Everyday we miss the mark and sin…but the big question is…how does it make you feel when you do sin? If you are unaffected and apathetic when you sin, too soon the sin will become very commonplace, and lead you down the wrong path. But if when you sin you are truly sorrowful, and ask the Lord for forgiveness… He will encourage you to get, brush yourself off, and try again.
Tag: christianity
Matthew 5:3 ” Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
In our mortal state, we are helpless, destitute beggars…spiritually bankrupt and lost. But if we acknowledge our dire situation, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He will become very present and involved in our life. Suddenly, the Kingdom of God will dwell within our hearts, and we will be taken from beggar to joint heir with Jesus.
Jeremiah 18: 6 ” O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? declares the Lord. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand.”
The lump of clay is thrown on the wheel and slowly worked…at a steady pace you start to shape the clay…not too fast, not too slow. The form begins to take shape, when suddenly your hand causes it to be damaged…ruined. Oh well, you gather up the clay…and you start over. God is the God of do overs. Our lives will never get to the point where He can’t do us over. The Lord will rework our lives over and over again until He deems us a perfect vessel.
John 21:17 “The third time He said to him, ‘ Simon son of John, do you love Me?’ “
During the Last Supper, Jesus had foretold Simon Peter that he would betray Him…not just once, or twice, but three times. So in this interchange at the end of the Gospel of John, we see the risen Jesus asking Simon Peter not once, or twice, but three times if he loved Him. Each time He asks this question, we see Jesus restoring Simon Peter back into relationship not only with Himself, but as one of the leaders among the disciples, and ultimately in the early Church.
Ecclesiastes 4:4 ” And I saw all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Keeping up with the Joneses is certainly not a new thing. Even back in Biblical times people were striving to match or outdo their neighbors in spending and social standing. But this verse looks way beyond the petty jealousy and covetousness to how very difficult it is to maintain that façade and false pretense. It’s like chasing after the wind…useless and meaningless, and laborious to maintain.
Matthew 11: 28 ” Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
This world is very adept at weighing us down with cares, guilt, and shame. We will never be pretty even, rich enough, or skinny enough by it’s standards…so we wonder why we feel so bad! Jesus said to Come to Him with all our cares, and concerns…Come to Him with all our failures and broken promises…For He will take them all, and in the process will allow us to see ourselves through His loving eyes, and His standards…His eternal standards.
Isaiah 26:10 ” Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the Lord.”
The Lord’s kindness and mercy is extended to all…it is us who turn away, not Him. It is us who look with disdain on His grace, never taking into consideration what it will cost us in the end. Romans 2:4 says, ” Do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience – not realizing that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance?”
Romans 10:13 ” for, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Everyone’s journey to the Cross is different and unique. It may be after a long and deliberate search, it may be in the middle of a terrible crisis… but the good news is regardless of how we reach that point, as soon as we call upon the mighty name of Jesus – He’s there! His hand is ever reaching…His ears are ever pricked for our voice. All we need to do is call – He will do the rest.
Psalm 119:59 ” I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to Your statutes.”
The Lord is forever wanting us to think about our actions and behaviors. Are they righteous or wicked…good or bad…helpful or harmful? God’s precepts are the standard by which we should focus our Way in this world, but the decision to do so is entirely up to us. As it says in Joshua 24:14, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”
Titus 3: 4-5 “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.”
The grace and love of our Lord brings salvation to sinful mankind. Jesus came to deliver us from Spiritual death, not from anything we had done, but entirely by His loving compassion towards us. The incomparable riches of God’s grace was expressed in His kindness to us in the form of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
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