with a sympathetic eye like Ahab looked at Ben-hadad dressed in sackcloth, that we disobey.

Friends, do you understand we are at war? We’re at war with Satan within our own hearts. Forget what sins your neighbor has committed. What sins have you let exist in your own life? Then, when you have addressed the sin in you, take up the sword and shield and get off your couch.

Get out there and fight this enemy in your neighbor’s home by introducing your neighbor to Jesus.

Once again I’m reminding us all that tolerating sin, ignoring sin, adopting the live-and-let-live philosophy of life, or thinking if God wants that neighbor saved, he’ll get saved theology is disobedience.

Let me help you with that. God died for that neighbor so, yes, His will is that neighbor be saved. And God is depending on you to be obedient to His leading.

Remember that letting sin go, is a death sentence. Read it for yourself in Ahab’s story.

June 28 – Preach It!

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I Kings 15:25-16:34

When Jehoshaphat became king he shook things up a bit. His father, Asa, had gone through the motions of worshiping God, but that was as far as it went. Jehoshaphat, however, realized the Jews had gotten so far from obeying God’s law he sent missionaries throughout Judah to teach the people.

It wasn’t enough for Jehoshaphat to believe. He wanted everyone to turn to God.

I would encourage us today to take a page from the life of King Jehoshaphat. Are you satisfied with the fact that you’re ok? You’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior and are assured you are going to heaven. Do you sit back in your salvation and let those around you fend for themselves?

Jehoshaphat made a decision to share the Truth with everyone around. Isn’t that a decision we’re called to make, too? Didn’t Jesus tell us to make disciples of those in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our towns, in our countries, and in our world?

Then Jesus promised to go with us in this effort, even until the end of time itself. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Preach it, dear one!

June 14 – Lovingkindness That Lasts Forever

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2 Chronicles 6-7, Psalm 136

It’s kind of hard to read about God’s lovingkindness after the murder of 49 homosexuals in Orlando over the weekend. It’s understandable that people who don’t know God might look at Him as cruel in situations like this. And sometimes Christians say things that really don’t help.

I’m taking a chance here. Not wanting to make matters worse, I think we need to look at God’s lovingkindness, especially in light of this tragedy.

The 136th Psalm is like a congregational reading. The leader reads a phrase, and the people respond with, “For His lovingkindness is everlasting.” But look at some of the phrases that received that response:

Verse 10: To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn

Verse 15: But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea.

Verse 17: To Him who smote great kings

How can God’s lovingkindness be seen in the deaths of babies and kings, or 49 homosexuals?

I think God’s lovingkindness is revealed in the fact that we all haven’t met the same fate. There isn’t a one of us who deserves ANY good thing from God. He is holy. He has given us rules to live by, and we’ve broken every one. We’ve ignored Him. We lie about Him. We serve other gods, and have placed ourselves as gods.

We deserve God’s wrath. But His lovingkindness has me still breathing today. And His lovingkindness wants to use this Orlando tragedy to speak to your heart, to draw you to Him.

Some of you will step further away from  Him out of anger. Don’t do it. God didn’t kill those people. An evil man did. Satan would have you focus on the situation, and ignore God’s love to you, personally.

Here’s a picture of God’s lovingkindness: It’s Jesus, bruised and beaten, hanging on a cross because YOU sinned. He died because YOU deserve death. He offers Himself to YOU today because of His everlasting lovingkindness.

I heard someone say those 49 people got what they deserved because of their sin. But wait. If that’s how God works, you’d be taking a bullet, too. And so would I.

Here’s another example of God’s lovingkindness: It’s found in 2 Chronicles 7:14. It says if we repent, God promises to heal our land. It’s the same promise we find in I John 1:9. If we confess our sins, if we repent, He WILL forgive. He WILL cleanse us.

And that’s a lovingkindness that lasts forever.

Dearest God, Thank You for who You are. You are good. You are kind. You are full of grace. You love us with an enduring love that sent Jesus to the cross. I pray for the families and friends of those who were killed in Orlando. Dear Father, wrap your arms around them. May they be drawn to You, find strength in You, recognize Your lovingkindness even in their pain. I pray that many people will come to Your saving grace because of this tragedy. May we who know You represent You in a way that honors You. I also pray that we who know You will humble ourselves, repent of sin in our lives, and open the path for You to heal our land.

May 26 – For Luke: Psalm 139

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Psalms 131, 138-139, 143-145

The newest member of our family, baby Luke, is scheduled to make his appearance in August. Right now he is an adorable bulge in his mommy’s tummy. A sometimes wiggly bump that stretches and turns and kicks so that those of us outside his world can see and feel that precious life, growing and developing fearfully and wonderfully.

So it’s no surprise that I thought of Luke this morning as I read the 139th psalm. “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast the sum of them!” God is thinking about Luke right this minute.

Psalm 139 is so personal and it expresses how intimate a relationship with God can be. It’s how God wants our relationship with Him to be. I hope you take time to read this Scripture today and let it speak to your heart.

For Luke, I pray he will accept Jesus as his Savior as soon as he understands what sin is and what Jesus did for him. I pray he will enjoy a close relationship with God his whole life. I pray Luke will be confident in the fact that God has searched him and knows him, that God encloses him behind and before, that God’s presence is with him even in the darkest times.

I pray Luke will allow God to defeat Satan in his life, that he will hate evil as God hates it, that he will follow God’s lead each and every day.

God knows the number of Luke’s days on this earth. I pray they will be days of blessing, and days that God is pleased to use for His glory because Luke is faithful.

 

May 14 – I Need A Shower

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Psalms 32, 52, 86, 122

David wrote psalm 51 after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba. I imagine everyone of us have felt like David felt while dealing with the guilt of sin. Psalm 32 says that when David held on to sin, even his body wasted away, he groaned all day long because God’s hand was heavy upon him.

Been there. Done that.

God doesn’t want us being ok with sin in our lives. That’s why He invented guilt. The feeling of guilt is a good thing. It can make us unhappy enough to ask God to forgive us, to take our guilt upon Himself, and set us free from that burden.

The psalms also express the joy that comes from confession, from the assurance our sins are forgiven, and we are guilty no longer.

Whiter than snow!!

The other day I decided to skip my morning shower. The forecast called for a chilly rain all day, so I figured I’d get up, do some housework, and not step foot outside. My nephew had a baseball game scheduled that evening, but I was sure they wouldn’t be able to play because of the weather.

Was I surprised when I got a text from his dad at the field, saying “Game On.”

Oh NO! No time to get cleaned up. So I put on a ball cap to cover my dirty hair, grabbed my umbrella and an extra jacket, and rushed to the game.

I felt awful! I felt dirty and ugly. I enjoyed watching my nephew play ball, but I was embarrassed the whole time.

When I finally stood under my shower and let warm water pour over my body, when I massaged that shampoo into my hair and felt the bubbles rinse down, I stood there and sighed. It felt so good! Every cell in my body relaxed.

That’s the feeling I get from reading these psalms. David, once dirty and ugly and miserable in his filth, allowed God to forgive him and wash him clean. What joy! What peace! What relief!

Are you carrying the burden of guilt because of unconfessed sin in your life? Give it to the Lord. Ask Him to forgive you, something He’s anxious to do. And enjoy the feeling of being really, really clean.

 

May 13 – Accepting Forgiveness

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2 Samuel 11&12, I Chronicles 20

King David had sex with another man’s wife. Then, when he found out he had gotten her pregnant, and that her husband had been away fighting David’s own war, he had the man killed. Then he married the woman.

By all accounts, this woman’s husband had been an honorable man. He certainly didn’t deserve the treatment he had received by his king.

When David was confronted with his sin, he repented. And God forgave him.

You might be tempted to think that David didn’t deserve to be forgiven. He was king. He took advantage of this woman and murdered her husband. Didn’t he deserve to rot in hell?

The answer is yes.

But so do we. Your sins, my sins, are as loathsome to God as David’s sins. I may not have murdered anyone, but that doesn’t make me less a sinner than David. I have fallen short of God’s holiness, and holiness is what he demands.

Enter grace.

When Jesus died on the cross, his blood bought our forgiveness. All of it. We are forgiven for stealing that paper clip, or for robbing that bank. We are forgiven for lying to our moms about eating that cookie before dinner, or for having an affair with our co-worker.

Do we deserve to be forgiven? Not in and of ourselves. But no sin is too small or too great to be covered by the precious blood of Jesus.

David repented and accepted God’s forgiveness. He didn’t try to justify his actions or convince himself he deserved to be happy. He recognized sin as sin, and asked God to forgive him. And God was faithful to forgive.

You are forgiven. David still had to make sacrifices, shed more blood, to fulfill the requirements for forgiveness. We don’t. Jesus died once and for all. His blood fulfilled all the requirements perfectly. All we have to do is accept it.

No excuses. No rationalizations. No denial. No thinking your sins are too great or too many for God to forgive. You might think you deserve to rot in hell. And you do.

But you don’t have to. Oh, God will condemn you to eternity without Him, to hell, if you refuse to accept His forgiveness. He doesn’t want to. He died so He wouldn’t have to. But He won’t force you to accept what is already yours.

If you have never asked God to forgive you, to allow Jesus’ blood to cover your sins, then do it now. What’s stopping you? You are forgiven.

Accept it.

May 11 – Red Rover, Red Rover

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2 Samuel 10, I Chronicles 19, Psalm 20

Have you ever played Red Rover? Two teams line up opposite each other. One team invites an opponent to “come over” and try to break through their strongest defense. If the opponent is successful, he takes one of the defensive team members to join him on his team. If the defense holds, that player must join the defenders and become part of their stronghold. (ah-great memories of Oxford Street)

I Chronicles 19:19 says, “So when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and served him. Thus, the Arameans were not willing to help the sons of Ammon anymore.”

Red Rover, Red Rover, let the Arameans come over!

Got me thinking about people who consider themselves enemies of Christianity. I understand why they hate us. They hated Jesus, and Jesus told us they’d hate us, too. But I’m wondering if we give them reason to come over to our side.

Why should they want to join us if we don’t look or act any differently than they? If we are as miserable, or as dishonest, or as self-satisfying as they, what would draw them to our Savior? And if they are more loving and generous, if they look at us as ignorant or prejudice, why wouldn’t they put themselves above us? They certainly won’t see a reason to change.

God is asking me about my own stronghold. Is it grounded in Scripture? Do I know what I believe and why I know it’s true? Am I totally committed to Jesus? Do I call sin sin and still love the sinner?

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:16 that we are to let our light shine in such a way that people will recognize our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

Does that ring true in my life? Do I, by my words and actions and attitude and faith shine a spotlight on my Savior? And when I ask someone to join me, will they see that what I have with Jesus is so much better than what they have without Him?

Father, I am convicted this morning. I want to be Your voice, Your arms and legs. I want to represent You in such a way that people are running toward You to be on Your team. Forgive my tendency to hold on to the world just a little bit, weakening my stronghold with You. Forgive the sin in my life that would keep people away.  Help me to love them like You love them, to be ready to give an answer for the hope I have in You. And may Jesus be glorified.