Monday, November 5, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
There is No Condemnation
But I do know this:
There is no condemnation for those in Christ (Romans 8:1).
From Psalm 103:
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Isiah 38:
17 Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sin behind your back.
Micah 7
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Do not be burdened by the past. You are free of the penalties of sin. Know joy. Look to your blessed future not your stained past. Go forth and sin no more. God does not just love us, he loves you specifically.
I hope this message helps you.
There is no condemnation for those in Christ (Romans 8:1).
From Psalm 103:
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Isiah 38:
17 Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sin behind your back.
Micah 7
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Do not be burdened by the past. You are free of the penalties of sin. Know joy. Look to your blessed future not your stained past. Go forth and sin no more. God does not just love us, he loves you specifically.
I hope this message helps you.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
What Does God Want?
Simply, God wants mercy not sacrifice:
“As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” - Matt 9: 9-13.
What does this mean? Lets use the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8: 1-11 as an example. In this story a woman is caught in the act of adultery and presented by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees to Jesus. Adultery was a crime punishable by death. Jesus performed a miracle of logic by affirmed the law in such a way that the death penalty could not be performed.
We can clearly see who has the mercy here: Jesus. The teachers of the law cared nothing for the woman and were happy enough to use her unto her death to make a point. But God is love, and God is mercy and God saved her life.
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees thought they were righteous, but because their hearts were not right, not merciful, they were exposed as frauds and evil doers. One can clearly see the evil in their hearts because not only did they not have mercy, but they did not truly love God's law like they thought they did, otherwise they would have brought both of the guilty parties. Clearly they were not motivated by love for God, but rather the opposite: hate for Jesus.
The point is that if we look for rules and regulations, but our heart is not right, if our heart is not loving, if our heart is not merciful then we will miss what the truth is just as surely as the Pharisees missed the truth of what God wants us to know.
Our lives as Christians change not because we are self-righetous, but because we have been granted mercy, and thus we learn to be merciful to others. This is what God wants: mercy, not sacrifice.
“As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” - Matt 9: 9-13.
What does this mean? Lets use the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8: 1-11 as an example. In this story a woman is caught in the act of adultery and presented by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees to Jesus. Adultery was a crime punishable by death. Jesus performed a miracle of logic by affirmed the law in such a way that the death penalty could not be performed.
We can clearly see who has the mercy here: Jesus. The teachers of the law cared nothing for the woman and were happy enough to use her unto her death to make a point. But God is love, and God is mercy and God saved her life.
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees thought they were righteous, but because their hearts were not right, not merciful, they were exposed as frauds and evil doers. One can clearly see the evil in their hearts because not only did they not have mercy, but they did not truly love God's law like they thought they did, otherwise they would have brought both of the guilty parties. Clearly they were not motivated by love for God, but rather the opposite: hate for Jesus.
The point is that if we look for rules and regulations, but our heart is not right, if our heart is not loving, if our heart is not merciful then we will miss what the truth is just as surely as the Pharisees missed the truth of what God wants us to know.
Our lives as Christians change not because we are self-righetous, but because we have been granted mercy, and thus we learn to be merciful to others. This is what God wants: mercy, not sacrifice.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Love Bombing
"By this will all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another," (John 13:35)
Love bombing "is the deliberate show of affection or friendship by an individual or a group of people toward another individual." It is often used by cults to attract new members. The reason why it works I believe is because it fulfills a real need in humans: to be surrounded by love.
The down side is that once a cult has this influence then it is used to manipulate and control the new convert. It is not true unconditional love, but rather conditional non-love.
I wonder what would happen if love bombing were used with true unconditional love? What if love bombing was not a manipulation, but rather sincere affection? What if love bombing was a way of life?
Love bombing "is the deliberate show of affection or friendship by an individual or a group of people toward another individual." It is often used by cults to attract new members. The reason why it works I believe is because it fulfills a real need in humans: to be surrounded by love.
The down side is that once a cult has this influence then it is used to manipulate and control the new convert. It is not true unconditional love, but rather conditional non-love.
I wonder what would happen if love bombing were used with true unconditional love? What if love bombing was not a manipulation, but rather sincere affection? What if love bombing was a way of life?
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Example of Living Sacrifice - John 12:3
3Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Mary quite literally offered her body as a living sacrifice. When you read this passage does it touch your heart, or is your heart closer to those around her who looked upon her with scorn?
Mary quite literally offered her body as a living sacrifice. When you read this passage does it touch your heart, or is your heart closer to those around her who looked upon her with scorn?
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