sin

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FORGIVENESS OF SIN (3)

(Colossians 1:19-22) For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (His Son), and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

Isn’t it interesting that God’s plan of redemption is for all things both in heaven and on earth?  The Old Testament (Isaiah chapter 11) talks about what it will be like when God’s plan is completed.  He says things like “the lion will lay down with the lamb” indicating that there will be peace for all of God’s creation. We get to experience some of what is to come when we receive the peace that Christ brings to us through salvation.

Through faith in God’s Son we have become holy in God’s sight.  We are without blemish and free from accusation before God.   Jesus made this possible.  God our Father never intended to be without us, and he has gone to great lengths to bring us back to himself.  The guilt that we lived with when we were lost in our sins has been paid for.  We are free!  Our sins have been forgiven.  Praise to Jesus our Lord and Savior.

The conclusion of God’s plan is still to come.  This will include a new heaven and a new earth without evil.  We will live in the full presence of God.  However, there is still time for those who don’t know God to take advantage of the redemption that Jesus provided for all mankind.  We, his children, are given the opportunity to share the good news of our redemption with those who are still lost in their sins.  Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (See Matthew 9:37&38)

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THE SECRET TO A SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR

(Matthew 6:9-13)    This, then, is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven, hollowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Jesus taught this prayer to his Disciples.  It is amazingly comprehensive.  It starts out with the way we should address God.  “Our Father” clarifies that God wants a personal and relational interaction with us.  Then Jesus leads us into the praise and recognition that God is holy. 

Does watching world news lead you to despair?  “Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is the best prayer we can offer for the devastation we hear from news reports.  We find comfort in God’s will.  We trust in him for all things.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”  This covers not just our food but the provisions we will need for the day.  Jesus told us to not worry about tomorrow.  Today has enough for us to deal with, so we pray for today.

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”  I prefer the word sins over debts; it seems to be more pointed.  God has every right to demand justice and claim revenge over us for our sins.  Instead, he sent his son to pay the debt for our sins.  Justice has been served.  In his grace and mercy, he forgave our sins and forgot his claim to revenge.  Now he expects us to do the same for those who sin against us.  Jesus paid the price for their sins as well as ours.  We need to surrender our claim for justice and revenge to the Lord and forgive those who sin against us.

Forgiving others is difficult.  As in all things we need Jesus’ help to overcome our flesh.  The importance of forgiving others cannot be overemphasized.  After his prayer, Jesus said, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14&15).  Forgiveness, difficult as it may be, is required of God’s children.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”  We have a weakness called our sinful nature.  Jesus ends the prayer by asking for God’s help to overcome our weakness. We seek God’s protection from the one who would tempt us.  

Jesus’ prayer is a personal pray for God’s children.  It is not meant to be the only prayer.  We also pray for the sick, lost souls, and many other important things that we want to bring before our Father in heaven.  This prayer covers our daily need to connect with our heavenly Father, and it sets the tone for the day.  Starting our day the way Jesus taught us to pray will definitely improve each day of the year for us.  Living the way Jesus’ prayer directs us will definitely make 2023 more successful.  Praying for and trusting in God’s will, trusting in God’s daily provision, actively forgiving others, and asking for God’s help and protection will go a long way towards that success. 

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A CHRISTMAS PRAYER

I pray that we be full of joy and thankfulness as we celebrate the Arrival of your Son and the realization of your great love for us.  Father, we celebrate what you have planned for us and the grace and mercy you have granted to us.  We approach you in humble amazement as we join together in our Christmas celebration.  All glory, honor, and praise be unto you, our Heavenly Father. Amen!

Have a very merry Christmas, and may God’s blessings be yours throughout the New Year.

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THE REASON FOR THANKSGIVING

(Ephesians 1:7-10 MSG) Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people – free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds.  And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!  He thought of everything, providing for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making.  He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

So here in America, we have a day set aside for thankfulness.  What a great idea!  Americans have much to be thankful for – such as our freedom.  This freedom has been bought and maintain at a great price. We are thankful for all those who have sacrificed for our country.  Yet there is an eternal freedom that has been afforded us by the sacrifice of just one.  This freedom is offered to all who live on the earth.

Our scripture from Ephesians begins with this statement, “Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people…”  I don’t mean to trivialize the freedom we have in America, but I do want to emphasize the magnitude of what God has done.  All of mankind has been given the opportunity of being forgiven for their sins and to have eternal life. We in America and every other person on the earth can experience this freedom no matter what their circumstances.

Though I have many things that give me reason to be thankful, the foundation of my gratitude rest in Jesus Christ and him crucified.  All that I have and hold dear are because he redeemed me and gave me freedom from my sins. Jesus is my reason for being thankful.  I have a family and friends that I am privileged to enjoy here in this life, and I have the comfort in knowing they will be with me in eternity.  I am eternally thankful to my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ.

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THE SECOND DEATH

(Revelation 21:8) But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  This is the second death.

Last week I wrote about the future of the children of God.  God has planned wonderful things for his children.  Those who refuse God’s invitation to forgiveness and eternal life will not be so fortunate.  The scripture for this week points to the second death.

Thoughts of the second death lead to a jumble of concerns and visions.  It’s hard to imagine the horror that this will be.  I know people who are running down that wide road to destruction.  It makes me want to carry a sign that reads, “THE END IS NEAR – BEWARE OF THE SECOND DEATH”.  I don’t think a sign would be very affective.  I can hear people saying, “Did you see the nut on the street corner with the big sign?”  However, this scripture does add urgency to my prayer life.

  Sometimes I get lax in my prayer time, but reading this scripture has stirred me to a greater resolve.  I think that prayer is the most effective way to reach those who have not accepted the salvation God has provided through his son Jesus.  I want to always be ready to share my faith, but I know that my words would not reach the heart of the listener, unless the Father is drawing them.  Salvation is a miraculous act of God, so lifting up a person through prayer is the foundational beginning for reaching the unsaved. 

The children of God have such a wonderful future.  There is always room for new brothers and sisters to join us.  Let’s be diligent praying for our friends, family members, neighbors, and those God has put on our heart, so we can be servants in his plan of redemption. Remember, our God desires that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

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HOPE

(Ephesians 1:18) I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.

Where I live the summers are very hot.  Often we have weeks where the temperature is more than a hundred degrees every day, and it barely cools off over night.  Last week we had a break.  The day time highs were in the mid-nineties, and the overnight temperatures descended into the low sixties.  However, the heat is back.  The hundred plus days have returned.

Hope supports us through the summer months.  We know that cooler weather is coming.  It cooled down last year, so in hope we trust that the pattern will continue.  Meanwhile, we do our best to patiently deal with the heat.    

Isn’t life in Christ just like that?  We live in a world full of sin, and we personally deal with the sin within us.  Sometimes we have days full of love and peace.  Other times the battle is on, and we struggle through the hard times.  Yet we have great hope that the struggle will someday end, and we’ll be in the presence of the Lord forever.

Hope is the best way to navigate life.  Hope fills us with joy and gives us the strength to be patient in times of affliction.   Prayer keeps us in touch with our eternal Father so we can live our days anticipating our eternal future.  Our hope is in him who has promised us an eternal life basking in his love.  When we arrive at our final destination hope will no longer be necessary. It will have fulfilled its purpose.  Till then, hope will be there to encourage us along life’s path.

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THE ENEMY WITHIN

(James 1:13-15) When tempted no one should say, “God is tempting me.”  For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.

Did you ever wonder why Jesus was so hard on the Pharisees?  They were the leaders of the Jewish faith.  They were the moral and righteous ones, yet Jesus called them hypocrites because they failed to recognize their hypocrisy.  So I ask myself, “Am I also a hypocrite?”  The answer is painfully, “yes!”  Every time I judge a fellow human, or place myself morally above them, I’m in danger of hypocrisy.  Since I’m a sinner like everyone else, I never have the moral high ground.  I’m as capable as the next guy of sin.  My greatest enemy therefore is my own sinful nature, the enemy within.

I’m amazed at how little impact Jesus’ words, “Love your neighbor, pray for them who spitefully use you, judge not less you be judged, take the plank out your own eye so you can then remove the speck from you neighbors eye, etc.”, have upon my daily actions.  Do I think that Jesus was only kidding when he said these things? Actually, I believe he was placing a mirror before my eyes, so I could see my failures and maintain a humble place in my walk with him.

Truth brings reality, and reality should bring humility, which in turn will put me in a right place with God.  Then the words of Jesus can guide me into righteousness; however, there will always be the enemy within working to cloud out the words of Jesus.  Every day I need the light of his words to disperse the clouds and keep me in that humble place.

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THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

(2Corinthians 5:17-19) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Last week I wrote about God’s amazing plan to bring us back to what he desired for us from the beginning.  He reconciled us through the sacrifice of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ.  Jesus took our sins upon him and paid the price that we were unable to pay.  So here we are a new creation before God.  He has given us the promise of eternal life – never to be separated from him again.  Can we share a WOW! 

What are we going to do to show our gratitude for this great gift?  We don’t have to do anything to earn this gift because it has already been given.  The Apostle Paul tells us what God wants us to do to show our gratitude.  He has given us the “Ministry of Reconciliation”.  He wants us to tell those we live among: “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” 

Yes, as you think about it, this message is not necessarily going to be received as the good news.  People don’t always believe it, and some simply want to go on sinning.  They are often offended by the message.  Jesus told us to be as wise as serpents, but be as gentle as doves since our ministry is not always effective by using the direct approach.  I have always tried to live in the joy and hope God has given me. I’ve worked to love people, care for them, and pray for them, while waiting for the time to come when their heart is opened to receive the message.  This is how I have approached the ministry of reconciliation, but we are all uniquely gifted by God to share the message in the way he has designed us. 

In loving gratitude, let’s continue to tell of the wonderful, miraculous gift God has given us.  Our sins have been forgiven, and we have eternal life with him available to us.  Thanks be to God that he has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation.

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THE DEPTHS OF GOD’S LOVE FOR US

(John 3:16) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

(Genesis 2:15-17) The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

(Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Galatians 4:4&5) But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

In John 3:16 it is stated that God so loved the world.  We are part of the world he loves.  Since we are loved so much, he definitely doesn’t want us to perish.  In the verses from Genesis, we find the warning from God not to eat from the forbidden tree.  Adam ate from the forbidden tree and brought sin and death into our world.  As a result, we all have the sinful nature from our ancestor Adam; therefore, we are all under the sentence of death that Adam received.  This presented a dilemma for God.  He loves us all and wants us to be with him eternally.

God is just, so the sentence of death had to be carried out; but God, who is never surprised by events, saw this coming, and he made a plan to redeem us.  He sent his one and only son.  Jesus came to earth, took our sins upon himself, and paid for them with his death on the cross. He fulfilled the requirements of the law for us all.  Our death sentence was cancelled.  Justice was served, and God’s redemption plan was completed.

God loves us, and he demonstrated the depth of his love for us by sending his one and only Son to the cross.  Through this great and terrible sacrifice, redemption has been accomplished.  I believe that he is now eager for us to come to him.  God has given us opportunity for the eternal life that he always intended for us.

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A DEPRAVED MIND

In my concern for our country, I would like to spark some Biblical insight about what is happening to America.  Last week I shared that countries will be judged for their wickedness.  Today I’d like to give some thoughts on what is wrong with our thinking.  Have you noticed that our leaders seem especially irrational in their thinking?

In Romans chapter one the Apostle Paul explains how rejecting God affected our thinking.  Romans 1:21, For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

If you think there isn’t a God, you fit in well with the liberal thinking of our times.  However, America was founded with the idea that there is a God who is identified in the Bible.  There is certainly still enough evidence to this conjecture to be convincing.  No doubt there are many who would like to destroy this evidence, but let’s get back to our investigation of the problem with our thinking.

Romans 1:28-30, Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.  They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.  They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents.

In God we find the source of wisdom.  We think we’re intelligent, but without God we falter in our use of knowledge.  Sin gets in the way of our ability to think rationally.  We need God!  He is our only hope!  Unless we repent and turn to God, we are doomed to continue in our futility and irrational sin driven thinking.