Tag Archives: salvation

It’s Not A Common Thing

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The book of Hebrews is rich with mind-boggling, heart-thumping truths. I challenge you to read the whole thing, slowly, intentionally, asking God to reveal Himself a little more clearly as you do. I know He will. He’ll convict you, and lift you up in the process.

In chapter 10 of this amazing book, the writer tells us that if we willfully sin after receiving God’s grace, there is a “certain fearful expectation of judgment…” He says, if the Old Testament Jews rejected Moses’ Law and died without mercy, how much more so we who consider “the blood of the covenant by which (we are) sanctified a common thing.”

Let me say that again. If the Old Testament Jews rejected Moses’ Law and died without mercy, how much more so we who consider “the blood of the covenant by which (we are) sanctified a common thing.”

Do you consider what Jesus did on that cross, the suffering He endured, the blood He shed, the humiliation, the death, a common thing? No big deal? A nice gesture like giving someone a puppy? Then why act like you do? Why willfully sin after you have received His grace?

The writer tells us it’s like trampling Jesus under our feet when we take sin lightly.

Ezekiel, in chapter 22, said God couldn’t find any man to stand in the gap, to build a wall on behalf of the land so God wouldn’t destroy it. The picture I get of someone standing in the gap is one with arms stretched out to both sides.

Like Jesus on the cross.

God is serious about sin. God hates sin. God punishes every sin. And every sin results in death. Every. Sin.

Jesus didn’t die on that cross only to say 2000 years later, well maybe homosexuality is really no big deal after all. Or, if you are spiritual you don’t really have to accept Jesus. God hasn’t changed his mind in 2015.

God is as serious about sin today as He was in the garden with Adam and Eve. He’s spelled out exactly what sin is and what the consequences are.

Death without mercy.

Have you ever sinned? Lied? Lusted? Hated? Cheated? Got drunk? Used coarse language? Even just once? Then you are condemned to die without mercy.

Unless you allow Jesus to stand in the gap. Unless you accept the fact that Jesus died without mercy on your behalf. Unless you repent and accept His loving gift of grace. Unless you are as serious about sin as He is.

Heavenly Father, I pray for your people today. May we be as serious about sin as You are. May we hate sin, run from it, stand against it. May we honor what Jesus did on the cross every day with the choices we make. You command us to be holy as You are holy. May you find us eager to accept your holiness, and to live our lives obviously different from everyone else. I, for one, never want to treat what Jesus did on the cross for me as though it’s no big deal. I never want to trample my Savior under my feet by choosing to sin. I want to show you with every breath how much I appreciate You for saving me.

Renewed Days

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I read Lamentations this morning. God was unresponsive to the cries of the disobedient nation of Israel. There was a famine in the land and the Jews were not spared. In fact, the actions of some to survive are unimaginable. How desperate they were! Why did God reject his people?

Woe to us, for we have sinned. (5:16)

The last two verses of this sad book caused me to pause. Here’s what they say:

Renew our days of old, unless You have utterly rejected us, and are very angry with us.

The truth of the matter is God was angry, and they were rejected because of their disobedience.

Psalm 119 reminds me how important is God’s Word, how necessary it is that we obey it. God’s not playing around. He’s serious about sin. And so should we be. He has spelled out His demands, His Law, and has demonstrated the severe consequences for disobedience. This psalm challenges me to love Scripture and obey it. There is evidence of God’s holiness, power, and love on every page.

Then I read the beautiful letter Paul wrote to Philemon, and I am reminded what Jesus did for me. I sinned against God, like Onesimus sinned against Philemon. Philemon had owned Onesimus, but Onesimus walked away from him, may have stolen from him. God created me to be His, but I, too, walked away when I sinned. Onesimus owed a debt he could not pay. There’s no way I could pay my sin debt, either.

But Onesimus repented. He became a follower of Jesus, a helper to Paul. So Paul asked Philemon to forgive Onesimus, to accept him as a brother, to place any debt of Onesimus’ on Paul’s account. And Jesus did the same for me. He paid my enormous debt, asked the Father to forgive me, and accepted me as His child when I repented, too .

My days are renewed and I am not rejected, thanks to Jesus. I pray you can say the same.

Imbedded Truth

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My Bible reading plan for 2015 had me in the first two chapters of Lamentations this morning. I realize that this book, like all the Old Testament, tells us what happened or was going to happen to the flesh and blood people of that day. I know the buildings were brick and mortar, the wars resulted in bloodshed, the famines were severe. Real people suffering real hardships in real time.

Then I turned to the third chapter of Titus where Paul says something I hadn’t seen before. He said to avoid genealogies because they are “unprofitable and useless.” (Titus 3:9 NKJV) I had to stop and think about that. I myself have researched our family tree. And I know, for a Jew at that time, tracing their ancestry was everything to them. Why would Paul say genealogy is useless?

First of all, I thank God for that truth! Many people still today want to give importance to the genealogy of the Jewish nation, and can point to verses to back them up. Others can point to verses that proclaim there is no difference between Jews, Greeks, men, women. I’m not here to dispute or agree with either belief. Because I think God would have us see a bigger truth.

Psalm 119:137 says:

Righteous are You, O Lord, and upright are your judgments.

I believe God would have us see Him and our world from His vantage point when we read His written Word. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world. But that the world, through Him, might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

Yes, the Bible is made up of the accounts of individual people, nations, and events. But the purpose of recording all of that is to show us Who God is, what He demands, the result of disobedience, and the love of God for each of us, a love that sent Him to Calvary. As we read the Old Testament we see over and over a God who is Holy, Almighty, Just, a God who demands obedience and punishes disobedience. In the New Testament we see the same God, and One who loves each of us so completely He paid what we could not pay, the debt of our sin. We need to see that today. And that’s why God inspired men to record the events we read here.

If we read the Bible as an historical account, or a mystery novel trying to figure out the end from the clues, we miss the big, most important picture. I think that’s why Paul said genealogy is unprofitable. It’s just not important in the light of eternity.

Dear God, thank you for your written Word. Thank you for the men and women whose lives we read about, people who followed you, people who didn’t, people who were blessed, and people who suffered the consequences of sin. Because through those lives you have painted a picture of my own life and relationship with You. Thank you for the accounts of the life of Jesus, for revealing the fact that He is the one and only Savior of all of mankind, and that His forgiveness is available to anyone who believes. I pray that none of us will miss the relevant Truth imbedded in each book of the Bible. And may we apply that Truth to our lives today.

Hands in the Air!

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I was raised in the era of Green Stamps. If you are a Baby Boomer, you probably remember those stamp books, too. Kids, they were like those points you rack up by shopping at the grocery, or like frequent flier miles. You earned them when you spent money. Then, and this was fun, you poured through their catalog and picked out things you could “buy” when you redeemed your stamps.

Hang on. There’s a point to this.

Time might be one of God’s special blessings. Yet I know I am guilty of squandering it away. I sit in front of the TV, or curled up with a book, or surf the net. None of these are sins necessarily. Unless it is time I could be spending with an unsaved friend talking about my Savior.

Paul tells us, in Colossians 4 to redeem the time. Cash it in. Use it by walking “in wisdom toward those who are outside.”

Time is precious. But it is also fleeting. I might die today. Or I could live a few more decades. The reality is, no matter how many years I spend in this skin, it is a blip in eternity. Whether you believe the earth is thousands or billions of years old, that too, is a blip in eternity.

I like watching cooking and baking competitions on TV. Chefs and bakers can create amazing dishes in a short period of time. And I notice that during the last few seconds of their allotted time the pace quickens, the hands shake, the focus is laser sharp until the host says, “Hands in the air.”

I’ve never seen a competitor surf the net during those last few important seconds.

Dear one, the clock is ticking. We, unlike the TV participants don’t see the clock or hear God counting down the seconds. But rest assured, He is counting. Time will end. We have now to make the best of it, to finish strong, to redeem the time.

Let’s cash in our Green Stamps for the prize set before us. Let’s redeem the time we have today by reaching out to a lost soul in Jesus’ name and for His sake.

Father, may your children be excited about sharing you today. May we use every second you give us in ways that please and honor You. And may a heart be drawn to You because we didn’t waste an opportunity to talk about You, the One who loved us, who gave Himself for us, and who longs to forgive that person you’ve laid on our hearts.

God Bless America! Why?

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Do you pray that God will once again restore the United States of America to a nation under God? Why do you? Why is it we want our leaders to once again recognize and honor the One True God? Is it so we won’t have to fear imprisonment for loving Jesus like some in our world fear? Is it so that the USA will be restored to its former position of military and economic superiority? Is it so our children will not have to suffer at the hands of ungodly men?

Hezekiah got me thinking with his prayer concerning an enemy who was threatening to destroy Israel. First, he acknowledged that all the other gods in the world were not gods at all. Then, in Isaiah 37:20 we read that Hezekiah prayed the following:

“Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord, You alone.” (I added the bold print)

If you are praying for our country so you can be comfortable in your pew on Sunday morning, save your breath. God is intent on saving souls, even those who consider themselves enemies of the United States. He went to the cross for Muslims, atheists, Buddhists, those intrenched in ISIS, and those who simply ignore Him. And he wants them to come to Him no matter what it takes. “God so loved the world…”

If Americans elect leaders who fear God, who are intent on honoring and obeying Him, He will bless. Look how many times he did that for Israel in the Old Testament. And, if God blesses this nation as a result of our obedience, the rest of the world will have to sit up and notice. They will have to admit that the God of the Bible is the One True God. And hearts will turn to Him in response.

That’s got to be our prayer. If God can reveal Himself through a nation that turns to Him, I pray it’s us here in the USA. And if the nations will turn to God through our suffering, may God give his people the strength and ability to suffer gladly for His sake, so that the people of the world see Jesus.

Hezekiah reminds me that it’s not about blessing a nation for the sake of a nation. It’s about blessing a nation for the sake of turning hearts to the Savior.

I am challenged to make this my prayer:

God, bless America so that other nations will recognize and turn to You, too.

The Bottom Line

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Solomon, in chapter 12 of Ecclesiastes, gives us the conclusion of his active study of life, of wisdom, wealth, and happiness. He looked at nature in his quest for truth. He studied humanity. He looked at eternity. He spared no expense. And this is what he found to be true:

“Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgement, including every secret thing whether good or evil.” (12:13-14)

The bottom line is this: God.

Period.

The most important thing in this life is one’s relationship with God. Fear of God. Absolute surrender to God.

Because in the end, every human who ever lived will stand before God in judgement. Every thought, every action, the good and the bad, the public and the private will require accountability.

When it’s my turn, I want God to look at me and see Jesus’ righteousness. I want him to attribute Jesus’ work to me. I certainly don’t want to stand before him on my own authority, on my own terms, based on my life. Just the thought of that scares me to death.

I am grateful to think that I can stand before God with confidence, because I have recognized that I am a sinner. I have asked God to forgive me, and I have accepted God’s grace: the forgiveness of my sin paid for by my Savior, God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

I want God to see me through Jesus’ blood. Then and only then, will I hear those precious words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Welcome home.”

That Makes Me Happy

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Some people get caught up in what Paul says in Romans 7 about divorce, and miss the point of what God wants us to know. This is not a mandate about marriage. It is, however, an example of marriage to show what happens when we accept Jesus as Savior. We bind ourselves to God, keeping ourselves only to God, as long as we live.

If I begin to worship anyone or anything else (in other words, if I put anything before God on my priority list) I am like an adulteress.

Paul is saying we were once married to the law. The Old Testament Jews were bound to the law, and found forgiveness through the Law of Moses and blood sacrifices. But when Jesus died, the Law died, too. We are now free to bind ourselves to another husband, to God through faith in Jesus.

“… we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”

I love this analogy of marriage here in Romans. I don’t follow a religion. I have a relationship, as loving and intimate as a marriage, to God Himself! I choose to love Jesus. I choose to worship him only.

I am bound by love. And that makes me happy.

The Choice

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I was reading in Psalm 90 this morning and heard the author remind me that our life spans maybe 80 years if we are strong. In light of eternity, our days on earth are but a blink. Yet these hours on earth determine our eternity. What we do with our lives is the difference between life and death.

Paul says in Romans 5 that there are only two results of a life: condemnation or justification. Jesus died for all mankind. We can be justified before God simply by accepting it. It’s an intentional act of will.

I go to God, admit I am a sinner, humble myself and recognize my need of a Savior. Then I ask God to forgive me, and to BE my Savior. That act, that confession, opens the door of heaven to me.

We are justified by faith. And there is no one anywhere who cannot be saved if they accept Jesus’ gift of grace, the forgiveness of sins bought by Jesus’ blood shed at Calvary.

But be warned. There is only condemnation for those who refuse what Jesus offers. And condemnation brings with it eternal separation from God, a hell more painful than we can imagine.

There is no Plan B. God made it plain and simple: justification or condemnation. Jesus or no Jesus. Yes or No.

I choose Jesus. I pray you do, too.

I Forgive You

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When a hate-filled young white man walked into a church attended by Christians of color, they welcomed him. He sat with them for over an hour, heard them talk about their Savior, listened to their prayers, then pulled out a gun and killed nine of them, just because of the color of their skin. He may have wanted to start a civil war. What he got, instead, was something he never imagined.

At his bond hearing, several loved ones of his victims spoke to him. If you get a chance to hear their statements I hope you take the time to do so. Through their fresh and devastating grief, they forgave the killer. They asked him to repent, to turn to Christ. They refused to allow hatred into their souls.

In this day and age of Ferguson and Baltimore, these people have demonstrated what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ. They set aside their “right” to seek revenge, and held on to the One who is the final judge of us all.

If you don’t understand how these people can forgive, or if you don’t believe they really have forgiven this murderer, you don’t know their Savior. I invite you to read the book of John in the Bible and get to know Jesus, who forgave his own murderers.

What Satan intended for evil, God will use to bring about good. You see, the people who died that day closed their eyes in prayer, and opened them face to face with Jesus Himself. Do not grieve for the lost lives. Rather pray for those who are left to live with the void their deaths bring, until the day they are reunited. And they will be reunited because of their faith in Jesus.

Dear Comforter, I pray that you will wrap your arms around those who mourn in Charleston today. I pray for that church. May the members stand together and strong in their obedience to you. I pray for the shooter, that he will humble himself and accept what Jesus died to give him – forgiveness. And I pray for everyone who reads this blog or hears the testimony of the grieving loved ones. May hearts turn to you by the thousands. Maybe this will spark the revival we so need in this country. May we not be overcome by the evil played out here, but overcome the evil that led this man to commit this crime, with good, with love, with faith, and following the example of the people in Charleston, with forgiveness.

Wishing Doesn’t Make Is So

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I was reading in Acts 4 this morning and ran across the verse many people wish didn’t exist. Peter, just a short time after he’d watched Jesus ascended into heaven, stood before the Jewish leaders – men who studied the Law of Moses, men who were respected, who were obeyed – and said that he was proclaiming Jesus, the Son of God, whom they crucified, Jesus who died and rose again, Jesus the Cornerstone by whom everything is measured. Then he said:

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (4:12)

Some people don’t like to hear that. They want to believe they are good enough on their own, because if they believe in Jesus, they have to believe they are sinners in need of a Savior. They have to repent, which means turning from sin and to a Holy God. They want to believe good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. They want to believe sincere Muslims, devout Jews, peaceful Buddhists, kind agnostics, will get to bypass Jesus and go to heaven.

What does Scripture say? What does “no other name” mean except NO OTHER NAME?

Don’t be fooled. Heaven is reserved only for those who accept God’s gift of forgiveness, paid for by his Son Jesus on the cross. Wishing that wasn’t the case doesn’t change the fact.

Acts 4:12 doesn’t stand alone. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father expect through ME.” John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in HIM will not perish but have everlasting life.”

The fact is we are sinners. We have failed a Holy God. There is nothing in any of us that can measure up, that can make up for our failures, or cover the cost our sin debt has incurred. We need Jesus.

I pray you know him, that you have humbled yourself before him, taken responsibility for your sin and asked him to forgive you. Don’t think for a minute you don’t need to. There is just no other way. I promise that if you do go to Jesus on his terms, you won’t be sorry. In him is eternal life, that’s true. But also in him is a glorious today.

Dear Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, thank you for providing forgiveness. Thank you for providing the avenue to God, to everlasting life, to fellowship with you as I walk this earth. I pray for those who read this blog today. Draw our hearts toward the truth of your written Word. And may we all rejoice in the fact that you, Jesus, the name given to us through which we must be saved, have made salvation possible through your precious blood.