Archive / February, 2013

You MUST Forgive!

Overview: Luke 17:1-4 is the text I will cover in this post and it deals with the following subjects, temptation, sin, offenses, rebuke, forgiveness, judgment and repentance. I will briefly be looking at all of them, however the one I really want to zone in on is repentance and forgiveness. When someone does us wrong we have a tendency to hang by the neck awaiting for an apology, then when it finally does come along, depending on how close the relationship is, we often want to punish the offender by holding out on the forgiveness side of things. Have you ever stopped for a moment to wonder why that is? Perhaps it’s because we have been hurt so badly that we naturally want to hurt back? When the one who has wronged comes to their senses and humbly offers an apology it then puts the offended in the power seat, does it not? Is that not an offense […]

Hope in God’s Mercy – 1 Peter 1:3

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1 Peter 1:3 I sin every day. That’s my confession and I shouldn’t think it is shocking, especially to anyone who knows me well. I don’t get up in the morning planning on sinning, in fact, I get up early and pray that Iwon’t sin. However, my sin reminds me of my need for my Savior and my deep gratitude for God’s mercy. Let me just be crystal clear about this though, I don’t practice sin (remember “do not get up in the morning planning to sin”)… I practice righteousness; that is, I rely on the Holy Spirit to teach me how to be holy as God is holy. Kind of like a piano […]

Celebrating Grace – 1 Peter 1:2

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” 1 Peter 1:1-2 “Amazing grace how sweet the sound….” Everyone knows this song, most of us can sing it by heart. Can we sing it from the heart? Why did John Newton write that the sound of grace was sweet? Answer: Because it saved a wretch like me! It is the grace of God that takes a person who is living life according to their own desires, blind to the consequences of their sin, and gives them the ability to see the truth of the gospel and to repent. In order to sing Amazing Grace […]