March 20, 2012 … Life or Death – The Choice is Before Us

Blogger’s note: I know this one is long; but trust me, it’s worth the read!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Deuteronomy, Chapters 30-31 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage : Deuteronomy 30: 1-6 … 1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
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Highlight Reference Passage #2 : Deuteronomy 30: 11-16 … 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. … 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
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Highlight Reference Passage #3 : Deuteronomy 30: 19-20 … 19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

My Journal for Today: Today I was led to Chapters 30-31 of Deuteronomy; and I think I could write a small book in journaling on these chapters. In fact, as you see above, I had trouble limiting the highlighted passages that I really wanted you to read and study along with me this morning. And really God’s message – through Moses to His people – back in that day, when the people were about to follow Joshua into the promised-land, was quite stark … and really quite simple. Certainly I’m not saying it was easy, because God knew that His beloved and chosen people were going to fail Him; and for Moses and Joshua God even predicted that one day He, the Lord, would have to abandon His loved ones for a season for them to realize the consequences of their collective sin (to see this prediction, read Chapter 31 from the link above).

But God’s mercy and His promises are everlasting; and God will one day bring His recalcitrant Hebrew children into the promised-land; and so, in the meantime as the history of disobedience was to unfold in their future, as they crossed over the Jordan and were to follow Joshua into the promised-land, the people were reminded (again) of their options; and I charge you to read and meditate on those options in the Deut. 30: 19-20 above.

And my dear ones, who might be reading with me today, aren’t these the same choices that have today? In fact the Apostle Paul even reminded New Covenant Christians of this life-death choice when he wrote – for God – to the Romans (and now for all time to all Christians) in Romans 10: 5-8, and in doing so, he referred to the Deut. 30: 11-14 passage copied above for you.

By reading and meditating on the words of God through Moses and repeated later in history by Paul, we must realize that everyday we have these choices in front of us … obedience versus disobedience … life versus death … selfishness verses “Saviorness.” And so many times, our choice can seem so difficult. Yet, as Moses and Paul point out, it is really quite simple. Do we really believe God and His promises; or do we believe what Satan would want for us to believe? It was the same choice which Adam and Eve had in the garden, knowing God’s commands and being confronted by Satan. And we know the result of their choice, don’t we?

Today, you and I will confront something which says to us, “Okay, which choice will you make, … life or death … sinfulness or Saviorness?” And we’re going to have to make the same choice which was made by God’s people in response to the charge given to them as they were to march forward into the promised-land; and we know, from the Bible, how miserably they failed. But we also know, from the same Bible, that God has provided the perfect redemption and atonement for the sins of His people; and that redemption also comes from a choice. And oh how I pray you have made that choice … to receive God’s everlasting grace of salvation; and I pray that we’re marching – this very day TOGETHER – toward God’s promised-land.

Now, one last word, my friend; … I know, from experience, how easy it is to make sin choices and get so mired in habitual sin, walking far away from God, that you don’t feel you can choose to move back into a state of harmony with God. But my friends, God always has the choice of sinful death or eternally cleansed and blessed life out in front of us. And if we’re willing and able to make the “life choice” today in repentance, He’s ALWAYS ready to take us back in to His loving arms. That, of course, was the message of Christ’s wonderful and powerful “prodigal” parable, wasn’t it? And if you’ve been away from God for a season in your life; and you want to know what God has waiting for you IF you can make the choice to come back to Him today, listen to this wonderful song, performed by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, and relish in the love of God as He says to us this morning, “Come back home!”

Here’s the link to that song on You Tube; and I so hope you’ll take 5 minutes and be lifted up by the reality of God’s grace. And then if you have a few more minutes, listen to this song by the same group, singing of how God and His angels will celebrate when and if we can make the righteous choices He lays out for us today. And then one last link to a song in this little mini-concert about the grace of God when we choose the Savior over self.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I’m so grateful that You were willing to pursue me with Your grace and to give me the time to choose Your grace; and now I’m so grateful for Your patience in allowing me to become the Saint You are shaping me to become. Today, from the choices You will offer me, … I will choose LIFE! Amen

March 2, 2012 … Sin Always Has Consequences

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Numbers, Chapters 18-20 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Numbers 20: 5-12: … [A Serious Oops!!!] … 6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7 The LORD said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

My Journal for Today: Well, there are a number of good application points I could blog about from today’s chronological read through Numbers, Chapter 18-20. Certainly a discussion about tithing or spiritual giving and its role in supporting God’s Priesthood (see Numbers 18) would be a worthy discussion, especially since God’s people today, i.e., the Church, don’t take tithing nearly as seriously as we should.

However, it was Moses’ brief – but very significant – backslide into sinfulness, described in the highlight passage copied above, which God seemed to draw me to blogging attention this morning.

Wow! Sometimes I just have a bit of trouble understanding God’s justice. But that shouldn’t be surprising to me, should it? God is God; and I – most certainly – am not. And why would I think that I could – or should – be able to judge or understand much of what God decides to do. I know; … that’s God’s lesson from Isaiah 55: 8-9 (and if you don’t know that one, please study it with this link!). But there is one lesson from Moses’ pridefulness and sin, exhibited in the passage above which doesn’t escape me; and that is that SIN ALWAYS HAS CONSEQUENCES. And unfortunately for Moses, the consequences of his disobedience and prideful rock and water incident there in Kadesh, where the people were poised and ready to go over into the promised land, was that Moses would never get the opportunity to step into that land he had long led the people toward. All that obedience Moses exhibited, for nearly 40 years, wiped out with two pride-filled taps on a rock to give the grumbling Israelites some much needed water. Can’t you just imagine Moses, saying “Oops, Lord, my bad! Please forgive me.” And, of course God did forgive him; but the consequences of that momentary backslide had very serious outcomes.

So, … what do we learn from this truth-bearing scenario? Well, I’m strongly reminded of something I had to learn by a much longer, stronger, and very chronic bout of prideful sinfulness in my life. It was not until I was 40 years old (and the symbolic significance of that length of time does not escape me) that I set aside my chronic double life of sexual sin and was delivered – by my faith – into the loving arms of our Savior, as He became my Lord in 1983. And I believed then, as I know now, that I was (and now am) saved eternally from my past, present, and future sin. However, the consequences all those years, as I walked in prideful and hurtful sinful living, just didn’t go away in that moment of conversion. No, I came to realize that ALL sin has consequences which God uses to shape us into His own image; and sometimes, like with Moses, those consequences can be painful in this life.

So, as I sit here and meditate on the passage I’m focusing on here, … I GET IT! Sin is serious business [!] … because it is an affront to God’s holiness and His love and His grace; and we dishonor the One Who shed His blood to save us from our sin when/if we choose to sin or even when we casually participate in sinful acts. So, when we sin [and, of course, we will], we cannot expect for God to just dismiss our sin whimsically with a brush of His mercy. We need to learn from the lesson of Moses taking God’s power too casually and realize that God pays attention to our heart when we sin. Oh yes, … He will love us in an eternally forgiving manner; but He also loves us enough not to let our sin go by casually without consequences.

My Prayer Today: … Yes, Lord, I do get it; and may I always keep short accounts and come to You for your forgiving grace when I sin; … never taking my sin nature for granted and always remembering what You did in sacrifice to save me from myself. Amen

January 29, 2012 … When Forgiveness is Real

Genesis 47: 1-6: … [The Real Deal] ... 15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.21 So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

My Journal for Today: Perhaps you may have been in a relationship in your life when someone surprised you with their expression of love or concern by forgiving you. Perhaps you had wronged someone; and the one you wronged showed you a display of forgiveness which you may not have deserved and certainly didn’t expect. As we read through the life of Joseph, we remember how God brought his brothers back into his life and how he forgave them. He even had the opportunity to gain a measure of revenge over the brothers who had sold him into slavery, some of whom had even plotted to kill him; but he shocked the brothers with his expressions of love for them. And at the time it happened, it did seem real; but then there was their father, Jacob (aka, “Israel”) who was still alive. So, maybe Joseph’s forgiveness, as the brothers had experienced it, was just Joseph being that way as an expression of love for Jacob.

Therefore, years later, when Jacob died, the brothers were confronted with the grief of their brother, Joseph, for Jacob; and they became fearful that perhaps Joseph would exact a delayed reaction of revenge for what the brothers had done years earlier to their young brother, Joseph. But the story reveals that Joseph’s forgiveness was the real deal along with his genuine love for his family.

I hope we all have released any/all feelings of anger or bitterness for any past injustices or ill-begotten actions perpetrated on us by anyone in our past. Joseph’s real forgiveness for his brothers was a picture of the love shown by Jesus, Whom we know held nothing but forgiveness in His heart for those who had nailed Him to the cross; and my friends, do you remember that our sins, mine and yours, were the actions that nailed Jesus to that tree at Golgotha? And as He was dying for mankind, He said to His heavenly father on that cross, ”Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Really, all we need to remember – or learn – from this passage today is to make our forgiveness REAL DEAL forgiveness, holding on to no animosity or residual bitterness. And if any of you, who might be reading along with me, have someone in your life whom you need to let go of any past bitterness and forgive them – for real, I pray that we’ll do just that.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, thank You for purging any/all of those past feelings of revenge or anger towards anyone. And thank YOU, my Jesus, for Your forgiveness of my past, present, and future sins. Amen

October 9, 2011 … A Right View of God

Passage of the Day: Psalm 51: 4 - 9 [see emphasis verse in bold and underlined]
1 … Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

My Journal for Today: Yesterday, with the help of John MacArthur’s devotional, I wrote that true confession of sin requires a right view of the reality of sin in our life. Today, in King David’s song of remorse and confession (i.e., Psalm 51), we see that we must also have a right view of God.

Truly, we must see, as did David [in v. 6 above], that God is holy and omniscient, … a God Who is never satisfied with mere externals, … always requiring a complete surrender of the heart.

Next, as David acknowledged (see v. 7), we must see God’s power with a firm belief that God can and will cleanse and forgive us of our sin.

And thirdly, for our ongoing healing to take place, we must see God’s correction of our sin as that of the Good Shepherd. In v. 8 above, we read the former shepherd, David, creating the word picture of a loving, Good, Shepherd. In those days a shepherd, who had a wayward lamb (i.e., one who habitually and repeatedly strayed from the flock), would care enough for the lamb to go out and find that lamb and even break its leg, carrying that hurting lamb in its brokenness back to the flock until that lamb bonded with the shepherd in the healing process. When the leg was healed, the lamb would stay as close to the shepherd as possible as well as the rest of the sheep in the flock.

Don’t you just love that latter picture, … of our Good Shepherd? Yes, we are wayward sheep, as Isaiah had described in Is. 53: 6; but the Prophet, in this verse also indicates the hope we have in the Good Shepherd, Who has taken all our waywardness upon Himself, if/when we’re willing and able to remain steadfast to Him as He does what is necessary to allow us to grow in His flock.

Finally, MacArthur helps us realize that we must see our God, as did David in v. 9 above, repeating his point from v. 7, as a forgiving Lord, willing and able to forgive our sins (see also Isaiah 43: 25). David also penned Ps. 103: 12, where it says. “… as far as the east is from the west, so far has He (God) removed our transgressions (i.e., sins) from us.”

These are remarkable and wonderful promises from an all powerful God, Who has always been, is now, and always will be our Good Shepherd, … A Shepherd Who loves us enough to do whatever it takes to shape our brokenness into closeness with Himself.

As I close out this morning’s devotional, from the material presented, I was taken back to wonderful song, by Phillips, Craig, and Dean entitled He’ll Do Whatever It Takes. I’m listening to it now as I write this as I often do during my quiet time; and if you get a chance to, I’d encourage any reader of this entry to find and hear that song [see the link below]. The chorus of this poignant and powerful song reads like this …

He’ll do whatever it takes …
His grace reaches lower than your worst mistake.
His grace will run farther than you can run away
He’ll do whatever … whatever it takes …

You can listen to this poignant and powerful song by going to this link …

Now isn’t this the loving and grace empowering God you and I need to follow as our loving Good Shepherd? This, as it finally was for King David a right view of God.

My Prayer Today: Only You, Good Shepherd, can take away my sin from the eyes of the Father. Holy Spirit, cleanse me, mold me, … remake me in my Lord’s image. Do whatever it takes. Amen

April 14, 2011 … Forgiving Others

Passage of the Day: Luke 23: 34 … 34 Then Jesus said [from the cross], “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

My Journal for Today: I don’t know about you; but when I read this statement from our Lord, the God-Man, dying on the cross, I think I’m probably more like Peter when the heat is on, running like a scared rabbit at the threat of death. It’s very hard for me to identify with the degree of sacrifice exhibited by My Lord, Jesus, on the cross. And some may say, “Well, He was God as well as man.” And that’s true; but Stephen (see Acts 7: 59 - 60) was just a man, a man with a sin nature like me; and yet, he exhibited the same degree of self-sacrifice and forgiveness when he was stoned to death unjustly as did Jesus on the cross. Remember the young teenager, Cassie Bernall, whom I’ve mentioned in my journal entries this month, highllighting how she died at Columbine High School by simply saying that she was a Christian to a deranged young teenager who held a gun at her head. So, obviously it’s possible for mankind to emulate Christlike strength and forgiveness … yes, even, while we are in the midst of dire or threatening circumstances.

But just think about what Jesus was all about as He hung there on the cross, dying by horrible physical pain and even worse, the spiritual pain of separation from His Heavenly Father. And yet, He showed the love of His father, forgiving those who crucified Him (and as we know, that includes you and me!). As He hung there, He was actually more concerned for the spiritual well being of His enemies than for Himself.

And therein lies probably the toughest challenge I have ever found in my pursuit of Christlikeness; and, though I’ve never been put in a position of having stand for Christ in a life-threatening instance or to forgive someone who was about to take my life, I would hope and pray that I could be like Stephen or maybe Cassie Bernall; and in my humanity, I could make the choice and genuinely forgive those who persecute me – even to the point of death for Christ.

Of course, I’d rather not ever be put in those circumstances; but I think we all need to ask ourselves, especially as we contemplate this in the light of Easter, which is often celebrated during this time of year, … “Do we have Christ in our hearts when we have to pick up His cross daily; or do we fall pray to our humanity as did Peter when he ran?” Tough question; but now is the time to be making the commitments and build up the discipline to be able to forgive our persecutors as did our Lord.

My Prayer Today: Lord, I feel so inadequate; but I know that Your grace is sufficient to give me strength to cover my weakness! Amen

April 9, 2011 … Taking Up the Sword In Vain

Passage of the Day: Matthew 26: 51 - 52 - 53 … 51 With that, one of Jesus' companions [Peter] reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52 "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on My Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”

My Journal for Today: Admit it. ... If someone struck out or attacked your best Christian friend or maybe your Pastor or mentor, most of us would be right there with Peter, picking up the “sword” to strike back in anger/revenge. We’re really no different than Peter, are we? His reaction was very human, … a knee-jerk response, … his Rabbi and friend was being arrested unjustly. And I’m sure by then Peter also realized that one of the close band of disciples, Judas, had betrayed their Master with that horrible kiss. The frustration had to have been overwhelming; but even in the heat of that moment, Jesus used it as a teachable moment; and in today’s verse of emphasis (Matt. 26: 52), we read of Jesus constraining His followers, especially Peter, and giving them a Kingdom lesson in attitude management.

Earlier in the Garden, Jesus had taught the disciples a lesson of selling their purses to buy swords (see Luke 22: 35 – 38); and apparently Peter took Jesus too literally. If you read and study that instruction, you will note that Jesus was referring to the “sword” of the Spirit, … not physical weapons … about preparing for spiritual warfare, not physical conflict. In fact the Apostle Paul later gives all believers the truth about weapons of spiritual warfare, which are not of the flesh (see 2nd Cor. 10: 3 - 4). We must remember that we don’t need to take up fleshly arms to defend God, as was done in the “Crusades.” Jesus, in today’s passage, is telling Peter, and all of us, that He could call upon legions of angels if He so desired (see also Matt. 26: 53). Paul said it aptly in Romans 8: 31, … “If God be for us, who can be against us!”

Yes, the kind of warfare that we need to wage daily as Christians is that spoken of by Paul in Ephesians 6: 10 – 13; and we must, as God instructs us, be wearing God’s full armor (Eph. 6: 13 - 18), including being able to use God’s Spirit Sword (i.e., His word) to do battle with those who will attack us as the mob came for Jesus.

My Prayer Today: Help me, Lord, to be ready this day and hereafter to wage war in Your Name … and … in Your way. Amen

2010 – November 22 – The Purpose of Prayer

Study from God’s Word… Acts 6: 8 – end of Chapter 7 … Passage for Reflection: Acts 7: 59 – 60 … NIV 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

My Journal for Today: Today, moving on in the reading of the accounts in the Acts of the Apostles in the early church, recounted by Dr. Luke, we come on the prayer prayed by Stephen, the first recorded martyr in Christianity, who prayed the prayer in our highlight text as he was being stoned to death. And any reader of Luke’s account of the passion (see Luke 23, verses 46 and 34) probably gets a sense of déjà vu in reading Stephen’s prayer; because it was essentially the same prayer that Jesus prayed on the cross for those who were carrying out the crucifixion of our Lord.

And this raises an age-old conundrum about prayer. Stephen, who was filled of God’s Spirit, prays for the forgiveness of his enemies [i.e., for their spiritual well-being], as Jesus had instructed His disciples to do in the Sermon on the Mount [see Matt. 4: 43-44]. Okay, understood! But does this mean that God, hearing the prayer of even the purest of hearts, like that of the Son of God Himself, is obligated to what is evoked from the heart and lips of the one praying the prayer.

And this is the conundrum; … that we are commanded to pray with a humble, thankful, and forgiving heart; yet God is not obliged to answer with a solid and responsive, “Yes” to our prayers. How many times have believers been frustrated in sincere and earnest and expectant prayers for the healing of a dying loved one only to see that one be ushered out of life into the next life? So, does that mean that our prayers are useless?

Absolutely not! So, … why pray for our enemies? Well, Dr. Smith answers his own rhetorical question at the end of his devotional for today as he writes, “Could it be that prayers for others [like the one uttered by Stephen as he was being stoned] are more for OUR soul’s good than for theirs?” And the answer to that one is a resounding “YES!” And therefore, I ask the self-evaluation question that Dr. Smith writes and says is DYING TO BE ASKED: ”Have I considered that I am spiritually shaped by the prayers that I pray (or don’t pray) on behalf of others?”

Well, that one has nailed me to the cross by Christ; and I’ll let you deal with it for your own relationship with Spirit-led shaping.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I stand convicted by my prideful lethargy and willful selfishness in not praying often enough for those who willfully pursue and persecute me or my fellow Christians. Forgive them, Lord, (as I think of them here and now); and help them to come to know You as Lord and Savior. Amen

2010 – November 14 – Washing Even the Dirtiest Feet

Study from God’s Word… Taken from Jesus’ time with His inner twelve in the Upper Room in Luke 22, Mark 14, Matt 26, and especially from John, Chapters 13 - 14 … Passage for Reflection: John 13: 14 … NIV Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash another’s feet.

My Journal for Today: Today, my devotional leader/editor/writer has chosen one verse from that remarkable passage at the beginning of the so-called “Upper Room Discourse” in the book of John, where Jesus, perceiving that His inner twelve are getting the wrong idea about their importance for the coming kingdom, teaches them the importance of being “servant leaders” by doing something that anyone in a position of leadership or lordship would never do in those times; and that is to wash the feet of his (in this case, “HIS”) guests. Washing the feet of others at such a dinner gathering would traditionally have been done by someone considered by the guests to be a slave or servant; and here was Jesus that night before the Passover, taking on the role of servant and washing the dirty feet of the men the Lord had been traveling with now for three years. It’s a remarkable scene on several levels, isn’t it?

And we know from this account how “foot-in-the-mouth” Peter tried to reject Jesus doing the foot washing bit; but finally relented. And in today’s highlight text, we read of the bottom line of instruction that Jesus is giving to His inner Disciples, who had just (in context) been squabbling over who was the most important in the coming kingdom. And Jesus’ message; … well, it’s that recurring theme that Christ had been trying to get across to His men … that the first will be last and the last will be first. It is the lesson that Jesus came to serve and not be served and that we should (again I say from Luke 9: 23) learning to deny self and follow the example of Christ in all parts of life.

And I think the most remarkable demonstration we see from the foot washing passage is that Jesus even washed the feet of the one with the dirtiest feet, … the man whom He knew was about to betray Him, … Judas Iscariot. And I hope we all glean this incredible lesson … that when we see someone who has dirty feet – and I mean really dirty feet – Jesus is willing to wash them; and so should we. He was even willing to wash the feet of the one who was going to turn Him over to be crucified.

And that is me! For years my life picked up some the dirtiest feet one could imagine. And I turned on Jesus much worse than did Peter … or even Judas. But when Jesus, in 1983, came around to offer to wash my feet and make me clean of all my past dirt, picked up from years of walking in the manure of sexual sin, I relented; and Jesus washed me clean (as it says in 1st John 1: 9). And I hope/pray that all who read here have had themselves fully washed by the blood of Jesus; and they now – and forevermore – will walk in Christ’s kingdom with clean feet.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I walk with clean feet any day I’m willing to let You wash my feet to walk in Your path of righteousness. Amen

2010 – November 11 – The Challenge of Forgiving

Study from God’s Word… Mt 21: 20-22 & Mk 11: 20-26; Mk 11: 27-33 [Mt. 21: 23-27 & Lk 20: 1-8]; Mt. 21: 28-32; Mk 12: 1-9 & Lk 20: 9-16 [Mt 21: 33-41]; Mt 21: 42-44 [Mk 12: 10-11 & Lk 20: 17-18]; Mt 21: 45-46 [Mk 12: 12 & Lk 10: 19]; Mt. 22: 1-14; Mt 22: 15-22 & Lk 20: 20-16 [Mk 12: 13-17]; Mt 22: 23-33 [Mk 12: 18-27 & Lk 20: 27-28]; Mk 12: 28-34 [Mt 22: 34-40 & Lk 20: 39-40]; Mt 22: 41-46 & Mk 12: 35-47 [Lk 20: 41-44]; Mt 23: 1-12 [Mk 12: 38-40 & Lk 20: 45-47]; Mt. 23: 13-37; Mk 12: 41-44 [Lk 21: 1-4] … Passage for Reflection: Mark 11: 25 … NIV And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against another, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

My Journal for Today: This business of forgiveness, which is the beating heart of the Gospel story and message, is probably the biggest hurdle (or maybe I should use the word picture of a “mountain” rather than a “hurdle”) we need to overcome as humans who call ourselves born-again Christians. I don’t know about you; but in my humanity – i.e., my sin nature – I find forgiving one who has not asked for forgiveness to be one of the most difficult things Jesus commanded of His disciples.

Yes, the Lord laid it out, clean and simple in today’s highlight text, didn’t He? But though the Gospel is really quite clean and simple most of the time, that doesn’t make it easy to apply, does it? … Oh, I can find forgiveness from deep in my heart when a repentant one comes to me asking for my forgiveness. But what about that dude or dudette who owes me an apology because of some wrong perpetrated against me?

Lord, are you saying that I’ve got to forgive that lousy fool? And the answer, of course, from today’s truth, which comes right from the mouth of our Savior, is a resounding “YES!”

It’s a simple command from Jesus; but in-and-of ourselves, it’s almost impossible to activate. The application of today’s love-command from Christ requires something super-natural in us; and that can only come from us when we are in surrender to God’s Spirit, the Spirit of Emmanuel, living within us, to allow a true, born-again believer to rise above self and shine the Light of Christ, expressing the love of God to another, … yes, even one who may not – and probably does not – deserve it.

And I believe that the ability to forgive another, especially when that one neither asks for it or certainly deserves it, is one of the most iron-clad evidences of one being a living, breathing, born-again Christian. So, Dr. Smith asks the unforgiving question today: ”Who, TODAY, do I need to really and truly forgive?” And I’ll grapple with that one in my heart, leaving you to do the same.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I thank You for giving me enough grace to be debt free today when it comes to the need to forgive others; but if Your Spirit reveals such a need – anytime – give me the enabling grace to do so. Amen

2010 – November 4 –Judging with Humility

Study from God’s Word… John, Chapter 7: 2 – 8: 11 … Passage for Reflection: John 8: 6-8 … NIV But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

My Journal for Today: This story, i.e., the one in today’s highlight text, is a perplexing one, isn’t it? Rereading it today and studying it in the past, questions arise for me, like … Why did the accusing mob of Pharisees bring only an adulteress before Jesus in an attempt to trap Him; … why was the man involved not brought to Jesus also? And … what did Jesus write in the ground, which apparently had a deep impact on the Pharisees, who bolted quietly and left the scene of their accusations?

It would sure help me to be able to have the answers to these questions; but like many things in the Bible, it’s not what we don’t know or understand from Scripture that convicts us or directs us, it’s what is clearly written and understood that most often gives us the most convicting and directing application for our lives.

Dr. Smith, the editor of my study Bible this year and the author of The Daily Bible Devotional, from which I am influenced to write these daily journal entries, reports that what Jesus said to the Pharisees during this scenario is often extracted, out of context, when prideful believers are accusing others of being judgmental. How often have many a Christian, noting unforgiveness in others, have thought, at least privately if not publicly, what our Lord said to the Pharisee that day. Jesus, with the adulteress in front of Him and all the people that day, looking at the Pharisees, said, ”Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

And in this age of cultural hyper-tolerance you may have even heard non-Christians use that biblical phrase to justify their reported non-judgmental attitudes. The “tolerance crowd” in our world today would want us to not judge anyone from the standpoint of our Christian held values. Because if we, who hold Jesus up as our Savior and the Bible as our standard for life, are right, those who claim “tolerance must rule” are looking into a mirror of truth and seeing themselves as being far from one who can cast that first stone. And isn’t it interesting that those who so loudly preach TOLERANCE these days are so rabidly intolerant when it comes to Christianity.

Whatever Jesus wrote in the dirt that day must’ve been a mirror for those who wanted to have Jesus join with them in stoning the sinner caught in adultery. And when Jesus spoke his revealing exhortation to the Pharisees about casting the first stone, as well as them seeing what The Messiah wrote in the sand, it caused them to walk away in apparent personal guilt and deep condemnation.

So, what do you and I take away from this story. And maybe Dr. Smith’s closing question for the day is one upon which we all should meditate. He writes … ”Am I privately as outraged at my own moral failure as I am publicly outraged at the sins of others?” If you’ve been reading here with me this year, you’ve no doubt read me write an old adage on several occasions; and it’s one which Dr. Smith repeats today: When we point a finger of blame at someone else, three fingers from our own hand are pointing right back at our own accusing self.

And with that, I guess I need write no more today.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to right myself before I ever reach out to help others be right in Your eyes. Amen

2010 – August 13 – Wiping the Slate Clean

Study from God’s Word… Jeremiah 51: 59; Jer. 50: 1 - 40 … Passage for Reflection: Jeremiah 50: 20 … NIV 20 In those days, at that time," declares the LORD, "search will be made for Israel's guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare.

My Journal for Today: When I surrendered my all to Christ in 1983 at the age of 39, it was hard for me to imagine that God would – or even could – wipe me clean from well over 22 years of habituated and habitual sin; and it took several years for me to come to the realization that the Lord had done just that on the cross. And when I finally internalized that reality, the liberation I felt was mind saving, and actually mind blowing.

Today, in his devotional entry, Dr. LaGard Smith asks his readers (like me), “Ever wish you could start all over again … in a job, … in a marriage, … or in some strained personal relationship?” I’d wager [though I’m not a betting man] that anyone reading this would answer “YES” to that question. Well, if we’re really born-again Christians, we know that God, in and through Christ, has done just that by His death, resurrection, and re-coronation in heaven. So, the question is not whether God can – or has – wiped our slate clean; … no, the question is “DO I BELIEVE IT?”

It took me a long while in my discipleship to get to that place of complete trust in the reality of God’s saving and sanctifying grace. And it was truth, like that espoused in today’s highlight text, that helped my mind and heart grasp the reality that I’m forgiven, cleansed, and purged of all past sin, present sin, and yes, even future sin. And yes, I also realize, as the Apostle Paul expressed in Romans 6: 1-4 [linked] that this reality doesn’t give me the license to test God’s grace out and see if He’s the real deal in His promise and power to forgive and cleanse my slate.

No, recognizing that God has me in a constant state of forgiving grace motivates me all the more to live and walk in the freedom He has graciously and mercifully given to me. It’s simply wonderful to realize that if God can forgive the remnant of believers in Israel and Judah in Jeremiah’s day, He certainly can forgive a repentant Bill Berry in my day. And I hope that you have come to the place in your life when you recognize and live in the realization that your slate is clean, in Christ, as well.

Some time ago, I came across a wonderful poem, written by Woodrow Kroll, entitled “Start Over,” which expressed the hope and promise we have as Christians to live a “do over” life. It’s a wonderfully liberating poem; and anyone who would like a copy, I charge you to email me at willieb13@rocketmail.com and request a copy of this poem. If you do, I’ll be glad to send it to you. You’ll love it; and it’ll be a good way for me to see who’s reading here. ;>) So, if you’d like to have a copy of Kroll’s poem, email me.

My Prayer for Today: Oh my Lord, thank you for cleaning my slate! Amen

2010 – July 25 – Toying With God

Study from God’s Word… Jeremiah, Chapters 1 – 3: 5 … Passage for Reflection: Jeremiah 3: 1 … NIV 1 "If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers— would you now return to me?" declares the LORD.

My Journal for Today: The word picture from God, through God’s reluctant prophet, Jeremiah, to His people is clear. Their cultural/historical handling of divorce would have made it clear in this prophesy that God, hating divorce, would not allow one to divorce his wife, then her, taking another husband (who also set her aside), go back and take her again as his Bride. Yet, God with His infinite love for His children – for His Bride (now the church) – is actually willing to do just that, … to retake His multiply unfaithful Bride, the one who has prostituted herself in idolatry. That is the extent of God’s love and forgiveness. Yet we, who are the Bride of the ever faithful, ever patient Bridegroom, treat our God with such contempt and unfaithfulness.

How much God takes, yet He’s willing to take His Bride back to Himself if – and it’s a big “IF” – we as God’s Bride are willing to repent and to turn back to Him. That, of course, is the image we see emanating from another word picture story of the prodigal Father who lavishes His love on His unfaithful son who has returned home from lavish disobedience and disregard for the love of the Father.

How about us, as the Bride of Christ? How is the Church treating the Savior Bridegroom, Who has promised to return again to claim His Bride? How do you think our Groom grieves as He sees His waith Bride blatantly turning her eyes on the abominations of abortion, homosexuality, or other forms of idolatry? Yet even knowing that this wh0re-like behavior is going on, do we not have a Savior, a loving Heavenly Father, Who will turn to His Bride anytime she is willing to turn back to Him, or to His recalcitrant son who desires to return home? It’s no wonder that Jeremiah was a “weeping prophet,” when he saw how Israel and Judah were so willing to wh0re themselves and turn to idolatry and pagan practices.

Jeremiah must have almost gagged when he was given the prophetic words of God to His people that God would take them back if they were willing to turn their ways back to His. But that is the nature of our God; … and yet that is also our fickle nature, … being willing (and very able) to choose to turn away from the one true God, Who promises to return for His Bride when He, the Bridegroom, is ready for the wedding feast of the Lamb of God. The question is … are we ready for His return? Have we prepared our linens? Will the Bridegroom lovingly take His Bride to consummate the betrothal He sealed when He died on that cross to take away all our sins?

I believe God’s promise; and I’m ready. … Dear friend, how about you?

My Prayer for Today: Lord, … may I do all I can to prepare myself for the return of my Groom. Oh, I pray You come today! Amen

2010 – July 4 – A Heart for Seekers

Study from God’s Word… 2nd Chronicles, Chapters 29 - 31 … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Chronicles 30: 18 – 20 … NIV 18 Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone 19 who sets his heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of his fathers—even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary." 20 And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

My Journal for Today: Wow! Don’t you just love Hezekiah and wish that we had such a person to take charge of our country as we celebrate Independence Day today. Oh to have a leader like Hezekiah who would swoop into our land with a heart for God’s righteous ways and His lost children, a heart as big as was Hezekiah’s, reflected and brought out in today’s highlight passage.

As Hezekiah became the most righteous King of God’s peoples since Jehoshaphat, he even invited the rebellious Jewish tribes from the North, in Israel, to come down to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Feast and to worship in the Temple, which he had restored for consecrated worship of the one true living God. And oh how I pray for developing a heart like Hezekiah’s in my own character; because at one time in my life, I had people with vulnerable and forgiving hearts, just like Hezekiah, … mature and strong Christians, praying that God would have mercy on His child, Bill Berry, and forgive the sins of a seeker who had come forth for repentance and to establish his covenant with God.

Yes, at one time in my life, I was one of those broken children of God, … a seeker after God’s Spirit and one who had wandered from the Lord’s ways for many years. But God used people with a heart like Hezekiah’s to offer up prayers for my salvation and to be forgiving reflections of God Himself; and God came after me, desiring, just as He did with those people from the North in Israel, to allow me to repent and be cleansed by the atoning blood of His covenant sacrifice. In my case He had sent Jesus to be my Redeemer; and the Lord was so patient and gave me the same kind of love that God did when Hezekiah prayed for God’s children to be healed and saved.

I hope those of us who call ourselves “Christian” can – and will – mature in our faith to have a heart like that of Hezekiah, giving quarter to those who are obviously seekers, but those who have lived under the oppression of their own sin. And we need to be, like Hezekiah was, praying for those in our lives whom we know have been walking in unrighteousness but are beginning to show signs of seeking after a transformation of their lives by the only change-agent Who can make a difference; and in these times that is the Spirit of the living Lord, Jesus Christ.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, here on July 4, 2010 I pray for those in my life who seek after Your love and forgiveness, … the ones whom I know are lost or are oppressed and imprisoned by their own sinful habits. Help them to find You as I have and to repent and break free; and have mercy on them to provide them with the grace You have so promised to all who claim Your Son, Jesus, as their Lord and Savior. Amen

2010 – April 21 – When Betrayal Hurts Most

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 35, 41, 43, 46, and 55 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 55: 12 – 14 … NIV 12 If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

My Journal for Today: Reading the grieving words of David in today’s highlight passage from Psalm 55, this one cannot help but reflect on how much, as a sinner in my past, I betrayed my Savior. When I stood on the very rocks last year in Jerusalem where archeologists have documented the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, I wept; because in that moment, I realized that it was my sins of betrayal which nailed my LORD to that tree. And when my Lord looked into the eyes of those Roman Soldiers, it would be easier for Him to accept His degradation and death from Romans who hated the Jews. But it’s not difficult for me to speculate about how Jesus’ mind, as He was being nailed to the cross, might have wandered to the fateful kiss of Judas, who had betrayed Him for 30 measly pieces of silver? Or what about Christ’s anguish over Peter, who had denied Him thrice; or about His knowing that the other Apostles, whom He had been discipling for three years, had cut and ran when Jesus was captured for the crucifixion?

Have you ever been betrayed by someone whom you loved and trusted? Perhaps you were the betrayer. Smith reminded his readers, like me today, about Julius Caesar being blinded-sided by one whom he loved and had trusted, his famous companion, Brutus. And as he was being stabbed to death by the conspirators, looking into the eyes of Brutus, we have the famous line from the play, “Et tu, Brute!” And these were the words of someone who had been betrayed by a beloved one whom Caesar had trusted implicitly.

So many times in the ministry God has called me to lead, I hear the story from men who’ve chosen to get into the pits of habitual or recurring sexual sin; and how they’ve come to hate and repent of what they did to betray their wives by stealing off and viewing porn or by having an affair or by going off and being with prostitutes. And my wife, in her ministry to the wives of these very same men, hears these women tell their stories of broken trust and shattered marital dreams when they learn of their husband’s betrayal.

But I’m here to give witness and testimony to the truth that, even in these latter, very dire, scenarios where the closest of relationships are shattered to pieces by mistrust and betrayal, God can heal, restore, and renew. And it’s all because Jesus died on that cross so that sinners, who betrayed Him, like me, can be forgiven. It’s so wondrous that I can become a repentant sinner, … one who can be transformed by the same Spirit power which raised our Lord from His grave to be restored to His throne of grace. My wife and I have experienced the renewing and empowering grace which allowed her to forgive me and enabled me to be transformed to the promise-keeping husband she desired when we were married, … a husband she now has and can trust. Yes, it was excruciating for her and difficult for me; but we’ve seen it happened time after time in the lives of others who have surrendered their wills to a Lord, Who loves them and will give them the power to walk into the future in spite of the worst of betrayals in the past.

God is able and He will provide healing; but only if and when one, like His betrayer friend, Peter, is willing to receive Christ’s wondrous healing and enabling grace and be changed forever by Christ, as LORD. Dr. Smith asks the provocative question today, ”I I constantly betray God in little ways, might a day come when I inflict the unkindest cut of all?” … >>> You’re going to have to answer that one for yourself, my beloved! I have; and I can only pray that my surrender and walk with Christ will deepen my commitment to Him to the point I will not be one who will betray Him again the way I did in my past.

My Prayer for Today: LORD, help me to stay the course as Your trusted servant and friend. Oh how I see to hear You say in glory, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” Amen

2010 – Mar. 3 – Spiritual Isolation

Study from God’s Word… Lev 13: 1-59; Lev 14: 33-57; Deut 24: 8-9; Lev 15: 1-27, 32-33; Num 5: 1-4; Lev 15: 31; … Passage for Reflection: Deuteronomy 24: 8 – 9 … NIV 8 In cases of leprous diseases be very careful to do exactly as the priests, who are Levites, instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them. 9 Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt.

My Journal for Today: We’ve likely heard the phrase “cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Well, that phrase and concept likely had its social origins in the series of health regulations given to the Hebrews in the time of Moses. And my study today took me through these passages, mostly found in Leviticus, chapters 13-15. However, there were others found in Numbers and Deuteronomy, one of which is our focus verse today from Deut. 24, concerning what the Israelites must do when someone is found to have “leprosy,” which was actually a Hebrew term referring to any of a number of skin conditions or diseases which became apparent from an acute outbreak of skin lesions.

And as we read, the Levite Priests were to put the person outside the walls from the tribe, caring for the person’s needs, but not coming into contact with the infected or diseased condition. And then, when the disease passed, they were to accept the healed person back into the tribe with open arms. And in referring to this prescribed treatment process, God’s word reminded His people of what happened with Miriam when she challenged the authority of Moses; and God punished her spiritual disobedience with a serious skin disease; and she was put out of the encampment for seven days.

Really, it is not surprising that people in those days would connect obvious skin diseases with some spiritual weakness or sinfulness. We remember how Job’s friends made such a connection when they saw the boils he was scraping from his skin. And this actually happened to Miriam; so, we can see the origins, in Hebrew Law, in what later became God’s instructions, through Jesus Himself, for the handling of the spiritual disease of chronic and recurring sin. We can read about how, just like the case of physical quarantine was commanded by God for those with leprous conditions, Jesus, in Matt. 18: 15-18 - Matt. 18 linked here - recommended spiritual isolation for one who would not or could not repent of and turn from his/her obvious sinful practices. And Paul exhorted the church – God’s people – to be the place where the spiritual disease of sin should be handled (see 1Cor. 6: 1-6 - linked). Paul also exhorted Christians to stay away from someone who was obviously a sinner who caused divisiveness or sin within the camp of believers (see Romans 16: 17-18 - linked).

So, this way of treating physical skin disease has its carry-over into how we, the Church, and as individual Christians, need to handle the spiritual “disease” of chronic, unrepented sin. And we must remember, as Jesus also taught in Matt. 18 (see verses 21-22 - see link above) that separating the “diseased” person from the flock for a time is a treatment for the disease – whether it be a quarantine for a skin condition or a separation from a sinning Christians. However, we must be willing to forgive the one who has sinned against the Body of Christ or other Christians and take them back into the fellowship of believers when we see evidence of repentance and contrition.

Sometimes it’s obvious, though difficult, to confront a chronic case of sinfulness; and we might be able to go through the Matthew 18 process of dealing with a chronic/hardened sinner. However, it’s more difficult to be there for that person, to forgive them, and to take them back into the Body of Christ when/if they’re willing and able to repent of their sinfulness and seek restoration. I deal with this all the time in the ministry God has called me to lead where husbands have been “busted” for their sexual sin; and this man must be confronted with his sin and even put out from the flock if he’s unwilling/unable to repent. However, when he does repent, it becomes very difficult for his wife and the church to bring him back into the camp and to deal with the restoration of this brother sinner. And there is a social plague of sexual sin going on in the church these days, which would be like a plague of “leprosy” in Moses’ day … if it were not handled properly according to God’s laws and His word.

I hope we see the parallels between how God wanted His People, the Israelites, to diagnose and to deal with infectious diseases in those days and how the church must discipline and deal with the social plagues of problems like Christian men who become “addicted” to pornography, and even for problems like obesity (from the sin of gluttony), where often the church becomes an enabler rather than an agent of correction and discipline. It saddens me to see how few churches have ministries to help the more than 50% of their men who’re into chronic sexual sin. And what church do you know of which confronts its obviously obese members, doing all they can as a church to help that person deal with that Saint’s sin of gluttony?

God’s Law had a way of dealing with diagnosed skin diseases; and God’s church has been given a way to deal with the infectious and growing problem of sin in our midst. The question becomes, “Will we do what God’s word teaches?”

My Prayer for Today: Lord, convict Your church to be Your agent of healing and restoration from the sinfulness which so abounds in our world. Amen

2010 – Feb. 22 – Unintentional Sin

Study from God’s Word… Lev. 3: 1-17; Lev. 7: 11-21, 28-36; Lev. 17: 1-7; Lev. 4: 1-35 [Num. 15: 22-28]; Lev. 5: 1-13; Lev. 6: 24-30; Num. 15: 29-31 … Passage for Reflection: Leviticus 4: 27-28 … NIV " 'If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands, he is guilty. 28 When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed a female goat without defect.’ “

My Journal for Today: Is God way too tough on His children to make them atone for sins committed unintentionally? Well, from man’s point of view and since we’re all sinners in the sight of an absolutely Holy God [remember Romans 3: 23], one might want for our God to turn His head of judgment and look the other way for those things we do, especially unintentionally, which fall short of His mark of holiness. But, as God’s word makes it very clear, God cannot do this, being the mark of Holiness Who demands that anyone coming to Him must be presented to Him completely and utterly cleansed of sinfulness. But there’s only one way that can happen; and God has made a way.

Sure, we might say that it’s unfair for God to have such high standards now that we inherit the sin nature, naturally, from our sinner parents, Adam and Eve. But God’s standard is God’s standard; and so He set up this way for His people in ancient Israel to atone and be cleansed for their sins; and we read of this in today’s highlight passage. And if you’re a Christian today, aren’t you glad that God made a way – THE WAY – for our sins to be cleansed, once and for all, by the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross? And we, who plead the blood of Christ, acknowledging our sinfulness and believing on the atoning sacrifice of Christ, will positionally be made right in God’s eyes forever. Do I sense a loud “HALLELUJAH!” from any reading here, joining me in my sense of gratefulness in this moment?

Now, we know that we are still sinners, … even those of us who have received God’s saving grace of mercy from our faith in what Christ did for us. And so, what about what we must do to make amends for our sin? And the word of God, from the Apostle John’s first letter is clear on that. And I hope you know – by heart – the wonderful words of promise from 1st John 1: 9, which states in the NIV, If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Wow! What a wondrous promise for a sinner like myself, … one who knows that I’m never going to be able to stand before my God, at any moment in time, without being able to plead the shed blood of my Lord and Savior, Who was sacrificed on that cross, shedding His blood, that I might be able to come to God and be cleansed of any sin, any time, any where … CLEANSED COMPLETELY … forever! But that means that I must do all I can to be aware of and keep short accounts for my sinfulness, … doing all I can to avoid sin; and then by confessing and pleading the blood of Jesus whenever I discover – intentionally or unintentionally – that I have transgressed in sin.

Oh, every day and in every way may I keep myself cleansed from my sin by my confession and contrition in God’s sight.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, You are so wondrously forgiving and merciful; and I’m so grateful to have a Savior, Who stood for me on that cross, shedding His blood that I may be cleansed from my sin and presented to You, dear Father, holy in Your sight. Amen

2010 – Day 19. Jan. 19 – The Fine Art of Forgiveness

Study from Genesis 42 – 45; Passage for Reflection: Genesis 42: 15 … NIV And he [Joseph] kissed his brothers and wept over them. Afterward he brothers talked with him.

My Journal for Today: Well here we are in the story of Joseph where his brothers have learned that the brother whom they had mistreated and sold into slavery is now a big deal in Egypt; and they were terrified upon this being revealed. And we have seen Joseph take them through a number of scenarios before revealing himself. And finally the masks come off; and Joseph reveals himself, forgiving his brothers for the past wrongs.

My devotional author, Dr. Smith, speculates about why Joseph waited and put the brothers through what he did before revealing his identity. I had never really thought about that until this reading today. Have you? He says it might have been to give them the time they needed to see where they were and the power Joseph really had over their lives, giving much more impact to the forgiveness. It is also quite possible that the way the story unfolded, so dramatically, was for you and me in having this story as an example of God’s forgiveness of sinners like us. But nonetheless, the story does illustrate just how far God has gone (and will go) to forgive those who’re repentant and acknowledge their sin. Joseph, of course, in the story becomes a type of Jesus; and we know just how far God went with Him to forgive and save His family.

Pastor Smith makes a good point today that forgiveness is more an art than an exact science. Each case where forgiveness is called for is different because each sinner who needs forgiveness is different and each person who needs to forgive one who has wronged them is different. But there is one truth which overrides all; and that is that there is no wrong which cannot, and Smith adds, “should not”, be forgiven. If God can forgive me all those years I rejected Him, living a double-life of over 22 years of hidden sinful living; and if He can lavish His love and mercy on me, as He has, to the point of raising me to become an ordained minister of the Gospel, He can (and will) forgive anyone. I firmly believe that God, through Joseph’s patience and forbearance, shows anyone reading this story just how far He will go to give sinners a chance to be cleansed and justified in His eyes, … then lavishing His grace on us, which none of us deserve, we are allowed to be transformed to become like the One Who saved us. That’s what Joseph did for his brothers; and it’s what Jesus has done for me and for you.

Oh, … my Lord, … I have been such a man, like Joseph’s brothers, who wanted my brother, Jesus, out of my life. He was a Bother to me; and I wanted to kill Him. So I sold Him for selfishness to get rid of Him from my life. But He would not forget me; and He came after me … the “Hound of Heaven,” giving me the opportunity to repent and to change; and with His grace, I did. And like Joseph’s brothers, I became broken, acknowledging that my only hope was in the Person of my Savior. And I thank God for this rich and wonderful lesson in forgiveness which we read in the life of Joseph; and I pray that if we have someone in our lives who needs forgiveness that we pray for them and allow them the dignity of humility and repentance in this art of life we call forgiveness.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, if there be anyone I need to forgive, as You have forgiven me, make them known to me and give me the grace to forgive them. Amen

2010 – Day 12. Jan. 12 – Enslaved by Family Grudges

Study from Genesis 27- 28; Passage for Reflection: Genesis 27: 41 … NIV Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him.

My Journal for Today: Oh, how the parental wounds of injustice, insensitivity, or perceived inequity haunt our lives. Rereading the story of Jacob’s deception and the plotting of his mother to gain Isaac’s blessing for Jacob, and then the resultant grudge which Esau held for his brother, is a story which may be playing itself out in your family or families you know or maybe, even more personally, in your own life.

It is so easy to let wounds from our family past dictate our feelings for our parents or siblings; and they can become motivations for anger and bitterness, infecting our feelings, behaviors, and choices for many years after the incidents which may have caused the original anger or misgivings. Perhaps you have a sibling which you felt was more loved by your parents than you felt you were loved. Maybe you’re a parent who held feelings for one child more than another. Unfortunately these types of family scenarios can play themselves out in decisions or acting out much later in life, causing those who perceived ill treatment to reject family members or to plot actions which have vengeance as their motivation.

Today, in a very personal way, I’m thinking about how I let a misperception of my mother’s withholding of physical love drive me to do things in my later life trying to “make up” for what I felt were lost hugs and affection. I now recognize that many ill begotten and immoral sexual choices in my life were driven by my desire to find the physical affection I perceived I did not get in my youth. And it was a type of “grudge” against my parents which drove me to many actions later in life I now regret. Perhaps you, who read this, may have wounds from the past, maybe from your family, which have driven feelings of bitterness or behavioral choices which you now regret.

But the time is now, as a Christian, to take those burdens, … those feelings from the past and those desires for making things right, and lay them at the foot of the Cross, repenting of past sins and moving forward to love the God Who shows no favoritism and THE Heavenly Parent Who will never leave you nor forsake you. Holding on to past grudges or feelings of inequity of blessing will never drive us to expressing the love God had for us when He died on the cross for our sins. And the only way to reciprocate this love from God is to express God’s love into the lives of those who may have driven us from the past. We need to repent of hatred and haunting grudges; and then we must forgive those in our past who have “wronged” us. We must lay the burdens from these past feelings before God’s throne of grace, confessing them, and asking for the cleansing promised in 1st John 1: 9. And then we need to move on, letting go of any bitterness and finding the love God has waiting for us to fill the holes of lost love from our past.

I can tell anyone, from first-hand experience, that letting God deal with past hurts brings far more joy and healing than holding on to grudges or seeking vengeance can bring. God’s love is the healing balm; and our hope in Christ is the only way to drive us forward, letting that healing be expressed in how we worship our God and show love to others.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I thank You for giving me all the love I found wanting from my past; and I praise Your Name for giving me Your love to share with others, releasing me of any past wounds which had driven me to sinful living. My rebirth in You has given me healing and hope forever. Amen

2009 – Day 320.Nov 17 – Forgive Them

Passage for Study: Acts 15: 35 - 41 … Acts 15 linked for your study …

My Journal for Today: My devotional yesterday focused, as does the repeated passage today, on the contention which caused Paul and Barnabas to part ways. Obviously there were some bad feelings between the younger John Mark and Paul; but down the road of their independent lives, we saw that this riff, which had caused the separation was repaired – likely by Paul’s maturation as a disciple and his willingness to forgive the younger disciple, Mark. We referred yesterday to the fact that Paul was able to later commend Mark for his work for the Lord (again one can read this in Col. 4: 10-11 and 2nd Tim. 4: 11).

Holding on to one’s anger and letting it develop into a grudge or bitterness is, as I said yesterday, giving power to the enemy to poison our hearts and weaken our witness for the Lord. Oh how our spiritual enemy, Satan, loves to pour his fuel of discontent on the fires of anger or bitterness; and we become the victims of our own anger or prideful ill feelings. And that’s what it really is, my dear one, … isn’t it? It’s pride which causes us to hold a grudge or withhold forgiveness.

Jesus told His disciples to do as He did [again Luke 9: 23]. Paul wrote (in Phil. 2: 5) to have the same attitude as Christ. Well, Jesus himself said [read it in Matt. 11: 29] that his attitude was one of humility and meekness; and one can’t be humble and meek and hold a grudge. So, my friend [s] we need to do a self inventory. Do we have any – and I mean ANY – wounds or past riffs in our lives which have caused us to retain a prideful – AND SINFUL – attitude of bitterness toward another? If so, we’re giving Satan a beachhead of retained sin in our lives. We’re giving our enemy the license to weaken our witness or ministry for the Lord; because we cannot be living sacrifices for Christ (see Romans 12: 1 – 2) if we have forgiveness which we’re withholding from someone in our lives.

But you may say, “Bill, you just don’t know how much they hurt me and did me wrong.” And you’re right, I don’t. But was Jesus wrong when He said on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” My friend, if we want to be free from the burdens of unresolved sin because of unresolved forgiveness, we simply MUST take those wounds to the cross and turn them over to Jesus (as He commended us in Matt. 11: 28 – 30 or in Matt. 5: 23 – 24).

No, my friend, I’m not saying that we condone what was done to us to cause these wounds or ill feelings; but I am saying that we release those ill feelings to the Lord; and let Him deal with the judging. You know it as well as I do, judgment is not our business; it’s God’s. And until we let God be God in the matter of forgiveness and let His blood heal our hurts, through forgiveness, we’re going to be carrying around a burden of sin which weighs us down for as long as we carry it.

Let it go, my friend!

My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for helping me to let all those past wounds be healed by the salve of forgiveness and your grace being poured on me to release me from ill feelings. Amen

2009 – Day 272.Sept 30 – God’s Justice

Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …

My Journal for Today: I’m coming down the stretch in my study of the Book of Job along with Chuck Swindoll; and it has been another growth experience to do these devotionals. And being here in Chapter 42 at the end of Job’s book, Swindoll points out two salient points that we should take away as truths which can alter our world view and the values which influence the decisions we make in life.

And the first of these two is, according to Swindoll, that "… forgiveness is worth waiting for.” Somehow, he posits, we’ve got to internalize the truth that in God’s time and in His way our Lord is going to bring the scales of justice into balance. And right here in this last chapter of Job’s story we read of the results of Job’s willingness to forgive and pray for His friends as well as his confession to God for his weaknesses. And look at the result as Satan was proven wrong, his three friends were brought to their knees, and Job is duly rewarded with complete restoration and rewards twice over.

And secondly, in a related vein, Swindoll writes this, “… God’s justice is worth waiting for.” We certainly have seen that much went on in Job’s life which he couldn’t see, nor perceive; and some of it seemed unwarranted and most of it certainly unwanted. God’s “deal” with Satan behind the scenes in Job’s life would seem to be like something coming into our lives which happened and we didn’t ask for it, nor did we deserve it. But “WHAMO!” It did happen; and we, like Job, had to deal with the circumstances, not knowing why God allowed these things to happen. But looking to Job, we see how he dealt with it.

First, Job trusted God in the face of horrible personal loss and physical oppression. And yes, he mistakenly listened to the reasoning of the world, personified by his friends, who had all kinds of skewed worldly advice. But when he felt confused, Job took his inquiries directly to God, not to those friends; and in the end, as we read in this last chapter of his life, Job was rewarded and the mistaken friends were brought to their knees, worshipping God and asking Job for forgiveness. It took quite a long time; but God made things right; and Job finally saw that God’s justice was well worth waiting for.

My friends, my writing at this point in your life may find you experiencing some horrible set of unwanted and unwarranted circumstances. Just a couple of weeks ago a dear sister in Christ in our church, who has three teenage kids, learned that she had cancer; and in less than ten days she was taken home to eternity leaving her husband and kids behind. “Why, Lord?!” we are tempted to ask. But right now while we’re healthy and can reason, we need to go back and meditate on and recognize the truth of those verses we’ve brought up in this study of Job.

So, as I sit here and write this morning, I’m mulling over the truths of Isaiah 55: 8 – 9 and Romans 8: 28, which remind me that God’s ways are way above my understanding and when He allows things – even really bad things - into my life, they are ALWAYS for my good. Oh, how I pray that we all can get those truths into our consciousness so that we can draw on the power of truth when we need that power.

And I pray that we all can take these truths to heart from our study of our restored hero, Job.

My Prayer for Today: My God, I’ve read the end of Your story; and in the end You make all things right; and this story of redemption has taken thousands of years to unfold. So, give me patience, Lord, to wait for Your perfect justice and restoration in this wisp of time which is my life. Amen