Tag: Are You In Need of Cleansing?

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way… ~ Isaiah 53:6a ^NKJV

My daughter has a Siberian Husky, and she is what we call an escape artist. If she finds even the smallest opening, she squeezes through it and off she goes, exploring. Now, she loves her family and her home, but for some reason, she loves to stray. Just wander off and explore like nobody’s business. We’ve spent countless hours looking and searching the neighborhood and the woods for that dog.

Sometimes she’s gone for a few hours before we find her, at other times she is gone for up to two days. Then someone on social media will contact my daughter and let her know that they have her dog. And when we drive over to that person’s home to get Venus, she is overjoyed to see my daughter. She comes bounding over, tail wagging, and something like a big smile on her face, if that is possible. But the thing is, she has never found her way back home. We always have to go find her. Thank God it rarely happens, but when it does, we have to go searching to find her.

You know, that is exactly how we are. The Scripture said, “We all like sheep have gone astray.” We are all prone to wander off the path following some dream, some excitement, some fantasy. Never meaning to stray, but straying we do, nonetheless. It’s not that we stop loving God. It’s not that we stop wanting to be in His Presence, but that we have this pull, a call of the wild, if you will. And if we are not careful, we will find ourselves on an unfamiliar path that leads us away from our Savior, and not toward Him, and we get lost and are unable to find our way back home to Him.

That’s why Jesus came, 2,000 years ago, to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to be bruised, for our iniquities, to have the chastisement of our peace placed upon Him, and to receive the stripes by which we are healed. With His own blood, He has given us a new and improved covenant. A covenant of love and peace and righteousness. He has given us the ability to live righteous and holy lives so that we need not stray ever again. For when we are tempted to stray from our God and our Savior, we echo the words of the Apostle Peter to remind ourselves, “Where would we go? For You alone, oh LORD Jesus, You alone have the words of life.”

There is nowhere we can go, and no one that we can run to, but Jesus, and Jesus alone, for it is He who has the words of life and Him alone.

Father, strengthen us and encourage our hearts today. Help us to remember and understand that it is Your Son, our LORD Jesus, who has the words of life. For in Him and in Him alone is the life and the light of men. Help us to run to that light and to remain in that light, in Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.

Matthew 21:14-17 ESV

[14]  And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. [15] But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, [16] and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” [17] And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Matthew records that when the Chief Priests and the Scribes saw Him healing the people and the children declaring Him the Son of David, they were enraged. Why? They knew what those things meant. The Pharisees were those who studied the Law. They were supposed to know it the best. The Scribes were those who copied the Scriptures. They were the ones who were supposed to know the Law, the prophets, the histories. These are two groups of people who understood exactly what was happening and they despised every second of it. Why?

Jesus wasn’t who they wanted to be the Messiah. The Son of David. He wasn’t a great notable figure. He was born to just a regular mother. His father? A regular man. A carpenter. He wasn’t about starting a revolution. He wasn’t trying to overthrow Caesar. He wasn’t working towards establishing Israel to its former glory. He was simply a carpenter who had began preaching, healing, and casting out demons. Now, even the children saw who Jesus was and they couldn’t take it anymore.

This was not the Messiah they wanted. This was not the Messiah they were waiting for. See, they had a lot of head knowledge but they lacked one thing. The Fear of the LORD. Jesus checked all the boxes. Fulfilled all the prophecies, but because He wasn’t what they wanted or thought He needed to be in that moment, they refused to accept Him. They put their own ideas, biases, desires, feelings, etc. above the Scriptures. And in doing so, above God Himself.

Today, is not much different. There’s a lot of people who know the Scriptures, but because they have no fear of the LORD, they have no understanding of the Scriptures. They have no wisdom. They reject Jesus, just as the Pharisees and the Scribes did. This isn’t just the world, either. It’s not just atheists either. It’s pastors, bishops, deacons, worship leaders, church goers, etc. Jesus is being rejected by all who refuse to humble themselves before Him.

The Pharisees and Scribes missed the Messiah’s first coming. Instead of bowing down at His feet and worshipping Him, they crucified Him. They had Him beaten and scourged. They mocked and taunted Him as He hung on the cross in agony until He died. Jesus is coming back, but this time it’s not to die. This time it’s not to suffer.

When He returns it’s to gather His Bride from one end of the earth to the other. Then He will pour out His wrath on all who rejected Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Miss His Second Coming.

¹⁵ See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ~ Hebrews 12:15

I’ve recently been watching shorts of a guy who cooks hotdogs on a griddle to sell them. He has great customer service and seems to genuinely enjoy what he does. What struck me as crazy was his comment section. People were commenting how he thinks he’s a chef cause he flips some hotdogs. They mocked his tossing of the jalapeño in the air with his tongs turn catching it in the other hand with the plate.

See, the enemy will do whatever and use whoever it takes in order to try to bring you down. He uses miserable, empty people in hopes spreading their venom and taking the joy away from you. But don’t let him. Don’t let the enemy steal your joy.

And don’t let the enemy use you to destroy other people’s joy the way someone has destroyed yours. Bringing someone else down won’t lift you up. A root of bitterness will try to entice you to bring everyone else around you down so that you won’t be alone in your bitterness. Why? Because misery loves company. It’s a lie from the enemy trying to convince you that it will make you feel better to bring someone down. The only way to no longer be broken is by allowing the LORD to heal you and uproot that root of bitterness from within you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let God Uproot.

¹³ Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. ~ Matthew 7:13-14

One of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite stories, Alice In Wonderland, is the scene between Alice and the Cheshire Cat. It goes as follows:

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.

Some may see this as just bad advice, but I don’t really think it was. Their conversation doesn’t end there. He goes on to suggest to either go visit the Mad Hatter or the March Hare. When Alice is lost and in tears, the Cheshire Cat doesn’t just appear to her but comforts her. He then warns her of the Queen of Hearts’ temper, then shows her a secret passageway to the queen’s castle.

See, Lewis Carroll’s whole point of the very first conversation between the Cheshire Cat and Alice was that if you don’t have a true destination in mind, then the road you take doesn’t matter. If you don’t know where you want to go, how you live your life really doesn’t matter. You have to have a destination in mind. See, Lewis Carroll was a devout Christian. He was a deacon in the Church of England. His father was a highly-respected conservative Anglican church figure who heavily influenced him, especially as a child.

Everything Lewis Carroll wrote was directly influenced by his Christian faith in Jesus Christ. He knew and fully believed that there are two roads set before each of us. One that leads to life and one that leads to death. One that many are on and one that few even find, let alone walk. And if we don’t care about the destination, then the path we choose doesn’t matter.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Care About Your Destination.

⁶ including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, ⁷ To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints ~ Romans 1:6-7

We are all called to a universal calling, that is, a calling to belong to Jesus Christ. And in the same way, we are all called to be saints. In other words, we are all called to A Life of Excellence.

There is no excuse for us to be mean or abrasive with each other. We are called to live holy lives. Because we are all loved by God— For God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus. It was He who died on the cross to provide us with salvation so that we would not have to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire, which burns forever and ever, and the smoke of the torment of those who go there will ascend forever.

It is this calling that I would like to speak to you about this morning—a call to keep yourself holy and free from sin. Don’t believe the lie that you cannot live a holy life.

We are a chosen generation. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. A peculiar people. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live Chosen.

Psalms 23:4a

⁴ … your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

David describes the LORD as his shepherd. He even goes as far as to say that the LORD’S rod and staff comfort him. What’s so interesting about that? The rod was used for correction. David, in Psalms 21, writes that Jesus would break or rule the nations with a rod of iron. Solomon, David’s son, in Proverbs 26:3, wrote that the rod is for the back of the fool. So, how could David find comfort in the LORD’s rod?

The fool says in his heart, there is no God. See, the fool doesn’t say with his mouth that there is no God, but with his actions. David prayed, “search me, oh LORD,” “create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.” David found comfort in the correction of the LORD, not because He enjoyed punishment or discipline, but because as long as God was correcting him, he knew the LORD loved him.

It’s when the LORD says enough is enough and stops correcting, when He says okay, have it your way, that’s what David feared. That’s what David found terrifying and distressing because when the LORD turns you over to a reprobate mind. When He turns you over to your own desires and wickedness, that’s when He stops calling you to Himself.

The LORD assures us that He will discipline those whom He loves. He will correct you as a father corrects His child. This is what David found comfort in, the love of God. The relationship between God and His people. A love that corrected and disciplined, not out of wrath, but to teach and transform. To bring us back to Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Take Comfort In Discipline.

²¹ If you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. ²² But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. ²³ You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth. ~ Deuteronomy 23:21-23

Many of us make vows without thinking. We make promises and agreements, but don’t follow through on them. We oftentimes just take it for granted, but God takes vows very seriously—even those made in error. Here’s a powerful example.

When the Gibeonites heard all that Joshua and the Israelite army were doing to the other cities, they were terrified… They were frightened for their lives and for their families’ lives. They had heard that God had instructed Joshua to destroy the inhabitants of the land, and they were scared, because that was precisely what Joshua was doing. So, they made plans to trick or deceive Joshua and the elders of Israel into making a treaty of peace with them.

They took old, moldy bread. Worn-out wineskins. Patched sandals. And worn-out clothes. And pretended to have traveled from a distant land. Joshua and the elders with him were initially suspicious, but the Gibeonites convinced them they were not from the area, and they believed them. They were like, maybe you live among us, and we don’t realize it, and if you do, how can we make a treaty with you since our God told us not to do that? They were obviously suspicious of them, but when they saw the people’s provisions, they were convinced by what they saw. And they did not inquire of the LORD. They jumped headfirst into a covenant with the Gibeonites, even though God had instructed Joshua not to (Joshua 9:14-15).

But here is something even more astonishing… Almost 400 years later, David, son of Jesse, is on the throne of Israel. There is a famine in the land… year after year. For three years, there is this persistent famine. And David realizes something must be wrong. So, David goes to inquire of the LORD, and what he discovers is totally amazing… It’s all Saul’s fault. In his zeal for the LORD, Saul has violated Joshua’s… 375-year-old covenant with the Gibeonites.

King Saul, during his reign, was putting the Gibeonites to death, so bloodguilt had come upon him and his house. He thought he was doing a good thing. He was doing what Joshua had failed to do. But as a consequence, Israel, as a kingdom, was also suffering the repercussions of a broken covenant.

Even after 400 years, God still honored that “should-have-never-been-made” covenant. God did not want it…; in fact, He told the Israelites not to do it! But to do the very opposite of making a peace treaty. Yet! He honored it and expected Israel and their descendants after them to honor it as well. That proves the power of a covenant—the sacredness of a promise, and that words are indeed extremely potent.

Now think about this. If God holds us to that high a standard of integrity, expecting us to keep our word to perfection, will He not hold Himself to an even higher standard? Of course He will! That is why the Scripture says that God watches over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12).

Therefore, maybe there are open doors in your life. Maybe there are things in your life you can’t seem to get through because you made a vow and broke it. Our word is powerful. When we give our word to do something, it’s not just another meaningless thing. Our vows are to be honored.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Honor Your Word.

³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” ~ Matthew 9:37-38

³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. ~ John 4:35

There’s a term Christians use that I’m really not a fan of, and it’s the term abomination. It’s like it’s an arsenal for attack to make sure that one sinner knows how much more of a sinner they are than all other sinners. Like, look how much God hates this sin above all other sins. When in reality, the word abomination is used to describe multiple sins in the Bible, not just same-sex relations.

When we try to isolate sin and rate it as more evil than another based on our own opinions and feelings, that is when we begin to misuse Scripture to cause hurt or harm to another. When we do this, shame and self-hatred begin to consume others. Identity begins to be destroyed, and a lot of times it causes great division between them, God, and the Church. Our goal is to change lives for the better. Our mission is to win souls for Christ. Not to burn the fields, but to harvest them.

The fields are white onto harvest. Their hearts are yearning for the Truth. So many are seeking and never finding because we, as the Church, as the body of Christ, do not do our job as followers of Christ.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Burn The Harvest.