I DOUBLE DARE YOU!

LENT—DAY 2

SCRIPTURE

1 John 1:3-10 (NRSV)
The apostolic message of forgiveness

We declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus 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 who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and 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.

DEVOTION
In today’s scripture reading the author has some very pointed words for followers of Christ. He writes, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Oh my! This sounds like terrible news.

I don’t want to lie to myself! I don’t want to deceive myself! And I know I can’t lie to, nor deceive God, Omniscient, Knower-of-All-Things.

On this second day of Lent, we might as well keep it real with ourselves and with God. Lent is all about confessing our sins and seeking God’s forgiveness.

Now you may be thinking, I’m not really a sinner. I don’t murder, steal, or commit adultery. Isn’t it easy to get into the mind set of believing that some sins and people are worse than others?

But, when we pause to think about it, I believe it is safe to say that we must arrive at a very simple conclusion; sin is sin in God’s eyes. God hates sin, but loves the sinner, and wants us to confess our sin so that God can forgive our sin and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

So, let’s say it out loud! “I am a sinner, saved by grace. Lord, have mercy on me.”

Then insert your sins like this…

God I have sinned against you by not loving you as I should. I have sinned against you by not treating my neighbor right. I have sinned against you by not respecting my spouse the way I ought. I have sinned against you by judging and gossiping with my tongue. I have sinned against you by being impatient with your time table. I have sinned against you by turning my eyes away from injustice and prejudice. I have sinned against you by being jealous of the blessings you have chosen to bestow upon my friends. I have sinned against you by leaving so many things undone such as feeding the hungry, helping to house the homeless, or visiting the sick or imprisoned. I have sinned against you by failing to recognize your holy presence with me day by day.

Oh my! I could go on and on—and so could you. The list of our sins is long indeed! And sometimes we find it hard to make confession because we are carefully taught to cloak our sin in darkness and anonymity. But, today’s scripture reminds us of some wonderful GOOD NEWS! “God is light and in God there is no darkness at all.”

There is no such thing as true darkness my friends. God sees and hears everything that we do. So we might as well confess our wrong-doing, receive God’s forgiveness, and restore a feeling of true fellowship between ourselves and our ever-loving God.

Just think about it, my friends! God loves us so much that God gave Jesus upon the cross all in order to bring us out of darkness and into the marvelous Light! God loves us so much that God was willing to sacrifice ALL, in order to restore friendship and fellowship with us. Jesus was God’s penultimate “passing of the peace.” Isn’t this GOOD NEWS?!

If we fail to take note of our sin and to confess it before God, not only are we lying to ourselves, but we are calling God a liar—right to God’s face! God says, “all have sinned…” God can’t be wrong—RIGHT?

I know that none of us wants to call God a liar, because we know that God is Truth. Truth says we have some things to make right with God and with our neighbors. Go ahead--make things right. Tell the truth on yourself and become aware of God’s forgiveness, love, and grace. I dare you!

And one more thing…Once you are done making confession to God—go out and seek the forgiveness of the people you have wronged as well. Go tell somebody what God has done for you, my friend, I double dare ya, in Jesus Name!

What “secret” sin do you need to bring out of the darkness and into the Light on this day?

Merciful God, have mercy upon me for I have surely sinned and I have tried to hide my sin from you. How silly I have been! Please help me to stop hiding from you; I know that you love me and will help me to make things right. I agree with you today, Lord. I am a sinner in need of your grace. Thank you for forgiving me and restoring to me the joy of your salvation! You are an awesome God and I love you. Help me to share that love with others. In Jesus Name, Amen.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Fred Hammond’s “Glory to Glory,” Martha Munizzi’s “Renew Me,” and Donnie McClurkin's "Create in Me" can be purchased by clicking the words Good News Living at the top of the red box to the right. You can find your favorite songs under "Pastor Yolanda’s Favorite Music."

Would you please be kind enough to answer the one question survey to the right?

We now have enough people interested to start the Good News Living Book Club! Yay God! On the first day of every month I will share a book for us to read together. On the last Saturday of every month at 9:00am CST (USA & Canada) we will have a “chat room” book club meeting. I chose 9:00am because this time will allow us to share with our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world! It will be early in the United States but evening in Africa, China, and elsewhere! Please mark your calendars for our very first book club meeting! It will be held Saturday, March 28, 2009.

I have added a new function to the blog that allows EVERYONE to leave comments or questions! These comments are public. To leave a comment, please click “comments” at the bottom of the blog. I would be tickled to receive your feedback; I invite you to respond as you are led!

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 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

Acid Corrodes the Vessel

Psalm 35:1-10 (NRSV)

God is our salvation

Come on! Tell the truth! Have you ever prayed a prayer like this? I know I have. So I’ll just “tell the truth and shame the devil.” I’ve prayed that God would get my enemies. I’ve prayed that God would pay them back for hurting me. I’ve prayed that God would grant them failure. I know. Doesn’t sound so holy, huh? But, I’ve done it.

See, like you, I’m human and as humans we are capable of very strong emotion. There are days when we are happy and days when we are sad, when our relationships work out and when they fail miserably, when it seems like everyone is rooting for us and when it seems everyone is out to get us.

We tend to remember the bad days, the hurt, the betrayal, and the failure. We hold those days close to our hearts finding it hard to forgive and impossible to forget. I remember when I was a little girl my mama would say to me, “Acid corrodes the vessel.” What she meant is that when we hold rage and unforgiveness in our hearts, it doesn’t hurt the person we are angry with, it hurts us! We get a headache. We get a stomach ulcer. We find it hard to trust new friends and new opportunities.

But, here is the GOOD NEWS! God is our salvation! God sees when we are oppressed unfairly. God knows when we have been attacked without cause. God is observant when someone sets out to hurt our feelings. And God is able to salve our wounded hearts and spirits, give us the courage and wisdom to righteously resist oppression, whilst simultaneously working to soften the hearts of our enemies so that they too might know God’s love and God’s salvation.

See, God provides us the perfect example of how to love into a life full of forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Jesus, who was the perfect manifestation of love and who did no wrong, was tried as a common criminal and then sentenced to capital punishment by way of the cross. There has never been a more unfair and unjust sentence, yet from the cross he cried, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!”

This is GOOD NEWS! For truly all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I have hurt people and so have you. Others have hurt us; it is part of the human condition. We sin. We fall down. But, we must get up again! God is our salvation and God will give us everything that we need to boldly love our neighbors as ourselves.

Who do you need to offer an apology or forgiveness to today?

Eternal God, in the name of Jesus, I confess to you that I am harboring unforgiveness in my heart. Please help me to follow your loving example by extending love, mercy, forgiveness, and grace to others. Your love has changed my heart and I pray that it will change the heart of my enemies as well. This is GOOD NEWS! Help me to radically share it with others. Amen.

*The entire scripture reading for today can be found by clicking the ELCA Daily Bible Reading Tab to the right.

*from Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/

*Do you have one friend in need of GOOD NEWS? To share today's devotional click "Share With Friends" button to the right! Thanks for reading and please come again.