A HEART OF REPENTANCE

Do you remember the first time you did something bad, knowing what you did was wrong but doing it anyway? As a boy (I forget exactly how old I was), my mom and I stopped at the corner convenience store on our way home. I wanted some Bazooka bubblegum. My mom said yes, but I could only have one piece. I had already grabbed three pieces and, instead of putting two back on the shelf, I quickly shoved them into my back pocket.

  The rest of that day, I was tormented by those pieces of gum. The next day I finally confessed to my mom what I had done. You know when you have to “come clean” about something and you begin with, “Now please don’t be mad” - that’s how I did it. She took me back to the store and made me hand them to the owner personally and say I was sorry for stealing them.

   I remember wrestling with the feelings of guilt, remorse, and fear. Once the situation had been dealt with and resolved, I remember feeling great relief and a conscious awareness that I did not want to go through all of those things again.

   We all fail the test from time to time. How we process and deal with our failures is vital to our relationship with God and others. Psalm 6 is a poetic look at how David dealt with failure, remorse, trials, and tribulations. Spend some time with Psalm 6 and meditate on the poem that David wrote as he struggled to work through some of the same thoughts and feelings as we do.

   Whenever someone knows that they have done something wrong and felt the guilt and struggled with their conscience and decided they must make it right, it may be easy to feel like the one to whom they are confessing is being too hard on them. Maybe it’s because they have already “beaten themselves up” getting to the point of taking action. Like David, someone may have spent many nights in deep sorrow - sobbing uncontrollably or crying until they feel like there are no more tears to cry.

   That’s when we need to remember that God is rich in mercy and abundant in grace. While there may be consequences to face and work through, he will hear us and answer our prayers. We also need to realize that there may be relationships and influences that need to be laid aside so we can focus on doing things that are pleasing to God. How sad it would be to forfeit my relationship with the Lord because I couldn’t let go of worldly and negative influences in my life.

They will know that I am the Lord

Between Ezekiel 5:13 and Ezekiel 39:28 the statement “They shall know that I am the Lord” occurs 72 times. On average, it appears a little more frequently than two times per chapter. If that isn't enough, at a verse-by-verse level, this phrase recurs every 13 verses, on average. When I use words or phrases that frequently Grammarly kindly lets me know that I'm am repetitive in my wording. The Holy Spirit was not redundant; he was precise. As you read the book of Ezekiel, you quickly begin to realize Ezekiel had a specific purpose behind the words of this book. The readers, then and know, will know that Jehovah is Lord.

Do you know who the Lord is? As in the case of Matthew 7:21-23, some claim to know the Lord but do not. Jesus Christ is our Lord (Acts 2:36). Through the blessings of God's Word, found in scripture, we can know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 8:9) and that knowledge far surpasses any trouble or loss that we experience as a result (Philippians 3:8). However, with this knowledge there is an expectation to persuade others (2 Corinthians 5:11).

Ultimately, the most significant comfort that we can have as Christians is not only knowing the grace of our Lord but also know that He knows those who are his (2 Timothy 2:19). You will not be forgotten. Your troubles will not remain forever. You will receive the inheritance promised in Colossians 3 if you will but know the lord and serve Him (Colossians 3:24).

Let your light shine!

LORD’S SUPPER AT A WEDDING, REALLY?

It should be undeniable by all that the Bible’ teaching relative to the Lord’s Supper should occupy a place in Great Truths.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom (Matthew 26:26-29).

The Lord’s Supper is a memorial:

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come (1 Corinthians 11:26).

The word “often” in this passage has been taken to mean “eat and drink as often as you like.” So, many will add the Lord’s Supper as part of different events: Weddings, funerals, Christmas Mass, etc.

Place and time of the observance of the Lord’s Supper:

But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom (Matthew 26:29).

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of thekingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:18-19).

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight (Acts 20:7).

The manner in which it is to be partaken:

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).

If one is gathered with others for a purpose different than worshiping God; and on a day that is different than the first day of the week; how can one be participating in a memorial in the manner that God desires?

HOW MANY TIMES?

How many times should we forgive the same person for the same thing? Should we forgive without request or should we wait for the apology? When someone asks forgiveness should we forget and treat him or her as nothing ever happened?

We are to forgive the same way God forgives: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32).

With that said, we must understand that the Bible instructs us how to forgive: Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him (Luke 17:3).

The questions comes, how many times should I forgive him. Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but,Until seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22).

Now here is the difficult part, should we forget and treat them as nothing ever happened? We must always have the spirit of forgiveness (or be ready to forgive anytime someone sins against us). Here is what we need to remember. How far are you willing to go for this relationship? What are you willing to do to help this brother or sister get to Heaven? You and I do not have the ability to read a man’s heart like God, but we do have the power to control how we react to someone asking forgiveness!

OVERCOMING DISCOURAGEMENT

Jeremiah wrote, The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned (Lam. 5:15-16). The notice the prophet was giving to God’s children was discouragement is a real thing. Now, the context mentions the sin of God’s people but they were suffering from discouragement non-the less. Discouragement is a very real danger. It is a weapon that Satan wields very proficiently in order to divide man from God and man from his brethren. Discouragement has the potential of destroying us. When we fall into the pit of discouragement, how do we overcome?

First, by focusing on Heaven. Life is meaningless without God. Paul spoke of those at one time who were without hope of Heaven because they were without God. (Eph. 2:12). With God, Heaven is truly a reality, And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:3-4). Our focus must be on Heaven.

Second, by counting your blessings. We should not allow a few negative things to monopolize his attention. We often sing the song, “…count your many blessings see what God has done.” The question is how often do we do that?  James said, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (James 1:17). We must count our blessings.

Third, by remembering we know the end of the story. The book of Revelation tells us when all is said and done, we who have been faithful will be victorious: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Revelation 12:11). We know that we will attain the mountain tops, why then worry we find ourselves in some dark valley we know is only temporary? We must remember with the end in sight.

May we all strive to overcome discouragement!

7 ANSWERS | ​#3 – Why do you not accept our offering? (Malachi 2:14)

Through Malachi, the Lord answers seven arguments from the people of Israel concerning their broken relationship with the Creator of the universe. For the next few weeks, we'll be considering those questions and their implication in our own lives:

Second to our relationship with God, there is no more important covenant than the one we make with our spouses. I dare say it is the very fabric that holds nations together. When fathers become estranged, or when mothers forget how to love, families are broken in a disastrous way. It is apparent that the marriage union was becoming increasingly optional, in the days of Malachi. This infidelity was the reason the Lord no longer regarded their offerings or accepted them with favor. (Malachi 2:13)

The depth of this kind of covenant betrayal is revealed in Malachi 2:15, “Did [God] not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?” It doesn’t matter if you were married in a church, a courthouse, or under an oak tree in the field, your marriage was intertwined, to some degree (how much I do not know), with the Spirit. The implication is that when your marriage is fractured, so too is your ability to acceptably honor God, whether that be in worship or in your daily walk.

So let me urge you, as Malachi did Israel,  to guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the spouse of your youth” (Malachi 2:15)

Let your light shine!

Next week: #4 – How have we wearied you? (Malachi 2:17)

Previous post in this series:

7 ANSWERS | #1 - How have you loved us? (Malachi 1:2)

7 ANSWERS | #2 - How have we despised your name? (Malachi 1:6f)

Seeing what Jesus has done

““When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!””

— John 6:14, ESV

I heard about a man the other day who was having a hard time finding his phone, and everywhere he looked it wasn't there. Eventually, he decided to look under his bed, in case it had fallen there accidentally. It was too dark to see very well, so he used the handy light app on his phone…to look for his phone. It was a few minutes apparently before he realized what he was doing.

Sometimes we forget to see what Jesus has done. In John 6, Jesus fed over 5,000 followers with only five barley loaves and two fish. There was so much to eat that there were 12 baskets of leftovers from 2 dried fish and five biscuits (or crackers). The people saw what GREAT things Jesus was able to do with minimal resources.

Maybe you're walking through life with "few opportunities" or "limited resources," but thankfully we have a Savior who can do GREAT things! The people on the side of the Sea of Galilee were ready to make Jesus their king, let’s make Jesus our king today and work, for the night is coming.

Let your light shine!