Bible Studies With Joan :: Repentance

Forgiveness is there, because that’s just who God is. Jesus says in Luke 17:4 if you’re brother sins against you seven times in a day and seven times comes to you and says, “I repent” you must forgive him. That’s just who God is, He is merciful and he desires for nobody to perish (2 Peter 3:9). But repentance has to come quick, Esau missed his chance of repentance, (Hebrews 12:17).

God’s kindness leads to repentance (Romans 2:4) and He is the one who grants repentance, (2 Timothy 2:25). 

Repentance isn’t feeling guilty or sad, a worldly repentance is sadness and brings about death. God leads us to repentance which is not depression or regret. (2 Corinthians 7:10) Regret is self-focused, “I wish I hadn’t done that, I feel so stupid”… Repentance is God seeking, “I can’t believe I did that despite the love you’ve shown me. I will never go back for the sake of your love.”

Seeing God leads to repentance, Isaiah 6 where he says, “Doom! Doomsday!” or Job 42:5-6 where Job says, ​​​​​​​I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, ​​​​​​but now my eye has seen you. T​​therefore I despise myself, ​​​​​​and I repent in dust and ashes!

​​​​​​​Psalm 4:2-5 You men, how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? ​​​​​​How long will you love what is worthless ​​​​​​and search for what is deceptive? ​​​​​​​Realize that the LORD shows the godly special favor; ​​​​​​the LORD responds when I cry out to him. ​​​​​​​Tremble with fear and do not sin! ​​​​​​Meditate as you lie in bed, and repent of your ways! ​​​​​Offer the prescribed sacrifices ​​​​​​and trust in the LORD!

Isaiah 30:18 says the LORD is ready to show you mercy; ​​​​​​he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you. ​​​​​​Indeed, the LORD is a just God; ​​​​​​all who wait for him in faith will be blessed

Matthew 3:8 and Luke 3:8 both say we should produce fruit that proves our repentance. The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self control. (Galatians 5:22)

1 Kings 8:47-54 

When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray; we have done evil.’

When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner, and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help and vindicate them.

Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them.

After all, they are your people and your special possession that you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace.

“May you be attentive to your servant’s and your people Israel’s requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you.

After all, you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession, just as you, O sovereign LORD, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the LORD, he got up from before the altar of the LORD where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky.

2 Kings 23 is another story of repentance, the Old Testament Kings are some of the best repent-ers out there. 

Here’s a group of people who had everything, and it got to their heads. Here’s a group of people who had the worlds expectations on their shoulders and some of them crumbled under pressure. Here’s a group of people who had a rich legacy, and they couldn’t keep it up. Here’s a group of people who had the biggest of father wounds and they had to live with consequences of choices they had no control over.

Here’s King Josiah, 

First, he reads aloud the word of God

Second, he makes a covenant in front of accountability partners, not alone in a dark room, he does this in public

Third, he did some radical amputation and destroyed all the idols and pagan priests

Fourth, he reintroduced Passover, looking back at what the Lord had done, honoring the Passover lamb i.e. looking to Jesus for salvation

Fifth, 2 Kings 23:25 - No king before or after repented before the LORD as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses.

A Prayer of Repentance – Psalm 51

​​​​​​​(Written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba) 

​​​​​​Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love! ​​​​​​Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! ​​​​​​​Wash away my wrongdoing! ​​​​​​Cleanse me of my sin! ​​​​​​​For I am aware of my rebellious acts; ​​​​​​I am forever conscious of my sin.

​​​​​​​Against you – you above all – I have sinned; ​​​​​​I have done what is evil in your sight. ​​​​​​So you are just when you confront me; ​​​​​​you are right when you condemn me.

​​​​​​​Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, ​​​​​​a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. ​​​​​Look, you desire integrity in the inner man; ​​​​​​you want me to possess wisdom. ​​​​​​​Sprinkle me with water and I will be pure; ​​​​​​wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

​​​​​​​Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven! ​​​​​​May the bones you crushed rejoice! ​​​​​​Hide your face from my sins! ​​​​​​Wipe away all my guilt! ​​​​​​​Create for me a pure heart, O God! ​​​​​​Renew a resolute spirit within me! ​​​​​​​Do not reject me! ​​​​​​Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me! ​​​​​​​Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance! ​​​​​​Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey! ​​​​​​​Then I will teach rebels your merciful ways, ​​​​​​and sinners will turn to you. ​​​​​​Rescue me from the guilt of murder, O God, the God who delivers me! ​​​​​​Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance.

​​​​​​​O Lord, give me the words! ​​​​​​Then my mouth will praise you. ​​​​​​​Certainly you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it; ​​​​​​you do not desire a burnt sacrifice. ​​​​​​​The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit – ​​​​​​O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject. ​​​​​​​Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! ​​​​​​Fortify the walls of Jerusalem!

​​​​​​​Then you will accept the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings; ​​​​​​then bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

Jeremiah 31:15-22

The LORD says, ​​​​​​“A sound is heard in Ramah, ​​​​​​a sound of crying in bitter grief. ​​​​​​It is the sound of Rachel weeping for her children ​​​​​​and refusing to be comforted, because her children are gone.” ​​​​​​​The LORD says to her, ​​​​​​“Stop crying! Do not shed any more tears! ​​​​​​For your heartfelt repentance will be rewarded. ​​​​​​Your children will return from the land of the enemy. ​​​​​​I, the LORD, affirm it!

​​​​​​​Indeed, there is hope for your posterity. ​​​​​​Your children will return to their own territory. ​​​​​​I, the LORD, affirm it! ​​​​​​I have indeed heard the people of Israel say mournfully, ​​​​​​‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. ​​​​​​You disciplined us and we learned from it. ​​​​​​Let us come back to you and we will do so, ​​​​​​for you are the LORD our God. ​​​​​​​For after we turned away from you we repented. ​​​​​​After we came to our senses we beat our breasts in sorrow. ​​​​​​We are ashamed and humiliated ​​​​​​because of the disgraceful things we did previously.’

​​​​​​​Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children. ​​​​​​They are the children I take delight in. ​​​​​​For even though I must often rebuke them, ​​​​​​I still remember them with fondness. ​​​​​​So I am deeply moved with pity for them ​​​​​​and will surely have compassion on them. ​​​​​​I, the LORD, affirm it!

​​​​​​​I will say, ‘My dear children of Israel, keep in mind ​​​​​​the road you took when you were carried off. ​​​​​​Mark off in your minds the landmarks. ​​​​​​Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back. ​​​​​​Return, my dear children of Israel. ​​​​​​Return to these cities of yours.

​​​​​​​How long will you vacillate, ​​​​​​you who were once like an unfaithful daughter? ​​​​​​For I, the LORD, promise to bring about something new on the earth, ​​​​​​something as unique as a woman protecting a man!’”

​​​​​​​

Hosea 14:2, 4 Return to the LORD and repent! ​​​​​​Say to him: “Completely forgive our iniquity; ​​​​​​accept our penitential prayer, ​​​​​​that we may offer the praise of our lips as sacrificial bulls…..​​​​​​​“I will heal their waywardness ​​​​​​and love them freely, ​​​​​​for my anger will turn away from them.

Luke 9 - Just Say Yes!

I'm still working though the One Year Bible and journalling a lot on what God's been speaking to me. Lately my quiet time has been at around 9 at night, and I just read and write. It really is true what they say that the more I've been doing it, the deeper the love and the hunger for Him grows :) I love it, it's crazy in the Kingdom the hungrier you get, the better you feel which is completely opposite in the physical.

Anyway, a couple of nights ago I was reading Luke 9:51-62. I was stuck on verse 59-60 and I didn't know what it meant or what to write about it, which is normally when God just shows up and speaks to me so much more in the "difficult to understand" concepts than the seemingly straightforward ones.

Luke 9 [NET] v.59 Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” v.60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

So this is what I wrote in my journal:

Jesus called me to follow Him, but many times I hid behind excuses. "Let me try and fix myself / let me try and heal myself from these broken, dead parts of my life / I need my me-time so I don't use God as a crutch against life's problems / I need to commit to deal with myself before I commit to deal with God or my most famous and most-used one "let me try and see if this relationship is going anywhere then once I'm happy with this boy, I can focus on you." Yes, I'm embarrassed to say I said that a million times and I hate that I said that.

But, I've been called to life and to leave the dead things behind. I don't say this callously; I've buried a father. I can't imagine Jesus telling me not to stay and comfort my family or be there for them, but from that experience, I know that this verse is meant as a call to life, a call to not allow death to be the victor and the star of the movie, but to allow the Kingdom to take center stage.

It's letting go of the sadness, depression, brokenness or other issue you've dealt with and choosing...
instead to focus on the Kingdom, attacking this not from the viewpoint of death but from life. A great example I remember is when Bill Johnson's brother in law passed away last month and Eric came out to preach the message on the fruit or the report, based on how when the 12 spies went out to check Canaan out, 10 came back with a report, 2 came back with the fruit. He compared that passage to how Bethel goes after cancer and sickness yet cancer has taken away one in their family, that's the report, but he urged us to look at the fruit of this ministry and made it clear that what had happened was in no way a setback but a stepping stone. Eric and the Johnsons still mourned, he wasn't callous, he was real, but he preached from the Kingdom view rather than the "death has won" view

This verse is calling us to life, calling us to live out of Life, life here being the proclamation of the Kingdom of God and stepping out of and letting go of the dead parts of our life. The kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom is the presence of God and that presence releases freedom. Jesus said to mourn with those who mourn, so this verse wasn't telling the man to ignore his family or pretend everything was alright, but to live out of Life not death. Seek first the Kingdom and all else will be added unto you. God wants to be the source of comfort, He's said a million times He's father to the fatherless and brings comfort to the widow. This was never this man's burden to bear.

This really spoke deep into my heart. There are dead or broken parts in all of our lives and this just called me into remembering to change my viewpoint. I'm saving money for school and living expenses and I can choose to look at this like this man did and say to Jesus as He calls me, "let me figure out a way to sort out my finances or agonize about how to pass this interview, then I'll see if I'll be able to come" but God is always reminding Him to seek Him first, to see things the way He sees them, what I struggle hard to do, He does easy.

What areas have you guys struggled to change your viewpoint? Lemme know in the comments/email.

P.S
I just got a picture in my mind of how this guy could have said back to Jesus, "OK yes, of course I'm going to go with you, thank you for calling me! But here's my heart and this is what I'm dealing with, please help me heal from this and know how you want me to handle it." Maybe, someone reading this needs to say that. That is honestly how simple it is to experience everything God has planned for you. Just saying yes. I'll be really excited to pray for you, email me/comment and I'll get back to you.

My Thoughts on Jeremiah 44 #OneYearBible

Jeremiah 44 is pretty interesting. 

We actually had to do Jeremiah in High School CRE (Religious Ed. but right now, I don't get it at all, it's taken me skipping through 44 chapters to finally see what's going on...apparently that A I got on my exam was a miracle, haha!)

God tells the Israelites, “Do not do this detestable thing that I hate” but they did not listen or pay attention and turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. So the anger of the Lord is poured out and the nation is left desolate. (Jeremiah 44:4-6)

God says again, “Why provoke me to anger with what your hands have made. You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach among the nations of the world. Haven't you learnt from the past? Didn't you see this happen before with your forefathers and kings and queens who came before you?” and he adds, that because they've absolutely refused to recognize Him, punishment is coming their way. (Jeremiah 44:8-10)

The nation of Judah, or rather the remnant of the nation of Judah says: “We will certainly do what we said we will do” no, not obey God, they said, “we will burn incense to the queen of heaven, we will pour out incense and drunk offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. At that time, we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm, but ever since we stopped burning incense and pouring drunk sacrifices we've had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine” (Jeremiah 44:15-19)

Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com via Alyse on Pinterest

Hello, God said He would punish you with sword and famine, so the only reason you stopped burning incense is because you were dealing with the repercussions of burning incense in the first place! It wasn't your choice!

Moreover, if the queen of heaven was a viable/real god, wouldn't she have saved you from the famine and sword so you could keep devoting yourselves to her? Why do you want to worship a god who wasn't there for you, who apparently only seeks to be appeased without giving anything – not love and not protection in return?

Whereas, you have an offer from:

• A God, who is obviously strong enough and true enough to His word to destroy you just as He said He would,
• A God who has kept pursuing you even as you constantly reject Him,
• A God who tried to correct you and who like a loving parent, felt grieved at you forcing His hand into that correction (Jeremiah 42:10).
• As in a God who has more good in store for you than you could imagine!
• A God who when your fathers obeyed in the past, He prospered them and gave them more than they could imagine,
• A God who’s promised to restore them, despite everything, if they'd only listen to Him and stop burning incense to this other thing.

Jeremiah’s trying to make them see sense and He’s like, “Guys! Don't you get it?! Don’t you see it?! The only reason you're living in this disaster is because you're ignoring the one true God!”

It’s absolutely easy to read this and think, man, why were they so blind?! The truth is though, how many times have I said those exact words? Do any of these sound familiar in your own life? Yup, I'm guilty.

• “There’s no way I can get saved right now, I'm too young and I still have tons of partying to do! I’ll get saved when I'm married/I'm a parent.”
• “There’s no way I can become a Christian, I'm in love of this person, if we don't sleep together we'll break up, I can't break up with them, they're ‘the one’!”
• “There’s no way I can serve in Church, then I’ll be on the spotlight and my behavior outside of Church has to match my behavior inside Church!”
• “There’s no way I can quit watching porn/reading those novels/watching those steamy scenes, they make me feel better and they give me ideas, shouldn't I be well educated in all areas of life.”
• “Life was so much easier when I wasn't saved; I had about 100 people I could date following me, now I have to wait for ‘God’s plan’”
• “My parents just don't get it, fine; they made their mistakes, why should I learn from them? Shouldn't I make my own mistakes to learn from?!”

I could go on and on.

I love how the issues we face aren't anything new, putting other things before God started thousands of years ago and we have the Bible to learn from. I’m absolutely sure that a lot of the time we're blinded by our situations. I look back on some things I did, I'm like, “WHAT WAS I THINKING?” Yet at the time, they seemed like the best idea to me. Now I'm just thankful and constantly think, “Wow God please forgive me and thanks for getting me out of that – alive!” Ha!

I’m so fearful of becoming ‘blind’ again, life then and life now – incomparable! In a good way…a great way.

Really, I think my prayer/our prayer should be, “Lord open my eyes so I can see things like you do. I have ‘queens of heaven’ in my life that I may not see as such, but in your eyes, they are. You are my God, my only God and you're the only one who loves me as God. Help my heart remain sensitive to your word alone God.”

With that knowledge comes this privilege and responsibility, that

1. The Lord knows those who are His - {awesome! That a) He knows me and b) He calls me “HIS”, ahhh, the 'romantic' girl in me is swooning! Ha! }
2. Those who confess the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness (2 Timothy 2:19)

xx

Jo

How To Enjoy Quiet Time / Devotional Time

I've been going through the Morph devotional from Gateway Church and I read from week 2 about all the ways people experience God.

I think we've been so caught up in this picture that spending time with God, is you sitting on a desk somewhere with a Bible and a journal reading and writing; but for a lot of people this doesn't work for them and they quit after a while. As a Church, we believe that people have been wired differently for a specific reason, yet we don't give them space to be themselves in their relationships with God.

The Morph notes speak of all different kinds of people, like an athlete would probably get a clearer conversation with God on a run, or an artist would connect more with a sensory devotional time like painting or cooking, a music lover will almost always feel a resonance deep in their spirit when they seek God through music, a writer finds God in the beauty of the words of the Bible.

For me, in High School, my devotional times would be reading the Bible before preps every morning and every night, although that was a lot more about procrastinating studying than connecting with God. We also had these little woods on either side of our school where people would go pray or hold prayer meetings. We called them, "Holy Woods" and "Geevangee" After I left boarding school and came home, for a while it became watching pastors and speakers on TBN and taking notes and following along with them. Then, it just fizzled out.

I've never really understood scripture that well, probably up until last year and more so this year. What changed is that last year, I stopped waiting for people to feed me the Word and I started reading for myself. What's really changed this year is appreciating that I am a writer, I connect through words, and I am a music lover, this relationship is cemented through music. That's who I am. There are amazing times when the two connect and a poem or a song comes up as I read this book, but these are not as often as I would like ;-)

My devotional time now, never looks the same. A few days, music might spur me on, after that writing might turn my crank, after that, studying and taking notes might be what I need, after that watching pastors and speakers might grow me.

The three things that have consistently so far worked for me though are:

1. Schedule time.
I always get frazzled and my days get more stressful and my fuse gets shorter when I haven't had a devotional time. I try to keep 7 p.m to 8 p.m open for that, but I have classes some nights, so its not set in stone, but I try and make sure I have 1 quiet hour a day, even if its me with my earphones on walking to the bus stop or waiting for a bus home. I may not always get an hour but whatever I get I try and do my best within those minutes. Definitely though is Friday nights (when everyone's at their small groups) or Sunday afternoons (in case my family doesn't visit) that's when all my focus is on quiet time. Friday also works for me because most events/concerts/worship nights are on Fridays so it kinda fits in.

2. Have something to look forward to.
To be honest, if all I had to look forward to was a bible and a notebook, I'd do everything I could to avoid doing this, I'd even offer to go clean the dishes and I hate cleaning the dishes. What's worked so far for me is buying books, or downloading free e-books, or buying music that I like and not listening or reading them until Friday night and kind of building the anticipation for quiet time.

3. Just go with it.
Like I said, it never looks the same for me. One day music might not be what I need, so I read, reading gets dull so I write, writing gets tiring so I sing. Even within singing, sometimes singing gets boring so I dance (I'm not a good dancer so I should say I jump up and down) This week even, none of these worked so I went with my music on my treadmill and I ran as I sang. Whatever you feel led to do, whatever you can do to build that connection, do it.

We have to know though that God doesn't expect us to come to him with loud prayers and quoting scriptures. We may not always have the words to say and that's o.k.

One of the people I look up to is Bill Johnson who pastors Bethel Church, he said,

"Give place to the silent prayers, sometimes your situations can't be represented by words, but by the travail of your heart. Through this you know God is birthing something and you have to be willing to lock eyes with him knowing that something is being birthed."

God is my Dad Part 4

So, as always, I’m praying for you.

Scripture References

1.       (Gen 2:25 [NET]) The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.

2.       (Gen 3:7 [NET]) Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

3.        (Exodus 13:21 [NET]) Now the LORD was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel day or night.

4.       (Exodus 14:21-22 [NET]) Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the LORD drove the sea apart by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided. So the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the water forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

5.        (Exodus 16:13-15 [NET]) In the evening the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was all around the camp. When the layer of dew had evaporated, there on the surface of the desert was a thin flaky substance, thin like frost on the earth. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” because they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you for food.

6.       (Exodus 16:35 [NET]) Now the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was inhabited; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

7.       (Exodus 17:6 [NET]) I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in plain view of the elders of Israel.

8.       (Leviticus 17:8-9 [NET]) “You are to say to them: ‘Any man from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in their midst, who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it to the LORD – that person will be cut off from his people.

9.       (John 3:16 [NET]) For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

10.   (2Cor 8:9 [NET]) For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you, by his poverty could become rich.

11.   (Exodus 25:10 and 22 [NET]) “They are to make an ark of acacia wood – its length is to be three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches. I will meet with you there, and from above the atonement lid, from between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony; I will speak with you about all that I will command you for the Israelites.

12.   (John 14:26 [NET]) But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.

In case you’re curious, again I use The Word Bible Software NET version. It’s the best tool I have honestly, because it helps me search through the Bible really easily.

God is my Dad Part 3

All we’ve gotta do is ask for it. I won’t even tell you the prayer to recite. We’ve heard those words so many times, and like me, maybe you’ve prayed those words a bunch of times but you keep ending up at the same place. It’s not about what words you say. Some of us are angry with God. Fine be angry, tell Him you’re angry and challenge Him for your joy back. Some of us are doubtful of whether He’s even there, fine, be doubtful and ask Him to prove you wrong. I promise you God shows up. For me, He’s shown up in my tears and in my anger, like when I lost my dad or when I have to live in the pain of my regrets. He’s shown up in my laughter and my happiness like when I’m singing or learning guitar or writing up a song. He’ shown up in my doubts and fears about my future in school or the future of my family or the future of my life and this ministry. He’s shown up in my self-disappointment and my low self-esteem and the moments I think I’m not good enough. He’s shown up in my writer’s block and disappointment over how nobody is visiting my blog hehehe and He gives me words to write, songs to sing, music to listen to and His words to remember, the knowledge that I am His child. Wow, God is my dad. God! How dare those negative thoughts come into my mind?! God is my dad! God’s shown up for me. Wow, He has and He will show up for you too.

Honestly, funny enough, I started this post, intending to write about my speculation about whether or not God spoke to me about listening to that song. Maybe He did, maybe He didn’t. I’m sure though, that He’s speaking right now, because I am a good writer but I’m not that good, and the stuff about Leviticus, I didn’t even understand that, and I kind of skim (skip) through the Old Testament when I’m reading my One Year Bible. Point is, God is speaking to you right now, just like He’s speaking to me. Those words are for you. He made sure you’d end up on this page reading these words. Isn’t that amazing? I don’t know you, but I love you, and I care about this so much, that you get to experience this love, and know for sure, for yourself that Church and Christianity isn’t irrelevant or inapplicable to your life, because it’s not about that label or about who else wears that label and whether or not they failed or succeeded. It’s about you and God and His love for you.

God is my Dad Part 2

We go on with our stubbornness though, like we always do. How many times have we had a close call with something, but the next day we do the same exact thing that landed us in trouble again. That’s how it was with God.

God realizes, soon there won’t be enough goats and sheep and doves left because His stubborn people would have sacrificed all of them to atone for their constant sin. There wouldn’t be any people left because the punishment for most of our sin is death, and we would have destroyed ourselves. So God tries again, this time making the ultimate sacrifice. He ripped out a part of Himself. A part of Himself. To be slaughtered in the place of the cows and the goats, and most importantly to stand in our place for us. Jesus, God the Son. ^{9 and 10}

Amazingly, all the rules are suddenly gone. Living by a handbook, it’s all gone. Budgeting for doves and sheep and goats for atonement is gone. What’s in its place? It’s love, constant, unending, unrelenting love. Not only that, because Jesus understands that we are weak and damaged and there’s no way our stubbornness would let us choose to stand up for him or choose to live right or choose to stop doing the things we love doing, so he sends down another part of Himself, the Holy Spirit as a constant line to Him. Think of it as a battery charger and we’re constantly connected to the source. ¹²

God is my Dad Part 1

I don’t know how I can explain my faith or my belief in God to you. I don’t know if I know enough about Him to say anything. Sometimes to be honest, I have serious doubts about whether He’s really out there or where did He come from, who made God, what comes next? But what I hold on to is that first of all, there has to be something out there, some sort of order to life right? To determine life and death, to create everything. Second, the Bible is the most historically credible book. So, if I believe He exists and I believe in His word, then I’ve gotta believe he’s real and He’s there. I can’t explain it any better; I hope that gets through to you.

I don’t just believe in Him to get through the day or to make myself feel better or to get to experience cool things. I’ve done all that without Him. But, you and I both know that it’s never enough, that despite how many friends you have or how many places you’ve travelled or how well your life is set up, it’s never enough. That’s because God created us to have a relationship with him. The only time in History, man was ever truly happy was when he and his wife were walking along in Eden communing with God.

Then sin happened and separated us from God. Our mistakes, our failures everything that’s made us separated from Him, that’s what sin is. All through the Bible we see consequences of this sin, death and destruction. ^{1 and 2}

God being just, tried to help people get some discipline for themselves to try and get back to where they were with Him, that’s why you see in Exodus and Leviticus all these rules He set up and some pretty strict consequences for breaking these rules. ⁸ It’s not because God was mean or He’s some sort of police officer or executioner. We are NOT characters in a video game God is playing looking down on us and waiting to press “DESTROY”.

God was trying to get us to get back to that place of oneness with him. Wow, can you imagine the Israelites, seeing all these wonders, the Red Sea parting and destroying their enemies, being led by a cloud to shield them from the sun during the day and a pillar of fire to warm them at night, food from heaven, and water from a rock. I mean, God was there! ^{3, 4 and 5} Wow, our loving God was there, and He wanted this oneness to continue, so He set up these rules to keep them in tune with Him. But, they broke the rules, so God tries again. He orders the construction of the Ark of the Covenant, so they could carry the very presence of God wherever they went. ¹¹ Again, they broke the rules. To put it in a way that you’d understand, I mean, at this point, God is like stalking them, saying “please be my friend, please be my friend” but the Israelites, shunning the very presence of God, want to turn to idols and elect a king like they saw their neighbors doing. There was a reason why God kept them circling the same mountain for 40 years, ⁶ they had 40 years to be prepared, to be SO in tune with God that when they got to their neighbors who worshipped all these other false Gods, they would know for sure that their God was the one true God, but even 40 years didn’t help them.

God is my Dad-Intro

I guess this is the first sermon I've ever written. Its 10 pages long, it has scripture references and everything. This is the first time, I ever thought, "wow, I can actually do this" It started off as me trying to write down my testimony and it just blew up into this. So, over the next couple of weeks, I hope you like it, and it shows you a little bit more about who God is.

Bible Study

1.       The Holy Spirit helps us lead. In Acts 6, we see the disciples faced with a challenge when they realized that when they were leading in other areas, some areas were being overlooked in this case, the widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So they decided to pick leaders who would oversee this and other necessary tasks. Acts 6:3-6 gives us these criteria. “But carefully select from among you, brothers, seven men who are well-attested, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this necessary task, while we devote ourselves to prayer and to ministry of the word. The proposal pleased the entire group, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” Well-attested here, means “of good reputation

2.       The Holy Spirit aligns our vision towards God, especially when we’re facing hard times. Acts 7:55 “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently towards heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” I have to admit, this was the hardest for me to learn. If you read the rest of chapter 7 to the end, you see this is the chapter detailing the persecution and ultimate death of Stephen. As a human, it’s hard to deal with loss and death. It’s scary to face persecution. I’ve never been in that position. Do I wish I could have seen Jesus looking down at me at that time? Absolutely. I felt alone, but knowing God was looking down at me could have helped me. Maybe that was the purpose behind the Spirit revealing Christ to Stephen. That he realized this faith thing is for real. He wasn’t alone. Even unto death, he was comforted. The way it applies to us is, we are to let the Spirit work through us to let our families, our community and our cities know that they are not alone. Be there in the hard times, in the darkness. Help! People in this world are being daily persecuted because of their faith. Pray for them, but don’t stop there. Find out what you can do and do it!

3.       The Holy Spirit cannot be bought or sold, it is a heart matter. Acts 8:18-22 “Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them money, v.19 saying, “Give me this power too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” V.20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire God’s gift with money! V.21 You have no share or part in this matter because your heart is not right before God! V.22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that he may perhaps forgive you for the intent of your heart”

Quick Note in case your curious, I mostly use The Word Bible software NET Version or my RSV Version or NIV One Year Bible

Bible Study

1.       The Holy Spirit teaches us. John 14:25 “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.”

2.       The only person who can breathe the Holy Spirit on you is Jesus. Anyone who purports to pray the Spirit over you can only do so if he prays in the name of Jesus. John 20:22 “And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Acts 8:14-17 “Now, when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. These two went down to them so they would receive the Holy Spirit. (For the Spirit had not yet come down on them but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus) Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans and they received the Holy Spirit.” This is a matter where you should exercise extreme care and ask God for discernment. Remember Jesus says, many will come in His name, who are not really of Him. It’s the world we live in. Examine the person, and his doctrine. It’s your right and responsibility to guard your heart.

3.       The Holy Spirit gives us power. Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth.”

4.       The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of tongues. This is another controversial topic in Christianity and in revivals. I get my point of view from Acts 2. The first time we see people speaking in Spirit-enabled tongues. Acts 2:4 “And each of them began to speak in tongues, each as the Spirit enabled Him.” Here’s the kicker, in verse 6, we read, “When this great sound occurred, a great crowd gathered and there was confusion, because each one of them heard them speaking in his own language.” We’ll see this in the next point.

5.       The Holy Spirit joins us and doesn’t divide us. The Spirit isn’t divisive. Here were hundreds of people from different countries, who spoke different languages, and they were joined together to hear the word of God. Each of them understood what was being saved. This is why I believe, if you’re going to speak in tongues, as a leader in a public forum, only do so, if there’s an interpreter present.

Quick Note, in case your curious, I use The Word Bible Software NET Version 

Bible Study

1.       The Holy Spirit reveals things to us. Luke 2:26 “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

2.       God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit and anoints us. Luke 3:22 “and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight.”

3.       The Holy Spirit leads us. Luke 4:1 “Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,”

4.       God gives us the Holy Spirit when we ask Him. Luke 11:13 “If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

5.       Jesus left us the Holy Spirit to help us and to be with us when He knew that He wouldn’t be physically with us anymore. John 14:25-26 “I have spoken these things while staying with you. V.26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.”

Bible Study

So, picking up from last time, we talked about how we shouldn't be afraid of the Holy Spirit because unlike what we've seen on TV, God never intended it to be such an over-the-top, scary, concept. Let take a look...

1.       The Holy Spirit is a gift from God not a right, which means that He can take it away. Psalms 51:11 says “Do not reject me. Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me.” Acts 2:38 “Peter said to them, ‘Repent and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’”

2.       God treasures the Holy Spirit. Matthew 12:32 Whoever speaks about the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

3.       Disciples of God should be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciple of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit.” Mark 1:8 “I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

4.       The Holy Spirit gives us words to speak. Mark 13:11 “When they arrest you and hand you over for trial, do not worry about what to speak. But say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” We also see in Acts 2, how Peter when he was filled with the Spirit was able to lead the first Spirit revival in history. He spoke to thousands, effortlessly and many non-believers were saved. Acts 4:31 “When they had prayed, the place where they had assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of the Lord courageously.”

5.       The Holy Spirit helps us prophesy. Luke 1:67 “Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied…”