Moving Forward through Forgiveness

God became man in order to atone for our sins, because we could never pay the debt on our own (1 John 4:19). Jesus loves us more than a pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45).

Jesus relinquished his royal status and gave His life, so that we can live as God's adopted children and joint heirs with Him to receive all that the Father owns in His Kingdom (Romans 8:16-18).

God forgives us of every transgression of His law; but unless we forgive our self, Satan keeps us under his bondage to degradation and sin. The shame we feel for our behavior is fed by Satan's lies, which He whispers in our heart day and night (Revelation 12:10).

Satan knows that if we ever forgive our self, and dedicate our life completely to the God who saved us, he will lose us forever. There is no thought, word or deed, which we commit, that is too horrific for God to forgive (Romans 5:8).

Most of our choices are mistakes that we make without thinking, although some of them are premeditated. Yet, God forgives each one, which we confess, according to His mercy and justice (1 John 1:9, 3:9). He erases the injustice of our behavior with His goodness and grace.

God has a perfect plan for us and our true joy lies in following that plan (Ephesians 2:10). It is never too late to change. We can lay down our shield of lies and our heavy burden of pain at Jesus' feet.

We come to God in our weariness and hopelessness, and He gives us rest for our soul and births life into our dead spirit, which we carried around within us for our whole life, until the day we repent (Matthew 11:28).

Prayer:

Father God, Your Spirit joins Your Bride in encouraging anyone who reads or hears Your Word to come to Your river of life (Revelation 22:17). Your voice penetrates the hard wall, which we build around our soul to keep out the pain of the past and the eventual pain of the future.

This wall crumbles when we face life's difficulties with Christ in us. Help us not to patch up the wall of defenses and build it higher and thicker, and to realize that only Your love can protect us from life's hardships and storms (Isaiah 4:6).

Complete surrender to Your call on our life will put us under Your umbrella of protection (Job 11:13-15). You give us a place of repose (Isaiah 28:12). You refresh and satisfy our faint heart (Jeremiah 31:25). You give us Your living water to drink for eternity (John 7:37).

Thought for the Day:

Forgiving others and our self is the key to freedom from the destructive aspects of life and it is the door to our freedom in Christ.

God's Eternal Plan - Part 1

 

God is not a cosmic ogre, waiting to inflict pain upon defenseless human beings. He is a loving, supernatural Being, who wanted us to live in Paradise with Him forever. His ultimate desire is that we allow Him to give us His best. He does not want robots worshiping Him; therefore, like the angels, He gave mankind a free will to choose whether to serve God, self or Satan with our life (Joshua 24:15).

God gave humanity just one stipulation in Paradise: eat of any tree except one. Adam and Eve had all of Paradise to enjoy and to eat to their heart's content. However, their human pride, curiosity and greed were fueled by Satan's deception, and they stooped to his level to try to become like God (Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 14).

Where was their gratitude for everything God gave them: for the perfect environment, for their love for one another, for the animals and all of creation, which dwelt together in perfect unity and harmony (Isaiah 11:6-8) and for daily face-to-face communication with God in the cool of the evening? (Genesis 3:8)

Due to human pride, all of creation was instantly under the same curse of sin that we are now. Since that day creation impatiently awaits the revelation of the children of God in order to be restored to its rightful place in the paradise of the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1; Isaiah 65:17). God has given mankind 6,000 years to repent and come to Him.

When Adam and Eve realized they were naked and felt shame, God killed an animal to make clothes for them to wear (Genesis 3:21). That innocent blood had to have atonement, a perfect Lamb, sacrificed to pay the sin debt. Jesus, the Lamb of God, paid that debt and freed us all to live in eternity with our Heavenly Father as co-heirs with Him of the Kingdom of God.

Prayer:

Father God, we thank You that this earth will not live under the curse of sin forever. Jesus will return with His army and with one word of His mouth, he will destroy the maniacal army of Satan. He will make a new heaven and a new earth for us to enjoy for eternity. You never send judgment without first sending warning, often for hundreds of years before You acts on Your righteous judgment. I pray that people worldwide will heed the warning You are sending in these last days. You will never, ever leave or forsake us and we sing praises to You for Your steadfast love.

Thought for the Day:

We rejoice in knowing that Christ abides within us by His Spirit as we cling to Him as a branch on a vine.

Following Jesus' Example

Jesus lived every moment of His life in dependence on our Father. He did not make His own decisions or live His own life, but consulted the Father throughout His day (Psalm 62:5-12). Our Savior and Brother gave us His perfect example of how God wants each and every Born Again Believer to live his/her life (Romans 8:17); totally surrendered to God and completely expended for Him without any reservations.

Christ’s death atoned for the debt of our sin. He died in our place and took our punishment upon His own body (2 Corinthians 12:9). He redeemed us by shedding His own blood (Matthew 26:28). Now He sits on His throne on high and intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25). He is our advocate with our Father (1 John 2:1). At the same time, He dwells within us by His Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16), empowering us to live a transformed life (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Jesus is the head of His Body, comprised of His Born Again Saints (1 Corinthians 12:27). The only way for us to truly experience the power of Christ’s resurrection is to conform to His death and become like Him (Philippians 3:10). As we die to our flesh Christ manifests His life in and through us (Romans 6:5). He impliments and perfects His life in us.  As we share in His sufferings, our comfort abounds (2 Corinthians 1:5).

Are we ready to die to the world and to our goals, aspirations, desires and wants for God? Does anything in our life mean more to us than God? Jesus did not come to do His will, but our Fathers (John 4:34). Do we have a separate agenda of our own that we prefer to follow instead of God’s will for our life? Living in the center of God’s will is the happiest place on earth.

Prayer:

Father God, knowing You in an intimate relationship is the reality of eternal life (John 17:3). We do not need to wait until heaven for this to occur. We can know You now. Bring us into spiritual maturity so that we can obtain the complete fullness of Christ in our body, soul and spirit (Ephesans 4:13). Remind us that as we conform to Jesus’ death, we live victoriously in His life. In eternity, we will also share in His glory (1 Peter 4:13).

Thought for the Day:

Only as we die to self will the life of Christ manifest in our life.

The Reason for the Season

There is an unusual point to this message; but first, bear with me as I build a foundation.

Did you ever notice that Jesus did not tell us to celebrate His birth? In fact, for most of the church’s history, Christmas was a minor holiday, if celebrated at all. Maybe this is because Jesus told us to commemorate His death, burial and resurrection. This is why we have communion services in our churches. I believe He did this because He wants the focus of our Christian message to center around salvation through faith in Christ’s blood atonement, rather than on his nativity.

I am not proposing that we stop celebrating Christmas or that we should do away with the nativity set. I collect unusual nativity sets. Some I even keep out all year around in order to praise God for sending Jesus to save us from the penalty of our own choices and for giving us His resurrected life. In fact, I love the festivity and anticipation in the air at this time of the year. People smile more often, have a song on their lips, and act more generously toward one another. St. Nicholas was a kind and giving man and I love that people always focus on sharing with one another, especially with those less fortunate.

For most people, however, Jesus is no longer the reason for the season - if He ever was. Christmas is more about getting than receiving. It emphasizes a secular Santa, rather than Jesus, our Christ and Savior. Even some Christians put more emphasis on Santa and presents than on Christ.

Let’s face it, in reality most of the aspects of the season are pre-Christian. In order to make Christ more relavant to their world system, the Catholic church used the December 25th Roman holiday of Natalis Invicti, which is the festival of the birth of the invincible sun, as well as Saturnalia. The German mid-winter festival celebrations actually used evergreen trees and holly as symbols of eternal life. This is where we get that famous song, “O Tannenbaum.” 

The most central and recognizable symbol of Christmas today is the Christmas tree —and it has nothing to do with Christianity or Jesus. It is purely a symbol taken from the ancient German mid-winter festivals. Some people even claim that the practice of cutting down trees and taking them home to decorate them is actually condemned by God in Jeremiah 10:1-10.

When we insist on putting Jesus back as the reason for the season, today’s society thinks that we are seeking to assert our cultural superiority over everyone else. They resent us for hijacking their ancient celebrations and for pushing our views on an America that has moved toward religious pluralism. They even mock us, because we insist that Christmas is Christ’s birthday, when everyone knows that December 25^th was probably not the exact date.

Every year Jesus recedes further into the background of human consciousness. At best, in their thinking He was a good man, a prophet or historical teacher. So, this is what I want to suggest. Let us make Jesus the reason for EVERY season. Make Him the focus of every day in which we live. Share, without apology or fear, what He did for us with His life, death, burial and resurrection.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we often make causes out of issues that You do not even care about. Teach us to live our lives in such a way that everyone will see our faith in and love for You. Move in their hearts so that they will join us in glorifying You with their lives.

Thought for the Day:

Make Jesus the center of your focus every day of the year.