A fire in Judah's forest
To the house of the king of Judah say: Hear the word of the Lord, O house of David! Thus says the Lord:
Execute justice in the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
anyone who has been robbed,
or else my wrath will go forth like fire,
and burn, with no one to quench it,
because of your evil doings.
See, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,
says the Lord;
you who say, "Who can come down against us,
or who can enter our places of refuge?"
I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,
says the Lord;
I will kindle a fire in its forest,
and it shall devour all that is around it.
DEVOTION
Oh my goodness! This scripture clearly reminds us that God is the only Righteous Judge. In my heart I can hear the echoes of Romans 6:23 which states, “The wages of sin are death.”
Isn’t that terrible bad news?
In today’s scripture we are reminded that God hates sin, injustice, oppression, thievery, and evil. God’s love, grace, mercy, compassion, holiness, righteousness, and justice simply cannot abide any kind of sin in God’s midst.
As a result, God’s Law demands punishment for sin. The Bible states that, “The sum of the Law is this, to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27).
Yet, all human beings live contrary to this law. We are vain, self-centered, and generally concerned solely about the health, wealth, and happiness of ourselves and/or our immediate families. We live lawless lives, doing what we want, when we want, as if God does not exist at all. We live by a credo that asserts that as long as we aren’t caught doing wrong, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas…”
Oh my! This was true in the days of Jeremiah and it is still true today. All you have to do is look in your home, out your door, or on the television set and you will see the all consuming desire for health, wealth, and happiness that causes individuals, families, groups, and nations to destroy each other in a never ending quest for power.
This is extraordinarily sad my friends and if we got what we deserved, God would likely need to wipe us off the planet and start all over!
But, thanks be to God, that since Jesus’ incarnation on the Earth, Law is always paired with Gospel (aka, GOOD NEWS). Although we sin--and are sinners--God’s love sent Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life!
Although death was certainly deserved, Jesus took our punishment upon himself! Isaiah 53 states, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed.”
Wow! Jesus did all of this for us! Oh yes He did my friends!
While sin is a very real grievance against our God, sin does not get to have the final word!
God loves us so much that God desires to spend eternity with us! God loves us so much that God was not—and is not--willing to leave us mired in the quicksand of sin, death, and the grave.
When Jesus went to the cross he shouted, “Father forgive them…”
My! My! My! Someone ought to shout “GLORY! HALLELUJAH!”
I am so glad that God is willing to forgive our sin. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sin, God who is faithful and just, will forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Look, no matter what you may think, you can’t out sin, out fox, or out run, the Love of God which has been revealed to us in Christ Jesus!
No matter what mistakes you have made, or sin that you have grievously committed, Jesus has already done all that is necessary for you to be forgiven and gifted with eternal life.
Salvation is not about something that you need to do; Jesus has done everything for you! Salvation is about a gift that you need to gratefully receive!
Jesus has His hands outstretched to you today. In His hands is a gift. It is a very, very precious gift bought at a great price! Jesus gave His very life in order to extend to you this free gift of salvation.
Whist Romans 6:23 does say that “The wages of sin are death,” it goes on to say, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Now, ain’ta that GOOD NEWS?
Will you gratefully accept God’s gift of eternal life? If so, please pray with me…
Dear God, thank you for loving me so much that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for me! Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit. I am putting all of my hope in Jesus today! Wow! Thank you for allowing Your grace to shine on me! What wonderful GOOD NEWS! Please help me to share this GOOD NEWS with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
SPECIAL NOTE
If you just prayed this prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! I would be so honored if you would let me know about your decision by clicking “Yes” in the poll located at the top/right of today’s devotional! I am so happy for you! Happy Spiritual Re-Birth-Day!
Next steps: In response to what God did for you just now, let me suggest that you consider telling another Christian so that they can celebrate with you! Ask them to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand so that you can learn more about your new-found faith! Ask them to help you find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make loving friends who will walk with you on your new journey! You are already saved; now let God mature you by faith! Congratulations!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Congratulations to the people who have recently put all of their hope in Jesus! We celebrate your re-birth-day and promise to hold you in our prayers!
If you would like to put all of your hope in Jesus today, please visit my blog entitled, “Putting All Your Hope In Jesus” located at
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/04/putting-all-your-hope-in-jesus.html
If you have additional questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, "Come to Jesus"
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html
Pastor Yolanda is now publishing another blog entitled, “A Spoken WORD” in celebration of Holy Hip Hop, Gospel/Christian Rap and Spoken Word. Please check it out @ http://aspokenword.blogspot.com/
You are invited to follow Pastor Yolanda on Twitter www.twitter.com/PastorYolanda
Good News has now added a Prayer Ministry. http://www.kindlejoy.com/groups/goodnews
You are invited to leave comments or questions regarding today’s devotional. These comments are public.
EACH ONE--REACH ONE! To share GOOD NEWS with a friend please click the "Share With Friends" button to the right!
Thanks for reading and please come again. Pastor Yolanda extends a very special welcome to all of our friends reading outside of the United States of America! We are honored that you are sharing with us today.
From Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment