Repentance

Hosea 6:1-3

A Call to Repentance

1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. 3 Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth. 

I was just thinking about how I have the tendency to place so much importance on people and situations. I usually misinterpret the authority that I think they have and I often forget who truly is affecting the course of events. Yes, God is in control of all things and I have to believe this fact every day so that I don't get tossed about by my emotions and feelings.

It amazes me how quickly that I can forget that God is in control and not me. I confess that it is a daily battle for me to submit to His authority, to trust Him and to obey Him, but as my heart repents and returns to Him I clearly see His desire to heal me and to renew a right relationship between us. 

What good is knowledge if it is not of the Lord? May it be our goal to pursue the knowledge of the Lord daily and to thank Him constantly for what He has done for us. 

Joy

1 John 1: 4-10

 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

This morning I was reflecting on a time when I was so deceived by the ways of this world that I could not even comprehend the simple truth, that I was a sinner. I remember always justifying my behavior with one excuse after another, and blaming someone or something else always made me feel better about myself because it took the responsibility off of me for my own actions and behaviors.

Occasionally I will still fall backward into this type of sinful behavior, and the result is that I lose my joy. So how do I recapture the fullness of joy that my sinful attitude steals from me? 

Usually confession is a good place for me to start. There is freedom when I acknowledge that only the blood of Jesus can forgive, cleanse and purify me of all unrighteousness, because in my own strength I constantly fail to live up to God's moral standards. So I thank God that He is in control and that I don't have to be.  I also thank God for opening my eyes and allowing His word to have meaning in my life. Thank You Jesus for saving me from the darkness.

Psalm 119: 164,165

Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments.
Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble. 

Footsteps

Recently I heard a question that penetrated deep into my heart, mind and soul, so I decided to ask the Lord this two part question during my daily devotional's and Bible study times.

The question: Who are You Lord and what can I learn about You today?

Psalm 119:129-152

• His statutes are wonderful.
  
• The unfolding of His words gives light and understanding to the simple. 
• He turns to and has mercy on those who love His name. 
• He directs our footsteps according to His word.
• He let's no sin rule over us.
• He redeems us from the oppression of men, that we may obey His precepts.
• He shine's His face upon His servants and teaches them His decrees.
• He is righteous.
• His laws are right.
• His statutes are righteous and trustworthy.
• His righteousness is everlasting and His law is true.
• He established His statutes to last forever.

When I look at who God is, I remember who I am in Him.

Thank You Lord for showing me the right perspective today. 

Amen

Running Away Again

Another re-run in running. As I stated previously, my motto has always been that when the going gets tuff, don't just walk, run away! However now that I am a follower and believer of Jesus Christ, the problem is this, Jesus will not let me run anymore. Try as I might to run, fight, argue, kick and scream, or rebel Jesus just keeps bringing me back to the people, places, things, or situations that I do not want to deal with. 

Usually after the dust settles, and I find myself left with nowhere to run but into Jesus' arms, I always see how great our God is and that He is always there waiting for me to humble myself so that He can once again lift me up. I fall, He picks me up. I fail, He is faithful to complete the work that He has begun in me. 

Lately it has been more difficult for me to face the truth about myself and where I am going wrong, and when I do face up to the truth I find that admitting and confessing it before God is a lot easier for me than actually admitting it to another human being and repenting from the behavior or sin in itself. I don't know about you, but I am pretty stubborn and resistant to change, and I know that eventually Jesus is going to change me whether I agree to do it His way or not. I do find that His way is usually a lot easier than the way that I would usually choose, so why not surrender?

So in my attempt to encourage may I suggest that if there is something or someone that you are running from...STOP! Wait for the Lord. Surrender. For some time now that is all that I seem to be hearing, wait for the Lord, and honestly I have the tendency to get a little angry when I hear it over and over and over again, but I was reminded last night that Gods ways are not my ways, His thoughts are not my thoughts, His words are not my words, and His timing is not my timing. He alone is God. 

In closing, I love the Lord and I know that He loves me. I thank Him for His grace and His life changing word and I pray that I never lose the desire to know His love more deeply. My prayer...Lord may we grow to love as You have loved us. Amen.

 

Ephesians 3:14-21

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Broken Pieces

Jeremiah 23:29 

“ Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “ And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

Today another chunk of my hardened heart was broken into pieces by the hammer of the Lord. His word is truly like a fire, burning through the impurities that linger in this stubborn heart.

I must confess that I have been doing a few things at the work place that are not in agreement with company policy, and these compromises have been creating within me a bit of anxiety and guilt. Today I got caught in one of them. Ephesians 5: 8-11 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.

My rationale has been, everybody else does it, what is the big deal. Well the big deal is that the company says not to do it! Hmm, so they are the ones that hired me and they are the ones that can fire me.  They are the ones that pay me, and they own the business, not me. They make the rules, and I am supposed to follow them, whether I agree with them or do not agree with them.

So I took the write up like a grown-up. I didn't make excuses, and I didn't blame anybody else for what I did wrong, even though I may have wanted to just a little. I came home, a little upset but humbled, and knew that I had to go to the Lord about it because when all is said and done, He truly is the Boss, the Owner of the Company, the Owner of this life. 

The lesson that I learned is this... fear God and honor the King by doing what is right in His eye, not with what is right in your coworkers eye. Submit to His authority in my life, and submit to the authority that He puts before me in the workplace, in church leadership, in ministry work, in family, in friendships, in our government leadership and all that I may have forgotten. 

It is all in His control and power and He is coming back for us soon, so let us not forget to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies and to allow Him to be glorified in these marred pots. 

The Potter and the Clay

Jeremiah 18: 1-11

The Potter and the Clay

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”’”

Where do I start and how do I explain? I lost faith in God. I made Him small and everyone and everything around me big. I started to believe all of the lies that were racing through my mind, and my heart became so discouraged that I couldn't see anything except everything that I didn't have. 

In the past, before Jesus became my life, my motto had always been when things get tuff, run away and don't look back, and the more distance the better. Recently, everything around me seemed to be caving in and consuming me, and I lost sight of the truth, Jesus, and started to sink. So that is exactly what I did, I ran away from God and the people that I love the most.

This time was different though, God wouldn't let me run! He pursued me and showed me that His promises are true, and when He said that He will never leave me nor forsake me, He meant it for eternity. He told me that nothing can separate me from His love, no weapon formed against me shall prosper, and he will sustain me on my sickbed and restore me from my bed of illness. Praise God!

So that is the beginning to the story behind the marred pot. More to come. I hope that this blog will bring about healing to others as I share how the Lord is reshaping this marred pot.

In His love,

ALF