Revelation 16: They Never Repented

They Never Repented

Seven angels had  seven bowls and each of these bowls contains a wrath of God. People can say "God id this to us" but they overlook their actions that led to God's actions. people want to live in heaven now but do not want to do what is required of them by God to get there. God wants your obedience. God wants you to repent for sinful ways. Revelation 16:9 and Revelation 16:11 give specific incidences in these visions where no matter what wrath was being poured out by God's angels, people still could not and did not repent for their ways. 

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2 Timothy 2: With Gentleness

With Gentleness

2 Timothy 2:24 gives us a great example of how servant's of the Lord should be with everyone, not just those we choose, but everyone. In it Paul writes, "And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness." Whether they are believers or non-believers, we are to correct people with gentleness. This verse may be specifically in reference to teaching the Word, but does that mean that the only way it applies is in church. It applies all the time. There is no excuse for disrespecting and insulting others that disagree. Correct the opponents with gentleness.

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Friday Focus #24

Do Not Sit in Shame

When we look at the sword shame you can attribute it to various parts in your life such as guilt, shortcoming or embarrassment. You could feel guilt and shame from getting caught doing something you know you should not have (like stealing). Or you could feel shame from losing a competition (athletic, academic or business). Or you could have been trying to make a solid impression (maybe for a job) and you find out that how you saw yourself is not how you were seen. All these situations and many others can bring about that feeling of shame. It hurts. It hurts in public and it really hurts in private. But remember, God does not want you to carry that feeling. It does nothing good for you nor does it honor Him.

Shame started with Adam and Eve when they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. When Adam heard God coming he hid. The text reads he was afraid (Genesis 3:10), but if you know you have done something wrong and the person who told you not to do it is coming back and they will see you did exactly what they said not to do, you will feel shame. Shame starts here but it does not end here as we know that God is our shield (Psalm 3:3) and when we do as He commands (for our own good) then we avoid shame.

For those who have accepted Christ we also know that there is no shame in that. When we   mess up and repent, we sin no more. We do not carry that shame of the sin with us. That is not necessary. Granted, you will remember what you did and seek to avoid that again, but to carry the burden of the shame around with you does not honor God or your mission to fulfill His purposes for your life. 

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Friday Focus #21

Fresh Start with Jesus

No matter where you are in life, that is not the end. It is not over. There is still another chance when you bring Jesus in. He will not force his way in and make you submit to him. It is your choice to bring him in and let him work through your life. I have had people tell me that they 1) are not good enough to go to church and 2) are not good enough to go to Heaven. They have missed the point. You don't earn church attendance or Heaven. You don't earn Jesus. You cannot read scripture and come away with that belief. Please do not be misled. Seek Jesus and begin again with him.

Before Paul wrote many books from the New Testament, he was not the Christ loving individual we have come to understand him to be. In Acts 9, we are taken through Paul's transformation and experiences with Christ. Paul was responsible for the stoning of Stephen (a new disciple). Paul was responsible for pulling men and women out of their homes and having them killed for following Christ which stepped on the toes of the Jewish faith. On the road to Damascus, Paul has an encounter with the voice of Jesus who asks why Paul was persecuting believers. When Paul rose from the encounter he was blinded and instructed to go a temple to meet someone. Once he meets that person his sight will be restored. Paul followed through and had his sight restored. Paul began to proclaim Jesus as the son of God in the synagogues. It did not matter what life Paul had before he came to know and follow Christ, but what mattered was his dedication to Christ after deciding to serve him. Paul didn't have to be good enough. He just had to have a fresh start which including repentance for his sins.

I will say it again, you do not have to earn your way into God's good graces. God's grace is free. It does not cost any money. Grace is not connected to any good deed. Grace is not connected to any church or denomination. Grace is given to us freely from God and all we have to do is accept it (Ephesians 2:1-10). I was watching a video last night from Ray Comfort who was evangelizing (preaching the word of Christ) on the streets of Huntington Beach, Ca. He explains to people that their set of beliefs is opposite to what scripture teaches. Check out the videos below:

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Acts 8: Persecution and Simon's Repentance

Persecution and Simon's Repentance

Saul was a man who was the supervisor of Stephen's execution in Acts 7:54-60. In Acts 8:1-3, Saul continued making life hell for church members in Jerusalem. Saul was going into people's homes and committing men and women to prison. They were imprisoned simply for being members of the church. That is called being persecuted.

Now, we have seen that there are people who when they heard the word of God and they hear about Jesus they either chose to believe or not believe. It is their choice. In Acts 8:9-25 we have Simon the magician who had gained prominence by practicing magic and making people believe he was somebody great. As other Samaritans came to believe the gospel of Christ, Simon believed as well, but he did slip up. He saw that Peter and John were empowered by the Holy Spirit and lay hands on the people of Samaria that received the word of God. Simon saw this power and thought he could buy the ability from Peter and John. Peter said to Simon, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God." Simon repented and said "Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me." Repentance is part of our reconnection with God.

We can give up when things seem hopeless. or we can stick to our old ways and pretend to be changed people, but when you have the Holy Spirit with you it can keep you grounded in order to do God's will.

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Luke 4:4- It Is Written

It Is Written

In Luke 4 we get to see how Jesus was tempted. He went away and was fasting. While he was fasting, the devil tried to tempt him with ending his fast, ruling the world, and testing God's faithfulness with foolishness. In verse 4, 8, and 12 Jesus either says "It is written" or "It is said."

When Satan tempts you (and he will), you can either fall to temptation, try to run from it, or you can fight it with truth. Have you ever wondered why the same temptations keep coming up? Satan knows what will pull you away from God's will. He will lie to you and tell you it will feel good, but as we remember yesterday's message on the Baptism of Repentance then we know it isn't just about feeling bad for our sins, but thinking differently about our sins.

In order to fight Satan and win, you will have to partner up with god. Jesus referenced scripture every time he fought of the devil's temptations. We have to know what verses and what parables and historical stories in the Bible. We have to read, learn and study so we know what holy weapon to use.

I personally would like to challenge you to read along. Read more than just this devotional. Read the whole chapter. It takes less than 5 minutes and you can find audio Bibles on youtube- see Luke 4.

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Luke 3:3- Baptism of Repentance

Baptism of Repentance 

John the Baptist is a very important man in the New Testament when we look at the life of Christ. John's role was of preparing people for the arrival of Jesus. Jesus was already born, but the arrival in terms of who Jesus really was and how his birth and life fulfilled prophecies.

John's message in this chapter was to spread the word about a baptism of repentance. This thinking was intended for people to see past just feeling bad for their sins. There is nothing wrong with feeling bad for your sins, but what are you going to do about it?

I look at many sins as the physical embodiment of a way of thinking. For instance, gluttony (over eating) would be a sin as we who commit this sin have not treated our bodies as God would want us to. There are numerous health problems that come from overeating including bad backs, high blood pressure and heart attacks. So, if it is a sin to be a glutton (making food more important than God) then that sin is based on an idea that you already have. The idea could be something as simple as "when I am happy I eat what I want. And when I am sad I will eat what I want." There is no concern for "What does God think about this?" 

Repentance is an action word used in this context to help us change our mind about sin. We all sin and we all fall short of the glory if God, but if we don't change the way we think about our sins, how will we actually stop it? I have enlisted in a few accountability partners for the issues that keep coming up, including my food/caloric intake. Overall, God still loves and I do not lose my salvation, but I do seek to honor God with body and my mind has to be in agreement.

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Matthew 11:20

Matthew 11:20 "Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent." commentary- Jesus performed miracles & did a lot of good for people in various places, but they did not stop sinning. I don't  mean the slip up, but the intentional lifestyle of sin. Unrepentant & unforgiving sin. There is no scripture that encourages the lifestyle, but people do it anyway. Imagine how upset you get when you help someone do something & they don't do their part. They could turn from sin, but they would rather continue to be dead spiritually. Sin starts in the heart.

Matthew 3:8

Matthew 3:8 "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance." commentary- John the Baptist was quite upset with those  who worshiped Abraham over God himself. He warned them to bear fruit with repentance which meant that those who thought their Jewish heritage in Abraham was enough. It wasn't enough. They were getting baptized in preparation for a Messiah but still had not walked away from their sinful lives. We need to do the same as well. We can say we are Christians and Christ followers but the fruit of our repentance can show sin  that we are unwilling to give up.