God Is Merciful

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;

Whoever is discerning, let him know them.

For the ways of the Lord are right,

And the righteous will walk in them.

Hosea 14:9

It has been said that the prophets were not people you would invite over for dinner.  For the most part, they carried a heavy message of doom and gloom.  But then there were sparks of hope, and this is one of those.

Hosea again and again preached doom and gloom to the Israelites. And, the Israelites had it coming because they refused to give up idolatry and return to the one true God.

In all this there is the undercurrent that in spite of the Israelites unfaithfulness, God was ready to welcome them back if they would repent from their sin and come to Him.

No matter how far we stray from God, He is still there waiting to welcome us back. God is merciful and all we have to do is ask forgiveness for our sin and accept His mercy.

God is merciful and His mercy is for you.

 

More Than Bread

 

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.

And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone.”

Luke 4:1-4

Jesus knew the torment of temptation.  He was hungry, but His hunger did not overrule His ability to resist an easy fix.  

We face temptations every day.  We make choices according to what we believe to be the right thing to do.  It may mean we do something that is not popular because it is the right thing to do and we are berated for it.

It all comes down to, making the right decision means we are honoring our commitment to God and not man.

And, our commitment to God comes first.

Squeaky Clean

 

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither …thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

For some reason we all like it when the preacher unloads on someone else for their sins. That is what it sounded like the Apostle Paul was doing, and then he added, “Such were some of you….”

God does not rank sin by degrees. The drunkard who goes to work every day is a drunkard the same as the drunkard who is passed out on the street. No better and no worse are any of us in God’s eyes. We are all sinners and we all are sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ. God looks at us and we are squeaky clean.

God says you are good enough to come to Him. Ask Him into your heart today.

Because God Is Good

 

Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:6-7

God does not view humans as humans view humans. As long as we have a breath in our bodies we are candidates for God’s forgiveness.  God desires that we come to Him, not because we are good, but because He is good.

We Are Not Out Of Luck

 

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

Job 2:20-22

Job had more troubles than anyone could ever imagine. He lost his children and all he owned. His wife told him to “Curse God and die.” And, his friends suggested that he must have done something wrong to have so much bad luck. But Job remained faithful to God. He continued to praise God and be comforted by God’s love.

It is interesting that when we face tough problems today, we get the same responses as Job did from people.... "Oh, it must be something you did wrong."  "Well, if you planned ahead." and the list goes on.  The truth is that bad stuff happens to bad and good people, and it is what it is.  But we have hope.

When we face hard times, we can remember Job. Everything we possess on earth is temporary. No matter what happens, we can take comfort in God’s never ending love for us.

Trust God in all things.

It Is The Power Of God

 

Your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 

1 Corinthians 2:5

We have all met them, people who cannot understand our faith in God and the redemptive power of Jesus. 

When I was young, a co-worker, Chris, said to me, “You should become a nun because you are so religious.” I remember laughing at the idea. I also remember thinking that I was not much of a witness for Jesus.

Years later, Chris called and asked if I would like to go to a revival meeting at her church. I said, “Yes.”

Chris picked me up and we were driving to the church, when she said, “I understand what you were saying all those years ago. I cannot believe how my life has changed since I accepted Jesus as my Savior.”

I asked her if she remembered that she suggested that maybe I should become a nun. She said, “No.” We both had a good laugh.

We should not dwell on the fact that we are not the most dynamic witnesses for Christ or that our lives are not perfect. We are called to take the Gospel to the world. It is not us, it is the power of God which turns human logic upside down, and changes the hearts of men and women. 

Be brave say something.

 

Hope For The Lost

 

Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:6-7

Many of us struggle with friends and family who are not Christians and who do not live lives in accordance with the laws of man or God. To say this is painful for us is almost an understatement. It is difficult to watch people we care about destroy their lives and the lives of those around them.

While we may be inclined to back away from these people, God does not back away. He is waiting for them. God is compassionate and He wants to forgive them.

And, this gives us hope for those we love and care about – God’s mercy is for them. All they have to do is ask. So, when you think there is no hope for a person, remember God will abundantly pardon, and take comfort in this.

How We Pray

So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalm 63:4

I will not say there is only one way to pray, but I will say that as often as I am contrite and contemplative when I pray that I feel more connected to God and revived when I pray with my arms up and my hands reaching toward heaven.

Maybe you don’t go to a church where people put their hands in the air when they pray, but that does not mean that it is wrong to do so. Try it when you are alone with God. Put your arms up and stretch your hands toward heaven and see what happens.

Perhaps, revival will strike you.

 

The Top Two Commandments

 

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing and recognizing that He (Jesus) had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is foremost of all?”

Jesus answered, “The foremost is, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

“The second is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:28-31

Jesus did not mince words when He spoke regarding what it is that God wants from us. First, God wants us to acknowledge Him as the one and only true God, and to love Him. Second, God wants us to love our neighbors like ourselves. The first, deals with our spiritual harmony with God; the second deals with harmony with mankind. 

Loving God is easy.  Loving mankind is not so easy, but it can make the world a better place. 

Love God and love your neighbor. 

You Are The Light Of The World

 

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world….

Philippians 2:14-15

When we whine and complain we detract from the message of the Gospel. We are not demonstrating the love of Christ; we are drawing attention to ourselves. Our God is a God of action. Rather than complaining we need to get busy and do something to make things better.

If we are unhappy with our job, we need to find another job. If we don’t like our neighbor’s messy lawn, we can offer to mow it. If our kids are unruly, we can take a parenting class or take comfort in the fact that someday they will be parents. 

In all things, we strive to do the best we can and leave the rest in God's hands. 

You are the light of the world: act like it.

Err On The Side Of Kindness

 

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

Luke 6:45

Jesus wants us to act in a way which reflects the goodness of God and to do things which will build the kingdom of God. We cannot expect to feel the peace of God if we live in a way which violates the laws of God and man.

This extends to situations in which we need to correct someone. This is not easy because sometimes we are so angry that the words fly out of our mouth with little regard for the feelings of the individual on the receiving end and with little regard for the how effective our words will be in resolving the situation.

We can be firm, without being cruel. When we speak, we can strive for our words to be clear in communicating with others and without profanity.

When we have goodness in our hearts, we should have goodness in our mouths, too.

Err on the side of kindness.

Jesus Is Willing

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Matthew 8:1-3.

Jesus does not demand that we clean ourselves up before we come to Him. Jesus takes us with all our sin, all our faults, and all our warts, and says, “Be cleansed.” And, we are. 

Jesus is willing, are you? 

 

Rivival Begins With You

 

But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.

2 Thessalonians 3:13

When we are tired of working our prayer is: Lord, revive me!

Our work is more than making widgets or pouring coffee or crunching numbers, our work is taking the Gospel to the world. We do this by ministering to those around us through kindness, consideration and overlooking that which is annoying.

Jesus didn’t sit down on the job and neither should we.

Revival begins in the hearts of men and women.  Revival begins with you.

Buddy, Can You Spare A Prayer?

But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.

Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.

So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

Jonah 1:3-6

Jonah was running away from God. The captain and crew knew this. They believed that there were many different gods and that in order to get things done; they needed to pray to the right god. Since it was still storming they knew that they had not appealed to the right god.

Jonah apparently was the only man on board who was not yelling to a god, and therefore, the captain thought perhaps that Jonah’s God was the right God.

In the end, Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish. But the other story is that “Then those men feared the Lord greatly….” (Jonah 1:16)

When we encounter people who have huge problems, our first instinct may be to run away from them. A more merciful course of action is to say: I don't know what you should do, but I will pray with you. Prayer calms and comforts, and heals the brokenhearted. Prayer changes things and people like the sailors who were with Jonah.

Spare a prayer for someone in need. It may be all it takes to bring a soul to Jesus.

The Court of Final Appeals

 

Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:6-7

It is never the wrong time to come to God. As long as we have life in our bodies, we can come. It does not matter what our sins are or if we are rich or poor or if we are bad or think we are good, God is waiting for us to return to Him.

God is the court of final appeals and He will pardon us.

Come to God and be forgiven. Begin a new life.

Tattoos and Such

 

So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother’s way.

Romans 14:12-13

In the early church people practiced many different social customs which people from different groups did not understand. The Apostle Paul cautioned Christians not to let these differences in customs interfere with accepting new believers into the church because trying to force changes in customs might cause new Christians to turn away from the Church.

Paul said each individual would answer to God regarding their behavior and therefore, the Church did not need to busy itself with creating rules which would only serve to alienate people against the Church.

We can take this to heart today. There are social customs like tattoos and body piercings which can create a barrier between mainline Christians and lost sheep that are searching for Jesus. Our first priority is to tell people about Jesus and welcome them into the Church. Anything more, we need not worry about, because God is the ultimate judge.

For what it is worth, I don’t think tattoos and such are an issue for God who examines the heart.

Willing Workers

 

Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.

Matthew 10:9-10

I think what Jesus means by this statement is that if we wait until we think we have everything we need to take the Gospel to the world, we will never do it. There will always be something we think we need to get the job done, when all we need is a willingness to speak the Word and compassion for people.  

And, God will provide the rest.

Light Up

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16

Jesus does not speak passive words to us; He speaks words that call us to action.

Jesus challenges us to live in a way which demonstrates our Christian beliefs by doing what is good and right. It is easy to sit by and complain about the state of the world, it is more difficult to get up and do something. When we help people we demonstrate God’s love. We may think we are only saying encouraging words or feeding a few poor people and debate what difference our actions make. But the truth is when we step out in faith and do something, we unleash the love of God upon the world.

Light up your light so all may see God.

 

God First Loved Us

 

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.

We have come to know and believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in the world.

We love, because He first loved us.

1 John 4:15-17, 19

No matter what happens in life, God loves us. He does not love us because we are good. He loves us because He is good.

God’s love is unconditional and does not vary because of our success or failure. God sees each one of us as belonging to Him and loves us just as we are. When we realize this truth, it shakes us to the core and produces in us an amazing reaction.

We love, because He first loved us.

We Were Created For Good Works

 

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

As Christians we do good works because we have this irresistible urge to make the world a better place for everyone. We may be thanked and we may not; it really doesn’t matter. We do what we do, because this is what God made us for.

Mother Teresa said, “The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway.”

God Judges The Heart

 

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself; ‘God I thank You that I am not like other people: Swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast saying, ‘God be merciful to me, the sinner!’

I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:9-14

The message here is twofold. First, we should not judge those who are trapped in sin and fighting to get free. Second, a humble sinner is highly regarded by God.

We cannot undo our sins, but we can confess them to God and be forgiven. None of us are without sin and we should remember this when we consider those who wrestle with what consider to be bigger sins than ours.

God does not judge the sin; God judges the man or woman’s repentant heart.

Can I Help You With That?

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

When we have problems, we help each other along. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are there to pray with us, encourage us and to help us.

We should not be timid about asking for help and accepting help.  And, we should not be timid about extending help. It is what we do for one another.

There is no burden which is too heavy to bear when others help us carry it.

The Truth Is The Truth

But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either my heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

James 5:12

A good reason to always speak the truth is that you never have to remember what you said. We don’t have to say any more and we don’t have to defend the truth, because the truth is what it is and nothing can change truth.

 

 

Say Something

 

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

The Apostle Paul instructs us that we are not just to go along to get along when we see Christians behaving badly, but that we should in kindness correct those who need correcting and help those who are struggling in the faith. And, that we should expect the same from other Christians.

We are not being a friend to other Christians, if we do not help them when they need help, be it correction or encouragement.

Help a brother or sister in the Lord. Say something.

God Is Up To Something

 

How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

Whose hope is in the Lord his God,

Who made heaven and earth,

The seas and all that is in them;

Who keeps faith forever;

Who executes justice for the oppressed;

Who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free.

Psalm 146:5-7

What do you do when you are down to nothing?  There is nothing that feels worse than sitting on the edge of giving up.  When there is nothing left that you can do to remedy your problems or the problems of others that you know.  

In all this we have hope, because the God we serve does not give up.  He is on our side.  He cares intimately for us and all our needs.  

Robert Schuller said it well: "When you are down to nothing, God is up to something."

 

 

What Is Not Said

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of fools spouts folly.

Proverbs 15:1-2

There is nothing like a wrong reply to cause an argument over something that is insignificant. When someone says something to us that we think is a little mean our first instinct is to say something equally mean rather than to ask, “What do you mean by that?”

We may find that nothing personal was meant by the statement or that the person intended to tease us or, given the time it takes for an answer to be heard, that we cool off enough to realize it is not worth the trouble to answer and leave no snappy comeback to comeback and haunt us.

What is not said can be as important as what is said.

 

Imitate What Is Good

 

Beloved do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God, the one who does evil has not seen God.

3 John 1:11

As children when we wanted to do something that our parents did not think was a good idea we all heard them say, “If everybody is jumping off a bridge, are you going to do it too?” They wanted us to understand that “everybody’s doing it” might be a good reason not to do it.

God does not want us to be led astray by people who do not have our best interests in mind. God wants us to think before we act and do what is right. It is never the wrong time to walk away from evil.

Imitate what is good.

Love Mankind

 

This commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

1 John 4:21

Being a Christian is all about loving mankind. We are to love those who are the least lovable and extend a hand of fellowship to them.

How else will they come to know Jesus if we do not show them the way by first loving them and second, sharing the Gospel?