Tag: forgiveness

We Need A Savior

We Need A Savior

Why do I need a Savior? I have lived my life working to be a good person. Always on my mind was “What does this person think of me?”, and I would work to gain their approval. I have lived with integrity, but it was always a means to stay on the good side of others. Even while I prayed and studied the word, thinking that if I showed myself to be knowledgeable in Him, then that would give me credibility in the eyes of others. The way I was thinking was undermining the way I was living. I thought that if I pleased others then I was pleasing God.

But that’s not how it works. No one is good (Mark 10:18), not even on our best days. Our hearts are not fixed on loving God first and completely (Matthew 22:37-38). When we repent of not loving God and then focus our hearts on this one command, to love Him with everything we have, then the things we do in our lives will please Him. Everything we do will be for Him, out of love, not for other people and their approval.

For this reason I know that I am a prodigal. I have been my whole life, because I was a slave to sin and putting other things before God. But God already knew that, even before I was born, He knew who I was and who I would become. With all that knowledge, He still provided the way to free me from the slavery of sin. How appropriate to remember this today of all days, the first day of Passover.

Passover is the remembrance of God freeing His people from slavery in Egypt. Now, I’m not Jewish and I do not partake of the Feast that they do during this week, the killing of the unblemished lamb and removing all leaven from their homes. I do, however, partake of the ultimate Feast through the remembrance of the sacrifice of the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus is the ultimate unblemished Lamb and through His sacrifice, He brings atonement for my sin through my belief.

So, I take part in remembering Him by eating the bread of life and drinking in the new covenant that He implemented. I feast on His word so that my spirit is strengthened each day. I no longer want to please my own flesh or other people. My eyes are fixed on Jesus and my goal is to please Him because of what He has done for me.

I don’t deserve His love, but He gives it anyway. He is the Father who stretches out His arms to welcome me as I come running home to Him, asking for His forgiveness (Luke 15:11-24). Instead of condemning me for my selfish heart, He changed my heart so that all I want is to give Him all the glory. I’m still far from perfect and my flesh still wars within me (and sometimes gets the better of me), but I have confidence in Him that through it all, He will never leave me.

Every time I fail Him, He is there showing me that He will forgive me if I sincerely am sorry for my sin. He picks me up and helps me dust off so I can continue growing in His love. It’s not an overnight process and I will never be complete until I’m safe in His arms in Eternity. I know this much. And, even though every time I fail, I feel like a failure, I also have His Holy Spirit gently reminding me that my journey isn’t over. I must continue and never quit running this race.

There is a finish line and I am determined to cross it, even if I’m hobbling. Psalm 91 reminds me that His angels are there helping me move forward, at a snail’s pace maybe, but it’s still forward.

“Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 19-20)

I remember these words each day as I live. He is with me because He is alive. He has made me a new creation and welcomed me in His Family, just as He will you and everyone in the world the moment you recognize your own prideful heart and sin and repent. Turn to Him for He is the only one who can save.

God bless you.

What Do I Believe?

Am I really a believer? Do I really believe that there is a God who loves me? Is there a God at all? I know I say I do, but how do I act? Do I live like there is a Supreme Being who created me and only wants the best for me?

I have to ask myself this a lot. Not because I don’t believe in my heart, but because I know how I think on good days as well as on bad days. I’m not perfect, for sure, but I have found that if I am not on guard every moment of every day, some seriously wrong thoughts creep into my mind.

Do I really appreciate God for all He has done for me? Not just for providing for me everyday, but for forgiving me for all my fleshly sins. Everything that I have done that has been for my own convenience and not with integrity of my heart. Everything that I have done for my own comfort rather than for your justice. For allowing the abundance of selfishness, lust and fear and jealousy to enter my household through the media and outside influences intent to pull me away from the only One who loves me unconditionally.

Do I recognize sin? Do I even know what it really is and how it relates to the God whom I believe in? Do I know what He wants for my life and am I brave enough to go after it in His name?  Who am I in the scheme of all things?

Do I believe that there is a devil? Someone who hates God and all that He stands for with every ounce of his being. Someone who would do anything to take all that God loves away from Him and induce suffering, pain and death. Do I think that this devil has any influence on me or do I live my daily life in denial of any such being?

Where do I start believing and how do I live my life, as an individual, to show what I believe not to you necessarily, but to myself?

If I believe in God, my Creator, then I must also believe there is a devil who counteracts everything that God stands for. If I believe in good, then I believe in evil, for we cannot have one without the other. If I believe in light, then I believe in darkness, for we cannot have one without the other. Where do I fit in?

I have participated in both light and darkness. I have done both good and bad. I have not proven to myself that I am on one side or the other. But I know that I must choose and live my life to its fullest in regards to that choice, or my life, as I have lived it, will choose for me.

As I focus on all that I have done, good and bad, I discover Who God is and what He has done for me. As I imagine Jesus Christ hanging on the Cross, giving Himself to save me from eternal darkness, I realize that my life must reflect the love and appreciation I have for His sacrifice. I must learn all that He intends for me to learn and live my life in light, illuminating the darkness that surrounds me rather than being snuffed out. I will recognize my own sin, all that I have done that God hates, and beg Him for grace.

His forgiveness exceeds all other blessings, no matter how big or small they may seem. That is what I believe and that is how I will live.

 

Anxiously Waiting

I can’t wait to see what God has been doing. I am finally accepting the realization that while all of this turmoil is going on, God has something big in store on the other side of it.

Closer to home, my son is still anxious about playing tennis, even though he is almost done with his first year of college and still no coaches have asked to see him play. He is playing club tennis, but the other players can’t seem to keep up with him. I think he needs to become a coach for some of these guys, but that’s not my call. He is supposed to play in a tournament next weekend, but his team is leaving on Thursday evening while at the same time his chemistry lab is supposed to have a test. Interestingly enough, his professor will not let him take the test early, or even later due to the possibility of cheating. R. understands that totally and has decided that he would rather take the test and do pretty good on it than to take a zero for it and put more pressure on himself to ace the final exam. I say, God is going to give him a miracle, I just don’t know what it is. It would be nice for the professor to suddenly change his mind.

Meanwhile, my daughter is struggling with loneliness. When she’s here, she works hard and is doing much better. When she goes home, she takes in strays (dogs, people, whatever) and finds it hard to say no. She then stays up too late, drinking or just talking, and then she shows up to work late the next day. Baggy eyes and not ready to work any horses the way they need it. It takes her about an hour or so to get into the groove and then she’s good, unless of course she has a crappy attitude and then everything is just down the toilet for that day. She’s defiant, sad (although she won’t admit it), and thinks alcohol is a good way to feel good. She has no idea what real joy feels like. As you can imagine, I am REALLY anxious to see what God has in store for her. It seems the worse off a person appears to others, the more wondrous God works in their lives. I am believing for some serious miracles in her life, a change of heart, a change of attitude and a new lease on her life and her future. God has no favorites, so she will receive all He has to give to her.

My family is my life. Everything else around us is just something to do. I have been making double efforts to put God at the center of it all. To include Him in on everything I am concerned with, to give Him my thoughts and to listen in for His. I am slowly picking up on His frequency. I know something good is about to happen for everyone in this family. I am ready to experience His glory and revel in His mercy, even though I know I deserve every punishment for my crimes (sin). For that, and that alone, I am thankful beyond anything I can describe. I am learning to live every day with that attitude while I await to see what God does next.

So, with that, what do you think God is doing with the state of the world? There is so much turmoil and animosity that you just KNOW God is working behind the scenes for a big finale. I am waiting for the calm before the storm (no we’re not in the storm yet). Do you know what I mean? When everything dies down and there’s peace all around. When that happens, that’s when I will know God is right around the corner getting ready to reveal Himself. When the chaos will escalate beyond our imaginations. If I ever thought my daughter’s life was chaos, this would make it look like easy street. When the world knows for sure that first, there IS a God and second, He is not taking any of this lightly. He loves us so much that He gave it all and a lot of us pretty much spat in His face.

When we hear that there is peace on earth, we had better get on our knees and beg for forgiveness. We had better realize before it’s too late that our fate is in our own hands and if we choose wrong, we choose death. When we hear that there is peace on earth, we would do well to look and see if there are any Christians left on this planet. If there aren’t any, then we better know beyond a shadow of a doubt that life as we have known it is long gone and we are in for some very hard times. It won’t be too late, but it will ten times harder to choose Jesus Christ than it is now. Why is that? Because we will be deceived on all sides and will not be able to see the Truth as clearly as what we may be able to see it now.

Yes, I am anxiously waiting to see what God has been doing. You don’t have to believe, that’s your choice. But, remember that when it comes down to the end that in every situation there is a point of no return and you no longer have the choice to make.

 

 

 

Assuming Forgiveness

I just wrote about obeying the other day, and almost immediately afterwards, I go and defy what is right. This is the constant struggle we are all involved in, but it really threw me for a loop. I did it on purpose. It was blatantly wrong, at least in my eyes, even though no one would ever be able to tell. It was one of those small things, just exactly like Ananias and Sapphira, who sold something and gave the money to the church, except they held some back for themselves even though they claimed they didn’t. What was their fate? Death. Immediate death as soon as they were caught in the lie and they denied it.

The kicker for me is that I justified myself in doing what I did, because I didn’t want to have to go the waste of opening up a brand new package that would just sit around collecting dust after I got what I needed from it. It was calculated sin. Not doing my very best and not having the integrity that I am always preaching about. If I were to fall down immediately to my death, I would not be surprised. I deserve it because I dishonored my God, even if no one else will ever know, He will.

In that justification, though, I became even more brash by “assuming” God’s forgiveness. I actually thought it in my head that I will go ahead and do this, but I will repent afterwards and receive forgiveness. “I will never do it again.”

Really? I never believed it when my own kids tried that line on me, what makes me think that God is going to believe me? He knows the real condition of my heart even if I don’t. As a matter of fact, as I sit here typing this confession, I realize that I may still be deceiving myself only to try to get brownie points from God. It’s a vicious dilemma but a real one if I allow myself to be swept away by my actions and the continual lies that Satan tries to feed my imagination.

Lies like, “You can’t let your imperfection get in the way of your relationship with God.” I know, it doesn’t sound like a lie, does it? Technically, the words together themselves are not the lie, its the emotions that I feel yet can’t really describe that makes it a lie. It’s the dwelling on my iniquity rather than on God’s holiness. I need to dwell on my iniquity a little, because I must remain emotionally grateful for His divine forgiveness and extraordinary love for me, but I can’t keep it in the forefront of my mind and that is what that statement makes me do. (Hard to explain, but I’ll be willing to bet that you have experienced something similar without realizing it)

In reality, that statement gives me the leash I need to start expecting God’s forgiveness rather than begging for it. That’s what gave me the justification to go ahead and sin in the first place, because I knew I could repent and receive forgiveness. But I failed to remember the state my heart was and is in. Am I truly repentant? Or am I just playing games with God and making a complete fool of myself? I don’t expect anyone to really get what I’m saying, although I hope someone does. I know that God understands. As a matter of fact, Jesus went through the same emotions to a certain extent because of how Satan tried to tempt Him with His own words. I can’t assume God’s forgiveness because of how I feel or my own justification. I can assume His forgiveness when I am deeply regretful of my disobedience and dishonor to Him. He knows the truth and in the end, that’s all that matters.

Pray For Us

Daniel 9:4-   And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day- to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. O Lord, to us belongs shame of ace to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which Hi set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oat written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him……(v16) O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications,and for the lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before Your because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Reading this prayer this morning, I substituted the words United States, America or Washington DC for the words Israel, Judah or Jerusalem. Whether we believe in God or not is irrelevant at this point because all the evidence shows our country’s deterioration and the main common denominator that I can see is our willful sinfulness and complete disregard and respect for God Almighty and each other.

It is evident in our presidential campaigns going all the way into the mainstream media, commercials for products and in our social media. People bullying one another because we don’t all believe the same thing. People wanting more leniency towards their beliefs yet unwilling to give the same to others.

I believe we need to fall on our knees and pray for forgiveness and mercy because we are acting like undisciplined children and our parents have given up on us. I know that God hasn’t given up on us, He is just not going to stoop to our level to bring us back. We have to see what we are doing and realize how hurtful it is for ourselves. We must bring love back into our daily routine towards everyone we encounter. We must be willing to sacrifice our place in line in order to allow someone else in and be happy to do so. We must give until there’s no more need in the world. We must take a stand for the weak and help them become strong while not giving up our own strength. There’s plenty to go around as God gives to all who ask.

Pray for us and have a blessed day.

Miracle in Charleston

The last two weeks have been filled with joy and tragedy both for me personally and for many other people I have never met. Joy, because it has been a time of milestones, with children graduating (my youngest included) and the promise of bright futures for those who work hard. Tragedy, because it has also been a time of loved ones moving from this life and on to the next (my stepfather included). For some, it was a peaceful transition but for others, it was a violent and unnatural death caused by the hatred of some stranger. What is fascinating to me is the focus we put on these events.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

This scripture describes the world today with precision with few exceptions woven here and there but rarely publicized. The tragedy in Charleston this last week is one of them. When the intention of the shooting and killing of several parishioners of a predominately African American church was to incite a race war, the reaction of those immediately affected turned to love and forgiveness. When riots were probably expected from the onlooking public, peaceful vigils were held with respect to what was really happening. Those people weren’t perfect, but they were in pursuit of seeking God and died in their pursuit. The young man who committed these murders had the intent of starting a war, but probably not the one that seems to be taking shape.

This war that has started gives love in the face of hatred. It makes us look at others with the eyes of God and know that He loves us all, no matter what sins we have committed. This war makes us understand our need to repent and seek God in every situation of our lives. It helps us to stand tall in the face of adversity, when everyone is chastising us for our unfailing belief in Jesus the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. We live each day with the growing knowledge that we have already overcome through His sacrifice, even though we still live in this world we choose to live beyond it. We choose to live by faith. We choose love and we choose to forgive those who mean us harm.

The general public will not understand this message because there is no message of vindication. No message of revenge. There shouldn’t be revenge because that is not our place. God called us to “Be holy, as He is holy”. Our calling is to be the light in a world of darkness. Therefore, the family members of the people murdered in Charleston are examples of what it looks like to be that light in this world of darkness. They are hurt, grief-stricken and probably angry, yet they are meeting the world of hate and revenge with an attitude of love and forgiveness. This is a choice they have made. To honor God before all other things. In today’s world, I believe we have witnessed a miracle in Charleston. To God be the glory.

No Peace.

Luke 6: 26-38  “There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them.  Popularity contests are not truth contests- look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors!  Your task is to be true, not popular.  To you who are ready for the truth, I say this:  Love your enemies.  Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.  When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person.  If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it.  If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it.  If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life.  No more tit-for-tat stuff.  Live generously.  Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior:  Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them!  If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back?  Run-of-the-mill sinners do that.  If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do think that’s charity?  This stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.  I tell you, love your enemies.  Help and give without expecting a return.  You’ll never, I promise, regret it.  Love out this God-created identity the what our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst.  Our Father is kind; you be kind.  Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults, unless, of course, you want the same treatment.  don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang.  Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier.  Give away your life; you’ll find life given back- given back with bonus and blessing.  Giving, not getting, is the way.  Generosity begets generosity.”

The volatile events that have been happening in our country the last two weeks are disheartening.  Two different cases involving police officers and suspects.  Both suspects died under different circumstances, but the public’s reaction is treating them the same.  There is a string of actions and reactions that should never have taken place, starting with any type of criminal activity on the suspects’ part.  That’s my opinion and I will go no further on it because I believe this is where We The People are making a big mistake.

Jesus told us to love our enemies.  For a person who’s filled with pride, that is the hardest thing to do.  The majority of citizens in this country is proving that, because there has been nothing but judging and criticizing from the general public to the media to members of government.  The important thing in their eyes is who’s right, not who’s in need.  

Did we ever stop to think about events in these different peoples’ lives leading up to each tragedy?  Why would a kid be so tempted to possibly rob a store if his life was so good and he was such a generous and loving young man?  He was in need of more generosity and love than he was getting.  Why would a police office sitting in his car grab the most deadliest weapon in reaction to a threat?  He was in need of confidence when he had not had sufficient reassurance in himself.  Why would a father and husband resort to petty soliciting for money, he was in need of an opportunity through someone else’s generosity to earn a living to provide for his family.  Why would a police officer aggressively grab a larger man who wasn’t submitting quickly and decisively but wasn’t resisting aggressively?  He, also, had a point to prove to boost his confidence when it had not been given to him at some point before in his life.

Those are my guesses and I certainly do not know any of these people.  My point is, where is the love?  It wasn’t anywhere near in any of these situations, but does that mean we, as a whole society, can’t turn it around now?  The longer we allow this pride and hate to push forward, the harder it will be for us to allow love in.  Forgiveness, love, generosity and fellowship are the answers to these tragedies, not violence, destruction, and hate.  If we are Christian, we must listen to what Jesus instructed and do our best to follow.  Otherwise, there will be no peace.  Not around us and certainly not within us.