Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.” – 2 Samuel 14:14b

God’s heart and desire for every person is reconciliation and restoration. He made us for fellowship with Him and with one another. He never wants the outcast to remain outcast or those separated from Him to remain separated. Though sin separates us from the our Holy Creator, our perfect Father in Heaven doesn’t want that to be anyone’s final situation. His love, mercy, and grace are so vast that He even sent His own Son, Jesus, into the world to reconcile us to Him. The eternal Son of God, Who is God come in the flesh, gave His life over to death on a cross so that no person made in God’s image (and that’s every person) would have to remain separated for eternity. And this glorious restoration and reconciliation is entirely a gift of grace, received through faith in Jesus Christ.

God is not, first and foremost, a God of wrath, judgment, or condemnation. He is certainly a just judge Who will condemn those who are in sin, that isn’t His heart. His heart is to see sinners reconciled and restored through grace. To see the outcast welcomed home. To adopt rebels as His children. For those who’ve received that grace and been welcomed into the family of God through Jesus Christ, this must be our heart as well. We must not find satisfaction in someone’s life as an outcast, either from God or from other people. We must pray and make every effort to bring about reconciliation and restoration for those willing to embrace it.

For Christians, this is our ministry because God has reconciled us to Himself. So, is your heart for the outcast? Do you make efforts to see those far from God, or far from people, brought close in love and grace? What’s holding you back from sharing in the heart of God? #FollowJesus

“For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”
– Psalm 32:4-5

In this psalm, David illustrates how the Lord disciplines His precious children. For those who’ve trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no more condemnation from God. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t fall (or cannonball) into sin. We absolutely can (and do)!

When we do, God doesn’t toss us in the trash or tell us to start over. However, He won’t pat us on the head and leave us in our sins, either. He will discipline us as His beloved sons and daughters. It will be uncomfortable and possibly even painful, depending on how hard it is to get our attention. We will feel the weighty conviction of the Holy Spirit on our souls. We will also experience whatever setbacks, failures, dissatisfactions, disappointments, and defeats are needed to eventually cause us to search our souls and recognize the error of our ways.

And when we do? There’s always forgiveness waiting! God is quick to forgive His precious children when we confess our sins to Him, repenting of our wrongdoing. His forgiveness is instantaneous and complete. In that moment, the Spirit’s heavy conviction lifts off our souls and quite often, the circumstances, situations, and experiences God used to get us back on track begin to resolve themselves as well. The Lord disciplines those He loves. #FollowJesus

“Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die’” – 2 Samuel 12:5

It’s remarkable how much moral clarity King David had when he thought he was talking about someone else. And his utter blindness to the fact he was talking about himself. Despite his zeal for God, David had sinned horrifically with Bathsheba. His desire to keep his atrocious sexual sin a secret led him to commit murder. And yet, blinded by his own power and past history of service to the Lord, he couldn’t see a bit of wrongdoing in any of it. It seems unbelievable, but that’s the incredible power sin has to blind any of us when we’re deep in it.

God sent the prophet Nathan to tell David a fictional story illustrative of David’s sins. Because he didn’t realize the story was about him, David could rightly see the man’s sin and render a death sentence upon him. He was right to do so, for he surely deserved to die for what he’d done. Nathan then broke the news to David that, “you’re the man”, and David finally got it. The light of truth broke through the thick fog of self-deception about his sin. He confessed and repented. God graciously forgave his sins, but declared there would be consequences for his family for the rest of his life. That’s to be expected. His sons learned terrible lessons from watching David.

We live in an age of perpetual outrage at the sins of others. It’s also an age of profound blindness about our own sins. Many of us are like David – quick to judge others while utterly blind to the ways we’ve sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Today, rather than being outraged by others, stop and seriously ask God to reveal any areas of blindness you may have toward sin in your life. Listen carefully for God’s answer and if He shows you something, don’t argue with Him. Repent of it quickly, confessing to God and seeking to live a changed life. #FollowJesus

“The one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples,”
– Psalm 65:6-7

The psalmist proclaims that not only is God’s power sufficient to create mountains and still seas, He can even calm the tumult of the peoples of the world. That’s huge to contemplate! The dictionary defines tumult as “a disorderly agitation or milling about of a crowd usually with uproar and confusion of voice; a turbulent uprising; a violent agitation of mind or feelings.” That pretty well describes the situation of the various peoples of the world right now. It’s true close to home and it’s true far away. These are tumultuous days.

But not without hope! For God can even calm the tumult of the peoples. He can make peace where there is war. He can make calm where there is chaos. He can make unity where there is division. He can make love where there is hate. Pray for Him to do that! Don’t just say a quick prayer for world peace with a “yeah, right” attitude. Pray earnestly for God’s shalom peace to come over our tumultuous region, nation, and world. Plead regularly for God to calm the chaos and anger that seems to be overwhelming everything.

But don’t stop there! Not if Jesus is your Lord. If Jesus is your Lord, you’re called and blessed to be a peacemaker. To actively be part of dialing down the rhetoric, the emotion, and the anger. In your neighborhood. In your workplace. In your nation. And online. To be part of bringing opponents together in reconciliation. To be part of replacing contempt and division with respect and unity. Be a peacemaker because you ARE a child of God. #FollowJesus

“And he said to them, ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!’” – Mark 7:9

The hypocrisy of the Pharisees was such that they created rules and traditions to justify (in their minds) outright disobedience to God’s clear commandments. They actually came up with a way to selfishly ignore one of the Ten Commandments and wrap their behavior in the appearance of holiness. Of course, Jesus condemned them for this! What could be more absurd than a religious person blatantly ignoring the commands of their religion?

Unfortunately, we often do the same thing! Christians have a remarkable ability to explain away the clear commands of Jesus. To justify (in our minds) why we don’t need to love THOSE neighbors. Why we don’t need to show mercy or make peace or pursue holiness. Why we don’t need to fight our lustful/angry/prideful thoughts. Christians (including leaders and scholars) come up with the most ridiculous reasons why we don’t REALLY have to try to live by the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Even though it’s Jesus’ foremost teaching on what it looks like to live as a citizen of His kingdom!

Don’t make excuses! Don’t explain away what Jesus commanded. Make time today to re-read Matthew 5-7. Rather than quickly saying, “that’s nice” or “that’s impossible” and moving on with your life unchanged, ask God to help you see what you need to think, say, and do differently with the help of the Holy Spirit. #FollowJesus