Forgiveness

Matthew 6

14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Forgiveness is the most difficult attitude for us humans to truly attain. I firmly believe this. We like to hold grudges. We wallow in our pride and refuse to forgive when we have been wronged. Families are torn apart, friendships destroyed, faith is abandoned. Yes, Jesus Himself says that we will receive the same amount of forgiveness from God the Father that we give out to the people in our lives. I know that as a sinner in need of Grace, I have no right to be unforgiving towards anyone who has sinned against me (or my family, or my friends, or my Lord). Help me, O God to be a forgiving follower of Jesus every day of my life.

Believe

Genesis 15

6 And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it sometimes doesn’t seem like that a big a deal. Yeah, Abram believed God, and it was counted as righteousness. But wait, what did Abram believe? That, being older than 75 now and still never having had a child, much less a boy, Abram was going to be the father of nations, and that through his offspring the entire human race would be blessed. Oh yeah, no big deal. Well, it isn’t a big deal for God to accomplish this feat, but it is a huge deal for Abram to believe God. While I haven’t been given a promise anywhere near the kind that Abram got, I have been promised by God that if I will be obedient to Him, I can receive the blessing that comes through Abram’s offspring. THAT is a big deal, and it is my desire to be counted among those who believe God.

Give It All Up

Genesis 12

1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

When God called the man who would become the Father of the Jewish nation, He told Abram to abandoned it all, and follow God’s leading. Hmmm...sensing a pattern here after yesterday’s reading. If you are interested in truly following God, be prepared to give everything else up.

Drop It All

Matthew 4

18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.

21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

When Jesus was ready to begin his earthly ministry, He sought out folks who would be willing to “drop everything” and follow Him. Jesus extends that call today as well. We who claim to follow Jesus must be ready to abandoned it all for the sake of the call. Thank You, Lord for Your call upon my life.

Noah's Ark

Genesis 6

11 Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. 13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!

14 “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. 15 Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.

17 “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20 Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”

22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

Can’t help but think about Tim Hawkins’ comedy routine about the Dad painting Noah’s Ark on the child’s wall. This story is not kid friendly at all. Before Christ came, God dealt with sinful man in a much different, and dare I say, harsh manner. God will not be in the presence of sin. Before Christ, God simply had to wipe man from the face of the planet. Now, Jesus has paid that price, having been banished from God’s presence while bearing the guilt of our sin. Praise God that Jesus has overcome sin, death, the grave, and hell. Praise God that we don’t have to worry about a repeat of Noah’s Ark.

Personal Responsibility

Genesis 3

6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

The story is as old as...well, time itself. Adam and Eve had it all, then they gave into sin and disobeyed God. The, when confronted with their sin, they played the blame game, never taking personal responsibility. As a follower of Christ, I do not desire to play that game with God. It is my desire to take personal responsibility, confess my sin, repent of it, and take full advantage of the grace of God extended to me through Jesus. Grace covers my sin, but I must still take personal responsibility and not play the Adam and Eve pass-the-blame-game.

Woah Man!

Genesis 2

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

23 “At last!” the man exclaimed.

“This one is bone from my bone,
and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
because she was taken from ‘man.’”

24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

Yup, God knew that a man could not survive on his own, thus the creation of his help mate. One look at what God had done, and the man said, “Woah, man!” I am so blessed to have Peggy as my help mate, and it is a privilege to be her help mate as well. Thank You, Lord for bringing Peggy into my life, and for dulling her mind enough to tolerate me as her husband. We will celebrate our 30th anniversary this year, and things just keep getting better every day. As I start of this New Year, I want to make sure to start it off by praising You for my life through Jesus, and for my Bride, Peggy. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am NOT alone!