The perfect love of Jesus casts out fear. 1John 4:10-18 makes this clear. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “We love because he first loved us. “v19 ESV Propitiation? “ …the scriptural conception of the verb is not that of appeasing one who is angry, with a personal feeling, against the offender; but of altering the character of that which, from without, occasions a necessary alienation, and interposes an inevitable obstacle to fellowship.” quote is from Vincent “Word Pictures.” Christ, our sin-bearer, altered the character of sin by becoming sin for us, and taking it to a bloody cross, so sin died. Access to the Father resulted. So: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever…
Tag: <span>forgiveness</span>
“All of your days have already been written in God’s book; when you go through a disappointment, don’t stop on that page, stay the course, keep believing; you may be tired discouraged and frustrated, but don’t give up on your future, God is faithful.” Dee dee Gee. Quietly bearing wrongs done to us, we must continue unscathed . Easier said than done, we need desperately to find a way to be quiet. Some lessons on keeping quiet: Proverbs 14:7 All things are adverse to a foolish man; but wise lips are the weapons of discretion. (don’t speak in the heat of anger.) Proverbs 18:13 He that answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame unto him. (do you have all the facts?) Proverbs 14:9 Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance. (Don’t make a joke about sin and rebounding from it.) Proverbs…
“…Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” Genesis 3:8=9 Have you heard? God talks to sinners. “…And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? Genesis 4:5-6 God talks with angry men. He goes on to say much more to Cain, even after Abel’s slaying. To say it straightforwardly, if God never spoke to sinners, we’re all lost. Often the words are ignored. “…And forthwith he (Judas), came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, ‘Friend, wherefore art thou come?’” We know the unfortunate ending for Judas. Matthew 26:49-50 But, Jesus, God incarnate, spoke to an adulteress in John 8: “When…
Peter fished: “Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. Matthew 4:18 He walked on the water: “Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. Matthew14:28-29 He spoke well: “Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16 He rebuked the Lord: “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” Matthew 16:22 He queried Jesus: “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” Matthew 18:21 “Behold, we have forsaken all,…
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew_6:14 Literally, “falling to the side,” men have lapses or slips and with these times come offenses to others. They trespass other’s dignity, honor, or personal respect. These trespasses we must forgive, (send away), and dismiss when they come to us. In other words, we relinquish our rights and thus maintain the flow of unity with others. Matthew 5:39 teaches us “That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” It all relates to the cry of Jesus, while on the cross dying: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34 “I am acquainted with a family which came to America from Germany. The English…
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.” “So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone!”Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” Isaiah 6:1-5 “Then one of the seraphim flew to…
I watched two moms, one my own, the other my wife. A third would be my wife’s mom. All these have a common thing – close ties with their offspring. The children love mom not because she is perfect or even for her giving, but this – she is always in their corner, no matter what. Moms forgive their children — at least the ones I have known. They so never lose hope that their son or daughter will be great or at least be OK. They pray for the kids and worry. Most worry is sin, but not for moms; it becomes sanctified worry. The kids know about this worry and it guides, even restrains them away from certain paths of sure destruction. In order for a kid to go wild he has to find a way around his mom. He has to disregard her. No matter, mom will visit sons in county jail, or…
A fervent prayer rose up to heaven, a fragile soul was losing groundSorting through the earthly babble, heaven heard The sound.This was a life of no distinction, no successes, only trysBut gazing down on this unlovely one, there was love… in heaven’s eyes. The orphan child, the wayward father, the homeless traveler in the rain,when life goes by and no one bothers, heaven feels the pain.But looking down, God sees each heartache; He knows each sorrow, and hears each cry,And gazing up, we see compassion’s’ fire, ablaze… In heaven’s eyes In heavens eyes there are no losers, in heavens eyes, there can be no hopeless causeOnly people like you with feelings like me, amazed by the grace we can find,In heaven’s eyes Compassion’s fire is ablaze…in heaven’s eyes. Wow! “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the…
I watched two moms, one my own, the other my wife. A third would be my wife’s mom. All these have a common thing – close ties with their offspring. The children love mom not because she is perfect or even for her giving, but this – she is always in their corner, no matter what. Moms forgive their children — at least the ones I have known. They so never lose hope that their son or daughter will be great or at least be OK. They pray for the kids and worry. Most worry is sin, but not for moms; it becomes sanctified worry. The kids know about this worry and it guides, even restrains them away from certain paths of sure destruction. In order for a kid to go wild he has to find a way around his mom. He has to disregard her. No matter, mom will visit sons in county jail, or…
Memory is defiled when something of a snare resides in it. For example, if I have in remembrance a sin or failure, this stumbles my function today. My question for me remains, “What part of ‘blotted out’ do I not understand? Well, my big-shot memory feels that it must keep my big-stuff secure, for the purpose of big-recall in case I need to defend my big-self, or “set the big-record straight.” Sorry, I got carried away with big-me. The problem is I may feel the need to place the blame on the right person, myself or other; after all, I must be honest. Yeah, right! “I must show my sincerity, after all, I have to ‘man up’ and eat my fate. I have made my bed so now I must sleep in it.” —excuse me while I regurgitate. Frankly, “forgetting” has become a chore, and bucks up against my big-boy…