What Has God Promised Us?
Does God promise us good health? Fame and fortune? Some in this world would suggest that God does promise us these things. Others would suggest that God doesn't promise us anything and, rather, stands distantly from the circumstances of our lives. Faith is believing that God will do what he promised. If that's true, if faith is attached to a promise, if walking by faith is living as if God will do what he promised, then we need to ask the question, "What has God really promised us?"
Here are some things that God hasn’t promised us:
To find out how real life fits with the promises of God is to read the story of Jesus and read the story of His followers. Their stories can be kinda’ of a downer. The men who had the greatest faith in God and in Jesus, most of them were martyred or put on an island or persecuted or stoned or beaten. Isn’t this real encouraging? They had great faith and bad things happened to them. .
So from this we find that God has not promised to keep bad things from happening to people who believe in Him! So if something bad happens to you this doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love you. At least we haven’t been stoned or beaten within an inch of our life! So we are actually doing way better that some of His closest followers. And another thing, none of the people who were closest to Jesus became wealthy because of their faith. But having said this, most of us have a moment where God gave us what we hoped for, He gave us what we asked for, He answered our prayer. So this is hope – we can bring anything to God and we can ask for anything. And sometimes He answers our prayers and sometimes He doesn’t.
But the question today is, “What has He promised?” He hasn’t promised to make us rich. He hasn’t promised to keep bad things from happening to us. In fact there is a verse that most people don’t claim as their “life verse”. A life verse is like one or more verses that people like to memorize and “carry” around with them. (My personal verses are 1 Peter 5:6-7.) Okay, back to the verse most folks don’t claim - “In this world you will have trouble.” John 16:33. Jesus promised this. So here is one promise from God! By the way, if any of you have trouble believing the Bible, hang on to this verse, ‘cause you can believe it is true! :) Jesus said this to His closest followers. He is saying that I am not promising you a lifetime without troubles. So, any time a preacher, a speaker, a leader, a teacher, a book writer or whoever says that “if you do this, God will do this. You can say, “Well, that just not what Jesus neither modeled nor taught”.
But there is some great news! He did make an extraordinary promise.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses...... Hebrews 4:14-15a
The Message translates this scripture - “We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality.”
When we picture Jesus in Heaven. When we pray to God and Jesus is our “high priest”, He isn’t going to say “What? What do you mean? I don’t understand!” We are talking to our Savior, Who says, “I know! I know! I know, not just what is happening to you, I know what that is like! I know how that feels!”
“...but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are.....” Hebrews 4:14b. The Message says, “He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all...”
The scriptures teach that Jesus has been through what we have been through or will go through, what we felt! Jesus spent a night dreading an event that was about to happen the following day. Anybody here every spent a night dreading an event? (Don’t count exams!) For some it might have been a court case. For some a trip to the hospital. BTW: Let me tell you about my recent knee surgery – just kidding! For some seeing a person you hadn’t seen in a long time and you knew they weren’t bringing good news. Most of us have or will experience such a night. Our savior spent a night knowing the next day He would be beaten, tortured, ridiculed and suffer a slow death! To us a crucifixion is something in a movie but Jesus had grown up seeing this happen. He knew what to expect.
He experienced the rejection and betrayal of His closest friends. Some of us know what that is like. You married him/her because you were best friends. And maybe you thought you were still best friends until someone sat you down and said “I don’t know how to tell you this but _____”! And now you don’t even know how to pray. But the author of scriptures says, “Heads up! Jesus has been there!”
He experienced the rejection of a close family member. He saw everything He had lived for and worked for, crumble around Him. He faced ‘crushing’ temptation. Anyone ever had a temptation that you tried and tried and tried to overcome but just couldn’t? You prayed and prayed but you still gave in! You wonder if God is even listening? But our Heavenly Father says “I know! Because My Son faced the most powerful temptations imaginable. I know!”
You don’t have to even explain your circumstances to God because your Savior, your High Priest, knows! Before we even begin to pray He knows. He’s been there!
Let’s look at how the verse ends: “...yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15b NLT
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. Hebrews 4:16a NLT
Notice it reads “boldly”. Other translations say “with confidence”, There is nothing here about formality. Formality went out the door when the veil was torn from top to bottom.
Boldly and with confidence. Why? Because He knows!
“..so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16a NIV
When you come to God with sincerity, with all the emotion, with all the passion, with all the hope, with all the hurt, when we come to God boldly, with confidence, we can know that He is a God that understands! Because He allowed His Son to experience what we experience. So if we come boldly without the formality that some religions require, then every single time we will receive something from God!
What will we receive? First “mercy”. He is going to take our issues seriously not because they are serious issues but because they are our issues. And He knows how that feels! And He cares! Sometimes mercy is something we can “put our hands on”. We can’t take it any more and someone calls and invites you to lunch and you have someone to talk to. Sometimes nothing externally changes but you have the peace of God. You pour out your heart to God and nothing on the outside changes but you just have peace. Or maybe you have changed. Mercy is “I know and I am not angry that you feel the way you do”. Mercy is a promise from God that you can count on.
The second thing he promises is we will “find grace to help us in our time of need”. Grace in this context is the strength or the ability or the energy to endure. God has not promised to deliver us from our circumstances; he has promised to deliver us through them. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that “He (God) will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
Many of us can remember circumstances in our life where we didn’t think we could get through them, but somehow God just gave us the strength to endure. The memories are not pleasant but somehow we made it through the “fire”. And when we look back, we may not opt for easier circumstances because of what we learned from it and how we came out stronger because of the enduring grace of God.
Sometimes God will intervene in the circumstances and sometimes he may not. But this promise says “That your prodigal daughter may not come back, your spouse may not come back, you may not get that job, the deal you are working on may fall through, you may never have the financial situation that you would like, but you know what? I am going to give you the grace, the endurance “to help us in our time of need”. Sometimes I may deliver “from” your circumstances but I promise that every time I will deliver you “through” them!”
Jesus, himself, asked for the circumstances of his death to be changed, but ultimately yielded control to God's plan. A day will come when God will directly intervene to rid the world of sin, sorrow, and death. But in the meantime, how should we balance our prayers of, "God, please do this," and "God, I trust you"?
This week, ask God to change your circumstances, but trust him for the grace to endure in the meantime.
Lesson based on a sermon by Andy Stanley
If you see this lesson and would like to get on email list OR you have a prayer request, please email hdunkin@charter.net.
Current lesson and archive of prior lessons available on WhoSoEver Blog at: http://imawhosoeversslessons.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Do We Really Believe?
DO WE REALLY BELIEVE?
Take an empty cola bottle sometime and fill it half full of water. Then, take some vegetable oil and fill it the rest of the way. Then try to shake it with all your might so it will become all mixed up. What happens? The moment you stop shaking, it begins to separate from one another, doesn’t it? What is the moral? The moral is that, by their very nature, oil and water do not mix.
The same is true with Godliness and worldliness. Unfortunately, today there is too much world in the church. But if that is true, it is true because there is too much world in each of us. You might say that we live here and we need to be in the world. We might need to be in the world, but does the world have to be in us?
2 CORINTHIANS 5:20 tells us where we stand in relation to the world. “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” In Ephesians 2:19, Paul writes “So now you Gentiles (This would be all people that are not Jews) are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.”
And since we belong to God; since we are citizens of heaven working as ambassadors here on earth; we need to focus more on God and less on the world, but to do so, we need to make sure that we really believe in God, and not just think we do.
A physics professor was teaching about the law of the pendulum. We all know what a pendulum is, right? It swings from side to side, and the distance it swings is always shorter each time it comes back. The professor had nailed a rope to the wall just above the blackboard. To this rope, he had attached a baseball. He asked how many in the class really believed in the law of the pendulum and all raised their hands..
With that, he pulled the rope to one side and marked where it was on the board. Then he let go of it and every time it swung back to his side, he put another mark where it stopped. The end result was he had many marks, all closer to the center than the one before, proving the law was true. He asked again how many really believed in the law, and all raised their hands again.
Then he took the class into an auditorium, where he had hung on a rope from the rafters just above the stage. Attached to this rope was a 100-pound weight. He asked for a volunteer. He had a chair sitting on the side of the stage and he had the student who volunteered sit in it. He then took the weight, which was hanging in the middle of the stage and carried it over to a few inches from the student’s face. He asked him if he believed in the law of the pendulum, and the boy, starting to get a little worried by now, said he did.
With that, the professor let go of the weight and it swung clear to the other side of the stage, and then began to come back. The young man came out of the chair in a hurry! Did he believe, or did he just think he believed?
The first thing we need is...
1. A BELIEVING HEART
In John 1:6-7, we read that “John the Baptist, (came) to tell about the light (Jesus) so that everyone might believe …..” This is how we believe; through Jesus Christ. Without Jesus there is no belief.
That is confirmed in John 20:31, “But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”
In order to be a real Christian, and in order to receive eternal life, we must be real believers. We must have a burning in our hearts to be with Jesus; to know more about Him; and to know Him more.
Remember the story about the young man who sat on the chair waiting for the 100-pound weight to come back towards his face? There are many Christians who have the same type of faith in their belief in Jesus. They think they believe, and they say they believe, but when push comes to shove, they get out of the way as fast as they can.
Remember when Peter told Jesus that he would follow him into death if necessary? Just a few hours later Peter denied Jesus three times. Peter was like that young man on stage, too. He thought he believed, but when he was pushed, he collapsed like a house of cards. (See Matthew 26:69-75) We cannot have faith unless we really believe.
Everybody believes in something. What is it that you believe in? And how much do you really believe in it? It is very easy to think you believe when there is no risk involved. It is more difficult to truly believe when you risk losing something very important.
Just like the student, we need to know the basics of what is offered to us. He needed to know what the law of the pendulum was, and we need to know what the law of salvation is. It is eternal life in heaven, with God the creator.
2. WHAT IT IS WE REALLY BELIEVE IN
USA Today took a survey several years ago and asked Americans in the top 1% income bracket how much they would spend for three things: Great intellect, true love, and a place in heaven. Those wealthy people said they would be willing to spend an average of $407K for great intellect, $487K for true love, $640K for a place in heaven!
So, some people think they can buy their way into heaven. That falls right in line with people like that great theologian, Sophia Loren. She said, and I quote, “I should go to heaven; otherwise it’s not nice. I haven’t done anything wrong. My conscience is very clean. My soul is as white as orchids, and I should go straight, straight to heaven.”
George Barna conducted his own survey, and 51% of those surveyed said they believe that if a person is good, or does good things for other people, they will get their spot in heaven. So we see that Ms. Loren’s beliefs have been around as long as there have been people on the earth.
We see the fallacy of this in Romans 9:30-32 – “…. the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.”
The Israelites had a believing heart, but what they believed in wasn’t helping them. They believed they had to follow all the laws of the Old Testament to get to heaven. They were just like the people today; good and earnest people who have it all wrong when thinking about their relationship to heaven.
Those who believe in works or some other way of getting to heaven besides believing in Jesus are not bad people. They are wonderful people who have the right heart, but their heart is misdirected.
The Bible is very clear in what we should believe in. It does not mince words. Pure and simple, we need to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, sent to be our ONLY way to heaven. He is our Redeemer and our Savior. He is THE path, not ONE OF THE paths.
So, we need a believing heart, and we need to realize just what we really believe in. Once we have these down pat, we are then ready to …
3. STOP RUNNING AWAY
The student sat in the chair, and when the weight started swinging back his way, he quickly jumped out of his chair and ran away. He believed, but he believed only until he had to risk losing something, like his head. Many Christians are the same way, too. They go to church and do all the things, and they will continue to do that until a serious challenge comes along.
In Mark 9, we read where Jesus healed a demon-possessed boy and then the boy’s father came up and said, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.” We are much like that boy’s father. We all believe, but we also sometimes … don’t believe. In other words, we believe with our intellect, but we do not believe with our heart. We need to do like the boy’s father did and ask Jesus to help us have more belief.
The author of Hebrews says: “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. …… And then says of the Israelites that were not allowed to enter the Promise Land: “…So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.” (Hebrews 3:12-19)
We have a natural tendency to run away before we commit. We see that all the time with people who say they are Christians, but will not go to anybody and tell them about Jesus. I truly believe that being non-committal towards Jesus is a sin. If we don’t know Him here, He has promised to not know us there.
Many people freeze up when asked to state their relationship to Jesus. Many people would actually rather deny Him than take the risk of having somebody mock them by confessing Jesus. Isn’t that what Peter did on the night they arrested Jesus?
The young man who sat in the chair on the stage had a decision to make. He could trust the truth, or he could run when it got uncomfortable. We have that same choice to make today.
We can choose to have a believing heart; then ponder and study what it is we actually believe; and then stop running long enough to cement our relationship with Christ, or we can run away.
The problem with running, is that one day you will have no other place to run to, and you will find yourself in that long line, waiting to be judged one-on-one with the Lord. When you find yourself standing there, what are you going to feel like when He looks directly at you and says, “NEXT”?
Take an empty cola bottle sometime and fill it half full of water. Then, take some vegetable oil and fill it the rest of the way. Then try to shake it with all your might so it will become all mixed up. What happens? The moment you stop shaking, it begins to separate from one another, doesn’t it? What is the moral? The moral is that, by their very nature, oil and water do not mix.
The same is true with Godliness and worldliness. Unfortunately, today there is too much world in the church. But if that is true, it is true because there is too much world in each of us. You might say that we live here and we need to be in the world. We might need to be in the world, but does the world have to be in us?
2 CORINTHIANS 5:20 tells us where we stand in relation to the world. “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” In Ephesians 2:19, Paul writes “So now you Gentiles (This would be all people that are not Jews) are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.”
And since we belong to God; since we are citizens of heaven working as ambassadors here on earth; we need to focus more on God and less on the world, but to do so, we need to make sure that we really believe in God, and not just think we do.
A physics professor was teaching about the law of the pendulum. We all know what a pendulum is, right? It swings from side to side, and the distance it swings is always shorter each time it comes back. The professor had nailed a rope to the wall just above the blackboard. To this rope, he had attached a baseball. He asked how many in the class really believed in the law of the pendulum and all raised their hands..
With that, he pulled the rope to one side and marked where it was on the board. Then he let go of it and every time it swung back to his side, he put another mark where it stopped. The end result was he had many marks, all closer to the center than the one before, proving the law was true. He asked again how many really believed in the law, and all raised their hands again.
Then he took the class into an auditorium, where he had hung on a rope from the rafters just above the stage. Attached to this rope was a 100-pound weight. He asked for a volunteer. He had a chair sitting on the side of the stage and he had the student who volunteered sit in it. He then took the weight, which was hanging in the middle of the stage and carried it over to a few inches from the student’s face. He asked him if he believed in the law of the pendulum, and the boy, starting to get a little worried by now, said he did.
With that, the professor let go of the weight and it swung clear to the other side of the stage, and then began to come back. The young man came out of the chair in a hurry! Did he believe, or did he just think he believed?
The first thing we need is...
1. A BELIEVING HEART
In John 1:6-7, we read that “John the Baptist, (came) to tell about the light (Jesus) so that everyone might believe …..” This is how we believe; through Jesus Christ. Without Jesus there is no belief.
That is confirmed in John 20:31, “But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”
In order to be a real Christian, and in order to receive eternal life, we must be real believers. We must have a burning in our hearts to be with Jesus; to know more about Him; and to know Him more.
Remember the story about the young man who sat on the chair waiting for the 100-pound weight to come back towards his face? There are many Christians who have the same type of faith in their belief in Jesus. They think they believe, and they say they believe, but when push comes to shove, they get out of the way as fast as they can.
Remember when Peter told Jesus that he would follow him into death if necessary? Just a few hours later Peter denied Jesus three times. Peter was like that young man on stage, too. He thought he believed, but when he was pushed, he collapsed like a house of cards. (See Matthew 26:69-75) We cannot have faith unless we really believe.
Everybody believes in something. What is it that you believe in? And how much do you really believe in it? It is very easy to think you believe when there is no risk involved. It is more difficult to truly believe when you risk losing something very important.
Just like the student, we need to know the basics of what is offered to us. He needed to know what the law of the pendulum was, and we need to know what the law of salvation is. It is eternal life in heaven, with God the creator.
2. WHAT IT IS WE REALLY BELIEVE IN
USA Today took a survey several years ago and asked Americans in the top 1% income bracket how much they would spend for three things: Great intellect, true love, and a place in heaven. Those wealthy people said they would be willing to spend an average of $407K for great intellect, $487K for true love, $640K for a place in heaven!
So, some people think they can buy their way into heaven. That falls right in line with people like that great theologian, Sophia Loren. She said, and I quote, “I should go to heaven; otherwise it’s not nice. I haven’t done anything wrong. My conscience is very clean. My soul is as white as orchids, and I should go straight, straight to heaven.”
George Barna conducted his own survey, and 51% of those surveyed said they believe that if a person is good, or does good things for other people, they will get their spot in heaven. So we see that Ms. Loren’s beliefs have been around as long as there have been people on the earth.
We see the fallacy of this in Romans 9:30-32 – “…. the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.”
The Israelites had a believing heart, but what they believed in wasn’t helping them. They believed they had to follow all the laws of the Old Testament to get to heaven. They were just like the people today; good and earnest people who have it all wrong when thinking about their relationship to heaven.
Those who believe in works or some other way of getting to heaven besides believing in Jesus are not bad people. They are wonderful people who have the right heart, but their heart is misdirected.
The Bible is very clear in what we should believe in. It does not mince words. Pure and simple, we need to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, sent to be our ONLY way to heaven. He is our Redeemer and our Savior. He is THE path, not ONE OF THE paths.
So, we need a believing heart, and we need to realize just what we really believe in. Once we have these down pat, we are then ready to …
3. STOP RUNNING AWAY
The student sat in the chair, and when the weight started swinging back his way, he quickly jumped out of his chair and ran away. He believed, but he believed only until he had to risk losing something, like his head. Many Christians are the same way, too. They go to church and do all the things, and they will continue to do that until a serious challenge comes along.
In Mark 9, we read where Jesus healed a demon-possessed boy and then the boy’s father came up and said, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.” We are much like that boy’s father. We all believe, but we also sometimes … don’t believe. In other words, we believe with our intellect, but we do not believe with our heart. We need to do like the boy’s father did and ask Jesus to help us have more belief.
The author of Hebrews says: “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. …… And then says of the Israelites that were not allowed to enter the Promise Land: “…So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.” (Hebrews 3:12-19)
We have a natural tendency to run away before we commit. We see that all the time with people who say they are Christians, but will not go to anybody and tell them about Jesus. I truly believe that being non-committal towards Jesus is a sin. If we don’t know Him here, He has promised to not know us there.
Many people freeze up when asked to state their relationship to Jesus. Many people would actually rather deny Him than take the risk of having somebody mock them by confessing Jesus. Isn’t that what Peter did on the night they arrested Jesus?
The young man who sat in the chair on the stage had a decision to make. He could trust the truth, or he could run when it got uncomfortable. We have that same choice to make today.
We can choose to have a believing heart; then ponder and study what it is we actually believe; and then stop running long enough to cement our relationship with Christ, or we can run away.
The problem with running, is that one day you will have no other place to run to, and you will find yourself in that long line, waiting to be judged one-on-one with the Lord. When you find yourself standing there, what are you going to feel like when He looks directly at you and says, “NEXT”?
Monday, September 23, 2013
The Forgotten Word - Final Part
Ok, this Sunday we finished this lesson on/about repentance. Interesting that this lesson was done several years ago and was finished in one Sunday. Sometimes God doesn’t lead me to a lesson concept and when this occurs I go back to my archives and look over lessons to see if the Spirit leads me toward one. It is now obvious that this one turned out to be the right one. Each part generated much discussion, quite candid discussion, honest discussion.
More On The Meaning of Repentance
Repentance is not…
1. Just Being Sorry or Feeling Guilty
This situation with Judas is interesting. Matthew wrote, “When Judas, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse.” (Matthew 27:3b) Judas tried to give back the money he was paid for betraying Jesus and even said, “I have sinned,” (Matthew 27:4a) Now, many times this type of feeling of remorse can lead to true repentance, but for Judas it remained just a feeling of guilt and sorrow over wrongdoings. If Judas had been truly repentant he would have gone back to Jesus and would have asked forgiveness rather than committing suicide. He was sorry, but not sincerely repentant. Sorrow can be good but it is not the same as repentance.
There are people filled with guilt and sorrow, but then when they learn that some sort of change is expected in response, they don’t like it too much. Of course they may have been sincere in their sorrow, but there was absolutely no repentance. Often times they are not repentant and sorry that they did what they did, but they are sorry that they got caught. Now sometimes it does take our sin being exposed before we come to conviction over sin, but that doesn’t equal repentance.
2. Done to Escape Consequences
Sometimes we show remorse and offer change because we feel we have no other choice. Repentance is a choice we make, but we do it because we want to get right with God not because we don’t want to be in trouble or face consequences. Many times people say they are repentant over their sin because they hope that simply saying they are sorry will remove the earthly consequences for their sin, but that is not real repentance.
3. Admitting You Are Wrong
From time to time all of us have been known to be wrong on something. Often times that wrongdoing requires repentance. But admitting wrong, though noble, is not the same as repenting of the wrong. Just because you admit it does not mean any repentance took place. A “good old boy” (or girl) may say, “I said I was wrong, what more do you want?” Well…the answer is we want a sincere repentance.
B. Repentance is…
As mentioned earlier in the lesson, is a change of the mind, a change of the heart, and a change of the will that leads to a change in action.
1. A Change of the Mind
Repentance begins with a change of your mind or how you think. Along with repentance, your mind should change about God, who He is and what place He will have in your life. It should change how you view other people. It should change how we regard sin. Repentance should bring about a change to where you do not want to live a lifestyle of sin because you see the consequences of sin and no longer want to displease God.
2. A Change of the Will or what you “want” to do
Repentance should also involve a change of the will. What you want to do should change with real repentance. No longer do you want to please your sinful desires, but instead you want to submit to God’s will.
3. A Change of the Actions
The most important aspect of repentance for us to grasp is that true repentance involves a life change or a change of lifestyle. Remember the story of the “prodigal son” from last week’s lesson?
Throughout the Scriptures we read of people’s sins and mistakes, but along with that we also see many instances of a true and sincere repentance.
There is a VERY positive effect of sincere repentance of sin. There is joy in knowing our sins have been forgiven. “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!”(Psalm 32:1) “... if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”. (1 John 1:9) And I really like this scripture, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12). And this is really big since this was written by David who had broken just about all of God’s commandments. Just a note here to mention that David still had to suffer some serious earthly consequences of his sins!
We need to understand that we, on our own, are not capable of the kind of repentance discussed in this lesson. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal to us how to achieve this! But when we allow the Spirit to lead us to repentance, He will begin to produce in us a new understanding of the glory of Christ. And he'll make it known to everyone around us!
If you see this lesson and would like to get on email list OR you have a prayer request, please email hdunkin@charter.net.
Current lesson and archive of prior lessons available on WhoSoEver Blog at: http://imawhosoeversslessons.blogspot.com/
More On The Meaning of Repentance
Repentance is not…
1. Just Being Sorry or Feeling Guilty
This situation with Judas is interesting. Matthew wrote, “When Judas, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse.” (Matthew 27:3b) Judas tried to give back the money he was paid for betraying Jesus and even said, “I have sinned,” (Matthew 27:4a) Now, many times this type of feeling of remorse can lead to true repentance, but for Judas it remained just a feeling of guilt and sorrow over wrongdoings. If Judas had been truly repentant he would have gone back to Jesus and would have asked forgiveness rather than committing suicide. He was sorry, but not sincerely repentant. Sorrow can be good but it is not the same as repentance.
There are people filled with guilt and sorrow, but then when they learn that some sort of change is expected in response, they don’t like it too much. Of course they may have been sincere in their sorrow, but there was absolutely no repentance. Often times they are not repentant and sorry that they did what they did, but they are sorry that they got caught. Now sometimes it does take our sin being exposed before we come to conviction over sin, but that doesn’t equal repentance.
2. Done to Escape Consequences
Sometimes we show remorse and offer change because we feel we have no other choice. Repentance is a choice we make, but we do it because we want to get right with God not because we don’t want to be in trouble or face consequences. Many times people say they are repentant over their sin because they hope that simply saying they are sorry will remove the earthly consequences for their sin, but that is not real repentance.
3. Admitting You Are Wrong
From time to time all of us have been known to be wrong on something. Often times that wrongdoing requires repentance. But admitting wrong, though noble, is not the same as repenting of the wrong. Just because you admit it does not mean any repentance took place. A “good old boy” (or girl) may say, “I said I was wrong, what more do you want?” Well…the answer is we want a sincere repentance.
B. Repentance is…
As mentioned earlier in the lesson, is a change of the mind, a change of the heart, and a change of the will that leads to a change in action.
1. A Change of the Mind
Repentance begins with a change of your mind or how you think. Along with repentance, your mind should change about God, who He is and what place He will have in your life. It should change how you view other people. It should change how we regard sin. Repentance should bring about a change to where you do not want to live a lifestyle of sin because you see the consequences of sin and no longer want to displease God.
2. A Change of the Will or what you “want” to do
Repentance should also involve a change of the will. What you want to do should change with real repentance. No longer do you want to please your sinful desires, but instead you want to submit to God’s will.
3. A Change of the Actions
The most important aspect of repentance for us to grasp is that true repentance involves a life change or a change of lifestyle. Remember the story of the “prodigal son” from last week’s lesson?
Throughout the Scriptures we read of people’s sins and mistakes, but along with that we also see many instances of a true and sincere repentance.
There is a VERY positive effect of sincere repentance of sin. There is joy in knowing our sins have been forgiven. “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!”(Psalm 32:1) “... if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”. (1 John 1:9) And I really like this scripture, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12). And this is really big since this was written by David who had broken just about all of God’s commandments. Just a note here to mention that David still had to suffer some serious earthly consequences of his sins!
We need to understand that we, on our own, are not capable of the kind of repentance discussed in this lesson. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal to us how to achieve this! But when we allow the Spirit to lead us to repentance, He will begin to produce in us a new understanding of the glory of Christ. And he'll make it known to everyone around us!
If you see this lesson and would like to get on email list OR you have a prayer request, please email hdunkin@charter.net.
Current lesson and archive of prior lessons available on WhoSoEver Blog at: http://imawhosoeversslessons.blogspot.com/
Saturday, September 21, 2013
The Forgotten Word - Part 2
The Forgotten (or maybe just Ignored) Word
This is part 1 and part 2. Part 1 is in Italics.
The word repentance is not a popular word in today’s society. It is not popular because if we call people to repentance then we are admitting that people are doing something wrong. People don’t like to be told that they are wrong or have been living the wrong way. And you may be accused of “judging” and that is not the ‘political correct’ thing to do.
When you think of repentance, what do you think of?
Quite often repentance is one of those Bible words that we just throw around sometimes and we do not fully understand what it means to truly repent of sin. Bible repentance means more than just saying you are sorry. It is a change of mind, prompted by a change of heart, resulting in a change of life. There are some things or stumbling blocks that get in the way of sincere repentance.
Stumbling blocks to Repentance…
1) Pride or Arrogance
Most people do not like to admit that they are wrong. That is called, pride. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God said not to eat and ‘got caught”, they were not necessarily repentant over their sin. They knew they had sinned and even tried to hide from God. They both got into the ‘it’s not my fault” mode. Adam – She made me do it! “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” (Genesis 3:12) AND, he even blamed God – you gave me the women.
Eve – the serpent made me do it. “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” (Genesis 3:13)
Not once was there a, “You know what, I messed up” moment with them. Their pride kept them from admitting their sin.
2) Hardened Hearts
Sometimes people are hindered from repenting because their hearts are hard. It can be easy for someone to shut themselves off from hearing or receiving God’s Word when they realize their own faults or mistakes. They just don’t want to “hear it”. There are many that are so hard hearted towards their actions that repentance does not come easy. Because of their constant sin, they have justified it in their minds, to the point where there are many who do not even see their sin as sin or as a big deal at all.
3) Enjoyment of Sin
Sometimes others will not repent of sin because they just like it to much. True repentance comes down to a choice between stopping sin or continuing sin. Many people will just flat out tell you that they cannot truly repent of their sin because they like and enjoy the practice of their sin too much. We cannot love both God and the sinful things of this world. The necessary outcome of repentance is to change and abandon those sinful desires, and some just don’t want to give them up! This keeps many folks from being saved!
4) Not yet
Many people don’t repent because they just keep putting it “on the back burner”. Maybe tomorrow! This is one area of life which we should not put off until tomorrow! Many people may be convicted of their sins and they assure you that one day they plan on changing. One day they plan on making it right, but they continue to say “Not yet”.
So why is it necessary to repent of our sins?
Repentance is so important that it is a major theme throughout the Bible. John the Baptist preached a message calling the people to repentance. Jesus began His ministry preaching “Repent of your sins and turn to God.” (Matthew 4:17) And He made clear to his disciples that “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.”. (Luke 24:47) When Jesus addressed the seven churches is the book of Revelation eight times he challenged them to “repent”. The most important thing that we can learn is that there is an absolute necessity for repentance. And repentance is not just a one-time event that we do, but it is something we do on a regular basis. There is a need for repentance because we all have sinned and are in need of forgiveness. There is a need for repentance because there is an alternative to repentance that we want no part of.
Jesus had just received the news that some people from Galilee were murdered by Pilate. His disciples asked him, “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” (Luke 13:1-2) He answered “Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.” (Luke 13:3) Peter told the people at Pentecost “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God......” (Acts 2:38) Sounds like repentance may be kinda’ important!
We are sinners in need of forgiveness, and that forgiveness can only be obtained through our willingness to come before God and repent of our sins. It is important for us to realize that repentance is an individual thing that is necessary for everyone. We could have the tendency to think that “repentance isn’t for me” or “my sin is not as bad as their sin”, but regardless as to what we perceive the level of our sin, repentance is necessary for every individual.
If you see this lesson and would like to get on email list OR you have a prayer request, please email hdunkin@charter.net.
Current lesson and archive of prior lessons available on WhoSoEver Blog at: http://imawhosoeversslessons.blogspot.com/
This is part 1 and part 2. Part 1 is in Italics.
The word repentance is not a popular word in today’s society. It is not popular because if we call people to repentance then we are admitting that people are doing something wrong. People don’t like to be told that they are wrong or have been living the wrong way. And you may be accused of “judging” and that is not the ‘political correct’ thing to do.
When you think of repentance, what do you think of?
Quite often repentance is one of those Bible words that we just throw around sometimes and we do not fully understand what it means to truly repent of sin. Bible repentance means more than just saying you are sorry. It is a change of mind, prompted by a change of heart, resulting in a change of life. There are some things or stumbling blocks that get in the way of sincere repentance.
Stumbling blocks to Repentance…
1) Pride or Arrogance
Most people do not like to admit that they are wrong. That is called, pride. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God said not to eat and ‘got caught”, they were not necessarily repentant over their sin. They knew they had sinned and even tried to hide from God. They both got into the ‘it’s not my fault” mode. Adam – She made me do it! “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” (Genesis 3:12) AND, he even blamed God – you gave me the women.
Eve – the serpent made me do it. “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” (Genesis 3:13)
Not once was there a, “You know what, I messed up” moment with them. Their pride kept them from admitting their sin.
2) Hardened Hearts
Sometimes people are hindered from repenting because their hearts are hard. It can be easy for someone to shut themselves off from hearing or receiving God’s Word when they realize their own faults or mistakes. They just don’t want to “hear it”. There are many that are so hard hearted towards their actions that repentance does not come easy. Because of their constant sin, they have justified it in their minds, to the point where there are many who do not even see their sin as sin or as a big deal at all.
3) Enjoyment of Sin
Sometimes others will not repent of sin because they just like it to much. True repentance comes down to a choice between stopping sin or continuing sin. Many people will just flat out tell you that they cannot truly repent of their sin because they like and enjoy the practice of their sin too much. We cannot love both God and the sinful things of this world. The necessary outcome of repentance is to change and abandon those sinful desires, and some just don’t want to give them up! This keeps many folks from being saved!
4) Not yet
Many people don’t repent because they just keep putting it “on the back burner”. Maybe tomorrow! This is one area of life which we should not put off until tomorrow! Many people may be convicted of their sins and they assure you that one day they plan on changing. One day they plan on making it right, but they continue to say “Not yet”.
So why is it necessary to repent of our sins?
Repentance is so important that it is a major theme throughout the Bible. John the Baptist preached a message calling the people to repentance. Jesus began His ministry preaching “Repent of your sins and turn to God.” (Matthew 4:17) And He made clear to his disciples that “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.”. (Luke 24:47) When Jesus addressed the seven churches is the book of Revelation eight times he challenged them to “repent”. The most important thing that we can learn is that there is an absolute necessity for repentance. And repentance is not just a one-time event that we do, but it is something we do on a regular basis. There is a need for repentance because we all have sinned and are in need of forgiveness. There is a need for repentance because there is an alternative to repentance that we want no part of.
Jesus had just received the news that some people from Galilee were murdered by Pilate. His disciples asked him, “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” (Luke 13:1-2) He answered “Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.” (Luke 13:3) Peter told the people at Pentecost “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God......” (Acts 2:38) Sounds like repentance may be kinda’ important!
We are sinners in need of forgiveness, and that forgiveness can only be obtained through our willingness to come before God and repent of our sins. It is important for us to realize that repentance is an individual thing that is necessary for everyone. We could have the tendency to think that “repentance isn’t for me” or “my sin is not as bad as their sin”, but regardless as to what we perceive the level of our sin, repentance is necessary for every individual.
If you see this lesson and would like to get on email list OR you have a prayer request, please email hdunkin@charter.net.
Current lesson and archive of prior lessons available on WhoSoEver Blog at: http://imawhosoeversslessons.blogspot.com/
Monday, September 9, 2013
The Forgotten (or maybe just Ignored) Word (Part One)
This lesson generated a lot of discussion in class so we did not finish it. This is what we covered. Rest of lesson next week. Hayward
The Forgotten (or maybe just Ignored) Word
The word repentance is not a popular word in today’s society. It is not popular because if we call people to repentance then we are admitting that people are doing something wrong. People don’t like to be told that they are wrong or have been living the wrong way. And you may be accused of “judging” and that is not the ‘political correct’ thing to do.
When you think of repentance, what do you think of?
Quite often repentance is one of those Bible words that we just throw around sometimes and we do not fully understand what it means to truly repent of sin. Bible repentance means more than just saying you are sorry. It is a change of mind, prompted by a change of heart, resulting in a change of life. There are some things or stumbling blocks that get in the way of sincere repentance.
Stumbling blocks to Repentance…
1) Pride or Arrogance
Most people do not like to admit that they are wrong. That is called, pride. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God said not to eat and ‘got caught”, they were not necessarily repentant over their sin. They knew they had sinned and even tried to hide from God. They both got into the ‘it’s not my fault” mode. Adam – She made me do it! “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” (Genesis 3:12) AND, he even blamed God – you gave me the women.
Eve – the serpent made me do it. “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” (Genesis 3:13)
Not once was there a, “You know what, I messed up” moment with them. Their pride kept them from admitting their sin.
2) Hardened Hearts
Sometimes people are hindered from repenting because their hearts are hard. It can be easy for someone to shut themselves off from hearing or receiving God’s Word when they realize their own faults or mistakes. They just don’t want to “hear it”. There are many that are so hard hearted towards their actions that repentance does not come easy. Because of their constant sin, they have justified it in their minds, to the point where there are many who do not even see their sin as sin or as a big deal at all.
3) Enjoyment of Sin
Sometimes others will not repent of sin because they just like it to much. True repentance comes down to a choice between stopping sin or continuing sin. Many people will just flat out tell you that they cannot truly repent of their sin because they like and enjoy the practice of their sin too much. We cannot love both God and the sinful things of this world. The necessary outcome of repentance is to change and abandon those sinful desires, and some just don’t want to give them up! This keeps many folks from being saved!
The Forgotten (or maybe just Ignored) Word
The word repentance is not a popular word in today’s society. It is not popular because if we call people to repentance then we are admitting that people are doing something wrong. People don’t like to be told that they are wrong or have been living the wrong way. And you may be accused of “judging” and that is not the ‘political correct’ thing to do.
When you think of repentance, what do you think of?
Quite often repentance is one of those Bible words that we just throw around sometimes and we do not fully understand what it means to truly repent of sin. Bible repentance means more than just saying you are sorry. It is a change of mind, prompted by a change of heart, resulting in a change of life. There are some things or stumbling blocks that get in the way of sincere repentance.
Stumbling blocks to Repentance…
1) Pride or Arrogance
Most people do not like to admit that they are wrong. That is called, pride. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God said not to eat and ‘got caught”, they were not necessarily repentant over their sin. They knew they had sinned and even tried to hide from God. They both got into the ‘it’s not my fault” mode. Adam – She made me do it! “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” (Genesis 3:12) AND, he even blamed God – you gave me the women.
Eve – the serpent made me do it. “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” (Genesis 3:13)
Not once was there a, “You know what, I messed up” moment with them. Their pride kept them from admitting their sin.
2) Hardened Hearts
Sometimes people are hindered from repenting because their hearts are hard. It can be easy for someone to shut themselves off from hearing or receiving God’s Word when they realize their own faults or mistakes. They just don’t want to “hear it”. There are many that are so hard hearted towards their actions that repentance does not come easy. Because of their constant sin, they have justified it in their minds, to the point where there are many who do not even see their sin as sin or as a big deal at all.
3) Enjoyment of Sin
Sometimes others will not repent of sin because they just like it to much. True repentance comes down to a choice between stopping sin or continuing sin. Many people will just flat out tell you that they cannot truly repent of their sin because they like and enjoy the practice of their sin too much. We cannot love both God and the sinful things of this world. The necessary outcome of repentance is to change and abandon those sinful desires, and some just don’t want to give them up! This keeps many folks from being saved!
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
I Tell You The Truth
“I Tell You The Truth, Today You Will Be with Me In Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
As we come to the second “words of the cross,” we find ourselves listening to a deathbed conversation between three dying men. It begins with one of the criminals mocking Jesus, it continues with the other criminal defending Jesus and recognizing His rule, and it concludes with Jesus pardoning the repentant man and giving him eternal life. Let’s lean in and listen to what was said:
“39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” 40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43)
Our goal today is to take to understand and take to heart what Jesus promised the man who was crucified with him. We will do that by working from the end of his statement to the beginning.
“In Paradise.”
Have you wondered what heaven is like? Certainly we have. Where it is, What we will do there, will it be fun or do we worry that it might be boring. What we will wear, what we will eat, what we will do, where we will live. Will we recognize people in their new bodies and I wonder what those new bodies will actually look like. What will the climate be like? Will the landscape be rural or urban? How will we get around? How high will we be able to jump and how fast will we be able to run? Will we hang out with angels and eat with Jesus? Will there be animals and, in particular, will beloved family pets who have died put their wet noses in the palms of our hands and beg us to take them for a daily walk. And if they do, where will that walk take us? Will there be seniors and babies and middle-aged people or will we all be the same age? Will we see God face to face and what will he look like? Will all our questions finally be answered?
Paradise, the word Jesus used on the cross to describe heaven, is very rare in the Bible. It is actually a Persian word meaning “enclosure” or “park” or “garden” and our text offers the first time this word appears in scripture.
The second occurrence is in II Corinthians where Paul, talking about an out of the body experience that transported him up to a place he called the third heaven, wrote: “3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know 4 that I was caught up[a] to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell. (II Corinthians 12:3-4)
The third and final occurrence of the word “paradise” is in the book of Revelation where John’s vision is described in awe-inspiring detail. Again, it is Jesus who used this word when he promised: “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)
The reference to “the tree of life in the paradise of God” provides an important clue. Paradise is not just any kind of garden or enclosure. It is the sinless, weedless and painless Garden of Eden that is described in the first pages of the Bible: “8 Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. (Genesis 2:8)
So this is what Jesus promised the criminal after his death! So this is how we may picture heaven and eternal life. We are not destined for some misty, disembodied experience in some far away galaxy. Instead we are destined to live and work and play and find community with our Creator and our fellow creatures in a place of great beauty filled with color and sound and life and meaningful activity. What will heaven be like? It will be like the garden of Eden before the fall into sin.
A place called paradise is what Jesus promised the criminal on the cross. An experience that awaits us when you die in Christ, or when Christ returns, whichever comes first.
“You Will Be With Me”
One of the most excruciating experiences in life is to be left out, to be unwanted. The thief on the cross probably knew the pain of rejection. This is based that on the fact that he is called both a criminal and a “robber” (Mark) in the gospels. We also have his own admission that he deserved execution. So we would not be far off to imagine him as a misfit, a person abandoned and unloved, a person whose life of crime reflected a loveless, unloved life. My guess is that there was no one on Golgotha to mourn his death, to support him on his cruel deathbed. My guess is that he lived his life believing that no-one would want anything to do with him, especially someone who, unlike him, “had done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41).
Imagine then his shocked reaction when Jesus looked him in the eye and said, “you will be with me.”
You and me? How could that possibly be? Like a kid always picked last, inexplicably chosen first for once, he must have looked at Jesus in disbelief. You and me? A king and a con man? A ruler and a robber? A saviour and a sinner? Together forever? You and me?
Jesus must have received that reaction time and again during his life, as despised tax collectors and prostitutes and lepers felt his love and acceptance. How many others before and how many others since have been shocked to hear that Jesus wanted to be with them? How many of us have not thought: You and me? In paradise?
And yet, that is precisely the heart of the good news: that there is a God who wants to be with us.
Like the criminal, we are shocked at the news that God is more than willing to stoop down to us. But we should never forget that in the original paradise, God created humans not just to tend the garden, but to enjoy fellowship with him. You get a strong sense of that in Genesis 3:8,9 where we read: “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:8,9)
God created us for fellowship with him. God’s goal is to be “with us” again. And God’s agent of reconciliation is Jesus. The phrase “you will be with me” is what the Bible is all about, the reason Jesus came to live and die.
Looking at it from our point of view, like the criminal we should be totally shocked. Why would Jesus want to spend time with me! Looking at it from the Lord’s point of view, however, we should not be shocked at all. He wants nothing more than to walk with us in the garden in the cool of the day as he sought to do that fateful day when Adam and Eve hid in fear.
Here is the simple truth: Jesus loved the criminal on the cross and wanted to be with him. And Jesus loves us and wants to be with us.
Thankfully, the criminal experienced this love just before he died. Regrettably, he did not experience this love until then. How different his life would have been had he only lived it with Jesus walking by his side!
It doesn’t have to be that way for us. We don’t have to wait till the last minute of our life to be with the Lord. You can turn to him now, if you have not done so already, and ask him to remember you, to walk with you, to be there with you wherever life takes you. The grace that was there for a hardened criminal is there for you, too. All you have to do is ask and he will say, “You will be with me.”
“Today”
When the criminal died, he immediately joined Jesus in His Kingdom. That day. But how does this work, exactly?
The question is this: When a person dies, where does he go and when does he get there? Does he enter a state called “soul sleep” until Jesus returns? Does he go to a place called purgatory, an intermediate place until he is ready to move on? Does he go instantly to heaven? And how can that be since Jesus has not come back yet and the new earth and paradise has not yet been restored?
It helps to remember that Jesus’ concept of “today” is very different from ours. When Peter wrote about the Day of the Lord and tried to reassure Christians who were impatient to see Jesus come back, he said: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” (II Peter 3:8) In other words, time is a human “invention” of seconds, minutes, hours, day, weeks, months and years. Eternity, on the other hand, is a divine experience, a constant living in the now that holds past, present and future in the same moment.
The Bible says, “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.” (II Thessalonians 4:15) In other words, like people who sleep and are oblivious to the passing of time, waking up in what seems like a second later while others put in a full shift at work, those who die in the Lord wake up instantly at the moment of Christ’s second coming to join those who happen to be still alive when he returns.
It really is true that to God a thousand years is like a day. The comfort we have is that our loved ones are with the Lord today in eternity even though we are still waiting for that Day to arrive in human time. Isn’t it incredible that we may picture them in paradise right now!
“I Tell You the Truth”
Do you believe this? The criminal did. Here’s why.
This world is full of liars, and the robber knew some and was one. This world is also full of speculators, and most of us certainly recognize ourselves as a person who loves to speculate about the future and even what life after death will be like. On the other hand, there is one voice of truth that can be fully trusted. He is the one who began so many of his teachings with these words, “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” and “I tell you the truth.”
Everyone, including each of us, needs a place to stand, a starting place for developing a world and life view. Like a compass or a level, that place to stand must be trustworthy and true. And that true place to stand is Jesus who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). In fact, there was and is nothing false or dishonest in him, nothing unreliable or untrustworthy about him. People heard him preach, saw him do miracles, watched him carry the cross and were amazed at his authority. He has never lied to us or let us down or steered us wrong. That’s why we can base our view of life and death on every word He ever uttered, including these words spoken on the cross to the criminal crucified with him.
After a lifetime of lying and being lied to, the man crucified with Jesus shook himself free from the opinions of the other criminal and separated himself from the mob hostility that was aimed at Jesus and decided to take a step of faith. He turned to Jesus and put his trust in Him. When he did, Jesus looked at him with a heart full of compassion and eyes full of promise and said: “I tell you the truth.” And after a lifetime of rejection, deception and violence, the criminal died in peace and entered paradise with Jesus at His side.
Isn’t that the way we want to live? Isn’t that the way we want to die? Isn’t that the way we want to live again?
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Making Choices
Making Choices
Question: Ever wonder why there were 2 crosses next to Christ? Ever wonder why Jesus was in the center? Why not on the far left or far right? Could it be that the two crosses on the hill symbolized one of God's greatest gifts? The gift of choice! We could either choose to accept him or reject him. The choice is ours. To follow Him or to choose the world. (Thanks Sharon Hadley for postings this.)
When it comes right down to it everything is a choice. Every situation is a choice. Positive or negative, good day or bad, angry not angry, all are choices. How we choose to live each day is up to us, but we have to live with the consequences. There are many who claim the devil made me do it, or I am only human, or that is just who I am. What they fail to realize is that when it comes down to it, the decision was a choice and they did whatever it was because they wanted to.
25 The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau. 26 Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
27 As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”)
31 “All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.”
32 “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”
33 But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn. (Genesis 25:25-34)
I. Learn to be patient when making decisions (v.30).
Esau was not a patient man. He was hungry, and he wanted to eat now! He had been working all day and was tired. He had been out in the hot sun hunting and walking around. That takes a toll on you after a while, especially when you haven’t eaten. He was hungry and he was not going to wait to eat.
Does this sound familiar? We live in a culture that teaches “I want what I want when I want it, and I don’t want to wait.” We want it NOW! We teach our children to go out and get something if they want it. Often our attitude leads to problems.
Esau made a decision without being patient and lost something very dear to him- his birthright. Esau chose what was easiest and what would bring the most satisfaction immediately. The easiest choice is not always the right choice, but usually the wrong choice.
Everyday people make decisions without being patient and as a result lose something dear to them. Make the wrong choice and you can lose your family, job, even your character and sometimes your life.
Jesus made a decision that would affect the whole world for all of history. It was not an easy choice, but a very difficult one. He struggled with the fact that He would take on the sin of the entire world. He prayed in the garden the night before His crucifixion, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39b) But He chose God’s will not His and chose to die on the cross for our sins. He was buried and rose again to give us new life. He was patient in his choice. Had he chosen during a weak moment (like the garden) he might not have done it. Praise God Jesus died for you and me!
II. Consider the consequences when making decisions (v.31-32).
A birthright is a foreign thing to us. The birthright in those days meant that the firstborn son obtained the largest portion of the inheritance. The birthright included a blessing from the father, a double portion of the inheritance, and the right to rule over the entire family when the father was gone. This is a major position to have. This was Esau’s position. As the first born, he inherited the birthright and the authority in the family. For him to sell his birthright would have major consequences.
Jacob was a deceiver. He would do whatever he had to do to get what he wanted. This time was no different. He wanted the birthright. He found Esau at a vulnerable moment and moved in.
Esau never once considered the consequences of his actions. He only wanted to fill his stomach.
The drunk never considers the consequences when they climb behind the wheel of a car.
The spouse never considers the consequence when they have the affair.
The people never considered the consequences when they crucified Jesus..
The lost person never considers the consequences of rejecting Christ.
Every choice has consequences. A good choice has positive consequences; a poor choice has poor consequences. We must live with the consequences of what we do.
What are we willing to pay?
Esau was willing to pay way too much for a bowl of soup and some bread. He was willing to pay whatever it took. How often do we sell out for a measly bowl of soup? Too often we are willing as Esau was, to pay far to great a price for what we want.
We want fun- even at the expense of others
Kids want to be cool- make fun of the kid at school.
We want prosperity- we give up our integrity
We want live life and settle down later- later is often too late for God.
The question that we must ask ourselves is what am I willing to pay for what I want? If we will stop and weigh the consequences of our actions we will often find the price is far too much to pay for a mere bowl of stew.
13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
Jesus told us to enter through the narrow gate- choose Him for he is life and fulfillment. Few will choose Him. He is the one who gives abundant life, hope, peace, salvation. Many will trade their souls and their opportunity for salvation for one more hoorah.
What about us Christians? Are we willing to sell the blessings and abundant life in Christ for an indulgence of things of this earth? Things that does not please God? What are we willing to pay for fleshly pleasure? Are we willing to sell our relationship with God for so-called personal gain?
The choice is up to us. We must learn to be patient in our decisions, consider the consequences, and ask what am I willing to pay?
Question: Ever wonder why there were 2 crosses next to Christ? Ever wonder why Jesus was in the center? Why not on the far left or far right? Could it be that the two crosses on the hill symbolized one of God's greatest gifts? The gift of choice! We could either choose to accept him or reject him. The choice is ours. To follow Him or to choose the world. (Thanks Sharon Hadley for postings this.)
When it comes right down to it everything is a choice. Every situation is a choice. Positive or negative, good day or bad, angry not angry, all are choices. How we choose to live each day is up to us, but we have to live with the consequences. There are many who claim the devil made me do it, or I am only human, or that is just who I am. What they fail to realize is that when it comes down to it, the decision was a choice and they did whatever it was because they wanted to.
25 The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau. 26 Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
27 As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”)
31 “All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.”
32 “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”
33 But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn. (Genesis 25:25-34)
I. Learn to be patient when making decisions (v.30).
Esau was not a patient man. He was hungry, and he wanted to eat now! He had been working all day and was tired. He had been out in the hot sun hunting and walking around. That takes a toll on you after a while, especially when you haven’t eaten. He was hungry and he was not going to wait to eat.
Does this sound familiar? We live in a culture that teaches “I want what I want when I want it, and I don’t want to wait.” We want it NOW! We teach our children to go out and get something if they want it. Often our attitude leads to problems.
Esau made a decision without being patient and lost something very dear to him- his birthright. Esau chose what was easiest and what would bring the most satisfaction immediately. The easiest choice is not always the right choice, but usually the wrong choice.
Everyday people make decisions without being patient and as a result lose something dear to them. Make the wrong choice and you can lose your family, job, even your character and sometimes your life.
Jesus made a decision that would affect the whole world for all of history. It was not an easy choice, but a very difficult one. He struggled with the fact that He would take on the sin of the entire world. He prayed in the garden the night before His crucifixion, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39b) But He chose God’s will not His and chose to die on the cross for our sins. He was buried and rose again to give us new life. He was patient in his choice. Had he chosen during a weak moment (like the garden) he might not have done it. Praise God Jesus died for you and me!
II. Consider the consequences when making decisions (v.31-32).
A birthright is a foreign thing to us. The birthright in those days meant that the firstborn son obtained the largest portion of the inheritance. The birthright included a blessing from the father, a double portion of the inheritance, and the right to rule over the entire family when the father was gone. This is a major position to have. This was Esau’s position. As the first born, he inherited the birthright and the authority in the family. For him to sell his birthright would have major consequences.
Jacob was a deceiver. He would do whatever he had to do to get what he wanted. This time was no different. He wanted the birthright. He found Esau at a vulnerable moment and moved in.
Esau never once considered the consequences of his actions. He only wanted to fill his stomach.
The drunk never considers the consequences when they climb behind the wheel of a car.
The spouse never considers the consequence when they have the affair.
The people never considered the consequences when they crucified Jesus..
The lost person never considers the consequences of rejecting Christ.
Every choice has consequences. A good choice has positive consequences; a poor choice has poor consequences. We must live with the consequences of what we do.
What are we willing to pay?
Esau was willing to pay way too much for a bowl of soup and some bread. He was willing to pay whatever it took. How often do we sell out for a measly bowl of soup? Too often we are willing as Esau was, to pay far to great a price for what we want.
We want fun- even at the expense of others
Kids want to be cool- make fun of the kid at school.
We want prosperity- we give up our integrity
We want live life and settle down later- later is often too late for God.
The question that we must ask ourselves is what am I willing to pay for what I want? If we will stop and weigh the consequences of our actions we will often find the price is far too much to pay for a mere bowl of stew.
13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
Jesus told us to enter through the narrow gate- choose Him for he is life and fulfillment. Few will choose Him. He is the one who gives abundant life, hope, peace, salvation. Many will trade their souls and their opportunity for salvation for one more hoorah.
What about us Christians? Are we willing to sell the blessings and abundant life in Christ for an indulgence of things of this earth? Things that does not please God? What are we willing to pay for fleshly pleasure? Are we willing to sell our relationship with God for so-called personal gain?
The choice is up to us. We must learn to be patient in our decisions, consider the consequences, and ask what am I willing to pay?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
