Sin: A Reason for Faith

Today’s Reading:

• Psalms 47-49; 84-85; 87

Faith-Stretching Verse(s):

• You forgave the guilt of your people—yes, you covered all their sins. - Psalm 85:2, NLT

Thoughts:
Sin is a universal experience.

One reason that I am thankful to Jesus is that I trust Him when He says that He offers forgiveness for all my sins. And part of the reason that I trust Him for forgiveness is… well… I guess it’s that I realize that I’m actually a sinner, and I see sin all around me. In other words, I see such a great need for forgiveness that I believe Jesus when He says that we need it.

I’m going to throw out a challenge here, and it applies regardless of whether you’re a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Jew, a Buddhist, a member of any other religion… or even not a member of any religion at all! Has anyone ever known a man or woman who never, ever, not once in his or her entire life, even as a child, never, ever, EVER did ANYTHING wrong? Do you know anyone who has never told even a little white lie? Who has never had lewd thoughts? Who has never lost their temper, for even the briefest of moments? Who has never even thought about cheating? Who has never wished something awful would happen to someone else?

Because I haven’t. I have known people—Christians and non-Christians—who are extremely respectable, honorable, self-controlled, gentle, kind, peaceful and all the rest of the best words we have for the best people. But I have never known someone who was morally perfect throughout his or her entire life. Never.

And that’s what the Bible means when it talks about sin. The word “sinner” doesn’t imply that a person behaves like a maniacal, out-of-control criminal. The word “sinner” doesn’t indicate that a man is abusive toward his wife, that a woman always sleeps around, that teenagers are constantly looking for ways to abuse their parents’ trust and land themselves in juvenile court, or that children have watched too much TV and are about to unload 2000 rounds of ammo at their elementary schools.

A “sinner” is the sweetest grandma you’ve ever met, a lady who regrets the one time when she really lost her patience with a telemarketer. A “sinner” is your hard-working, reliable co-worker, a man who constantly volunteers his services to the community, but who secretly feels ashamed for the moment when he allowed himself to pursue his desires a little too far with the attractive female in HR—even though he put a stop to things before they’d gone “all the way.” A sinner is the gentle child who finally got fed up with another kid’s pestering and hit the little fellow in the face with her lunch box.

A “sinner” is me. And you. I’ve never yet met a non-sinner. And that’s the way that Jesus says this world is. He’s right about us. So I trust Him.

And since the same One who is right about sin is the One who died to offer us His forgiveness, I’d say that there’s quite a bit of reason for hope.

For an overview of this year’s blog, please see http://threequartertank.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-do-believers-believe.html.

I Believe Because Sin Is Real

Today’s Reading:

• Genesis 4:1-5:32
• 1 Chronicles 1:1-4
• Genesis 6:1-22

Faith-Stretching Verse(s):

• You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master. – Genesis 4:7, NLT

Thoughts:
The Bible teaches that sin is real. For some of us, that’s not too faith-stretching a concept. But there is a fairly large group of people that believes humanity is inherently good, good by nature.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe that every person in the world is an obvious sinner. It’s not like we’re all stealing all the time, or cheating on our spouses, or killing everyone like Cain does in this passage.

But since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and took the fruit He commanded them to leave alone, we’ve all been sinful and vulnerable to sin’s control in our lives. Think of the kindest, gentlest person you know, the white-haired saint of a grandmother you have who never seems to do anything wrong. And ask her (or him, whoever you’re thinking of), “You never seem to do anything wrong. Have you ever sinned? What’s something bad that you’ve done?” And even that elderly saint will have an answer for you. You might think that their sin is so insignificant that you personally wouldn’t worry about it. You might wish that your life contained such minute sins instead of whatever it is you’ve done. But still, they’ve sinned. Sin crouches at the door of every human heart and, at some or many points in life, every human heart is mastered by it. Sin is a pervasive human reality.

And since the Bible teaches us that sin is a reality in this world, sin itself is another reason to trust that God knows what He’s talking about. God is in touch with reality, and reality includes sin. So if God says that there’s sin, and life proves it, maybe we ought to listen to God a little more when He talks about other things, too.

For an overview of this year’s blog, please see http://threequartertank.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-do-believers-believe.html.

Love-Loosed Wrath

ALL – Psalm 134:1-3
ALL – Proverbs 30:1-4
OT – Micah 1:1-4:13
NT – Revelation 6:1-17

Interesting passage for the day: And when the fourth seal was broken, I heard the fourth Living Being say, “Come!” And now I saw a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death. And there followed after him another horse whose rider’s name was Hell. They were given control of one-fourth of the earth, to kill with war and famine and disease and wild animals. – Revelation 6:7-8, The Living Bible

Thought: I’m sorry, but this is simply not a pretty picture. Who wants to face the horrors that Jesus Christ revealed in this verse? And not just in this verse. All of chapter six is filled with clip after clip of doom.

And you know what’s really ironic? Look back at yesterday’s passage and thoughts. You’ll see what I’m talking about. Yesterday, we saw Jesus Christ, the Lamb who has eclipsed all other beings by dying and shedding His blood as a payment to buy people from around the world for God, and that He was the only one worthy to take and open the scroll in God’s hand. Today we see what it is that only Jesus the spotless Lamb was worthy to open: a scroll of war, anarchy, killing, famine, disease, wild animals, vengeance, natural disaster—a scroll filled with the wrath of God.

Only Jesus is worthy to unleash God’s wrath. And He is worthy precisely because He shed His own blood for us—in other words, Jesus’ infinite love makes Him worthy to unleash overwhelming wrath.

You might think that these two realities wouldn’t meet up in Jesus Christ, but you would be wrong. This is how the perfect God planned the course of creation all along. He knew that His creatures would rebel against Him and deserve to die, but He withheld His wrath. He locked it up in a secure chest that could only be opened with the key of love. Only when so much love had been poured out on mankind that humanity had absolutely no excuse for their rebellion would God’s wrath be unleashed. And no one in all of creation was ever worthy to unlock that chest. Humanity (which really had no excuse already) could still hold up one piece of evidence against God: “You knew how painful life would be and how sin would take us captive, but You did not prevent it and you have not done enough to save us from our sins and their curse! YOU DON’T LOVE US.”

People still charge God with not loving us enough. And I just don’t get it. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” When God sent Jesus to earth that first Christmas, God sent Him to demonstrate the fullest possible extent of love—a love that would nullify every accusation against Him. Jesus’ death on the cross was a shout of divine love, a shout that declared, “I see your slavery to sin. I see your suffering. I see your pain. I see your fears and sorrows. And I will not let them last. They’re done. I’m willing to lay my life on the line for you, to die for you to live.”

And the love expressed through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, finally provided the key to the chest of God’s wrath. No one ever has to experience God’s wrath, because everyone can be saved from it through God’s loving Lamb. God, in His love, chained up His wrath until all could be saved from it through Jesus Christ.

So the worthy and loving Lamb of God unleashed the wrath of God. But He did it only after providing for the safety of all who trust in Him.

Question: Which do you see more clearly, God’s love or God’s wrath? God’s wrath fell on Jesus so that God’s love could fall on you. But rejecting God’s love will still get you God’s wrath. What’s your take on it? Will you receive His love?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Don’t Bite the Hand that Feeds You

ALL – Psalm 132:1-18
ALL – Proverbs 29:24-25
OT – Obadiah 1:1-21
NT – Revelation 4:1-11

Interesting passage for the day: “O Lord, you are worthy to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for you have created all things. They were created and called into being by your act of will.” – Revelation 4:11, The Living Bible

Thought: Did you hear the awful news back on November 23rd? About the actor who killed his own mother, chasing her around the home and hacking at her with his sword? It’s just wrong. No child should turn on the very person who gave him life. But that’s just what Michael Brea did.

Betrayals like this happen all too frequently. There’s a reason that everyone understands the phrase, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” But most of us don’t think we’ve done anything nearly as awful as what Michael Brea did.

That’s why it’s so interesting to read the reason that the twenty-four elders in heaven give for worshiping God. “O Lord, you are worthy to receive the glory and the honor and the power,” they sing. But why? “for you have created all things. They were created and called into being by your act of will.”

If God is truly our Creator, then He is more motherly than any mother and more fatherly than any father. He is eternal, so He had no need to pass all His accumulated wealth to an heir. He never sins, so He need never have felt the pain of rebellion, betrayal or hatred; He could have gone without creating us, and He would have been fine on His own. God didn’t need someone to care for Him in His old age. There wasn’t even any pleasure-based motivation for God, the way there is for a young married couple that’s really thinking more about their brief evening together than about (surprise!) an eighteen-plus year commitment to a third party. No. God deliberately, voluntarily, sacrificially chose to create. He created you, me and everyone, and He created us with more love and tenderness than any human mother could offer.

Have you turned your back on God? Have you treated Him like dirt? Have you decided to attack Him and hate the very sound of His name? Have you disowned God or killed Him off in your life (even if you can’t in reality)?

If you have, Michael Brea’s atrocities can’t hold a candle to yours. As God’s creation, your sin against Him leaves you useful for nothing except to be thrown out and burned like rubbish.

The good news? This wonderful Creator, through His Son Jesus Christ, can turn rubbish into treasure. He can make a new creation out of you. And He wants to.

Question: Why did you turn against your Creator? Have you come back to Him yet? Will you admit how wrong you were and live to give Him all that He deserves for creating you?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Firefighting Gear

ALL – Psalm 127:1-5
ALL – Proverbs 29:15-17
OT – Hosea 10:1-14:9
NT – Jude 1:1-25

Interesting passage for the day: Save some by snatching them as from the very flames of hell itself. And as for others, help them to find the Lord by being kind to them, but be careful that you yourselves aren’t pulled along into their sins. Hate every trace of their sin while being merciful to them as sinners. – Jude 1:23, The Living Bible

Thought: Just as I was drifting off to sleep two nights ago, I had a horrible dream/imagination: flames had broken out in Emma’s and Michael’s room and they were trapped. They needed help. Fast.

I imagined myself diving, unprotected, through the flames in the doorway to snatch my screaming children out of their room. None of us made it out unhurt. All of us were scorched by the flames.

When we Christians go on our search and rescue missions to turn parents, neighbors, co-workers and children from the flames fueled by their sins to the life given us by Jesus, we can and should be more prepared than I was. We should be more like firefighters and less like desperate parents working to save children from flames. Both parents and firefighters are vulnerable to the very flames they’re fighting. The difference between them isn’t an inherent flame resistance. The difference is their readiness and protection.

As Christians battling to save other people from their sins, we too are vulnerable. It’s important that we protect ourselves from falling into other people’s sins. None of us is strong enough to walk through the flames of sin on our own without being burnt. We need Jesus for every step of the mission. We need to be depending on His salvation ourselves. We need to commit our minds and hearts into His hands to keep us holy, staying within the limits of His protection by obeying what He tells us to do. We need to belong fully to Jesus, who protects His children.

Question: Have you found that sometimes when you’re trying to pull people out of their sins, you end up falling into some kind of sin yourself? What kinds of sin do you usually fall into? When we fall into sins, we’ve reached beyond the limits of Jesus’ protective commands. Where do you find yourself stepping outside of Jesus’ commands in your efforts to save others?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Salvation: We’re Not Missing the Point

ALL – Psalm 123:1-4
ALL – Proverbs 29:2-4
OT – Daniel 11:36-12:13
NT – 1 John 4:1-21

Interesting passage for the day: Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now tell all the world that God sent his Son to be their Savior. – 1 John 4:14, The Living Bible

Thought: I was reading a book recently called Adventures in Missing the Point, and the authors were discussing what it really means for us to call Jesus our Savior. The one writing this particular chapter said that salvation in the Bible was not really about being set free from sin—at least, not until after Israel and Judah were sent into exile. Before being sent into exile, salvation was about being freed from oppression, slavery, famine, starvation, and threats—mostly about other people’s wickedness and often simply about hard times. The author wrote that it was only after the exile that the Jews, struggling to understand why God had given them over to their enemies, came up with the answer: our sin. And that it was then that they began to seek to be saved from their own sinful ways.

I agree with the authors on the point that salvation is about much more than our sins. God has sent His Son to be our Savior not just from our own personal sins, but from the hostilities of other people’s sins and from the curse that has fallen upon creation because of our sins. And I agree that more of us need to realize that when we talk about salvation, we’re talking about more than just being set free from our sins.

But I disagree that the Jewish people’s cry for salvation wasn’t really about salvation from sin until after the exile. Or at least, I disagree that the kind of salvation God was revealing to His people ever since the first sin was more about their personal well-being in the face of systemic and pervasive sins than about their freedom from personal sins.

Following Adam and Eve’s sin, God Himself performed the first sacrifice, killing some sheep to provide clothing to cover the shame of their nakedness. And He promised a time when their descendant would crush their tempter’s head—I’m pretty sure this was all about destroying not only sin’s consequences, but also sin itself. Going down the pages of history a bit, but still right at the start of the Bible, we come to Noah’s story. Noah wasn’t being oppressed by his neighbors and calling on God for salvation, but God judged them for the sinful inclination of their hearts. So Noah was saved from the flood, yes, but more importantly, he was saved from God’s judgment against sinners by having been kept pure in his heart. Joseph’s story shows God’s work to keep Abraham’s descendants alive so that the promised descendant, not just of Adam but now of Abraham, too, could come one day to crush the serpent’s head. No sooner were the Hebrews saved from the sinful oppression of their Egyptian masters than God led them to Mt. Sinai and commanded them not to sin on penalty of destruction and death. During that same journey, God gave them His instructions on how to be saved from their sins via the sacrificial system—a system that pointed them to their ultimate Savior from sin, Jesus Christ. So it through the pages of Israel’s biblical history: over and over, when God saves them from some external curse, He is also calling them to find salvation in Him from the internal curse of sin. Even in Esther, a book about how God delivered the Jews from the threat of extinction in the Persian empire, the question of personal sin arises: Will Esther sinfully and selfishly seek only to save herself while the nation faces annihilation, or will she be faithful and sacrificial to God and His people? And it is through her submission to the divine providence of God that she avoids sin and its destruction, not just for herself, but for multitudes of Jews.

God has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. Jesus died to save us from our sins and from their curse. So we who have been set free from our sins should be more and more a part of defeating sin’s curse in this lifetime. But we look forward to the day when our Savior comes again to complete the salvation He began two thousand years ago.

We’re not missing the point when we think that Jesus died to save us from our sins. We might not be seeing all the implications of this salvation perfectly yet, but we’re not missing the point. Our Savior has saved us to be His people—and His people are people who have been freed from sin. We may need to step further into His salvation, but we’re not missing the point.

Question: Have you been saved from your sins? Has your salvation been a blessing to anyone else, saving them from being under-provided for, abused, or otherwise sinned against? What has it meant for you and those around you that God’s Son Jesus Christ is our Savior?


To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

When Jesus Barely Matters

ALL – Psalm 119:156-176
ALL – Proverbs 28:23-24
OT – Daniel 7:1-28
NT – 1 John 1:1-10

Interesting passage for the day: So if we say we are his friends, but go on living in spiritual darkness and sin, we are lying. – 1 John 1:6, The Living Bible

Thought: If we want to make friends with someone, we will usually try to fit in with them. We will relate to them. We will do what pleases them, and if we’re doing things that upset them, we’ll stop.

Would our lives say that we’re friends with Jesus? Jesus lives in truth and righteousness and joy and grace. Are we fitting in with Him? Are we relating to Him? Are we doing what pleases Him?

If not, you may need to consider whether or not your belief that you know Him is true. You are deceiving yourself if you say that you know Jesus but your life isn’t conforming to His.

On the other hand, some of you are super-sensitive. You love Jesus very much, and your life has changed greatly because you have received His gift, the Holy Spirit. You are doing everything you can to please Jesus. But you are deeply aware of the times you have not pleased Him. You pretty much despise yourself because you’ve sinned against Him. And when you hear that those who aren’t pleasing Jesus are lying about a relationship with Him, you begin to fear because you know you haven’t walked perfectly in His light.

Take heart. For you who love Jesus and give yourselves wholeheartedly to Him, sensitive to each time you fail Him, there is an encouragement for you a few verses down (v 9): “But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.”

So let’s not be half-hearted about our relationship with Jesus. Living as though Jesus barely matters to you is a good reason to question whether you know Him at all. But for us who are devoted to Jesus, grace is available even when we hurt Him and sin against Him. What a wonderful, kind God! Why give Him any less than our best?

Question: If Jesus were not a part of your life, would you be any different? Ok, you probably wouldn’t attend church. But would there be any differences from Monday to Saturday? How do you believe Jesus would like you to demonstrate your friendship with Him?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Clean for a Day

ALL – Psalm 119:113-128
ALL – Proverbs 28:19-20
OT – Daniel 5:1-31
NT – 2 Peter 2:1-22

Interesting passage for the day: There is an old saying that “A dog comes back to what he has vomited, and a pig is washed only to come back and wallow in the mud again.” That is the way it is with those who turn again to their sin. – 2 Peter 2:22, The Living Bible

Thought: Jesus Christ came from heaven to earth. God became man, and He lived a blameless, sinless life among us. In His time, He gave His life on the cross. His blood sprinkled those who trust in Him, making them holy and cleansing them from sin. Because Jesus died and paid for our sin, we are free to live. We can say no to sin. We can live by His Spirit and walk in His righteousness.

That is the good news. And yet some schemers try to take advantage of Jesus. They think that Jesus just died to save us. Since we aren’t saved by being good, He can’t possibly expect us to be good, can He? We might as well just get saved, live a lazy or even rebellious spiritual life until Jesus comes back, and then everything will be great. Right? We’ll go on sinning for now, because Jesus died for our sins already—right? Isn’t that how it works?

Absolutely not! Peter tells us that Jesus saved us so that we can be holy and pure rather than sinful. Those who claim to be saved but who don’t take the time to be “doers of the Word” and not just hearers—who know what Jesus taught but won’t do what Jesus said—are like dogs and pigs. They go back to their filth and sin. They remain unchanged by Jesus. Their salvation was only skin-deep, and in their hearts and spirits they held on to their sinful nature.

Jesus is not just here to save us from hell. He came to make us citizens of heaven. Those who refuse His offer have only one place left to go: back to the very hell they thought they had escaped. If you’re not walking with Jesus today, then you’re not walking with Jesus at all. Don’t be fooled because the refreshing waters of His Word and Spirit made you feel all cleaned up one day years ago. Even a pig can be clean for a day.

Question: Are you clean today? Are you walking with Jesus? Do you love Him enough to do what He wants? Or do you see Jesus as enabling you to do what you want?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Once Means Done

ALL – Psalm 108:1-13
ALL – Proverbs 27:12
OT – Ezekiel 21:1-22:31
NT – Hebrews 10:1-17

Interesting passage for the day: But just the opposite happened: those yearly sacrifices reminded them of their disobedience and guilt instead of relieving their minds. – Hebrews 10:3, The Living Bible

Thought: Christians sometimes use Jesus’ death as a reason to beat themselves up. “It’s my fault. He died in my place. What a jerk I am.”… which may be true, but still. That’s not really the point. Jesus didn’t need to die on the cross to prove what jerks we are. Yes, His death was the only way to take care of the massive debt our sins had piled up. But the Law was enough to prove that we’re sinful. Jesus didn’t need to die on the cross to prove that, or even to get us to mourn our sinfulness. People had already been doing that. Hating and mourning our sin is part of what the sacrificial system was all about.

And the problem was that the mourning under the sacrificial system was perpetual. It wouldn’t stop. It was day in and day out, week in and week out, year in and year out. The mourning wouldn’t stop because the sin was never fully dealt with. The sacrifices were always necessary. The job was never done. The people could never stop worrying about their sinful condition before God. They were never free of their guilt.

Until Jesus came. And died. Once. Just once. That was all it took. The job was done. The sins were atoned for. The debt was paid. We would never be able to out-sin the atonement that Jesus’ death supplied (not that we’re encouraged to make a run at it).

When we look at Jesus’ death, we’re not supposed to beat ourselves up anymore. Because Jesus only died once. And ever since the third day after His death, there’s been no reason to worry that sin might ultimately win the day in our lives. Jesus lives, and by His life we have life. Our sins can’t undo His work. “It is finished.” He has won. And because He has won, we have won. The end.

That’s why it’s important to realize that Jesus only died once. And that’s why Jesus’ death isn’t a reason for us to mourn. It’s a reason for us to celebrate the victory He gained and never to waste time wallowing in our sinfulness again. Jesus didn’t have to die for you or me. He could have let us die for ourselves, and we would have mourned our sin while we paid its penalty. Jesus went to the cross because He and His Father loved us and chose the cross—not to make us feel more guilty, but so that our guilt would finally be taken completely away.

Question: What keeps you from enjoying and living in the freedom that Jesus bought for you at the cross?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Perfect Relationship with God

ALL – Psalm 105:37-45
ALL – Proverbs 27:3
OT – Ezekiel 12:1-14:11
NT – Hebrews 7:1-17

Interesting passage for the day: And the Psalmist points this out when he says of Christ, “You are a priest forever with the rank of Melchizedek.” – Hebrews 7:17, The Living Bible

Thought: For most of us, our first thought when we think about Jesus isn’t, “Priest.” We might think Son of God. We might think King. We might think teacher. We might even think prophet. But priest?

What’s so important about priests, anyways?

Kings are important because they make sure that everyone follows God’s laws. Prophets are important because they speak for God and show people how to follow God’s laws (or sometimes/often warn people that they’re not following God and need to repent). Priests, though, stand between men and God as mediators who work to keep our relationship intact. Priests proclaim God’s blessings on His people, and priests offer sacrifices on behalf of the people to atone for sins. Priesthood is all about a wholehearted relationship with God.

Jesus could never have become a priest under the OT law. The priesthood was only for the descendants of Jacob’s son Levi. But it was vitally important that Jesus be a priest, right? After all, none of Levi’s descendants was able to bring humanity back into a good relationship with God. So we needed Jesus to be a priest so that we could finally reconcile with God after all our rebellion and sin.

And that’s why Hebrews takes the time to tell us that Jesus was a priest. Not a Levitical priest, but a priest in the order of Melchizedek. You’ll have to read Hebrews 7 to see what that’s all about, but essentially there was one priest in the book of Genesis who was a priest of God, and Abraham expressed his relationship to God partially through this priest. Abraham offered a tithe of his recent victory spoils to this priest, and Melchizedek proclaimed God’s blessings for Abraham. So there was an order of priests in the Old Testament that was not made up of Levi’s descendants, and Jesus was declared to be a priest—not in the typical group of priests, but a priest all the same.

And because Jesus is our great High Priest, we have a perfect relationship with God. We have a relationship with God where our sins are perfectly forgiven and cleansed. That had never happened before. Also, other priests could sin, and by their sin they could become a hindrance to God’s blessings for His people. But we have a relationship with God through our High Priest Jesus that guarantees every blessing God wants to bestow on us to come our way, because our perfect and sinless priest is never himself a hindrance to our relationship with God.

Jesus is our priest. And because He is, we need no other priests at all. Our relationship with God made perfect through Him.

Question: Where do you turn when you’re trying to straighten out your relationship with God? How can we do a better job of reminding one another that the full benefits of a perfect relationship with God are available to us through Jesus Christ alone?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Sorrow-Motivated Life

ALL – Psalm 48:1-14
ALL – Proverbs 22:17-19
OT – Ecclesiastes 7:1-9:18
NT – 2 Corinthians 7:8-16

Interesting passage for the day: For God sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek eternal life. We should never regret his sending it. But the sorrow of the man who is not a Christian is not the sorrow of true repentance and does not prevent eternal death. – 2 Corinthians 7:10, The Living Bible

Thought: We just looked at our motivation for doing right, and found that the promises of God give us a desire and a drive to obey Him. But what about our motivation for turning away from what’s wrong? I mean, let’s be honest. Sin is often pleasurable. Temporarily pleasurable, but still. We often have plenty of desire to do what is wrong. Finding the motivation to turn away from it—a motivation above and beyond the bare truth, “I know I shouldn’t be doing this”—can be pretty difficult.

And so we find that while God’s promises are one form of godly motivation, sorrow is another. Yes, that’s right. Sorrow can motivate us to turn away from wrong. Sorrow can motivate repentance. Sorrow sparks in us a deep desire to set things straight, to reconcile broken relationships, to mend what we’ve destroyed. In sorrow we can finally set aside our pride enough to admit what we most hate to admit: “I was wrong.”

When you sin, do you care that you’ve sinned? When you hurt someone, do you squelch that feeling of regret that begins to rise up in your gut? Do you perhaps even add literal insults to injury, talking yourself and everyone else into the twisted belief that your hateful words and behaviors are justified?

May God give us hearts that can still feel deep, genuine, true sorrow. Not the kind of sorrow that people sometimes wallow in—more a mire of despair, really. But the kind of sorrow that motivates us to make a move, to change course, to commit our lives into Jesus Christ’s hands, to seek forgiveness, to deal with our sins. May our sorrows move us to gladly walk by the Spirit, praising God for freeing us from the lives that apart from sorrow we would still live.

Question: Which sins and pains especially lead your heart into change-motivating sorrow? And once you’ve answered that question, consider this one: Which of your own personal sins leads you into repentance-motivating sorrow? Some of us may not sorrow over that kind of sin in our lives as we should. Help us to understand how destructive your particular sin can be. Please. Lead us into godly sorrow.

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Joy: Pain Defeated

ALL – Psalm 46:1-11
ALL – Proverbs 22:15
OT – Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22
NT – 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Interesting passage for the day: Our hearts ache, but at the same time we have the joy of the Lord. We are poor, but we give rich spiritual gifts to others. We own nothing, and yet we enjoy everything. – 2 Corinthians 6:10, The Living Bible

Thought: Have you ever thought about comparing Paul’s words here in 2 Corinthians 6 to what Jesus said in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5)? Following Jesus leads us through pain, but it also leads us through the best of life. Apart from Jesus, there are many hurting people I probably would not have stopped for. But because I’m walking with Jesus, I have sometimes stopped. And then their sorrows become my sorrows. Their foreclosures. Their extreme joint pain. Their friendlessness. Their despair. I share it with them, and I mourn with them, and my heart aches. Even inside my home, I learn to bear other people’s burdens. I am called to bear other people’s burdens, following Jesus, who bore my sin and my cross.

And yet despite the pain that is added to my life—my own, of course, but also all the pain that comes from feeling powerless to help others overcome their problems—I have the joy of the Lord, like Paul. I have the joy of knowing that my own sins are washed away. I smile as I think of how Jesus offers everyone that same joy. Even more, I rejoice that Jesus is setting the world straight. I shout when He uses me to help someone in a small way, or better yet, when He uses His church to help in a big way. I see His victory pouring down from heaven to earth. And when the church’s resources are exhausted, I celebrate when Jesus comes through in miraculous ways. And when the world still has problems, I set my eyes on the day when Jesus comes back. And I sigh with contentment, even going through the troubles of this world. Because my Jesus will set everything straight on that day.

I don’t think anyone can be as deeply sad and as deeply happy at the same time as a follower of Jesus. No one except God, who is infinitely more sad about our sin and pain and yet infinitely more happy about restoring us all through Jesus. As followers of Jesus, let’s follow Him into greater and greater sorrows. As we do, the reality of His power and plan to make all things new will lead us into deeper and deeper joy. Jesus is everything!

Question: When you avoid entering into other people’s pain, how much of it comes from a fear that Jesus can’t or won’t help us through the pain? What has Jesus already helped you through?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Joining Heaven and Hell

ALL – Psalm 31:9-18
ALL – Proverbs 21:3
OT – Ezra 10:1-44
NT – 1 Corinthians 6:1-20

Interesting passage for the day: And don’t you know that if a man joins himself to a prostitute she becomes a part of him and he becomes a part of her? For God tells us in the Scripture that in his sight the two become one person. – 1 Corinthians 6:16, The Living Bible

Thought: It’s a big deal who’s associated with us. Our alliances and unions say a lot about who we are. Why else would people boycott businesses whose practices they disagree with, if not to communicate clearly, “I am against this group!” Even without being stockholders, such people want to disassociate themselves from the possibility of seeming to have an interest in the store’s success. Our society indicates our values.

The closest physical union any human can have is the sexual bond between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:24). With whom should this bond be made? With whom should a Christian make this bond? Remember, our alliances indicate our values. Should a man who has been adopted as a son of the one true God, the holy, righteous and pure King of all Creation, a member of heaven’s family (a spiritual union), form a physical union with anyone less than the most honorable, upright, kind and virtuous woman he can find? Having sex with a brazen, unchaste prostitute does not make sense for a child of the faithful, humble God.

Christians have already been accepted into an association with God through Jesus Christ. Our association with Him says something about who we are deep in our hearts—what we value. Do we dare to associate our Lord Jesus Christ with this world’s most shameful and rebellious sinners?

Question: This principle of association applies beyond sex. But at the same time, we know from 1 Corinthians 5 that we’re expected to maintain friendships with unbelievers. What are some behaviors, activities, or entertainments that you think might associate you too closely with the shameful side of life in this world?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Not Saved For Sin

ALL – Psalm 31:1-8
ALL – Proverbs 21:1-2
OT – Ezra 8:21-9:15
NT – 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Interesting passage for the day: When I wrote you before I said not to mix with evil people. But when I said that I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who live in sexual sin, or are greedy cheats and thieves and idol worshipers. For you can’t live in this world without being with people like that. – 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, The Living Bible

Thought: Paul expected believers to associate with the world’s sinners and to reject unrepentant sinners who claimed to be Christians. Often we get it flipped: we reject the world’s sinners and overlook the sins of those who claim to be Christians. We try to pretend that we’re already in heaven, and that we’re safe from sin inside the four walls of our churches.

But Paul was realistic about where we live. We live in this world. Which means that we will necessarily rub shoulders with people who live in unrepentant sin. The question in his mind was not whether believers would encounter sinful people or not, but whether believers would allow God’s holy church to become a refuge for men or women living in rebellion against God.

God’s church is intended to save sinners. But it is intended to save sinners from their sins, not for more sins. He wants His church to be pure and righteous. If we’re Christians, Jesus Christ wants us to have the guts to lovingly and gently confront sinners in our ranks.

Question: Have you been casual about sinning rather than begging Jesus Christ for the strength, wisdom and love to overcome sin in your life? Have you taken other Christians’ unwillingness to confront you as permission to keep sinning? Or perhaps you’ve been living righteously by Christ’s grace, but you’ve been too timid to deal with other believers’ blatant sins. What is Christ calling you to do now, and how is He calling you to do it?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Putting Things in Perspective

ALL – Psalm 24:1-10
ALL – Proverbs 20:12
OT – 2 Chronicles 29:1-36
NT – Romans 14:1-23

Interesting passage for the day: You have no right to criticize your brother or look down on him. Remember, each of us will stand personally before the Judgment Seat of God. – Romans 14:10, The Living Bible

Thought: I’m about to preach on 1 Corinthians 5, a passage where Paul (the same author who wrote Romans) says that it is our business as Christians to judge those inside the church. So how can he say both? How can it both be our business to judge fellow believers and not be our right to criticize our brothers?

One reason for the difference is that the “sins” to be judged are different. In 1 Corinthians, a man is being sexually immoral—and with his own father’s wife! If ever there were an obvious sin, this would be it. Here in Romans, the issue is that some people are eating meat sacrificed to idols, and some people are observing Jewish religious days. The “sins” are less obvious—in fact, Paul says that they don’t exist!

So in 1 Corinthians, Paul was dealing with real sin. Real sin is serious. But in Romans, Paul was dealing with consciences. It is important that we all stay within the bounds of our consciences. But Paul insists that we should not impose our consciences on other people. We are not to judge and criticize others for things that are not sin. Instead, we are to love one another enough to bite our tongues and trust that God is able to guide all of us! The second greatest command must be our guide: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” One of the ways we like to be loved is to have other people assume the best about us. Let’s do that for one another.

Question: I’m someone who tends to impose my conscience on others too quickly. What lessons have you learned that might help someone else to be less critical and more understanding?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

You’re Not Really Sorry!

ALL – Psalm 83:1-18
ALL – Proverbs 13:4
OT – Joshua 9:3-10:43
NT – Luke 16:19-17:10

Have you ever had someone hurt you frequently enough that you just began to expect he/she would hurt you? Have you had a person like that say sorry? Over and over and over, saying sorry and asking for forgiveness, but never changing?

At some point you just want to scream, “You’re not really sorry!”

When people aren’t sorry enough to change, sorry enough for repentance that goes deeper than the words, “I’m sorry,” it becomes really hard to forgive. Why? Because we begin to expect more pain, more frustration, more sin. We just know it’s coming.

But Jesus still calls us to forgive those who claim to be repentant:

Rebuke your brother if he sins, and forgive him if he is sorry. Even if he wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns and asks forgiveness, forgive him. – Luke 17:3b-4, The Living Bible

We are to be quick to forgive, quick to show mercy, quick to reconcile. Even with the most habitual offenders.

How have you shown forgiveness recently?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

The rest of this week's readings are:

April 15th, 2010

ALL – Psalm 84:1-12
ALL – Proverbs 13:5-6
OT – Joshua 11:1-12:24
NT – Luke 17:11-37

April 16th, 2010

ALL – Psalm 85:1-13
ALL – Proverbs 13:7-8
OT – Joshua 13:1-14:15
NT – Luke 18:1-17

April 17th, 2010

ALL – Psalm 86:1-17
ALL – Proverbs 13:9-10
OT – Joshua 15:1-63
NT – Luke 18:18-43

April 18th, 2010

ALL – Psalm 87:1-7
ALL – Proverbs 13:11
OT – Joshua 16:1-18:28
NT – Luke 19:1-27

Two Devastating Failures

ALL – Psalm 75:1-10
ALL – Proverbs 12:12-14
OT – Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19
NT – Luke 10:13-37

Have you ever been on a bridge or narrow pathway so high that you could look over the edge on either side and know that a fall meant death?

Among Christians, one of the most inspirational thoughts in all of Scripture is known as the “double love command.” Jesus tells us that it summarizes all the Law and the Prophets (the OT). Here is one version of it, recorded by Luke:

“It says,” he replied, “that you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor just as much as you love yourself.” – Luke 10:27, The Living Bible

In this case, it was not said by Jesus, who responded:

“Do this and you shall live.” – Luke 10:28, The Living Bible

No one can measure up perfectly to this command. Even among those who seek to obey and fulfill these requirements, people usually make the mistake of obeying just ONE of the TWO commands given here.

Some people love God with all their hearts. They devote themselves completely to God, or so they think. They spend all their time reading their Bibles, praying, attending services, and helping with official church programs. If someone interrupts their service to God, that person gets set aside, left behind, left alone. But God says to these people, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates (neglects, ignores) his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20, NIV).

Other people really do a good job of loving people. They open up their homes, they share their food, they give cash to every beggar, they devote themselves to programs that help people to get out of poverty and homelessness and drugs. They always sympathize with people, always listen, always care, never judge. But these people often lay aside their Bibles, sweep sins (their own and other people’s) under the carpet, neglect to pray, think of Jesus as merely a good man, and worry that any spiritual discussion will hurt people’s feelings. To these people, God says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me” (John 14:21), and “…this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 3:23, NIV). Loving God is obeying God, and obeying God is believing in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Neglecting our faith is just as destructive as neglecting our neighbors.

The double-love command is a united command. We are not to love God but hate our neighbors. Neither are we to love our neighbors but neglect God. We are to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We all fall short. We all struggle more either with loving God or with loving people (though, if we’re honest, we fall short in both). We sin. Which is why we praise God that Jesus Christ, His Son, died on the cross to provide forgiveness for our sins. There is grace for us, even as we fail in the two most important commands of all. But that grace is not intended to make us neglect the commands; instead, it strengthens us to stop wallowing in our failures and sins so that we can get up and grow in obedience and love. This requires humility and honesty. We must recognize our failure and call on our Lord for help.

Which side of the command do you struggle with most?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

He Did It!...Or Did He?

ALL – Psalm 68:1-18
ALL – Proverbs 11:28
OT – Deuteronomy 4:1-49
NT – Luke 6:39-7:10

I find that adults really haven’t grown up all that much. Not just a few of us. All of us.

Think about it. Watch some kids. See what happens when someone—anyone—tries to confront them about doing something wrong.

“I didn’t do it.”

“Michael did it.”

“Emma did it”

Or, if they’re at least willing to admit that they hit, or screamed at, or pulled another kid’s hair: “Emma made me.” “Michael made me.” “It wasn’t my fault.”

Adults do the same thing. We still seek to justify ourselves. We either seek to deny that we did anything wrong, or if we did something wrong, we STILL try to show people that it wasn’t our fault, that we have good hearts. Something happened, and we had to make the best of a bad situation. Someone else made us angry, and we responded wrongly. She seduced us and led us into adultery. We couldn’t help it!

It’s always someone else’s fault, someone else’s responsibility, someone else’s problem. Even if we admit our sin, in some way someone else’s sin or some outside situation is the real problem. Not us. Not our hearts. Not our choices.

Jesus puts that myth to rest:

A good man produces good deeds from a good heart. And an evil man produces evil deeds from his hidden wickedness. Whatever is in the heart overflows into speech. – Luke 6:45, The Living Bible

Whatever is in the heart overflows. Into speech, yes, but into deeds, too. This verse talks about both. Our hearts are the real problem. Yes, we may face terrible circumstances. We may even face terrible opponents. But the way we respond to them is not their decision. It’s ours. And the choice we make is, in each circumstance, the choice we most wanted to make. Of course we wouldn’t have chosen to commit our particular sin in a more comfortable setting! But in a painful, frustrating, or even scary setting, we acted the way we most wanted to act. And it revealed our hearts.

God is God not just when times are good. But when they’re bad. Do you think He gave us His Word to guide us only through the easy times of life? Of course not! As much as we need His guidance during the easy days, it’s the tough days where we really have to lean on His wisdom, His grace, His faithfulness, His righteousness. It’s the tough days—and the tough people—who help to reveal our hearts. But it’s not their fault our hearts are the way they are.

Let’s ask God to help us confess our sins, confess our wrong thoughts, confess our wrong desires, and confess our need for Him.

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Even Jesus Scared His Parents

ALL – Psalm 60:1-12
ALL – Proverbs 11:15
OT – Numbers 26:1-51
NT – Luke 2:36-52

Boys will be boys. But usually we don’t think of Jesus that way. We don’t think of Him as the kind of boy who could upset His parents at all. We like to think that He was so aware of His parents’ desires and worries that He took care to never ever upset them—and that He succeeded. But even Jesus scared His parents. At least once.

They had gone to Jerusalem for the Passover, and afterwards they were traveling home in a large caravan of people. Mary and Joseph didn’t know where their twelve year old Jesus was, but they assumed that He was with other boys in the caravan. Oops! Bad assumption, it turned out. After realizing Jesus was missing and searching for Him about three days, they finally found Him in the temple.

His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son!” his mother said to him. Why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.” – Luke 2:48, The Living Bible

They were scared. Jesus had done something they didn’t expect. Not rudely. Not inconsiderately. Jesus’ response to this question indicates that He simply assumed they would know where He wanted to be: in the temple. So Jesus wasn’t inconsiderate. But somewhere along the way, Jesus’ choice and His parents’ expectations didn’t quite meet, and Jesus scared His parents by going missing for three days.

The passage concludes:

Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them; and his mother stored away all these things in her heart. – Luke 2:51, The Living Bible

Jesus may have been surprised that His parents were frantic and uncertain of where He was, but that didn’t make Him argumentative or disrespectful. He obeyed Mary and Joseph and honored them rather than mocking or ridiculing them for not understanding His way of thinking. Such an obedient—sinlessly obedient—son. And yet even Jesus scared His parents.

I wonder sometimes if we parents set our expectations too high, and it’s more our fault that we get scared than our kids’ faults. We need to teach our kids to be obedient, but to expect them never to surprise us, even by accident? That’s asking a lot.

It’s worth asking the question, “How might I be expecting too much of my kids?” Father, help me to be an understanding father, and Christy to be an understanding mother. And please, keep our kids from scaring us too badly…even if they’re doing good things.

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Weekly Sermons in Swanton: Jesus Overcomes Our Sins

The message, preached on January 24th, 2010, covered 1 John 2:1-6, and it can be heard via streaming audio at http://www.swantonalliance.org. What happens after we’ve come into the Light to fellowship with the God in whom there is no darkness at all—and then we sin again? Note: Past sermons can be accessed through the resources page.