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Isaiah 59: Does Our Father Forgive Us?

Of course He does, He loves us ?

Often we read of forgiveness in the New Testament, but it also speaks of forgiveness in the Old Testament (Isaiah 59).

Isaiah 59 starts with a reminder that God is all powerful and can save and hear us. But because of our sins He could not. So clearly our sins do separate us from God. Good thing for us that we have a Savior that forgives us and wipes our slate clean. Because of His Great Sacrifice, God can hear us and we are saved ?

And in fact, towards the end of Isaiah 59, God clearly wishes to save His people, even if it is from themselves. And so He looks to find one good person who truly stands up for truth and justice, who seeks to turn the people back to God, but sadly, He can’t even find one.

So at the end of Isaiah 59, our Father promised to send a “Redeemer” to save us Himself-Jesus Christ. God could have given up on us. He could have stopped loving us. But He didn’t. God Loved Us Always. And because He loves us so, He sent Jesus to Save us.

And because Jesus came and we accepted Him as our Savior (Redeemer), we are completely forgiven. For God not only forgives our sins, He erases them.

And we should do the same for others ?

The Blessing

We’ve posted The Blessing being sung in many states and countries. What a gift they have all given us! A reminder that it is our very differences coming together that truely create beauty.

God loves us all. Jesus died and rose again for everyone of us. And we should love each other, just as Jesus commanded. Always.

People follow Jesus all over the world! Each of them are our brother and sister in Christ. We need to be reminded what a Blessing and Gift they are to us all 🙂

The Blessing From South Africa :)

The Blessing from Pakistan :)

What is Sin?

Something we don’t like to talk about lol. Who does?

How do we define sin? God defines sin repeatedly in The Bible. But in order to understand God’s definition of sin, we must first read the Bible. (hint, hint 🙂

Webster’s dictionary defines sin as, “an offense against religious or moral law. b : an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible it’s a sin to waste food. c : an often serious shortcoming : fault.”

Christian hamartiology describes sin as, “an act of offense against God by despising his persons and Christian biblical law, and by injuring others. In Christian views it is an evil human act, which violates the rational nature of man as well as God’s nature and his eternal law.”

The Bible itself defines sin in a number of places. One place includes in types of sin, “pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth”. These are often referred to as the “seven deadly sins”.

But notice one thing they have in common: they are all a type of selfishness.

And when we really think about it, selfishness is at the root of all sin, including the seven listed above.

Why is it important? Because it simplifies our lives so much. When we are trying to make choices, what we really need to consider is are they selfish ones? This can apply not just to our actions, but to our speech. Does our speech build someone up or tear some one down? Does it satisfy a need in us or help another?

Jesus commanded us to love God with our whole heart and soul and love one another. All sin is really our refusal to follow these two commands.

So let’s face it, we all sin. Even the best of us have bad days or days when we are tired and crabby! Days when we consider our selfish needs rather than our Lord’s commands or the needs of others. We just do. If we could be perfect, than Jesus would not have had to suffer for our sins. So the question is, what do we do?

We simply ask God to show us where we have fallen short.

We ask God for His forgiveness.

And we ask God to give us the strength to do better today. And everyday.

And we ask all of this in Jesus’ Name.

Why do the Days Of Noah in Matthew 24 Matter So Much?

One reason is because there are a lot of similarity between those days and the current ones. Another is that they are a warning to us!

In Timothy, we are warned of what the times and many people will be like:

“ But know this, that in the last days ^[a]perilous times will come: ²For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³unloving, ^[b]unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. “-2 Timothy 3: 1-5

That is how the Days of Noah were. Most people turned to evil rather than to God!

Jesus told His apostles in Matthew 24:32, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ^“

No one but the Father knows the Day and Hour that Jesus will return, but Jesus warned us of the signs to look for and they are here. Will the End come, only the Father knows.

But irregardless, prayer and repentence might be a good idea. Lay your sins down at the foot of cross. Ask Jesus to forgive them and be your Savior. Start fresh 🙂

Because Jesus is Real and He is Coming Back. And our only hope is in Jesus 🙂

Meeting At The Foot Of The Cross :)

What an awesome worship song! In times of trouble such these, this is where we need to meet: At The Foot Of The Cross.

Because no amount of legislation or force will change peoples’ hearts, but Jesus Christ can and will 🙂

Racism Will End When We All Meet At The Foot Of The Cross!

If we have made much progress in the last 50 years in ending racism, much of that ground has been lost in the last year. And believe me, I know how difficult it is when we are forced to watch innocent people hurt and beaten, or property destroyed. But Christ did not call us to love others only when it’s easy. We are supposed to love others-all the time.

Sadly, whether the concerns of the protestors are valid or not, they have been largely drowned out by the fires, lootings and killings that have occured during the protests. The protestors may indeed have some valid concerns, but they are not going to be resolved this way.

But skin color is not the real issue right now; good versus evil is. Good people do not hurt each other. They do not destroy one another’s property. Nor do they support that type of behavior. And while there is nothing wrong with peaceful protests, many of the current protests are not peaceful. However, as One Nation Under God, we also need to remember that there are many African Americans who are not participating in the riots. They are innocent of any wrong-doing!

Racism will not end because of laws that are passed or by threats or by force.

Racism will end when people love God and more than they fear each other, and when we love each other as Christ commanded.

Because racism ends-one heart at a time.

The Father’s Love Letter

Take a Moment and watch this video-It will change your life 🙂

Guilt: We All Carry Too Much!

We all feel it. Too much!

Charles Spurgeon once said, “the Holier a man becomes, the more he mourns his unholiness”. Personally, I have found this to be true. The closer I grow to my Father, the sadder I feel when I displease Him in any way.

It’s a good thing to ask our Lord for His forgiveness (in Jesus’ Name) when we sin. We need it. But if we fail to forgive ourselves as well, it can be much harder to serve our Lord. And harder still to feel close to Him.

So today, let’s make that a priority, our prayer for the day. Jesus forgave us. Our Father forgave us. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us forgive ourselves 🙂