Forgiveness and Redemption

Devotion:  Ephesians 1:7-10

The question was asked; “What is the difference between forgiveness and redemption?”  Both are huge blessings afforded us by the blood of Jesus.

Forgiveness has two dynamics that involve asking and giving of it.   One is asking for it and the other chooses to give it.  The asker and the giver must release past hurt and disappointment.  The souls of both are restored to health and wholeness.

Redemption involves forgiveness realized.  Sin is gone.  There was a great price involved, a payment made.  You become united as one with your heavenly Father as well as the people who’ve carried the unforgiveness.  In the book of James; God asks us to dwell together in unity.  God also says; “As far as it is possible, be at peace with all men.”

Let’s think about this passage as it applies to our salvation.  Our God through HIs son Jesus supplied the forgiveness of our sin.  Why?  Because of His lavish grace!  Today’s Scripture tells us it’s a “mystery of His will.”  It’s a total mystery to me; however, I am so thankful for God’s amazing grace.

It pleased God to supply grace lavishly because of His good pleasure.  It pleases Him to pour out Grace and forgiveness.  It occurred to me;  “To whom much is given, much is required.”  Precious one, because you and I have been forgiven much, God requires us to give it to others.

                        Forgiveness = Redemption

God longs to “restore the years the locusts have eaten.”  He wants you to dwell in unity with Him as well as the people He’s placed in your life.

Do you need to go ask someone to forgive you?  Do you have someone you need to go forgive?  Ask God to show you if there is any unresolved conflict that may have stolen your peace and joy?

Prayer in Motion:

Oh God, I am asking You to search me and know my heart.  Show me if there is anyone for whom I need to ask forgiveness or anyone I need to forgive?  Thank You for making a way for redemption here on earth as well as in heaven.

 

Take Delight in the Lord

Devotion:  Psalm 37:4

For years, my soul has carried certain burdens.  Heavy burdens.  To be honest, I pray about them once in a while; however, because of the length of time; I forget to take them to the One who daily bears my burdens, the One in whom my soul takes delight.

When I bring my cares to the Lord; He delights in answering those prayers; in His timing.  Why would I forget to take delight in the Lord, acknowledging His tried and true attributes, His character?  Below are only a few of His attributes:

“The Name of the Lord is a strong tower.  The righteous run into it and they are saved.”  “God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  God is our Jehovah Jireh, our Provider.  He is Jehovah El Roi, the God Who Sees me.    “The Lord is my portion.”  “God is love.”  “Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.”  He’s our Savior and Redeemer.

If we began to delight in Him, He promises to give us the desires of our hearts.  What are your desires?  As Gideon did in Judges 6:37, when he wanted to know God’s direction; do you ever put out a prayer fleece?  My dad used to tell me he thought it was showing little faith.  I disagree with him.  Although I do not take it lightly nor for granted, I’ve put out fleeces approximately ten times in my life.

Mark Batterson in his book Draw the Circle; states “A fleece must come out of a desire to honor God and do His will.”  “If God is for you, who can be against you?”  Are you taking delight in the Lord, in who He is, versus the burden you are carrying?  As you pray, lean into Him.  Trust Him.  Delight in Him while you wait.  Allow Him to come alongside you supplying you with amazing hope that does not disappoint.

Prayer in Motion:

Today Lord, I choose to delight myself in You.  I cast my cares upon You because You care for me.  You promised to never give me more than I can bear.  I lean into You.  I trust You both now and always.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

 

 

 

Abandoned and Forgotten

Devotion:  Jeremiah 2:13

While reading through Jeremiah 1 and 2 I kept seeing the words, “abandoned Me”, “forgotten Me” and “turned their back to Me.”  All those statements were made by the Lord.  It made me feel sad because I have done all those things for long periods of time.  I’ve dug cisterns, cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.  I’ve neglected my prayer closet and Bible reading.

It’s the Living Water for which we truly thirst.  God specifically said in the ten commandments we are to have no other gods before Him.  Yet, we have many gods; busyness, materialism, pleasures, food, entertainment, all the things that can become idols we place above the Lord our God.  I’ve put them all before God more times than I’d like to admit.

I complain rather than praise God.  It makes Him so sad.  He created us for praise and worship of Him alone.   God tells us in verse 31 of chapter 2, …”pay attention to the word of the LORD!”

What truly amazes me is God’s willingness to quickly forgive and restore.  It doesn’t matter how long or in what ways we’ve abandoned Him; He always takes us back.  He’s the most loving Savior.    He never leaves us nor forsakes us no matter the sins we’ve committed.  That’s the kind of God we serve.

I just wonder how many times I’ve abandoned my Lord and yet He’s never abandoned me.  God declares in Jeremiah 1:5:

“I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born.  I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Even when we abandon Him, God does not forget His promises.  What a wonderful God we serve!  Oh, how He loves you and me.

Prayer in Motion:

Lord, thank You for never leaving me nor forsaking me.  Forgive me for every time I have abandoned You in prayer and Bible reading.  I repent of all those times.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

 

Living a Life of Christianity

Devotion:  1 Thessalonians 2:10-13

I was listening to a young man preach who said he has known quite a few people who live a life of Christianity without actually ever meeting Christ.  What does that look like?  God declares in His Word, “We can have a form of godliness and yet deny the power therein.”

One can go to church every time the doors are opened and yet not have a true relationship with Jesus.  Some of the saddest words in the Bible are, “Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord and I will say to them; Depart from Me, you who works iniquity.  I never knew you.”

People will say things like, I did all these good deeds in Your Name.  I was at church every time the doors were opened. I served in my church and community.  I visited the sick and imprisoned.  All of those things are good but they aren’t your ticket into heaven.

Jesus is the only way to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.  It’s not His desire that any man should perish without Him.  He wants a personal relationship with you.  He wants you and me to ask Him to forgive us of our sins and pray to Him about everything.  He also wants us to seek His face through studying His Word.

A true-life of Christianity doesn’t mean your life is perfectly spotless and blameless.  It does, however, mean you have a personal relationship with Jesus.  He knows your voice and you know His.

When you sin, you ask His forgiveness and He removes it from you as far as the east is from the west.  You also forgive those who’ve sinned against you.

Under Your Skin

Devotion:  1 Samuel 16:7

I love red potatoes.  They are sweeter and even have a different texture from Idaho potatoes.  There seems to be a staunch difference, kind of like eating pineapple from a can versus biting into a fresh piece of pineapple.  Night and day.

I was going to boil these red jewels with the skin left on; however, I noticed there were quite a few imperfections on the outside.  You never know what’s under those imperfections.  Although there were no rotten places; they looked better once I had removed the exterior skin.

Let’s compare those beautiful tasty potatoes with what lies under your own skin.  We have all sorts of imperfections showing on our outward appearance.  What is revealed spiritually; when we peel back the layers of our flesh?  Sometimes it can get ugly.

Life’s circumstances reveal our inward heart showing our true character.  Just like our food and drink; whatever we ingest comes out of our mouth and shows in our actions,  Will we remain pure of heart; or get snippy and be unkind?  Dear God, help us.

Let’s face it; we are all guilty of judging a book by its cover.  We know good and well that’s not fair.  We have no idea what lies inside a book or person.

We are filled with the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit.  When our outward skin gets peeled off by people or circumstances; Jesus alone can enable us to reveal love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.  My friend, God loves to show your heart to the people He’s given you,

Prayer in Motion:

Lord Jesus, thank You for filling me daily with Your precious Holy Spirit.  I cannot reveal your character without Him.  My and heart will fail always without You Jesus.  I long for people to see You in me.  I love You and thank You for loving me with Your everlasting love.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

Self Righteousness

Devotion:  James 3:13-18

Are you at the center of your own world?  Are you self focused and self-righteous?  Most of us are.  It makes everything about me.  I don’t want that to be true, but most days it is.

Paul Tripp says in his book New Morning Mercies;  “The world of envy no more mixes with the world of grace than oil does with water.  Envy forgets who you are, forgets who God is, and is confused about what life is all about.”  He also states; “Envy is self-focused and self-righteous.”  Ugh!

We’ve all struggled with envy at some point in time. Think about all the things you see in other people’s lives that you truly would love to be enjoying.  From hair and looks to what someone else has, their car, their house, their relationships.  You name it, we’ve envied it.  You see as humans we compare ourselves to other people.

Paul Tripp says:  “Envy is universal because sin is.”

The sin of envy and self-righteousness grieves my heart and I am certain it grieves the very heart of God.  If not for God’s grace we would all be condemned.  He always tells us the truth about ourselves in His Word.  It is by grace we are saved but it’s also through grace that God makes a way for redemption from our sinful nature.

Jesus offers us daily, moment by moment marvelous, infinite, matchless grace.  I want to be done with envy because I want more of Jesus, done with self-righteousness and filled with His righteousness.  I long to be trained by it, grow stronger in it and my latter days to be greater than the former.

Prayer in Motion:

Oh God, forgive me for envy and self-righteousness.  I want to be trained in Your righteousness and for You to help me work out my own salvation.  I long to draw closer to You, my Lord and my God.  I want to hear Your voice, seek Your face and know Your heart.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

 

 

Walk in Peace

Devotion:  John 16:33

God allows difficult things to come into our lives.  He loves us with an everlasting love and He is a good God.  No one wants the difficult.  I do not plead with my God to allow the difficult.  I want easy and pleasant every day, twenty-four seven.

Every word of God is true.  He promises “In this world, you will have tribulation, but don’t be afraid for I have overcome the world.”

Hard things happen.  People we love get sick and some die.  Others make bad decisions affecting more than just themselves.  We’ve all observed bad things happening to many people.  Some seem barely affected and walk in peace that surpasses all understanding.  Other people fall totally apart.

What makes the difference in how people act or react when facing something difficult?  Why do some display peace while others display a heart full of anger and bitterness?

I am reminded of the scripture where Jesus said, “My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, so give I you.”  Then why do we allow the enemy to fill us with anxiety and fear?  We still live in the flesh.  God knows and understands we are but flesh.  Remember He is fully God and fully man.  Jesus went through every emotion you will ever go through and yet His promise of peace still stands.

How do we walk in peace when inside of our hearts a war is raging?  When hurt comes into your life; take heart and hope in this promised peace.  Begin to walk out your faith and hope in Christ.  His promises are yes and amen.

Choose to trust the One who holds you in the palm of His hand.  Christ alone can speak peace to your storm.  Believe Him and walk in the peace for which He died.

Prayer in Motion:

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your amazing peace.  I acknowledge I can get it from nowhere else but You.  You are my peace.  You are my calm.  You are the reason I can weather any raging storm.  I love You Jesus!  It’s in Your Name I offer up this prayer.  Amen.

 

Who Am I?

Hebrews 13:20-21

Have you ever asked yourself, “Who am I?”  We could all state the obvious.  I am someone’s son or daughter.  I am someone’s wife or husband.  I am someone’s father or mother. I am someone’s sister or brother. I am someone’s grandmother or grandfather. I am a friend.  Many identify with the job they do.  I am a teacher, an engineer, an electrician, an accountant, a lawyer or a doctor, a preacher.

When you take away the obvious, who are you really?  At the core of your being, who are you?  Why were you placed on this earth?  We were all created with a purpose.  Do you know your purpose?   Are you fulfilling that purpose?  Those are soul searching questions.

The real question is who are you in Christ?  You were created to glorify Him on a daily basis with every ounce of your being.  Daily, I must ask if I am glorifying the One who created me for His own good pleasure.  Am I pleasing my Creator?  I surely want to.

Whatever I am doing, I want to do it with all of my might to glorify my Savior.  At work, at home, at church, in my neighborhood, with my family and friends; when I am by myself, I want to bring Him praise, honor, glory, and blessing.

I pray that daily you and I will ask our Father, to show us His glory and that we will return that glory to Him.   It should be our chief goal in life.

Prayer in Motion:

Oh God, may I glorify You on earth as You are glorified in heaven.  I trust You to accomplish what concerns me, always. I want to be who You created me to be.  I love you with all of my heart, mind, soul, and strength. In Jesus Name.  Amen.

Weeping Prophet

Devotion:  Jeremiah 31:15-16

My good friend Ralph Henderson, reminded me of a time our then pastor, Dr. Joe Brown stood in the pulpit and wept because he didn’t feel his people were getting into God’s Word the way they should.  He wanted them to have a love and a passion for His Word.  Jesus is the Word Incarnate.

Jeremiah and Jesus wept over their people.  Do we ever weep over the condition of our world?  Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet.  Jesus wept over Jerusalem.  It seems rare today to hear of someone weeping over the spiritual condition of another person or a people group.  However, we need to.

If our tears are kept in a bottle in heaven; then we need to be weeping over the spiritual condition of our people as well as our nation and our world.

People have been so upset over wrongful treatment of animals as well they should, but then those same people have turned their heads the other way when prayer and Bible reading were taken out of school.  We need to weep over the things that make our Lord weep.  Many students are turning to drugs, alcohol, pornography, gangs and making a whole plethora of unhealthy choices.  You have to wonder if these had been left in the schools if the trajectory of many student’s lives would have been different.

God says He keeps all of our tears in a bottle.  Here’s my take on that.  Think about expensive perfumes and colognes.  They are all kept in a bottle.  Why?  Because they are really precious and important to those who make them and those who buy them.  The glass bottles help retain the fragrance and keep the perfume from evaporating.

Our tears must be really important to God.  Anything God keeps in a bottle must be valuable to Him.  You are valuable to Him.

Prayer in Motion:

Lord Jesus, I thank You for cherishing our tears.  I thank You for weeping over us in the garden and on the cross.  Our tears are important to You.  May I weep over the things that make you weep.  I just love You so Lord.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

 

 

As I Give

Devotion:  Luke 6:38

Do I really believe as I give; it will be given to me?  How do I give?  Do I give reluctantly or under compulsion or with a cheerful heart?  God loves a cheerful giver.  Do I give as unto the Lord? Do I believe with the measure I use, it will be measured back to me?

The Bible says; “If I sow sparingly, I will reap sparingly, and if I sow bountifully; I will reap bountifully.”  There’s none to compare.  Honestly, Jesus gave me so much.  He gave me eternal life.  Why would I not give back to the one who freely gave me all things to enjoy?

I need to hold onto things more loosely.  I need to trust God more fully and give more freely.  He wants to bless us abundantly, by teaching us to give as unto Him.  Give monetarily.  Give your time.  Give encouragement.  Give blessings.  Give grace.  If you will give those things to all the people God has placed in your life; I promise He will give it back to you one hundredfold.

You will never lack.  You will never want for anything.  You will have peace that surpasses all understanding. It won’t always be easy but when you walk in this kind of obedience, remembering “As I give, it will be given to me….Oh, God how I want this kind of heart.

Because I want God’s blessing more than anything this world has to offer, will You help me Lord to practice giving as unto You?  May I behold Your face when I face any dilemma about giving.  I want to always give my tithe and any offering You ask me to give.  I want to always give as unto You my Lord and my God.

Prayer in Motion:

Jesus, I want to thank You for hearing my prayers.  I want to bless You always.  I want to be a cheerful giver with my money, my time, my grace, my encouragement, my blessings.  After all, they all belong to You anyway.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.