The Answer Is No

“Will the Lord reject forever?
   Will he never show his favor again? 
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
   Has his promise failed for all time? 
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
   Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Psalms 77:7-9 NIV

Praise be to God alone, the answer is no! In Christ he will not reject us. He will show his favor. His unfailing love will appear again and again. His promises are yes in Christ to us. His mercy is everlasting and his compassion is new every day! Praise be to God alone!

Justice is...

This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.

Zechariah 7:9-10

True justice begins with mercy and compassion. That is why the center of our faith is the redemptive work of Christ upon the cross. In that, the ultimate act of mercy and compassion, true justice was dealt for all of mankind. 

Unless we understand our own incredible need for the mercy and compassion of God in Christ we will look judgmentally down upon those less fortunate than us. The problem with the idea of karma is that people get what they deserve and that's the end of the story. Many Christians get that way with "you reap what you sow" and forget about mercy and compassion. They forget that all have fallen short of the glory of God. None is righteous, no not one. 

So what's the point today? Be merciful and compassionate when seeking justice. When you see that oppressed see them through the eyes of someone who needs God's mercy and compassion. My grandmother used to say (when she saw someone less fortunate than her), "There, but by the grace of God, go I." 

There is no arguing with a fool

Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,
   for the times are evil. 
Seek good, not evil, that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
   just as you say he is.
Hate evil, love good;
   maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy 
   on the remnant of Joseph.
Amos 5:13-15 (NIV)

There's no arguing with a fool. Sometimes you just have to wait things out before it's time to speak or act. A friend of mine once said that people aren't ready to hear something until they're ready to hear it. Love good, do the right thing and hate evil. Be prudent about your words.

Should You Be Afraid?

Should you not fear me?” declares the Lord.
   “Should you not tremble in my presence?
I made the sand a boundary for the sea,
   an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.
Jeremiah 5:22 (NIV)

Every now and then we need to just stop and remember that God is the Almighty and he answers to no one. All must answer to him. 

Sometimes we forget that God is the Sovereign Judge of all. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Every person who arrogantly speaks as if they will question God with some foolish question will realize his own folly. 

As a Christian sometimes we just need to sit down in God's Presence and humbly remember that we need to fear him and tremble in his Presence. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Although I do believe that my salvation is all of grace, I also believe that I should not mess with the grace of God. God is being gracious and merciful to me because he chooses to, not because he has to. 

Father, we come before you and confess that we are sinners. We need you grace and call out for your mercy! Teach us to walk humbly before you. Praise be to you in us today!

Does God Hear Your Prayers?

Praise be to God,
   who has not rejected my prayer
   or withheld his love from me!
Psalms 66:20 (NIV)

God's love is amazing. If one of my children does something wrong  I will not stay upset too long. And even when I am really angry with them I still have a father's love. How much more does God love us, even when we sin? He loved us enough to send his one and only Son to die for our sins! That love has not changed. His compassion continues! His mercies never fail! It's about his faithfulness and that is why we are thankful!

ARE YOU A WISE GUY?

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom." James 3:13

James moves right from taming the tongue to showing how wise and understanding you are. Kind of like saying, "OK, you talk a good game, let's see you do it." 

At one school I worked at as a categorical program advisor (that means I did go-for work for the principal) there was one teacher that when I first listened to him sounded like a very polished educator. I thought that when I walked into his room I would find a finely tuned learning environment. When I did enter his class it was chaos. He talked a good game, but, his actual classroom management skills left a lot to be desired. 

We all should desire to be holy and to know Christ intimately. James refers to "deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom". Humility is knowing who you are in Christ and living accordingly. We love because he first loved us (I John 4:19). Remember that when Christ taught the disciples how to pray he made forgiveness mandatory (Matthew 6:14-15). When we understand forgiveness we must be humble because we realize our own sinfulness. If it wasn't for God's grace in Christ's death on the cross we would still be dead in our sins! None of us is such a good person that God had to save us. Wisdom is knowing this truth and living, as in treating others with the same grace and mercy God has shown you, accordingly. 

My hope today is not to "knock you down a notch" but to encourage you to remember the grace and mercy God has shown you in Christ. He died for you. Before the creation of the universe he chose to die for you, knowing all the sins you would commit (those before and after you would accept Christ). God is graciously Sovereign. 

Father, thank you for your grace and mercy to us. Open our eyes to see your grace and mercy in our lives. Help us to live in humility. Praise be to you in us today!

Do You Have a Right to Not Be Merciful?

"Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement!" James 2:12-13

I am a very imperfect person. That is not offered up as an excuse. When I sin, I sin. No one made me sin. I sinned. I do not want to sin. I try to seek God on a daily basis through prayer and Bible study. But, sometimes I still sin. And I don't think I am really any different that anyone who might read this. 

We all sin. That means that I need mercy, and you need mercy. My wife needs mercy. Anyone I deal with needs mercy.

These verses are not about legalism they are about forgiveness and freedom because of the mercy of God shown to us in Christ Jesus. What they are about is a serious self-check about understanding the mercy of God. Matthew 6:14-15 stresses, 

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." 

I boils down to this: we are merciful to others because God is merciful to us. We don't have a right to NOT be merciful. 

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved." 

Ephesians 2:4-5

Question of the day? Who do I need to be merciful to today? How is God showing me mercy today?

Father, thank you for your mercy to me! Help me to be merciful to others! Praise be to you in us today!

CELEBRATE YOUR FREEDOM! HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

"I walk about in freedom,
     for I have sought out your precepts." Psalm 119:45

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
     because the LORD has anointed me
     to preach good news to the poor.
 He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
     to proclaim freedom for the captives
     and release from darkness for the prisoners." Isaiah 61:1


May God richly bless America with his freedom and grace. 

THE WORST SINNER: I Timothy 1:15-16

No one is more difficult to deal with than someone who is convinced of there own self-righteousness. Because everything will turn out to be someone else's fault. Paul took the opposite approach.  

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience  as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life." I Timothy 1:15-16

Humility is knowing exactly who you are before God. Paul knew exactly who he was before God: the worst of sinners. I might want to argue with Paul over that. And that is the point of what he is saying. We should all see ourselves as the worst of sinners. 

Realizing that without God's mercy you would be lost in your sins is the bedrock of our faith. Realizing that I am a sinner, the worst, is the bedrock of our interpersonal relationships. Without that humility we just look for fault in others. When you find fault in others you can demand that they change, rather than yourself. When you see others as sinners greater than you, you tend to find reasons they don't deserve mercy, second chances or patience. 

Realizing our own sinfulness is also at the root of evangelism. Like Paul when we realize the depth of the mercy and grace of God to us, the worst of sinners, we see the world as people in need of mercy and grace. We don't look down, we just reach out. 

Father, thank you for your mercy to me, the worst of sinners! Display your unlimited patience in me today! Praise be to you in us today!