Remission

Heb. 9 :22 “And by the law almost all things are purged with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”-

The forgiveness of Sin, and for charges to be dropped, requires that Jesus die and give His blood as the supreme sacrifice for all sin. The sin of Adam put the whole human race in debt. All born into this world are born in sin and all come short of God’s acceptance and relationship. To be accepted of God, one must have this debt removed. All of our human goodness and desire to do what is right falls short of having the debt paid. In the blood is life and the debt of sin can only be paid when the One that is worthy, without sin was willing to die on the cross and shed His blood for humanity. Remission, the forgiveness of sin is for anyone who is willing to confess their need to God and believe that Jesus’s blood can cleanse their heart from sin. He will give wash away our sins and give us new life and purpose.

We Don't Understand

Job 38:4 “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.”-

It is human nature to want to understand everything that happens to us in life. We seem to think if we can understand why some things happen, then we are more able to accept the circumstance that we face from day to day. Why God allows some things to happen is still a mystery to me. Like job, we question God’s judgment, we don’t see the purpose or good that will come out of it. Like God, we don’t see things from the beginning, we are not all knowing and can only live in the present. That is why we must put our trust in the one who is sovereign and controls the affairs of men. We need to learn to understand that we are finite and God is infinite. We have limitations that keep us from seeing the whole picture. It is not wrong to ask God to give us understanding. It is wrong to question God’s ways and blame God for all that goes wrong. God will not chastise us for crying out for help when we go through times of not knowing why. He delights in our willingness to give everything to Him, even those things we don’t understand. 

Not Too Old for God

Isaiah 46:4. 9 “And even to your old age I am He, and even to hoary hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none other; I am God, and there is none like Me”-

Not too old for God. Aging comes up behind us so quickly. Knowing that there are more days behind us that are in front of us is sobering. The older we get, the more we realize the things of this world are just dust of the earth. Eternity is just over the horizon. The passing of time is seen as are skin begins to change, and the color of our hair turns grey, or white. We no longer can do the things we use to do and our effectiveness is inhibited by our inability to get around like we use to. But, growing old is part of God’s plan, unless providence takes our life unexpectedly at a younger age. God does not put us on the shelf, but will often redirect our mission in life. He does not leave us helpless and He does not forsake us. Even in our old age, He will show Himself to be the God of old, and go before us as we fight battles only known to those who are getting old. “Lord, almost 58 years have gone by, and God willing, I have 20-30 years left. Help me to trust you more each day and to remember that there is no other God that can carry me through like you can. You are God and there is none like You!”

The Steps of a Good Man

Psalm 27:23,24 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.”-

Walking with God is to step in the footprints of Jesus. The steps we take in life are the decision we make that will led us down a path of destruction or a path of righteousness. As we walk with God, He is faithful to show us what steps we need to take. In our effort to do what is right, we are still prone to human error. Even with the best intentions, we sometimes can make a wrong decision. Though we may falter and fall, God is faithful to pick us up with His hand and put us back on our feet. We don’t have to let the failures of our efforts discourage us from going forward with God. Relationship that have been broken because of a wrong step, may never be the same, but God who knows the desire of our heart, desires us to walk close with Him. “Lord, help me to follow the steps of Jesus, and when and if I fall, pick me up and teach me how to walk in your ways”

Led By The Holy Spirit

Luke 2: 36a, 27a “And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost... And he came by the Spirit into the temple...”-

Being led by the Holy Spirit requires that one be in harmony with God and a right relationship with Father. The Spirit will lead those who are just and devoted to the things of God. He will not lead us in ways that are contrary to His revealed word. Our eyes will be open and we shall see the Salvation of the Lord when we follow where the Spirit leads. Simeon was a man after God’s heart. His heart was open to truth and desired to see the day when Jehovah God would send His Son to redeem Israel. The Holy Spirit opened his eyes, and he was able to experience the new dawning rising. He held in his arm the Savior of the world.

Seek After Jesus

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost”-

Zacchaeus, a man who seemly had everything, except peace in his heart. Even though he was a wealthy and rich man, he was not satisfied. He did not have a popular position, but it gave him a status in life that few enjoyed in that day. Yet, he no doubt went to work each day with emptiness. The word was spreading that Jesus was coming to Jericho, and he was doing miracles that had not been seen in years. Zacchaeus had no need of physical healing, or material needs, yet he was a man searching for something more meaningful than the things of this world. He realized that he was spiritually bankrupt and his soul was not right with God. He needed spiritual healing and he heard that Jesus was passing through Jericho. Not only did he seek after Jesus, but Jesus was seeking after him. God is seeking for those who realize that they are lost in sin. Zacchaeus did not care what people thought of him, he was determine to find God. Even as he sat there in the sycamore tree, Jesus was seeking him. It was for this reason that He had come to Jericho, to find Zacchaeus. That is why Jesus came to Cucamonga, CA on Feb. 21st 1974. He heard the cry of my heart and gave me a new life with eternal purpose. 

Still Before God

Psalm 46: 10 “ Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted on the earth.”- 

Getting still before God “allows us to admit our failures, weaknesses, and limitations to the One who responds to human vulnerability with infinite mercy.” In the stillness of night or day, God can arrest our attention. We live in a rushed and hurried world, slaved to the ticking clock of time. There is so much we feel that needs to be done. People to see, places to go, and pleasures to achieve. But in the busyness of life we don’t take time to be still and pray. Even as I write, the timer on my computer is telling me that it is time to move on, work is calling. But we must take time to quiet our minds and listen to what God has to say. Time to know God and read His word. Taking time before God reveals our deepest need of how helpless we are and how dependent we are on Him. 

Remember

Psalm 77:11“ I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember Thy wonders of old.”-

It is easy to forget what God has done in the pass when we are facing hard times in the present. We are not to look back on our past failures and dwell on things that bring back memories that defeat us. But, we can look back and see how God has brought us through those times in our lives when it did not seem possible that we would find a way through. Let us not forget the wonders of God’s deliverance and His mighty power to answer prayer. In every situation we face, God has a plan to see us through. the Red Sea of today is no problem for God, we must remember that He is still the God who parted the Red Sea of yesterday. Let us remember and consider what God has done and how great He is. He is still in the miracle working business. He still wants to show Himself to us in all of His might and power. The giant we face today can be defeated when we remember that it is God who directs the stone and He never misses.

High Places

Habakkuk 3:19 “The Lord God is my strength; and He will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places”-

Higher places and higher ground. God desires us to live in a place where we can rejoice and be glad. A place where we can see the beauty of what God is doing in our lives. In the high places we are drawn close to God, He reveals to us the path we will need to walk. In times when the unexpected happens or the prospect of  calamity is seen on the horizon, we can trust Him to be our strength, He will give us help to climb above our troubles and hard places. In the valley, it is hard to see what God is doing, but He wants to take us to higher ground that we may enjoy the nearness of being close to God. 

Called to Teach

Matt. 28:19 “ Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”-

God has called all of us to be teachers. To dispense of information that is essential to living a life that will secure eternal life. Jesus came to give His life to redeem us from our sins and sin nature. He also came to show us the way we should be living. Learning to live a life of holiness is a process that does not happen over night at an altar of prayer. Yes, we yield our hearts in full submission, but learning requires that we be taught to observe what is right and holy. As we walk with God, we begin to see that we also need to be teachers of His word. As teachers, we not only tell and instructed other in the Way, but we show others the way by the way we live. The greatest teacher is seen by example. “Show how to do it, and I will follow”. Let us feed on His word, that we may be ready to give an answer to anyone who will ask. If we live for God, He will never leave us, even when life comes to an end.  

All Thine Heart

Debt. 6:5,6 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart;”-

Keeping God’s word is something that is done with the heart. To follow all the commandments of God out of duty or obligation is to be in bondage to the law. We our made to love God and loving Him starts in the heart. It is a desire to please Him, therefore if you love Him, you will keep His commandments. Keeping His commandments is not our salvation, Christ alone is all we need. But the evidence of belonging to Christ is seen in our desire to live according to His will. Keeping His word comes from the heart and we hide it in our heart that we might not sin or grieve God. Satan will be relentless in his attempts to tempt us from doing what God wants us to do. “Hast God said”, are the familiar word spoken to Eve. Yes! God has said! May we all live our live carefully, doing what is right, not out of duty, but out of love and a desire to live for Him.

Broken and Spilled Out

Ps 34:17,18 “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.”-

Broken and spilled out. God sees the tear of those who love Him and desire to do what is right. He will not leave them forsaken and will comfort them in their time of need. It may not be the way we think it needs to be done, but He is there to bring us through every situation that we go through. The Lord hears the cry of all who call out to Him, but He take special notice to those who serve Him in righteousness. God will hear the cry of a sinner to lead them to repentance, to those who are broken because of sin, God will hear and forgive their sins. We who love Him and seek His will, He will not turn away. Let us call upon Him in the day of trouble, He is waiting to show Himself strong and mighty in our behalf.

To Know God

ohn 8:46 “Which of you convicteth Me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me?”-

Knowing about God and believing that He exist does not mean that you know God and believing that He lives in your life. To know God, is to be convince that that He is the Vine and we who believe Him are part of the Vine. We bare the fruit from the Vine and believe that He is the One true God. To know God, is to put into the practice His teachings in our life. To go where He wants us to go, to be what He wants us to be. We no longer make choice what we want, but we desire what He wants. To know God, is to have a relationship with Jesus that causes us to look at people in a whole different way. We become less critical of others and more compassionate toward those we criticize. To know God, is to trust Him to make us into His image and live a life blameless and pleasing.

Making Him First

Col 1:18 “And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence.”-

The most important decision a person can make is to give their life to Christ. Jesus, who loved you and me desires to be number one in our life. Christ surpasses all other desires that we might have. Living for Him and making Him first in our life is to put every other desire we have in second place. Making Him 1st is more than keeping all the rules and standards or holy living, it is to have a relationship that will give us a peace and knowledge that He cares and desires to walk with us day by day. 

Meat of God

John 4:34 “Jesus said unto them, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.”- 

Food, an essential part of maintaining good health and surviving. We daily depend on being able to eat 2 or 3 meals a day, and some snacking in-between. Yet, we often neglect our spiritual well being. We go a day or several days without taking time to eat from the table of God’s word. Our food is to do the will of God, knowing the will of God requires us to spend time in His word and in His presences in prayer. When we begin to feel weak spiritually, it is likely that we have failed to take time to eat. Wanting to eat is a natural instinct of the human body. Our body gives us signals that it needs food. The Holy Spirit is our guide in getting the spiritual food we need. He speaks to us when we start to grow lax concerning the things of God. He warns us when our strength is not what it should be. The battles we fight are not of this world, but are spiritual, we need to be ready to wrestle with the unseen. We need manna from heaven, and water from the fountain of life. He is all we need, but we must neglect the essentials as we endeavor to live for Him.

Belong to Christ

Gal 5:24 “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.”-

Being part of the Vine is to belong to Christ. Those who belong to Christ have been forgiven of their sins and have been transform from death to life. A person who has truly given their life to Christ will strive to please God in every part of their life. The old habits of the flesh and the desire to fulfill the lust of the flesh have been crucified with Christ and have been nailed to the Cross. A person who is in Christ will allow the Spirit of God to led them in a deeper walk with God. As long as the carnal nature sits on the throne of our hearts, we will always be warring against wanting fleshly desires. The Spirit leads us to a place in our life where we our willing to present our life a living sacrifice to God in complete consecration. The carnal nature (self) is removed from the throne of our heart and the Holy Spirit is given full control. We still have daily choices to make, and we our not exempt from temptation, but our primary desire is now to fulfill what the Spirit desires. The actions of our life are not written down in tablets of stone, but are written on the tablets of our heart to fulfill that which is good and acceptable to God. The Spirit leads unerring, perfecting holiness in all who are willing to be led by the Him. 

Heaven

Rev. 22;4,5 “And they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there, and they will need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light...”

Heaven, what a wonderful place that will be. To see Jesus face to face. We all fantasize what it will be like in Heaven. We wonder if we will be able to sit down and visit with those who have gone before us. We long to see our loved ones that loved Jesus and served Him on this earthly journey. We wonder what our mansion will look like. Many things about heaven that we wonder about. John gives us a glimpse of heaven. Standing on the Island of Patmos, the sky is opened and God lets John take a peek into what life will be like after we leave this world. It is clear that sin will not be there. That is why it is essential that we have our sins forgiven and cast away. Only that which is holy will be able to enter into heaven. The blood of Jesus is the only thing that will cleanse us from an unholy heart. We also know that there is no sun or artificial light there, yet light illuminate everywhere. This is the light of God that comes for the essence of God. All that live in heaven will be in love with Jesus and will serve Him with gladness. Heaven will not be a place we visit, it will be a place where we will live forever and ever, praising and serving God. 

Leadership

1 Kings 12:7 “If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them and answer them and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.”-

The greatest of all leaders are those who are willing to lead by example. There are many skills that a leader must have if people are going to follow. A leader must have a vision, they must be able to know how to delegate, and to motivate. But a true leader is a servant leader who is not afraid to get their hands dirty. A leader understands how to relate to those who follow them. They know how to empathize because they have been there. A leader speaks with confidence, yet is kind in speech, encouraging others to press on and not give up. Jesus is our greatest example of what a leader should be. He lived a servant’s life, giving His life as a ransom for others. Because He was willing die for us, we follow Him gladly and willing. 

Hidden Treasures

Prov: 2:4,5 “if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hidden treasure, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.”-

Finding and experiencing the deeper things of God does not come by accident. Hidden treasures take time to find. Taking time to think on the word of God will help us better understand who God is and what He desires for our lives. Getting to know God better is done on purpose. Knowing God’s word needs to go deeper than reading for the sake of just memorizing words. The word of God needs to be applied to our heart. The application of living out His commandment is done by putting in to practice what He wants us to do. “Love thy neighbor, as thyself” are profound words given to us by Jesus, but what does it mean to love your neighbor, how do you go about showing love to your neighbor? “Lord, help me to take the time to seek God and ask Him to open His word to me, and help me to live it as I face my world today”. 

Training Our Body

1 Corinth 9:27 “ But I keep control of my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”-

Growing in Christ requires that we work out spiritually, training our body and mind to do the will of God. Left to our own human tendency, it is easy to let down and allow legitimate human weakness to brings us down. Paul is teaching us that being a spiritual man will not come without some effort, and if we are not careful, our faith can become shipwrecked. Presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to God is the 1st step in bringing our bodies into subjection. Consecrating our life to Him and His will means that we seek 1st His desires before we act on impulse to fulfill our desires. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that make it possible for us to transcend the human flesh. He will empower those who are willing to say “yes”  to Him. Bring our body into subjection may require us to get up earlier in the day to spend some time with God. It is taking control of our thoughts when the devil bring temptation that will grieve God if we yield. It may mean that we make ourselves put down some things we enjoy that we may reach out and touch others for Christ. Disciplining ourselves to do what is right is something we set our will to do. If our will has been surrendered to Christ, then half the battle is done.  

Legacy of Blessings

2 Chronicles 21:20 “and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years and departed without being desired”-

The life we live will either leave a legacy of blessings or one of regrets. Jehoram lived a selfish life, and only cared about fulfilling his own selfish desires. In the end, he died a man without a friend. What kind of legacy will we leave behind when our days on this earth are over? How will people reflect when they speak about the life we lived? The choices we make in life will blaze a trail behind us and those who are looking on may follow. Our lives may not be perfect, but our heart can be. We can leave a legacy that will point others to God. It will not be the stand we take that will led others to Christ, but the love we show to others and how we treat our fellow man. Standing for right is to stand for truth and God’s word, but standing without love is counter productive. We have but one life to live, may we live it by walking in the steps of Jesus, and let His love flow through us.  May we leave a legacy that will count for eternity. 

Always to Pray

Luke 18:1,8 “And He spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint,... shall He find faith on the earth?

Praying is not a magical formula to get what we want. Yes, God desires to give us the desires of our heart, but prayer is more than just asking for things. Prayer is taking time to talk to God about life and getting to know Him better. We read God’s word and asked God to reveal His word to us. God speaks to us through our minds, conscience, and His word. He reveals to us what is right and good. Will God find such openness of heart when He returns? We must not quit talking to God, we must believe that He will take care of our needs and trust Him to keep us from falling.  There may be times like Job that we don’t feel that God is anywhere near, but we must not give up our faith in God. We may be going through some difficult times, but He is in control and has a purpose for everything He does. May He find me faithful, always praying and trusting Him.