O Lord, you God of vengeance,
you God of vengeance, shine forth!
Rise up, O judge of the earth;
give to the proud what they deserve!
O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked exult?
They pour out their arrogant words;
all the evildoers boast.
They crush your people, O Lord,
and afflict your heritage.
They kill the widow and the stranger,
they murder the orphan,
and they say, "The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive."
Understand, O dullest of the people;
fools, when will you be wise?
He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
He who disciplines the nations,
he who teaches knowledge to humankind,
does he not chastise?
The Lord knows our thoughts,
that they are but an empty breath.
Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord,
and whom you teach out of your law,
giving them respite from days of trouble,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the Lord will not forsake his people;
he will not abandon his heritage;
for justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
Who rises up for me against the wicked?
Who stands up for me against evildoers?
If the Lord had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
When I thought, "My foot is slipping,"
your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
those who contrive mischief by statute?
They band together against the life of the righteous,
and condemn the innocent to death.
But the Lord has become my stronghold,
and my God the rock of my refuge.
He will repay them for their iniquity
and wipe them out for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will wipe them out.
DEVOTION
I don’t know about you, but I have been mad enough in the past to pray a prayer like this! Whenever my husband stumbles upon me in this type of mood he quotes the Bible saying, “Vengeance is mine saith the Lord; I will repay (Romans 12:19)!”
This never sounds good enough to me until I read scriptures like today’s psalm. Truly God is wise enough and strong enough to discipline all of God’s children.
When I try to “teach people a lesson” I generally fail; but when God teaches us a lesson it is remembered for a long time to come!
Aren’t you glad that we serve a God who is always ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to angerandabounding in steadfast love (Psalm 145:8)?
If God gave each of us exactly what we deserve for our sin, it would be a mess! But, God does not always give us what we deserve; instead, God’s love gives us what we do not deserve in the sacrifice of Jesus.
Because God loves us so much God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life. Although God does indeed see all, hear all, and know all, God’s grace and mercy meet us at our place of greatest need.
I love these words from today’s psalmist, “If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, "My foot is slipping," your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.”
Praise God! It is God who holds us up! I don’t have to worry about repaying someone for their evil toward me. I don’t have to worry about “getting back” at my adversaries. Instead, I choose to cultivate an attitude of humility and gratitude that always remembers that, like my enemies, I am a sinner, in need of God’s grace.
Do you need to forgive someone today? If so, please pray with me:
Dear God, today I forgive my adversary and place them into your hand. I believe-by faith-that you are able to discipline and save without my interference. Please bring love, joy, and peace where there has been hatred. I know that you are able to do all things well. I entrust this situation into your care. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Ruth 3:14-4:6 (NRSV) The widow's next of kin receive her
So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before one person could recognize another; for he said, "It must not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor." Then he said, "Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out." So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley, and put it on her back; then he went into the city. She came to her mother-in-law, who said, "How did things go with you, my daughter?" Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, "He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, 'Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'" She replied, "Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today."
No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, "Come over, friend; sit down here." And he went over and sat down. Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here"; so they sat down. He then said to the next-of-kin, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you." So he said, "I will redeem it." Then Boaz said, "The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance." At this, the next-of-kin said, "I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it."
DEVOTION
I absolutely love it when God takes a miserable defeat and turns it into a great victory! In yesterday’s good news blog we celebrated Ruth’s courage in choosing to go with God into an unknown future, rather than turning back to what was comfortable and familiar.
As a reward of her great faithfulness to God and to Naomi, God redeems Ruth’s situation by causing her to find favor with Boaz, who becomes her kinsman-redeemer.
Ruth needed a hero. She needed someone to see the hope and faith which was ablaze in her and to love her in return. She needed someone to “redeem” her situation and to help her to recover the love and security that she had lost when her first husband died.
God raised up Boaz to do just that! Aren’t you glad that even in the most miserable situations God has a good plan not to harm us, but to give us a future and a hope?
Because Ruth was faithful, God used Boaz to restore her good fortunes. And God used their union to produce a child who would ultimately share the lineage of King David and King Jesus!
Jesus would become the world’s kinsman-redeemer. All of humanity was drowning in sin and failure. But God’s love would not let us go! Instead Love gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life.
Every day, I thank God for Jesus who was willing and able to atone for our sin and to reconcile our relationship with God!
As we walk with God, even into the most uncertain of futures, we can be sure and very sure that God has nothing but our good in mind!
If God did not spare Jesus, but gave Him up for all of us, why would God withhold any other good gift that we truly need?
Today, will you put all of your hope in Jesus to redeem your sin and failure and help you to emerge in victory? If so, please pray with me:
God, thank you that you are the ultimate redeemer! I believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I will be enabled and equipped to share the good news that Jesus saves and he saves to the utmost! I am excited to put all of my hope in Jesus and I can’t wait to share this news with others. I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
SPECIAL NOTE
If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! Let me encourage you to tell a Christian friend that you just put all of your hope in Jesus. Ask him or her to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand and to find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make new friends who will walk with you on your Christian journey!
I would be honored if you would let me know about your decision today by clicking "YES" in the poll located in the upper-right hand corner of the good news blog in answer to the question, "Did God save you today?"
Congratulations and Happy Re-birthday! Your salvation is our GOOD NEWS, please go and share the GOOD NEWS with others!
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back each of you to your mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband." Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. They said to her, "No, we will return with you to your people." But Naomi said, "Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me." Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
So she said, "See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law." But Ruth said,
"Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die -
there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!"
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, "Is this Naomi?" She said to them,
"Call me no longer Naomi,
call me Mara,
for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.
I went away full,
but the Lord has brought me back empty;
why call me Naomi
when the Lord has dealt harshly with me,
and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?"
So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
DEVOTION
I don’t know about you, but I have faced some terrible days in my life. I have known more than one “dark nights of the soul” when I did not have the slightest idea how I was going to recover from my sorrow, grief and pain.
It is on days like this that we have two choices. We can go backward like Orpah or forward like Ruth.
It takes a brave soul to go forward into unknown and unchartered waters when faced with calamity. But, when offered the opportunity to return to what was known, comfortable, and familiar Ruth said, “"Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die - there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!"
Wow! Ruth was a determined young lady and her courage, fortitude, wisdom, and faithfulness are a continual inspiration to me.
No matter what we may be facing, there is always the possibility of a brighter day ahead. It seems that when Ruth chose to go forward she was placing her hope squarely on God’s provision and ability to save!
This side of the cross, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that defeat can be transformed into victory! Although Jesus experienced great sorrow, pain and betrayal as he died on the cross, his story did not end in defeat. Instead, on the third day he was resurrected--victorious over sin, death, and the grave!
The same God that raised Jesus from the dead oversees all of the concerns of our lives. As we come to God in prayer, and by faith, we can rest assured that God is well able to orchestrate a great rescue on our behalf.
Today, I want to invite you to go with God boldly into the future! God loves you and stands ready to assist you with even your most trying of circumstances, if you will only take God's hand.
Will you make the choice to go forward into the unknown by faith, rather than turning back? If
so, please pray with me?
God, I am so tempted to turn back; but I believe that you have great things in store for me if I will but push forward into the unknown. I have known some dark days, but I trust brighter days are dawning. Please fill me with your love, joy, peace, attitude of gratitude, and hope for the future. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I will have the courage to follow you. Lord, I cannot turn back. To whom would I go? You alone have the words of eternal life. Please keep me steadfastly determined to follow you no matter where you may lead me. I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
To hear this good news message preached by Pastor Yolanda, please click the link above. Thank you!
SCRIPTURE
Time After Pentecost - Lectionary 32
Mark 12:38-44 (NRSV)
A widow's generosity
As he taught, he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."
He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."
SERMON
In many churches around the country, today will be the start of our stewardship campaigns. It is at this time of year that pastors and church councils lead congregations in a time of reflection, prayer, and discernment regarding how we will invest our financial resources in the coming year.
For many of us, this kind of talk about money is uncomfortable and it causes us to squirm in our seats. We have been taught that money (and sex) are taboo subjects and that it is not polite to discuss either in the company of others.
I—and the Holy Bible—beg to differ, my friends. It has been said that there are more than eight hundred verses in the Bible about money and money management.
Jesus, our Teacher, Lord, and Friend, talked about money with his disciples all of the time. He was constantly reminding them of the importance of being a sharing and A generous person.
On more than one occasion my wisdom has been sought by young people or couples in my church who are experiencing financial difficulty. They seek me out because they simply cannot find the money to pay all of their bills. I tell them, “Give me your checkbook. In the next 15 minutes I will tell you what you value most in the world.”
It is a rare soul whose professed values match up with what their checkbook declares to me about them. I believe that most Christians would say that God and family are their most critical concerns in life. Yet, upon examining their checkbook, we find that McDonalds, Starbucks, and Macy’s are where they put the bulk of their money. Jesus once said, “Where your heart is, your treasure will be also (Luke 12:34)
Well, in today’s scripture, we encounter a woman who truly captured Jesus’ attention! As he sat watching people toss their money into the temple treasury, he pointed out a widow woman who put two small copper coins into the plate. Today, we know that her “offering” would be less than one penny.
That doesn’t sound like much, does it? In 2009, we might say in regard to an offering of this size, “What in the world could a church do with just one penny? Would that penny keep the heat on? Pay the pastor’s salary? Keep the parking lot clear of snow? Why didn’t she just keep that little penny? What a waste of everybody’s time!”
But, if we were to say such things we would be in opposition to Jesus’ assessment of the situation. When Jesus saw the widow’s mite, he said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."
Now, wait a minute! Why would Jesus praise her for putting all that she had into the plate? After all, she has to eat and house herself doesn’t she? God doesn’t call us to be foolish! We need to use good sense when discerning our stewardship goals for the year, right?
Right! But, as we are exercising our good sense, we need to throw in a dash of faith and a good long meditation on the lessons learned from the woman who gave all.
So, what can we learn from the widow woman? Well, first of all, we can be sure that God is not looking for equal giving, but equal sacrifice. See, if God “graded” our giving by who gave most, then the scribes and the rich folks should have received the greatest praise from Jesus. But, they did not.
Instead, it was the poor woman who gave less than a penny that got the attention of Jesus! He said that whereas the rich were giving out of their abundance, the widow gave out of her poverty.
Jesus was excited by the person who gave, not of her leftovers, but of the first fruits of all that she had. Can you imagine if each of us approached our giving to the church in this fashion?
What if all of us made up our minds to abundantly give God the best of what we have been given? What if we decided to give God the first fruits of every paycheck and not the leftovers after we paid the bills, McDonalds, Starbucks, and Macy’s?
Wow! We would be able to do so much more than just maintain the church and pay the pastor! We would certainly have all that we needed to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, house the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned, and care for the widows and orphans, wouldn’t we?
Although her one penny couldn’t accomplish this all by itself, the widow’s penny joined with the abundant and generous gifts of others certainly could! See, I don’t want to spend my time looking around at other people wondering who is giving less and who is giving more. I just want to be able to trust that all of us are doing our part, to the best of our ability, to give an abundant and generous gift to the work of God!
Secondly, the widow teaches us the importance of giving joyfully and selflessly to God and to the work of God’s Church. Sometimes I try to imagine how that widow woman felt as she cast her two copper coins into the treasury.
Was she scared? Was she anxious? Was she worried? Did she wonder how she was going to pay the bills? Or was she joyful? Excited? Anticipatory or thrilled?
I like to believe that the woman was joyful and excited. When I was in college I studied abroad in Ghana, which is in West Africa. Every Sunday morning I would go to church with people who had very few material possessions. It was not uncommon for people to show up at church without shoes on their feet.
But, on the first Sunday I was there, I got a tremendous surprise! When the pastor announced the offering time, the people jumped up and began to dance! The musicians played lively and upbeat music, the drums filled the air, and those Ghanaian Christians held their offerings over their heads and danced down the center aisle to the plate—joyfully giving of their very meager sustenance.
That was a very humbling moment for me. Although those folks were much poorer than I was in terms of material possessions, they were much richer than me in terms of their love, hope, and faith in Jesus Christ!
They were not afraid to give abundantly, generously, and joyfully for they knew—and believed—with all of their hearts that God would open up the windows of heaven and poor out a blessing on them so great they would not have room enough to receive it (Malachi 3:10)!
Those folks truly took God at God’s Word! They believed that God was well able to supply all of their needs according to God’s riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).
And this brings me to the third lesson learned from the widow woman. She teaches us that we can trust God in our giving! I love to use my holy ghost inspired imagination to guess what happened to her later that week. Scripture does not tell us the happy-ending to her story, but I believe—by faith—that there was one.
Perhaps some folks from the temple stopped by her house with gifts of food and clothes for the widows of the congregation. Maybe, as she walked home, she found money in the street. Maybe her neighbors invited her to dinner each evening. We just don’t know.
But, what we do know is that you can’t beat God giving, no matter how you try! We see the proof of that 1 Kings 17 when we read the story about the widow of Zarephath who had the courage to share her very last meal with the prophet Elijah. Because of her abundant, generous, joyful, and faith-full gift to The Man of God, her meal never ran out and she and her young son had all that they needed to weather the drought that had consumed her land!
Hallelujah!
Just as God blessed the widow of Zarephath, I believe God blessed the woman who gave the widow’s mite and I believe, by faith, that God will bless us too!
Now, you might ask me how I can be so sure about all of this. My answer is simple. There is another who gave all that he had to God and to God’s people. His name was Jesus.
Jesus gave all that he had abundantly, generously, joyfully, selflessly and faith-fully on an old rugged cross on Golgotha’s hill. He could have held back. He could have refused to give. He could have chosen to turn a blind eye to the needs of others. But, he did not. He gave, and he gave, and he gave, and he gave until there was nothing else to give. And then he died.
God’s love gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life. Wasn’t that an abundant gift? But, Jesus did not stay dead. Generous, abundant, joyful, selfless, and faithful gifts are always rewarded. On the third day, Jesus was resurrected from the dead. And because he conquered sin, death, and the grave on our behalf—his gift is the one that will keep on giving forever and ever amen!
See, when we give our best to God, God then assumes the responsibility of giving us the wisdom, understanding, and discernment to utilize those gifts in the church to do God’s work with our hands!
It is our joy and our honor to give to God. We cannot begin to repay God for all that God has done for us. There is not enough time, talent, or treasure in the world to make good on the debt Jesus paid on our behalf when he died in our stead.
But, every day of our lives, we can do our best to give God the best of ourselves---our time, our talent, and our treasure—so that God’s concerns can be addressed in our world!
What a blessed privilege to assume the heart of that widow-woman. As we step into her shoes as we fill our stewardship cards, I believe, by faith, that we will surprise ourselves with the abundant, generous, and joyful gifts that we choose to give to God!
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work (2 Cor 9:8).
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
INVITATION
You may be ready to give God all that you have by putting all of your hope in Jesus today. If so, please pray with me:
God, thank you for giving me the best of what you had, when you gave Jesus to die on the cross to save me from my sin and gift me with eternal life. I believe that Jesus died and rose again on the third day. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit. Today, I am putting all of my faith in Jesus. Please help me to share this faith with others as I give abundantly and joyfully of my time, talent, and treasure to the work of your Kingdom. I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
SPECIAL NOTE
If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! Let me encourage you to tell a Christian friend that you just put all of your hope in Jesus. Ask him or her to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand and to find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make new friends who will walk with you on your Christian journey!
I would be honored if you would let me know about your decision today by clicking "YES" in the poll located in the upper-right hand corner of the good news blog in answer to the question, "Did God save you today?"
Congratulations and Happy Re-birthday! Your salvation is our GOOD NEWS, please go and share the GOOD NEWS with others!
Mark 11:12-14, 20-24 (NRSV) Condemnation and blessing
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it. ...
In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. Then Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered." Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
MEDITATION—Today is Saturday Psalmody; the mediation is offered as a psalm from my heart! If you would like a more traditional devotion, please search the archives for a title that appeals to you! (smile)
For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant. Where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Hence not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been told to all the people by Moses in accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you." And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
DEVOTION
Today's scripture reading puts me in the mind of a song we used to sing as children. The chorus said, "oh the blood of Jesus, it shall never lose its power!"
Indeed, Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross was a once and for all time sacrifice. Prior to Jesus' death, when sin was committed, the blood of animals had to be spilled. There was so much blood in the temples that it often flowed off the altar and into troughs where it flowed out of the sanctuary.
I don't know about you, but I am glad that I don't have to bring mammals and birds to church every Sunday to atone for my sin and the sin of my loved ones.
Jesus paid it all; his sacrifice was good enough to cover all past, present, and future sin. When we fall short of the glory of God, failing to love God and/or neighbor, it is the blood and love of Jesus that covers up the multitude of our sin.
When we have put all of our hope in Jesus, believing by faith that he died and rose again on the third day to save us from sin and gift us with eternal life, we do not need to fear judgment. Although we are certainly guilty of sin and deserving of a death sentence, God--the Righteous Judge--declares that our punishment has already been served by another!
Hallelujah!
Aren't you glad that Jesus was willing to pay the ultimate price to secure our freedom? Aren't you happy-glad that because he did, we will not taste death, but live eternally?
I pray that this feeling of great joy will spill out of our hearts and into the lives of everyone around us today!
Remember, READ good news. SHARE good news. BE good news!
Let's pray:
Eternal One, thank you that Love gave Jesus to die on the cross to save me from my sin and gift me with eternal life. I believe that your Word is true and that Jesus did die on the cross and rise again on the third day. Today, I am putting all of my hope in you. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit. I want to BE your good news in the lives of everyone that I meet! I pray this in Jesus' Name, Amen.
SPECIAL NOTE
If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! Let me encourage you to tell a Christian friend that you just put all of your hope in Jesus. Ask him or her to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand and to find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make new friends who will walk with you on your Christian journey!
Congratulations and Happy Re-birthday! Your salvation is our GOOD NEWS, please go and share the GOOD NEWS with others!
I would be honored if you would take a moment to click “YES” in the upper-right hand corner of the good news blog in answer to the question, “Did God save you today?”
Thank you for reading good news as you are able and sharing good news as you are led. Go in peace, serve the Lord! (Thanks be to God!)
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
DEVOTION
Today we are invited to boast in God with whom we have been reconciled by the blood Jesus. To reconcile means to, “reestablish a close relationship, resolve, restore, or bring into agreement or harmony.”
Reconciliation was necessary because our sin against God and neighbor destroyed our relationship and harmony with God. Because God is holy, blameless, and perfect, God absolutely hates sin. It is anathema to who God is and what God is about.
Therefore, when we sin, we break fellowship with God and cause dissonance in our relationship with the Almighty.
But, there is a way to bring all things back into agreement and harmony. We cannot do it; but God can and God did!
God loves us so much that God could not abide being out of fellowship with us. So God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life. Because of the sacrifice Jesus made by dying on the cross, we are justified (or made right) by the blood of Jesus!
Now, it would have been exceptional for God to do this for only his friends; but scripture teaches us that while we were yet sinners and enemies, Jesus died for us!
Although God has a right to be angry about our sin, we are saved from God’s wrath when we put all of our hope and faith in Jesus!
Dear friends, right now you may be sitting around beating yourself up over your many, many sins and failures. You may feel terrible about the mistakes you have made and the people you have harmed. If you had it to do all over, perhaps you would do things differently.
But, let me tell you something. Time never, ever goes backward. We can only go forward.
So, today, I want to invite you to get down on your knees, put all of your faith in Jesus, trust God to forgive your sin, and ask God to help you to make amends with those people whom you have harmed.
When we are in Christ, and covered by The Blood of Jesus, we feel repentant when we fall short of the mark. This means that we feel sorry about our shortcomings, turn away from our sin and do our best to never-ever repeat it. But, we do not languish in a pit of despair whilst holding a pity party…
Jesus paid too high a price for our forgiveness, reconciliation, and friendship with God for us to take his gift for granted!
The Bible says, “S/he whom The Son sets free, is free indeed!” We do not need to wallow in guilt and shame for WE ARE FREE!
We are free to seek forgiveness. We are free to make things right. We are free to start again and we are free to move forward with the certain hope and expectation that God is with us and that God’s love will help us to live holy and righteous lives following the commandments of God!
So, be at peace my friends. Fall into the love, grace, and mercy of Jesus! Pick yourself up and start all over. You can do it (with the help of God)!
Won’t you pray with me?
Holy God, I am so embarrassed by my mistakes. Sometimes it feels like everybody knows what I have done. I have hurt you. I have hurt myself. I have hurt my friends. I have been wallowing in guilt and shame and it feels terrible. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit. I am putting all of my hope in Jesus. I believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day. Thank you so much that because of Jesus our relationship is reconciled and my sin is forgiven. Please help me to start all over again and to make things right to the best of my God-given ability. I love you and I will share our love with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
SPECIAL NOTE
If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! Let me encourage you to tell a Christian friend that you just put all of your hope in Jesus. Ask him or her to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand and to find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make new friends who will walk with you on your Christian journey!
Congratulations and Happy Re-birthday! Your salvation is our GOOD NEWS, please go and share the GOOD NEWS with others!
I would be honored if you would take a moment to click “YES” in the upper-right hand corner of the good news blog in answer to the question, “Did God save you today?”
Thank you for reading good news as you are able and sharing good news as you are led. Go in peace, serve the Lord! (Thanks be to God!)
53 people have put all of their hope in Jesus on the good news blogs since February 1, 2009. We celebrate this good news and promise to hold each of you in love and prayer! Peace be with you!
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About Me
Pastor Yolanda Lehman
I am writing this blog from St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA where I am employed as a professor and evangelist. I earned my B.A. at Wesleyan University with a double major in African American studies and Religious Studies. I went on to earn my M.Div. at Harvard Divinity School where I wrote my thesis on holy hip hop. I am blessed in my life to be called wife, mother, daughter, sister, pastor, evangelist, teacher, and friend. My greatest passion in life is to make GOOD NEWS easy to read and fun to share! This blog is an extension of that passion. I want the whole world to know and believe that God loves us and to share that GOOD NEWS with others...Thanks for reading!
Pastor Yolanda is super proud that she can share her favorite books, movies, and music with GOOD NEWS readers! Simply click on the words "GOOD NEWS LIVING" below to be taken to ALL of my favorites! You will be shopping withAMAZON.COM so it is safe! As I read, see, and listen to things that set GOOD NEWS a-singing in my heart; I'll share them with you! Yay, God!
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