Second Chances, Third Chances, More

 

…Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

Romans 2:4

God operates from love to show everyone His kindness and tolerance and patience so that we, being dense when it comes to spiritual things, will come to understand that He is working in our best interests both in terms of earthly matters and in terms of our coming to know Him.

We can become callous and not appreciate that people who receive second chances in realm of earthly matters by earthly judges or bosses or family members are not receiving this mercy just from humans but from God who invests Himself in changing human hearts.

God is the God of second chances, and third chances and more because as long as we have breath in our bodies we have the option of asking God’s Son, Jesus, to be our Lord, Master and Savior.

Be Amazed By Your Kids

 

And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. 

Luke 1:33

We are so close to our children that we sometimes do not see what other people see. Jesus was a baby, when God revealed to Simeon that He was the Messiah. Mary and Joseph were not expecting that. I am sure they knew Jesus was special because the Angel told them so before He was born but they probably thought that this would not be revealed to anyone else until Jesus was an adult.

Let’s all take a minute to watch our kids and catch them doing something good. And, say, “Wow, that sure was nice of you to do that.”

The GOAT

And there arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was the greatest….

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!”

And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

Luke 22:24, 31-34

Everybody wants to be the GOAT, the greatest of all time, and the disciples were not immune to this phenomenon.  And, they were surprised by who it was.

At the last supper the disciples squabbled about who was the greatest. Jesus listened and said that it was not who man thought was the greatest who would lead them, but who God selected.

Peter was always shooting off his mouth. He was overly confident and had what we call good self-esteem. Neither of these are bad characteristics for evangelists, but they can get in the way when trying to minister to people. Jesus did not reject Peter, but He let him know that as much faith as he had, it would not be enough to overcome the trial that was coming.

Peter denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62) but Jesus did not deny Peter rather He called Him again. We see this in Luke 16:7 when the angel at Jesus’ empty tomb told Mary and Mary Magdalene to “… go tell His disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him….”

What does this tell us about being a Christian? It tells us that even when we fail that God still loves us and that we are still called to minister to others for Him. We may be temporarily sidelined, but with God we are not out of the game.

If you think you have somehow failed the test for being a Christian, think again. God loves you and Jesus loves you and they have work for you to do.

Get busy.

 

God Is Forgiving

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Jesus Christ came to into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

1 Timothy 1:15-16

The Apostle Paul is speaking honestly when he declares that he was “foremost of all” sinners. Paul was a religious man, whose religious beliefs led him to do horrible things. Yet, when God called Paul, he was transformed into one of the greatest leaders of the Christian Church. Jesus did what religion could not do; Jesus changed Paul’s heart. And, even at that, Paul still struggled with sin.

We slip. We fall. We stumble. We bumble along trying to do the right thing and sometimes we fail. We may condemn ourselves and others may condemn us, but God is patient, always forgiving and caring for us.

Take courage, we are forgiven and God is patiently working on us.

 

The Abundant Pardon

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 think we are bad or think we are good, God is waiting for us to return to Him.

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

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

Try A Little Tenderness

 

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

Proverbs 15:1-2

We all know them. The people who think they know everything and let us know it. Sometimes they are totally wrong. It is then that we have some choices. We can publicly confront them and risk making them mad, or let them go on making an idiot of themselves, or follow the Biblical model and quietly speak to them about their error. Using gentle words might save us from getting beat up.

Try a little tenderness.

The Courage To Be Brave

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

We say: “We are not afraid.” But the truth is we are. Fighting for what is right and just may cost us a friend or two or make us a few enemies. Be strong and courageous. It is never the wrong time to do the right thing.

Remember God is with you wherever you go.