Reconciled
The guilty thief is pronounced not guilty and runs free from the court room. On the streets no one knew the judge was the thief's father. But the boy didn’t return home. Sad-Free but reconciled. We are not just freed and forgiven, we are reconciled to God. If we were only justified that would still leave us in dirty clothes cowering and uncertain although perhaps thankful for the goodness of the judge because He declares us holy and blameless. God is no longer a judge but He is our father and reconciliation is a family term. So we can talk to him relate to him share with him. He is your father. Not only are we reconciled to God but we are reconciled to men of Eph 2: 16 the Jews and Gentiles the most difficult people ever to get on together are now made one through the cross that are due a Gentile can become brothers any of us can become brothers and sisters through the cross. The Cross was the most shameful thing to happen to a person. They would die naked. It was the pits - they would cheer gladiators on the way to die. But never a crucified person. Now Paul was the opposite of the sophist and young rhetoricians of his day. He was old, dressed badly, poor and couldn’t speak that well. He said it is a miracle that the Corinthians listened or heard but it was God! Paul said for them to believe on the gospel is a miracle. I came with a ridiculous message, looking ridiculous to you but you changed it was a work of God.
Friend, the gospel is the power of God. it was then and it is now.
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Are you weak enough yet?
When God comes to Cain after he killed Able, Cain lied, “I don’t know where Able is! It was not me and I don’t know about it . People are healed when they take responsibility for their sin.
When God came to Adam in the garden after he had disobeyed there was no words of judgement - only inquiry "where are you ?" If Adam had of said I have sinned, please forgive me God would have done so.
It is a principle. If we confess our faults God forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
Adam blamed Eve. This is the Adamic nature; our fallen behavior and while we blame anyone but us, we cannot be healed.
Cain could have repented and been forgiven. David repented and found forgiveness. Paul repented of murder and found forgiveness.
Friend, trust in Gods unfailing mercy and forgiveness that is offered to everyone who repents and confesses their sin. Only faith will move you forward to your future and receive the cleansing you need. Don’t allow your future to be limited by the past and don’t let your past determine your future.
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Loving God
Elijah stumbled out of the cave into the sunlight to meet God but he was still disappointed. You could hear it in his voice. He had expected God to turn the nation around but all the people who were not on Carmel and certainly Jezebel seem unchanged. We know that if expectations aren’t met in marriage we can be prone to disappointment which brings about a loss of intimacy. If we feel God has disappointed us too, we can lose our sense of intimacy with God. We love him but we feel disappointed by Him; let down by Him, even abandoned. Maybe you blame God for the actions of others or what happened to someone you care about. You may have prayed for something to happen in your life; stood in faith for the outcome but it has not happened yet or never happened and it hurt because we don’t understand. We reason, well I’m not going to trust Him again or put my faith out there again, and we take back part of our hearts from God. We think “I’m going to hold back some of my love or make a mental list of those things which God must do before we trust Him again. Friend, God has not changed but our perception of Him has. We have to be able to say “Father I lay down all my conditions for you to fulfil, on the altar. I ask you to forgive me for allowing my heart to harden toward you. I have let things I don’t understand, cause me to withdraw my heart from you, but I chose to give my heart one hundred per cent to you again.
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Made for a Purpose
History tells us that Paul was a short man only 5 feet high, with beady eyes, a hooked nose, big eyebrows and bow legs. Apparently, his eyesight was not good neither could he speak that well. Paul was bought up very religious and hated Christians. He put them in jail and enjoyed seeing them killed. It is strange that God chose Paul to be the greatest apostle and church planter among the Gentiles, but Paul came to see that God was using his weaknesses and past. Later he says “I’m the chief of sinners, a pattern to all who believe after me. If God can forgive me you too can be forgiven by Jesus.”He was a strange choice for God to make a preacher. Maybe he asked many times for God to fix his eyes or his speech impediment so he could preach the gospel. But God said, “My grace is made perfect in your weakness.” So Paul said, “In that case, I will boast in my infirmities because when I am weak then God is strong.”Paul had skeletons in the closet in his past and possibly felt inferior about his looks but He came to see that God could work around that and even through it. Tonight friend, you can’t change your past but you can embrace your future by trusting that God has a plan to build you into the likeness of Jesus, including using your past present circumstances for His purposes.
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Where are you?
The sun was setting casting long shadows over the rocky hills around him but Elijah never noticed its beauty, as he poured out his heart in the quiet evening to God. He said “They have forsaken your altar your covenants!” but he meant God, you didn’t do anything, I’m doing my part but you don’t seem to be doing yours. This is your problem God. I can’t bring the whole nation back, so you should do something. Your God after all!” Elijah felt alone and unsupported. “What your asking Lord is just too hard!” He felt persecuted “This could cost me my life and I deserve better.” He was angry and disappointed at God. It was in his voice. Out of his mouth came the evidence of his heart condition. Elijah had let his expectations of God and his expectation of people, harden his heart toward God. He had taken offense at God. Elijah was asking questions of God and God was asking question of Elijah. They were just missing each other.
Friend when we take offense at God it hard to hear his voice It won’t be in the earth quake or the thunder storm. God may get our attention with something dramatic but only to tune us to His voice again
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Pride
The sun was setting behind the palace gardens as king Nebuchadnezzar walked along the balcony of his fine house. (Daniel 4) The prophets of Jehovah had told him that his royal authority would be lost if he didn’t stay humble. It was not long before he was eating grass and growing feathers.
God resists the proud and prospers the humble. The devil was in heaven until pride was found in him. He took the longest journey from heaven to hell because of pride.
In Acts12.22, the crowd had barely stopped chanting that Herod was a god before the man dropped dead and the worms began to eat him. God hates pride. Nothing is more horrible to God than pride. Nothing has the power to warp the human soul more than pride. Pride turned an archangel into a devil; imagine what it can do to us. Pride in the heart is what caused the fall of Lucifer and Adam and Eve. It is the grossest of sins and the hardest to eradicate from our lives.
Paul said that men would be proud in the last days. Pride means a high opinion of oneself; it means to appear above another; disdainful, or arrogant in the heart. (Mk 7.19)
Friend, as our chest swells with pride it really only demonstrates, that our intelligence and our hearts understanding of reality, has shrunken.
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Risk
God is compassionate and His compassion is based on his understanding of our frailty. He knows we are weak and prone to failure. It doesn't make our failures right; some will never be right but he does understand why we do things. People do things for reasons. C. S. Lewis said, “To a starving soldier, bad love is better than no love at all.”
We can understand why men go to pubs and why young men drink. It’s a religious feeling they get from drinking called transcendence. They feel there isn’t enough of themselves to be worth anything but when they drink, they feel bigger in the universe. We can understand it and so can Jesus. It doesn't make it right but then nothing is right outside of Jesus. Even a tee totalling Pharisee is not right outside of Jesus. Sometimes we beat ourselves because we don’t understand that salvation is not a “cure-all”; it doesn't remove our weakness so there is no longer any risk. There will always be a risk and some temptation; a bias toward sin, the pull will always be there while we live in the flesh. Though the power of sin is broken the penalty of sin is cancelled sin can still launch an attack in our flesh.
God has not taken away the risk of sin from our life. We can minimize the risk but we can’t eliminate it. Recently when two men decided to row from Australia to NZ, they could minimize the risk by preparation but they couldn't eliminate risk entirely.
Friend, there is no “zap” to cure your human weakness. God works through human weakness not through human strength. We can rebuke the devil and we should, but the weakness stays along with His great and free Grace in our time of need!
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Suffering
David was ashamed of his sin but thankful that he could be forgiven. Still, he had to live with the promise of trouble in his home. Forgiveness was granted but the consequences were massive. He suffered in his life because of the wrong choices he made. Christianity is not magic; it doesn’t dissolve all your problems and potential problems. You will still suffer for your sins, in this life.
Sin repented off will not be mentioned or brought up in the next life but in this life, you will live with the consequence maybe for all your life. We have two choices as believers; not whether we will suffer but whether we will suffer for doing good or doing evil. A man may choose to suffer at work for being honest or he may suffer in his soul if he chooses to be dishonest, but suffer he will. It is not easy being a Christian, but it is always better to suffer to obeying than to suffer because of sin.
Being a Christian doesn’t protect us from all suffering but it does help us to endure suffering, and if we will obey God it will help us avoid having to suffer for sin.
Friend, Jesus suffered in the flesh; meaning that there are things that are right but not easy to do but any difficult thing we need to do will be better than suffering for doing the wrong thing.
David was ashamed of his sin but thankful that he could be forgiven. Still, he had to live with the promise of trouble in his home. Forgiveness was granted but the consequences were massive. He suffered in his life because of the wrong choices he made. Christianity is not magic; it doesn’t dissolve all your problems and potential problems. You will still suffer for your sins, in this life.
Sin repented off will not be mentioned or brought up in the next life but in this life, you will live with the consequence maybe for all your life. We have two choices as believers; not whether we will suffer but whether we will suffer for doing good or doing evil. A man may choose to suffer at work for being honest or he may suffer in his soul if he chooses to be dishonest, but suffer he will. It is not easy being a Christian, but it is always better to suffer to obeying than to suffer because of sin. Being a Christian doesn’t protect us from all suffering but it does help us to endure suffering, and if we will obey God it will help us avoid having to suffer for sin.
Friend, Jesus suffered in the flesh; meaning that there are things that are right but not easy to do but any difficult thing we need to do will be better than suffering for doing the wrong thing.
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