Category: Are You In Need of Cleansing?

“²² When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. ²³ This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’” ~ Jeremiah 7:22-23

Sin now and repent later, is what a lot of us live by. Often times we feel if we try, we’ve done enough. If we intend to follow Jesus, but don’t, that’s okay He understands. Or maybe just tithe a little extra this week if we mess up. But that’s not what God wanted. From the beginning God didn’t want to establish burnt offerings and sacrifices, He wanted to establish a relationship with us. When He created Adam, He gave Him a command, not so He could control Adam, but so He could protect him from death. God didn’t come down and order Adam around, no, instead He walked and talked with him. God desired a relationship with His creation and He still does, but we demand sacrifices and burnt offerings, because we refuse to stay alive.

Through Jesus, there is life; through sin, there is death. Yet we choose death each time and then present burnt offerings and sacrifices, instead of simply accepting the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. Why don’t we accept His sacrifice? Why would we rather death? Eternal Life has been bought for us and freely given to us, so why do we keep choosing death? God never wanted us to die, He even sent His one and only Son to take our punishment so that we may live. So live.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Choose Life.

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⁴ “Again and again the Lord has sent you His servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention. ⁵ Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors forever.’” ~ Jeremiah 25:4-5

Often times we expect God to bring us into promised land while we are still living in sin. We expect God to promote us to the next level, whether it’s in life, spiritually, emotionally, in our job, when we aren’t following Him. How can we expect God to continuously bless us, when we can’t even love Him? Jesus said, “if you love me, you will keep my commands.” And yet we follow our own desires, our own way, and get mad at God when we don’t succeed. When we aren’t entering our promised land, or we can’t stay in our promised land.

Our promised land is where Jesus is, and where Jesus is there can be no sin. So how can we expect to be with Jesus while we replace Him with false gods/idols by following our own lustful/selfish desires? We expect to treat Jesus however we want and for Him to sit there and take it, while still blessing us. How many of us would allow someone to disrespect us, cheat on us, spit in our face and still give them all of our time, affection, love, money, etc.? None of us would, so why do we expect Jesus to?

Jesus isn’t trying to control us, He’s trying to protect us from ourselves. He doesn’t withhold good from us, He’s trying to protect us from the death of sin. Jesus is trying to cleanse us and make us whole. He’s trying to give us life and new more abundant life, so why don’t we accept it?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Accept Your New Life.

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“And Jesus went on with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way He asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they told Him, ‘John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.’ And He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered Him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And He strictly charged them to tell no one about Him.” ~ Mark 8:27‭-‬30

We know what our friends say who they believe Jesus is. We know what our family members, pastors, teachers, favorite celebrities, etc. say who they believe Jesus is, but who do you say He is? Sometimes we forget to take a second and really figure out who we say Jesus is. It’s easy to get caught up in what our parents believe or what our Church believes, and never really take the time to decide what we believe.

Jesus asked His disciples who they believed He was because that was important. He had them differentiate between the beliefs of the disciples and the beliefs of the people. The beliefs of your parents, friends, church, or anyone else in your life won’t be able to help you on Judgment Day. No one can stand for you. You can’t piggyback on another person’s belief. You have to decide who you believe Jesus is. Because at the end of the day it can only be your beliefs that you are judged by, not anyone else’s.

If no one else believes that Jesus is LORD in your life except for you, don’t be afraid, ashamed, or discouraged. Instead be as bold as Peter declaring that Jesus was, is, and always will be the Christ. Stand firm in your faith and Jesus will be with you as you do.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Decide Who You Say He Is.

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“¹³ Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: ‘Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed.’” ~ Esther 4:13

When Haman called for the genocide of the Jews, Esther was hesitant to go to the king because he hadn’t called for her in a while. But Mordecai brought her back to reality, reminding her that no matter where she was or who she was, she was not above the law. No matter if we are servants or sons (and daughters), we are not above God’s law. We must take a stand for what is right, whether we are celebrities, well-known pastors, or just regular people, God will hold us accountable for what we do.

Esther had to risk her life to do what was right. Jesus said that if you deny me before men, I’ll deny you before my Father. So, no matter who you are, own Jesus and all that He stands for regardless of the situation. When you’re confronted with choosing popularity over what is right, choose what is right. Let Esther be a good role model for you because she understood it was better to die doing what was right than to put off death for a short time and do what was wrong. Esther was queen, yet she wasn’t above the law. Don’t just stick your head in the sand, stand for what is right.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do What Is Right.

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“¹⁰ On the seventh day of the feast, when King Xerxes was in high spirits because of the wine, he told the seven eunuchs who attended him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas— ¹¹ to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown on her head. He wanted the nobles and all the other men to gaze on her beauty, for she was a very beautiful woman. ¹² But when they conveyed the king’s order to Queen Vashti, she refused to come. This made the king furious, and he burned with anger.” ~ Esther 1:10-12

Now, this may seem sexist, and I’m not saying it isn’t, but when the king calls for someone, no matter who they are or the reason, they must go to him. That is his authority. For that time, that was a usual thing to show off the beauty of your wife, this wasn’t an unreasonable nor odd request. This was a different time and a different culture.

With that said, Jesus is the King of kings. LORD of lords. His authority is above all else, yet we lower Him to our level. We think we know best, so we ignore His instruction. We think His way is unfair or unjust, so we make our own. Jesus has called each of us into His presence, yet most of us refuse to do so. He has called each of us to a specific purpose, yet very few of us fulfill it. Even though Jesus is King of kings, we feel as though He will have mercy on us even though we refuse to enter His presence.

If we continue reading this chapter, King Xerxes not only banishes Queen Vashti but also replaces her with Esther. Queen Vashti lost everything because she refused to enter King Xerxes’ presence. What are we losing when we refuse Jesus?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Fulfill His Request.

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“³⁷ Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment.” ~ Matthew 22:37-38

The hardest thing you can do is the most important thing you have to do, love God with everything inside of you. But what does that mean exactly? Jesus simplified it for us, He described love as keeping His commands. In today’s world, that seems like an unrealistic and horrible request, but is it really? What is Jesus really saying?

Jesus was saying that if we love Him, then we won’t go to other gods. We’re in a covenant relationship with God, so when we succumb to sin, we place that above God. Our love is no longer just for God, it’s now split between Him and others. Why is this such a problem? Throughout Scripture, God compares this to sexual immorality. In other words, God is saying that we’re in a relationship, and I don’t want to share you with anyone else.

Just like most of us want a monogamous relationship, so does God. We don’t want to share our significant other with the world, why should God have to share His? Is it too much of Him to ask us to love Him the way He deserves to be loved?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Love The LORD Your God.

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“⁵ David was furious. ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ he vowed, ‘any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! ⁶ He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.’ ⁷ Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.” ~ 2 Samuel 12:5-7

David was King of Israel, had 3 wives already, and everything he could ever dream of, yet he went after another man’s wife. He then killed the man, Uriah, because he slept with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, and got her pregnant. The LORD was angry about this, so He sent Nathan the Prophet to speak to David. When David heard what Nathan had said, he didn’t know that it was him that Nathan was speaking about, so he became furious with the man in the story.

When David found out that it was him that the story was about, he saw the error of his ways and humbled himself before God. Sometimes we forget to look in the mirror before we cast judgment upon another person. We sometimes forget that we’ve committed that same sin, without repentance, while condemning someone else. That’s what Jesus was speaking about in Matthew 7, take the plank out of your own eye before you can take the speck out of another’s.

Repent, change, and then correct. Don’t forget to first be the example before you try to correct another person’s faults.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Look In The Mirror.

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“¹ If you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep or goat wandering away, don’t ignore your responsibility.Take it back to its owner. ² If its owner does not live nearby or you don’t know who the owner is, take it to your place and keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then you must return it. ³ Do the same if you find your neighbor’s donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don’t ignore your responsibility. ⁴ If you see that your neighbor’s donkey or ox has collapsed on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it back on its feet!” ~ Deuteronomy 22:1-4^NLT

As a Church, have we lost our compassion? How often do we stop when we see someone in need? Or give the dollar the homeless person is asking for? Or help the older woman struggling pump gas? How often do we help our fellow man? Many excuses come to mind when these questions are asked, but the bottom line (no matter the excuse or reason for not doing it) is, where is your faith? If you have complete faith in God, then you will have the faith that God will use you and all that you do and give. Jesus compared not feeding the hungry or clothing the naked as not taking care of Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Fulfill Your Responsibility.

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“¹² So Micah installed the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah’s house. ¹³ ‘I know the Lord will bless me now,’ Micah said, ‘because I have a Levite serving as my priest.’” ~ Judges 17:12-13

Micah was a man who wanted to be a High Priest but was not a Levite. Micah wanted to be in a different area, then God had placed him. He wanted more, which is why I believe his mother had the silver he stole from her, turned into an idol for him. Micah desired to be everything he wasn’t, in doing so, he rejected everything God called him to be.

Micah then tried to justify his rejection of God’s calling by becoming religious. Because he wanted to be a High Priest, he felt that God would accept his desires and pursuits because he now had an actual priest, a Levite, serving with him. He justified his sin with religious reasoning.

Often times, we do this in today’s world as well. We see what other people are doing and we desire their call more than we desire our own. We want to follow what we want instead of what God wants, justifying it with religious reasoning. Our own desires can’t compete with God’s ultimate plan for our lives, He knows what’s for us. When we do it ourselves, we not only deceive ourselves but also those around us. Micah’s sin deceived an entire tribe, who has been deceived by your sin?

LORD God, I ask that you teach all of us how to follow Your perfect will for each of our lives. I ask that You would forgive us for when we’ve done things our way and polluted your call on our lives and led others astray. Please help us to return to You whole-heartedly, humbling ourselves to Your call and Your desire for our lives. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Justify Rebellion With Religion.

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“³ Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, ‘If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey Him alone; then He will rescue you from the Philistines.’ ⁴ So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord.” ~ 1 Samuel 7:3-4

The people of Israel were afraid of the Philistines because the LORD was no longer with them. So, Samuel showed the people the way back to the LORD. They had to get rid of all of their false gods, and then the LORD would return to them. See some of us are under attack by the enemy and the LORD is nowhere to be found because we’ve replaced Him with false gods and idols. The only way to get out of the situation we’ve got ourselves into is to return to the LORD fully by getting rid of our false gods.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Get Rid of False gods.

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