GOD DELIGHTS IN YOU!

 

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

 

GOD DELIGHTS IN YOU!

 

Prov 3:11-12

11 My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord ; neither be weary of his correction:

12 For whom the Lord  loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

 

Heb 12:6

6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

 

          I once observed a grandmother with an infant grandson. The only way to describe the look on her face was pure delight. She delighted in this grandson. She took note of all his features from his tiny fingers to his little bald spot where the hair had been slept away in the crib. My wife says that the first thing a new mother does is to count fingers and toes. The eye can hardly get enough of the tiny life in her arms.

 

          In the same way, God delights in us. This is in stark contrast to what we generally think when God is trying to teach us a lesson by chastening us. We see him as a stern judge with harsh and unbending rules that are impossible to keep but the opposite is actually true.

 

          The word delight is set in the midst of correction. In fact, it is the reason for correction. We are corrected because he delights in us. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for delight here is ratsah which carries with it the satisfying of a debt. God delighted in us so much that He sent His Son Jesus as the satisfaction for our debt. The debt is paid because He delights in us. The debt is paid so that He can continue delighting in us.

 

Thank you, Lord, for delighting in me. Help me to feel your love even when you are in the process of chastening me. AMEN

THIS GUY

 

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

 

THIS GUY

 

Matt 13:54-56

54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

 

Mark 15:39

39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

 

Matt 27:63-64

63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.

64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.

 

          The enemies of Jesus thought of no worse slander than to point out the singularity of Jesus. At the age of twelve, He debated theology with them, later He challenged natural and physical laws by turning water into wine. He drew attention to himself by focusing on others which was completely opposite of the program of the religious leaders. Jesus claimed that the power came from God while the priests insinuated that the power resided in them. Jesus highlighted the comfortable lies of culture by presenting the uncomfortable truth.

 

          But it was not those things He did in life that lit the faggots of persecution and martyrdom; it was His resurrection! With authority, he refused to remain dead which, of course, validated every other deed of Jesus and we proclaim along with the soldier who oversaw his crucifixion, THIS GUY is the Son of God.

 

Heb 13:20-21

20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

THE REMEDY FOR GUILT

 

Monday, March 28, 2022

 

THE REMEDY FOR GUILT

 

Rom 3:19

19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

 

James 2:10

10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

 

          The moment that Adam ate the forbidden fruit his eyes were opened, and he felt, for the first time, that horrible feeling of guilt. He knew right from wrong! More specifically, he knew that he had done wrong. He was guilty and sought for a place to hide. He sewed fig leaves together and made a loin cloth to cover his private parts. In the cool of the evening, he hid from his God.

 

          The biblical idea of guilt has three elements. [1] There is the idea of responsibility. Since Adam had been clearly forewarned about the tree in the midst of the garden he was then responsible to obey the warning. [2] The second idea is that of blameworthiness (Latin reatus culpae) and [3] the obligation to make good through punishment or compensation (Latin reatus poenae; compare Greek opheilema, "debt," Matt 6:12). In other words, in thinking of guilt we ask the questions of cause, motive and consequence, the central idea being that of the personal blameworthiness of the sinner. (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

 

But it is the feeling of guilt and not the mechanics of it that requires attention. David said in Psalm 51:3, “my sin is ever before me!” He knew what he had done. He knew it was wrong and even though nobody seemed to know of the deed, yet it plagued him like a burden he carried on his back. He needed to rid himself of this baggage.

 

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress Christian had just come to the cross and it is at this place we read: “Then CHRISTIAN gave three leaps for joy and went on singing:

 

“Thus far did I come laden with my sin,

Nor could aught ease the grief that I was in,

Till I came hither. What a place is this!

Must here be the beginning of my bliss!

Must here the burden fall from off my back!

Must here the strings that bound it to me crack!

Blest cross! Blest sepulcher! Blest rather be

The Man that was there put to shame for me!”

 

Dear Lord, let me today give three leaps for joy and then go on my way singing. AMEN