"I'm Sorry."
Over and over again he said those words. He really meant them. However, he knew in his heart that to some they were meaningless. So many times he asked for forgiveness and it was given. The pain of it all was hard to bear. He knew that what he did was selfish and yet Satan whispered in his ear, "Just this."
It doesn't take much. Just one time to destroy what should be completely right. We all make mistakes, yet some come at a high price. I know! And sometimes we suffer the consequences of our sins long after the confession and forgiveness comes from God.
"I'm sorry" sometimes carries little weight when we deal with each other. Forgiveness is not forgetting in human terms. You can't un-shoot a bullet. You can't undo most of the things we do. Life has no eraser or delete button when it comes to how we choose our walk in this world.
May God bless us all with forgiveness and may we be able to forgive each other.
Just remember the consequences of those sins are the part no one has control over.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
It's Time!
"It's time!"
You have heard this statement all of your lives. It isn't a new thought but one that has been with us, no matter the language or culture. The thought of an end of a period that comes to a close works on our minds and how we live our lives on a daily basis.
I'll never forget when I went on a Evangelistic campaign in Dominica, W.I. in the southern Caribbean. We were supposed to start the worship assembly each night at 7:00 p.m. It was the time set. That means we are to be there when it starts.
However, in the culture of Dominica, time has very little meaning. They showed up beginning at 6:00 but the majority of the folks didn't arrive till 7:30 each evening. It was their culture. They showed up as they wanted to, or after they had completed the task they were doing before making their way to the public market where the campaign was being held each night.
There is coming a time, however, that God is going to say, "It's Time!" and the children of God and the children of the world will all know what time it is. We will all know who has claimed it to be the time of the end. The question is, will you be ready, or will you have put off getting to where you needed to be?
Are you ready now?
It's time!
You have heard this statement all of your lives. It isn't a new thought but one that has been with us, no matter the language or culture. The thought of an end of a period that comes to a close works on our minds and how we live our lives on a daily basis.
I'll never forget when I went on a Evangelistic campaign in Dominica, W.I. in the southern Caribbean. We were supposed to start the worship assembly each night at 7:00 p.m. It was the time set. That means we are to be there when it starts.
However, in the culture of Dominica, time has very little meaning. They showed up beginning at 6:00 but the majority of the folks didn't arrive till 7:30 each evening. It was their culture. They showed up as they wanted to, or after they had completed the task they were doing before making their way to the public market where the campaign was being held each night.
There is coming a time, however, that God is going to say, "It's Time!" and the children of God and the children of the world will all know what time it is. We will all know who has claimed it to be the time of the end. The question is, will you be ready, or will you have put off getting to where you needed to be?
Are you ready now?
It's time!
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Baptized Again!
Well, this is a difficult discussion and I usually don't write about others. This is not about someone to bring ridicule, but hope! There is something about me that wants to encourage others through thought provoking writings and then there are those personal situations that I have found myself in. Those are what I usually like to write about.
Let me say this. Today I want to share with you something a preacher friend of mine shared with me a few days ago.
He and I have a friend who struggles with his spirituality. He has been "baptized" at least four times. My preacher friend asked me, "What do you say to someone who requests to be baptized again, especially multiple times?"
Here is my answer and I hope that it helps someone out there today to realize that they, individually, are important to the family of God and to the Father himself.
Baptism is a one time response to understanding God's plan. When we, according to what the apostles spoke on the day of Pentecost, understand that we have sinned and that our sins were against God the Father, when we are cut to the heart, when we feel guilty of sin, then we must seek out forgiveness.
What did the people do when they realized that they needed forgiveness? They followed God's plan and were baptized, immersed completely under water, for the forgiveness of their sins.
Once!
That's it!
It is a one time event.
What do you need to know to receive the forgiveness from God?
You need to realize that your sins come between you and God. You need to realize that God sent His Son, Jesus, to be sacrificed once for all men to give the opportunity to be forgiven. You need to admit that you have sinned, confess before men that you believe in Jesus and His death, burial and His resurrection, and then accept the gift of forgiveness by being immersed, baptized, in water for the forgiveness of your sins.
Once you have done that, God adds you to His church. He adds you to His spiritual family. He forgives you of all your past sins. It is the beginning of your walk with God in faith.
You won't know everything when you come up out of the water, but you will be forgiven.
Once you have become a child of God by obedience to the gospel, any sin afterwards will be forgiven, no matter how "bad we think it is" by repenting of the sin to God and asking for forgiveness from God.
The child of God then maintains his right relationship with the Father when we "...declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Romans 10:9-10.
If you sin as a child of God, repent and ask forgiveness from God and whom ever you sinned against and then let God handle it.
God forgives His children when they ask. Baptized believers who have been forgiven need only realize that they are a part of the family of God and that the only one who can take them out of that family is themselves. The only time it is too late to repent is when you are dead.
Don't let Satan tell you that you didn't really understand all you thought you needed to know to become forgiven. Don't let him convince you that you didn't believe what you did was enough.
God wants to save, not condemn.
I'll see you later!
Let me say this. Today I want to share with you something a preacher friend of mine shared with me a few days ago.
He and I have a friend who struggles with his spirituality. He has been "baptized" at least four times. My preacher friend asked me, "What do you say to someone who requests to be baptized again, especially multiple times?"
Here is my answer and I hope that it helps someone out there today to realize that they, individually, are important to the family of God and to the Father himself.
Baptism is a one time response to understanding God's plan. When we, according to what the apostles spoke on the day of Pentecost, understand that we have sinned and that our sins were against God the Father, when we are cut to the heart, when we feel guilty of sin, then we must seek out forgiveness.
What did the people do when they realized that they needed forgiveness? They followed God's plan and were baptized, immersed completely under water, for the forgiveness of their sins.
Once!
That's it!
It is a one time event.
What do you need to know to receive the forgiveness from God?
You need to realize that your sins come between you and God. You need to realize that God sent His Son, Jesus, to be sacrificed once for all men to give the opportunity to be forgiven. You need to admit that you have sinned, confess before men that you believe in Jesus and His death, burial and His resurrection, and then accept the gift of forgiveness by being immersed, baptized, in water for the forgiveness of your sins.
Once you have done that, God adds you to His church. He adds you to His spiritual family. He forgives you of all your past sins. It is the beginning of your walk with God in faith.
You won't know everything when you come up out of the water, but you will be forgiven.
Once you have become a child of God by obedience to the gospel, any sin afterwards will be forgiven, no matter how "bad we think it is" by repenting of the sin to God and asking for forgiveness from God.
The child of God then maintains his right relationship with the Father when we "...declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Romans 10:9-10.
If you sin as a child of God, repent and ask forgiveness from God and whom ever you sinned against and then let God handle it.
God forgives His children when they ask. Baptized believers who have been forgiven need only realize that they are a part of the family of God and that the only one who can take them out of that family is themselves. The only time it is too late to repent is when you are dead.
Don't let Satan tell you that you didn't really understand all you thought you needed to know to become forgiven. Don't let him convince you that you didn't believe what you did was enough.
God wants to save, not condemn.
I'll see you later!
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