Second Chances: God Removes our Sin
Devotions this week based on the Message: “Hope Comes with a Second Chance”.
“Take it outside!”
What started as a desire for a bag of buttery, tasty popcorn turned into a stinking, about to start on fire, bag of charred popcorn.
If it’s happened to you, you know the smell. You know how hours later you can still smell the reality of a bag of popcorn gone awry.
Some things we just can’t get away from us soon enough. A bag of popcorn is mild. Sometimes we want to get away from our past, get away from a bad relationship, and sometimes get away from God himself.
We run from what we are ashamed of. We hide what we don’t want people to see. We avoid those whom we’ve wronged. It’s natural to want to separate from that which you’re embarrassed by and wish never happened.
Our relationship with God can be challenging when we directly or subconsciously know we have done something that is wrong. We may not always know what it is, but we can feel it. It gets in the way of our relationship. It hinders our prayers. It keeps us from coming to church.
Because we think God is angry at us. Or we think we will just avoid or discount the reality of God and it won’t matter what we think or do. We think we are no longer accountable for our actions, if we avoid the one to whom we are accountable.
God does hate sin. God does say he will punish those that disobey him. Even if we ignore these warnings and try to avoid God, we can’t. We will have to face God for our actions.
Where’s the hope in that? Nowhere. That’s why God invites us to repent, to think differently and to turn to God.
Why would I turn to the one I think is out to get me?
Because you are missing who God is. Psalm 103:8 and following clarify for us:
Psalm 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Reread that again. Soak it in.
What God’s mercy does for each of us is remove the stink of our sin so we don’t have to smell it or live with it any longer. He does not treat us as our sins deserve and does not harbor his anger forever.
These are amazing promises to remember when Satan tries to get us to remember, regret, and run from our past sin. Instead of running from them, run with them to your loving Savior.
He removes your sin.
Apply: What sins of the past or present are bothering you. Confess them and then let this word of Psalm 103 remind you of what God does with those sins…removes them and covers them with his grace.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your grace and compassion and your willingness to remove our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. AMEN.
Second Chances: God Redeems Our Regrets
Devotions this week based on the Message: “Hope Comes with a Second Chance”.
Regret.
In the moment, it seemed like the right thing to do. At the time, it seemed like I had to do what my friends were doing. At the time, I didn’t realize it would make this much of a difference.
We all have events in our past that we look back and wish we could do over again. Perhaps it was a season of drinking. Perhaps it was a poor choice of relationships. Perhaps it was a pregnancy that happened all too early. Perhaps it was a moment of desperation.
You know what it was for you.
That event or events we look back and regret ever happened.
When our hearts and minds are reoriented toward the Lord, it’s much more clear the sin we committed in the past and the consequences that we perhaps still live in the present.
We wish we could go back in time and change what happened.
But we can’t.
But God can change the present by redeeming the past. What do I mean?
In this week’s message, (Click link above to listen to the whole thing) we connected with Peter and John who were given power to heal a man crippled from birth and then an opportunity to speak to a growing crowd about their spiritual condition. Here’s what Peter said:
Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
But Peter also acknowledges:
17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.
Were they off the hook? No. Ignorance is not bliss or an excuse. It simply means you didn’t fully know what you were doing. (Any of your regrets of the past fit into this category?) What they did was still wrong.
God doesn’t want them to live in a state of regret. He wants them to live in a state of repentance. Repentance is having your mind changed by God’s Spirit to see life and faith from God’s perspective of truth.
Here’s the amazing thing God does. He redeems the past to make it a blessing in our present:
Acts 3:18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.
God used their ignorance and sin to fulfill what he foretold through all the prophets Jesus would do.
Does that excuse the sin of the past? No, it just reminds us of how gracious God is.
So instead of living in regret, live in repentance. What has God taught you or now enabled you to do for him because of your past sins, ignorance, or bad choices? God will redeem the past as he gives us opportunity to see it now from his perspective and use it as a springboard to serve him in a renewed way in the present.
Apply: Take time to reflect on an event from the past that you regret being part of. What is the lesson God taught you through it and how can what you experienced now be a blessing to you and others?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for redeeming the sin of my past with the blood of Jesus. Thank you also for redeeming my past by allowing it to be part of the blessing of the present. Help me to always live in repentance with a clear understanding of your Word and your ways. AMEN.
Second Chances: We All Need Them!
Devotions this week based on the Message: “Hope Comes with a Second Chance”.
At some point every person needs a second chance, a “do over,” … a “Mulligan.”
Life is filled with stories of second chances. You have one as well. It may have been as simple as a teacher giving you an opportunity to redo a test you failed or as significant as overcoming an addiction or a life of crime.
Second chance stories are inspirational and motivational. But for every story of second chance and dramatic change, is perhaps a story of a second chance that failed.
What makes a second chance so amazing? Many second chances come because someone sees potential in me that I’ve missed seeing in myself. Someone sees that I can do better or be better than I currently am. Someone sees that it is possible and probable that I can change given the right opportunity and information. So they are willing to invest in giving me a second chance.
But even if someone does invest in me, what will make a second chance successful? Second chances turn out well when an individual is able to reflect and evaluate what went wrong at the first attempt. When I can recognize and make the needed changes in my thinking and activity, I increase the potential for a positive outcome. If I don’t change my thinking or learn from my mistakes, a second chance will lose its value. The change must happen within first. It involves a change of heart and mind to set up what develops into different actions and behaviors. False believes have to be replaced with truth.
Second chances bring hope. They renew an outlook on life that brings stronger optimism and joy to life.
We’re not just talking about second chance stories of hope and change, but the second chance stories that happen when God’s Spirit reorients our life and our heart to the Lord and his Word.
Titus puts it this way: (3:3-7)
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
The second chance as God turns us from sin and selfishness to him and trust and faith is amazing. The difference is incredible. The impact is large and the blessing is manifold.
Jesus loves you and wants you in heaven. He has done everything to overcome what sin wrecked, so you might have life with him…now and for eternity. This week we are going to unpack the blessing of a second chance God has given to you!
Apply: Consider some of the second chances in life God has given to you. What has he taught you through them?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the second chance your grace gives to me to live for you and with you. AMEN.
Easter Certainty: What Else Do You Need?
Devotions this week based on the Easter Message: “Certain Hope for Uncertain Times”.
I have to see it for myself.
In an age where you can place Bernie Sanders sitting on a chair with his arms folded at any event in the world and show the picture to “prove” it, or place the EverGreen cargo ship blocking waterways around the world with a clip of a photo and a paste on another, it’s perhaps easy to understand why we are a bit skeptical about pictures proving a point. When it seems unbelievable, we maybe believe, it is unbelievable.
We all have an air of skepticism and doubt, because I am guessing we all have been duped before. Whether it was a convincing April Fools joke or a well-doctored picture, we have been deceived.
We don’t like to be deceived. We desire and seek the truth.
And sometimes our only truth is that what we can see, touch, and experience ourselves.
So, I can’t blame Thomas.
The news of the resurrection was too important to be duped, tricked or persuaded to believe a lie. I would guess he wanted to believe the reports of the women and the 10 other disciples…but he wanted to see Jesus, touch him and experience the risen Jesus for himself.
I’m glad he did.
More than that, I’m glad Jesus allowed him to.
Best of all, Jesus obliged him. Here’s how it went down:
John 20:26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus wanted everyone of his closest followers to be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was alive. But more than that, he wanted Thomas to be convinced he was alive…for Thomas’ sake. He wanted to replace the doubts with certainty.
But he also did it for my sake. He wants me to “see and believe” for my sake…my salvation’s sake. But he knew I would have a doubt or two like Thomas did. By Jesus allowing Thomas to touch his hands and put his hand in his side, he allows me to do it vicariously too. It’s like I’m there having the same doubts as Thomas, and also receiving the same certainty from Jesus.
What else do I need? Nothing. I have the experiences of all the women, all the disciples, all the followers of Jesus that morning. I have the record of four witness accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus. I have what I need to believe Jesus is my Savior and by believing have eternal life in his name. The Apostle John communicates this truth immediately after he wrote about Thomas:
John 20:30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
The message and facts of Easter are certain. Jesus is alive…and because he lives, we also will live!
Apply: What doubts or questions do you wish you could ask Jesus? Is there a Bible account that asks or records a similar question and answer? I bet there is…if I can help, let me know! (pastor@crossandcrowntx.com)
Prayer: Jesus thank you for removing any doubt that you rose from the dead. Lead me to believe with certainty the facts and impact of your resurrection to the blessing of spending eternity with you. AMEN.
Easter Certainty: Jesus Gives Purpose
Devotions this week based on the Easter Message: “Certain Hope for Uncertain Times”.
No one gets excited to be an ambassador of lies.
If you have ever been asked to lie for someone, it’s uncomfortable. Sure you may have been duped at some point and spread a lie you didn’t realize was a lie. But it’s a rare and odd thing that someone would knowingly and willingly take what they know to be false and send others to spread the news.
When Jesus appeared to his disciples the evening of that first Easter, he didn’t have to “tell them the story” of what had happened and what he wanted them to tell others. They knew the facts. And he gives them the message…both rooted in the reality of his resurrection.
Here’s what happened in John 20:19-23
John 20:19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus showed the disciples his hands and side. The disciples knew what they were looking at and who they were looking at…the LORD! They didn’t ask if he was alive. They didn’t ask what happened. They didn’t ask what the story was. They knew. They knew it was Jesus because the SAW him nailed to the cross and pierced in his side. They knew he was dead and now without a doubt they KNEW he was alive.
The movement of Jesus would never have gained momentum if it was based on a fabricated story of a Roman crucifixion and miraculous resurrection. Jesus didn’t have to tell the disciples the story, they experienced it. So all he had to do was send them to be the messengers.
The interesting thing is that the message wasn’t to tell the world Jesus rose from the dead, but to forgive sins. What gave them authority to forgive sins was the fact Jesus was the Son of God, proven by his resurrection from the dead.
OK, maybe I’m using a bit of circular logic, but here’s why the purpose Jesus gives the disciples adds certainty to what happened. Jesus sent his disciples to proclaim forgiveness because the work that was needed to be done to be certain of forgiveness was completed in the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus wasn’t alive, there would be no forgiveness and no purpose. The disciples would have dissipated and the history of Jesus would be a fading blip on the Jewish scene.
But forgiveness continues to be preached to the ends of the earth. Why? Because it’s a) needed and b) based on the historical fact of Jesus resurrection from the dead.
Being a sales person for a product that didn’t work or didn’t exist would soon fade. But if given a product that was real and really worked, sales take care of themselves. All you have to do is share what it is and you’re experience with it.
That’s all Jesus is inviting us to do. Share who he is and your experience with him.
Apply: Does sharing your faith become easier knowing Jesus sent you and his message is based on the facts of his resurrection?
Prayer: Lord Jesus thank you for being who you said you were and doing what you said you would do. As the Father sent you, send us with the truth of your resurrection and the power of your forgiveness. AMEN.