Please read Joel 2     

   

It doesn’t make our repentance less valid because we are scared of God’s judgment.  What is important, is that we turn back to the Lord with sincerity.  Here in Joel 2, we will see how…

Sincere repentance is to turn to God, and away from sin.  Sincere repentance is done with ALL your heart, giving everything you can in surrender to God.

Sincere repentance is marked by action (with fasting) and emotion (weeping/mourning).  Not every act of repentance will including fasting and weeping, but if action and emotion are absent, it isn’t real repentance.

Galatians 5:19-21 gives us a list of fleshly sins like sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and others…  And James 1:15 reminds us that these desires lead to sinful actions, and when we continue to do these actions, it leads to death.

So you say, “that is not something I do.”  But what about how you respond to circumstances or relationships?  Anxiety, worry, fear, bitterness, depression, pride, resentment and anger all have their roots in sin (Romans 14:23; 1 John 5:17; James 4:17).  Just in case you thought reading your horoscope was ok, it actually ranks right there with fortune-telling, psychics, numerology and astrology.  These all take the place of trusting God – and needs to be repented.

So often when we read books like Joel, we become frightened because we fear God’s judgment (take a look back – fear is a sin).  Romans 2:4 reminds us that the kindness of God leads you to repentance and 2 Peter 3:9 reminds us that God is patiently waiting for us to repent.  Repentance reminds me of the prodigal son story.  Luke 15:20 tells us that while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and ran to embrace him and kissed him.

You remember how much you enjoyed watching your child sleep?  God looks at us with such deep love and affection too!  And God is waiting for you to come to Him in repentance.  All it takes is humility on our part and faith to believe that a loving Father will hear our honest plea and cleanse us of our sin.

Confession=Forgiven=Believe

I John 1:1

Friday September 27^th

^{Do we truly believe that our sins are forgiven?  There is a saying going around that one has to forgive themselves.  I have to tell you that I have not found that anywhere in God’s Word.} 

^{Read I John 1}

^{What I have found is:}

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. I John 1:1-3

^1- We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:1-4

2- what we have heard, 

Acts 10:20    Peter and John were being arrested for teaching the people and proclaiming In Jesus the resurrection from the dead.  After they were commanded to not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus their answer was we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard.

3-what we have seen with our eyes,     

 II Peter1:6   For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  

4-what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—

And the Word became flesh, and  dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”  Luke 24:39

and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.  These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

The followers of Jesus while on this earth truly saw, heard and touched Him.  He is real!  And  they could not stop talking about Him to everyone they met.  Their focus was not on their circumstances and what they were going through, but, their focus was on sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to all. What joy to be in fellowship with one another sharing the good news of Jesus Christ!

 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 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 are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to 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.

If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]- I John 1:9 

God is the only One who can forgive us our sins.  We cannot forgive ourselves.  We must believe that when we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.
You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them. You have the authority to correct them when necessary, so don’t let anyone disregard what you say. -Titus 2:11-15

It is only through God’s grace and mercy and through the blood of Jesus Christ that we are forgiven and saved.  Not anything that we can do on our own.

 When I confess my sins before the Lord I ask Him to show me everything that I am holding onto that I should not be holding on to.  I want to get it all out before Him so that I can let it all go before Him.  Then I am free to go on, knowing I have released it all to Him.

What freedom, what Joy when we acknowledge and confess our sins.  I encourage you today keep short accounts with the Lord.  Be quick to ask Him for forgiveness and then believe that He has forgiven you. 

O Lord that my roots would grow down into You and that I would draw up my nourishment from You.  That I would grow strong in my faith, in the truths that I have been taught and that my life with overflow with thanksgiving for all that you have done.  [Col. 2:7]

In Jesus name, Amen

Scripture for today   Psalm 51

Many of you know this Psalm well.  We are familiar with the life of King David and this Psalm is a plea to God for mercy, forgiveness and cleansing.  It’s a reminder that God wants our hearts to be right with Him.  If you are not familiar with Psalm 51, this is a starting point if you are dealing with a sense of distance or guilt that is affecting your relationship with God.  It will help you identify and rectify sin in your life through confession and repentance.

Have you ever committed a sin that made you feel as if your bones were breaking or broken?  Or have you ever felt like the weight of a circumstance has gotten so incredibly heavy that you feel like you cannot go on?  We all need to identify sin in our lives, and we need to confess it AND receive God’s forgiveness.  1 John 1:9 reminds us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

Confession involves honesty – we must be honest with ourselves and God.  We can’t call it less than what it is.  And we can’t be broad with our confession and say, “Forgive me of all my sins.”  God knows what you’ve done.  He was there when it happened.  All He desires is your humble acknowledgement.  God wants you to agree with Him and call sin what it is – sin.

 

God is God and we are not.  We have to rest and rely on His mercy and grace for us in Christ.  I have to admit, I have often struggled to believe that God poured out His wrath on Jesus for the sins I’ve committed.  A wrath I deserve – not my brother.  In Christ, we are forgiven, justified, and made righteous.  In Christ, we know David’s cry has ultimately been fulfilled.

Stop carrying the weight of your sin around and be honest with God.  Your bones and your heart may feel broken from the enormity of your sin, but oh, the amazing love you will receive when the Lord restores the joy of your salvation (v. 12)

My Life Application Study Bible says, "Psalm 51 is a wonderful Psalm to turn to when you’ve been holding out to confess your sins.  David’s confession has helped people examine excuses, half-hearted repentance, and lack of sorrow over sin that can keep them from experiencing forgiveness.  David’s words provide us with hope through confession."

Please read: Romans12

The first approach I had to Romans chapter 12, made me realize there were “some things” I needed to change to become a better person.  I was in my early 20’s and I had decided I there was more than just going to church every Sunday.  So I decided that by reading this chapter every single night, I’d get to learn it by heart and eventually I’d be “magically” transformed. (LOL) The first two verses were difficult to understand, but the rest were easier to me, so I tried hard for a few weeks to read and keep up the good works, but over the time I forgot “my good intentions”.  Little did I know our Heavenly Father did take this seriously and over the years a good friend of mine ministered to me about God’s plan of Redemption  through Jesus’ Perfect Sacrifice on the cross for “my personal sins”, (Heb. 9:11-22) and  that His salvation is by Grace, not by my efforts or my works! (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Once I surrendered my life to Jesus, then and only then, and by His Holy Spirit is when I came to comprehend the meaning of Romans 12:1-2

“(1) Therefore I urge you, ^[b]brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship”

“(2) And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be ^[c]transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].”

In the first verse Paul is asking… begging us, to dedicate ourselves to God, to live a certain way, because of His mercies towards us:

· He has Justified us from the guilt and penalty of sin (Ro.3:24.)

· He has Adopted us in Jesus and identified us with Christ (Eph.3:20, Gal.3:26).

· He has Placed us under grace, not law (Ro.6:14).

· He has given us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us (1 John 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:22)

· He has Promised us His help in all affliction (Is. 40:31, Psalm 119:50; Heb. 13:5)

· He has given us the Confidence of coming glory (1John 1:28); the Confidence of no separation from the love of God (Ro.8: 31-39) and the Confidence in God’s continued faithfulness! (Deut.7:9, 2 Tim.2:13, 2 Thes.3:3, 1John1:9)

These are just to list a few of His great Mercies!

In the Old Testament the sacrifice of an animal was reasonable service, but only for the one bringing the sacrifice – not for the sacrifice itself. Under the New Covenant we have far greater mercies, so it is reasonable to offer a far greater sacrifice.  (David Guzik)(Lev. 1:10, Deut. 15:21)

When we dedicate ourselves to God as a “living and acceptable sacrifice”, we should do it as an act of intelligent worship… an act of a deliberate decision to yield our entire self to Him. 

In Romans 2:2, we are urged to “not be conformed to this world”, because the thinking of our age is based on feelings for in this age we are told “that our body must tell the will what to do; but the Bible says that our will must bring the body as a living sacrifice to God. The body is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. Keeping it at God’s altar as a living sacrifice keeps the body where it should be.” (David Guzik)

“The great enemy to this renewal is conformity to this world .The work of the Holy Ghost first begins in the understanding, and is carried on to the will, affections, and conversation, till there is a change of the whole man into the likeness of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. Thus, to be godly, is to give up ourselves to God.” (Matthew Henry)

Paul in this second verse explains how we should live out the will of God:

· Keep in mind the rich mercy of God to you – past, present, and future (by the mercies of God)

· As an act of intelligent worship, decide to yield your entire self to Him (present your bodies a living sacrifice)

· Resist conformity to the thoughts and actions of this world (do not be conformed)

· By focus on God’s word and fellowship with Him (be transformed by the renewing of your mind)

Then, your life will be in the will of God. Your life will prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, only through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, forgive me for forgetting that it’s all about you, and your Perfect Plans and Purpose in my life. I offer myself as a living sacrifice to You. Use me as as You WilI. In Jesus’ Name. Amen

Blessings,

Mari