The Gateway to Freedom and Peace – Forgiveness – Purity 748
Purity 748 06/03/2022 Purity 748 podcast
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a sunset over Lake Ontario captured in the
entrance way of a trellis gate comes to us from a friend who visited the
lighthouse near Sodus Point back on May 30th.
Well, it is Friday again and I thought this photo was a good
one to represent the day that is the “gateway to the weekend” and it is my
prayer that my friends will enjoy the journey of today that will deliver us
into the wonderful weekend that lies just beyond our scheduled workday. Sometimes we can just enjoy that transition
on a Friday even when we don’t have any big plans for the weekend. So today I hope you progressively rejoice and
give thanks for this day that the Lord has made as the day runs its course and our
work responsibilities are accomplished or put to rest until we pick them up
again on Monday.
Speaking of taking responsibility and putting things to rest,
last night I had the pleasure of leading a Freedom in Christ Discipleship
Course meeting on zoom where we discussed one of the most essential keys in experiencing
our freedom in Christ: forgiveness.
Our responsibility as Christians is to show that we
understand and appreciate the forgiveness God has given us through faith in Jesus
Christ by forgiving others. Right after
Jesus taught his original disciples to pray what we know as the “our Father”,
or the Lord’s prayer, He showed the
fundamental place that forgiveness is to hold in our lives as Christians by
telling us, in
Matthew 6:14-15 (NKJV)
14 "For
if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you.
15 But
if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your trespasses.
Here Christ makes our responsibility
to forgive others “their trespasses” clear.
If we don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive us.
While I know that God’s grace is
amazing and He will determine who is saved according to their faith in Christ,
it appears that those who come to faith in His Son should appreciated the free
gift of their forgiveness and salvation to the point that they will be
transformed by it and will forgive others for the things done to them.
Forgiveness is always a tough lesson
and that is why Christ and the Apostles taught so much about it.
Acceptance of our forgiveness for
the all the things we have done is hard enough in a world that loves to condemn
and label people according to their mistakes.
Satan loves to condemn us for the wrong we have done and likes to keep us
from the freedom that comes from knowing that God has forgiven our sins when we
place our faith in Jesus.
Instead of walking in the peace that
comes from our being forgiven, saved, and given a new life, Satan likes to keep
us believing the lie that we are no good rotten sinners with no hope. He wants to keep us in chains of guilt to
keep us from sharing the good news of forgiveness and salvation through faith
alone and to make it easier to drive us into despair and back into those
vicious cycles of sin, guilt, condemnation, and temptation that lead us right
back to sin.
The worldly false doctrine of “everyone
is basically a good person” or “there is no such thing as sin” are other ways
that the world system and the forces of darkness will keep us from the freedom
God wants us to enjoy.
Instead of repenting of the wrong we
have done and receiving forgiveness, the world and the enemy tell us to not
listen to our God given consciences that tell our hearts what is right and
wrong and tells us to make up our own morality, with such pithy lies as “if it
feels good, how can it be wrong?”. Deceived,
the worldly encourage one another in their sins and encourage each other to
deny God and His righteous standards all together.
Romans 1:28-32 (NKJV) says that those who deny God will
be abandoned to their sins: saying:
28 And even as they did not
like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased
mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29
being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,
evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters,
haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient
to parents, 31 undiscerning,
untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32
who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who
practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also
approve of those who practice them.
Once you deny God and His standards of morality, anything
goes and you “approve of others to do the same things. And one of those things,
if you noticed is to be “unforgiving”.
Listed right along with all the other deeds of the wicked, being
unforgiving is not something that God wants us to be.
The phrase “unforgiving Christian” is an oxymoron. Those
words like “Jumbo Shrimp”, seem to contradict one another and the word of God
indicates that unforgiveness and being a Christian don’t go together.
When we come to faith in Christ, we are forgiven of everything
we ever done, or will do, and having received such a great gift of total
forgiveness, we are to accept it and no longer condemn ourselves for the
mistakes we have made or will make.
Romans 8:1
(NKJV)
1
There
is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do
not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
When we come to faith in Christ and walk in the Spirit, the accusations and condemnations for the world and the devil no longer apply to us.
Repeat after me:, through faith in Christ, I have been forgiven!
Therefore, I am in Christ and none of the world’s criticisms for my past, or for the mistakes I will make in the future, are no longer valid as I am have been forgiven by the highest authority in the universe and have been made a new creation by Him.
And as His word says, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ.
So accept your new life by accepting your forgiveness, turning away from those sinful behaviors of the past, and living according to the way of the Lord that leads to a life is defined by the fruit of the Spirit: peace, love, joy, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, patience and self-control.
When we walk in the Spirit those fruit grow in our lives, and they help us to forgive the wrongs done against us and to let go of the bitterness that comes from holding grudges against others for things they have done.
God promises in Roman 12:19 that He will repay all the injustices of world with His righteous vengeance, or He bring people to repentance through His Son.
So surrender those who have hurt and offended you to God by forgiving them of their trespasses against you. Forgiving others of their trespasses releases the pain and bitterness and allows you to walk in the freedom that the Lord wants you to know.
So forgive all who hurt, offended, and wronged you in the past. And keep walking and talking with God so you can also forgive those who may trespass against you today.
______________________________________________________________
Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book
for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
Psalm
25:8-10 (NLT2)
8
The
LORD is good and does what is
right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray.
9
He
leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way.
10
The
LORD leads with unfailing love and
faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.
Today’s Bible verses assures us that the Lord is good and does what is
right, and He show us the way in which we should go, that He leads all of those
who follow Him with unfailing love and faithfulness.
In Christ, God made a new covenant.
If we place our faith in Christ as our Lord and Savior, we become part
of that new covenant: the covenant that forgives us of our sins and welcomes us
into the family of God through adoption.
If we sincerely put our faith in Christ, we will be forever changed in
an instant. We are given a new and eternal life and if our profession of faith
is true, we receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who will convict
us to turn from our sins and start following the ways of the Lord in how we
live our lives.
These verses are Old Testament verses, where people had to have faith
in a coming Messiah. But even without knowing who the Messiah would be or when
He would come, God’s faithfulness is testified by the psalmist who is assured
that God is good and will do what is right and they describe how He leads the
humble into doing what is right and to live according to His way with unfailing
love and faithfulness.
God has always been faithful and encouraged people to be right with Him
by obeying His commands and walking in His ways.
That didn’t change with the coming of Christ. If anything we have benefited greatly as this
one piece of the mystery of life and eternity has been solved. We know to put our faith in Christ
specifically. In Him we have the assurance
of our salvation, but a relationship with God also includes being adopted into
His family and following His ways.
So rejoice over the free gift of your salvation, but humble yourself,
it was a free gift after all, and let the Lord lead you in doing what is right
by reading His word and applying His wisdom to your life.
As
always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from
prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and
sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today
we continue sharing from John Piper’s “Don’t Waste Your Life”.
As always, I share this information
for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase John Pipers’ books
for your own private study and to support his work. This resource is
available on many websites for less than $5.00.
The Roots of the
Student Volunteer Movement
The joyful partnership
between ministering laypeople at home and missionaries abroad has happened
before, and it can happen again. In the first decades of the twentieth century,
the Student Volunteer Movement exploded on the American scene with immense
missionary impact. It was remarkable for the number of missionaries sent and
for the depth and breadth of the laymen who supported it. It was a magnificent
partnership.
The
roots of the Student Volunteer Movement (SVM) went back as far as the famous
Haystack Prayer Meeting in 1806 in Massachusetts. A spiritual awakening stirred
the students of Williams College and prompted a small band of young men to
devote themselves to prayer twice a week by the Hoosack River. They focused on
the spiritual welfare of the other students. In August 1806, they were caught
in a thunderstorm on their way home and took refuge under the edges of a
chewed-out haystack. They used the time to continue praying. This time they
pleaded for the awakening of foreign missionary interest among the students.
One
of them, Samuel Mills, urged the little group to consider their own willingness
to be missionaries. To feel the weight of this moment, we have to remember that
at this time in American history not one foreign missionary had left the shores
of America. There were no missionary societies. Churches, by and large, had no
vision for the unreached peoples across the dangerous oceans. There was, as
many say today, plenty to do at home. Which was true! But this little band of
praying students could no longer be content with an American church whose heart
did not burn with love for unreached peoples and with zeal for the glory of God
among the nations. They could no longer be satisfied with a church that sent no
foreign missionaries. Against all this spiritual, historical, and structural inertia,
God enabled them to break through.
“The Brethren” Were Born
Praying under the haystack
they dedicated themselves to missionary service. “It was from this haystack
meeting that the foreign missionary movement of the churches of the United
States had an initial impulse.” That September, the group formed the “Society
of the Brethren” to strengthen their resolve to give themselves to missionary
service. Samuel Mills spread “The Brethren” vision as he studied at Yale and
then at Andover Seminary. He had transferred to Andover to be a part of what
God was doing there under the student leadership of Adoniram Judson. This group
of “Brethren” at Andover gave the impetus to the first American mission agency
(the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions); and from this group
were sent the first overseas American missionaries in 1812.
The Student Volunteer Movement Is Born
In 1846, Royal Wilder went
to India under this first American Board of Commissioners. He returned in 1877
for health reasons and settled in Princeton. There his son, Robert, formed the
“Princeton Foreign Missionary Society.” The prayers of this group gave rise to
a crucial gathering called by D. L. Moody at Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, in
the summer of 1886. Two hundred and fifty-one students gathered for a
month-long Bible conference. After a compelling address by pastor A. T. Pierson
on behalf of world missions, a hundred of these students volunteered for
overseas service. The spirit of this event gripped the student world. During the
school year 1886–1887, Robert Wilder and John Forman traveled to 167 campuses
to spread the vision. The formal organization of the Student Volunteer Movement
happened two years later with John R. Mott as its chairman.
The
purpose, as Mott expressed it, had five parts:
The fivefold purpose of the Student Volunteer
Movement is to lead students to a thorough consideration of the claims of
foreign missions upon them personally as a lifework; to foster this purpose by
guiding students who become volunteers in their study and activity for missions
until they come under the immediate direction of the Mission Boards; to unite
all volunteers in a common, organized, aggressive movement; to secure a
sufficient number of well-qualified volunteers to meet the demands of the
various Mission Boards; and to create and maintain an intelligent, sympathetic
and active interest in foreign missions on the part of students who are to
remain at home in order to ensure the strong backing of the missionary
enterprise by their advocacy, their gifts and their prayers.
“The
growth of the SVM in the following three decades was nothing short of
phenomenal.” The rallying cry was, “Evangelization of the world in this
generation.” By 1891 there were 6,200 student volunteers who had signed a statement
that read, “It is my purpose, if God permit, to become a foreign missionary.”
Of these, 321 had already sailed for overseas service. The peak year of the SVM
was 1920, when 2,738 students signed the pledge card and 6,890 attended the
quadrennial convention. “By 1945, at the most conservative estimate, 20,500
students … who had signed the declaration, reached the field.”13
The Student Flame Ignited Businesses and Churches
Many things are remarkable
about this movement, and full of instruction and inspiration for our generation
a hundred years later. For example, the Student Volunteer Movement ignited not
just students but the laymen of the churches. J. Campbell White, the first
secretary of the Layman’s Missionary Movement, wrote in 1909, “During the last
twenty years the missionary spirit has had a marvelous development among the
colleges of the United States and Canada … leading thousands of strong men and
women to live with a dominating missionary life purpose.” Attracted by this
zeal, a young businessman attended the 1906 SVM convention in Nashville. He
thought to himself, If the laymen of
North America could see the world as these students are seeing it, they would
rise up in their strength and provide all the funds needed for the enterprise.
At a prayer meeting of businessmen on November 15, 1906, in New York, the
Layman’s Missionary Movement was born.
Its
stated aim was “investigation, agitation and organization; the investigation by
laymen of missionary conditions, the agitation of laymen of an adequate
missionary policy, and the organization of laymen to co-operate with the
ministers and Missionary Boards in enlisting the whole Church in its supreme
work of saving the world.”[1]
---------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
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