This is what the Lord said: "Jeremiah, stand in the courtyard of the Temple of the Lord. Give this message to all the people of the towns of Judah who are coming to worship at the Temple of the Lord. Tell them everything I tell you to say; don't leave out a word. Maybe they will listen and stop their evil ways. If they will, I will change my mind about bringing on them the disaster that I am planning because of the evil they have done.
Say to them: 'This is what the Lord says: You must obey me and follow my teachings that I gave you. You must listen to what my servants the prophets say to you. I have sent them to you again and again, but you did not listen. If you don't obey me, I will destroy my Temple in Jerusalem as I destroyed my Holy Tent at Shiloh. When I do, people all over the world will curse Jerusalem.' Jeremiah 26: 2-6
Truth for Today
s
READ Jeremiah 24:1-26:24
SITUATION Unless they turn from their sins. God vowed to exile Judah into Babylon for seventy years. Although the king threatened Jeremiah, the priests gradually believed that Jeremiah spoke with God's authority.
OBSERVATION God promised protection for his people if they turned from their sin. If not, they would suffer his fierce wrath.
INSPIRATION True confession cannot happen without repentance. Many times we don't confess our sin because we're not ready to let go of it. When I was a young Christian, I remember telling the Lord that I was sorry about particular sins I had committed and then thanked Him for already forgiving them. But that was not all I did.
I reached a milestone in my spiritual life when I began to say, "Lord, thank You for forgiving those sins. I know they did not please You and I never want to do them again." That can be hard to say because sometimes we want to commit certain sins again. But we betray a lack of spiritual maturity when we want to eliminate the penalty of sin but retain the pleasue. For your confession to be genuine, you must turn from your sins. (From Truth for Today by John MacArthur)
APPLICATION Be thankful for a patient and loving God who forgives you when you are willing to honor and obey him. But don't take his graciousness lightly. Express your gratefulness for his
mercy.
EXPLORATION Repentance -- Exodus 9:27-34; Jonah 3:10; Luke 15:8-10
READ Jeremiah 24:1-26:24
SITUATION Unless they turn from their sins. God vowed to exile Judah into Babylon for seventy years. Although the king threatened Jeremiah, the priests gradually believed that Jeremiah spoke with God's authority.
OBSERVATION God promised protection for his people if they turned from their sin. If not, they would suffer his fierce wrath.
INSPIRATION True confession cannot happen without repentance. Many times we don't confess our sin because we're not ready to let go of it. When I was a young Christian, I remember telling the Lord that I was sorry about particular sins I had committed and then thanked Him for already forgiving them. But that was not all I did.
I reached a milestone in my spiritual life when I began to say, "Lord, thank You for forgiving those sins. I know they did not please You and I never want to do them again." That can be hard to say because sometimes we want to commit certain sins again. But we betray a lack of spiritual maturity when we want to eliminate the penalty of sin but retain the pleasue. For your confession to be genuine, you must turn from your sins. (From Truth for Today by John MacArthur)
APPLICATION Be thankful for a patient and loving God who forgives you when you are willing to honor and obey him. But don't take his graciousness lightly. Express your gratefulness for his
mercy.
EXPLORATION Repentance -- Exodus 9:27-34; Jonah 3:10; Luke 15:8-10
s
Digging Deeper
s
DELIVERANCE FROM BESETTING SINS
By Jack Kelly
.... Many of us have sins we simply cannot stop committing. (These are sometimes called besetting sins.) Some don’t really want to stop committing these sins, but many have “cried out to the Lord in sackcloth and ashes” for deliverance and still can’t stop.This is not a new phenomenon.
Some of the great heroes of the Bible had sin problems they couldn’t control. Moses had trouble with his temper, David had a weakness for women, and we’ll get to Paul in a minute.
If you don’t have any besetting sins, praise the Lord. But dismissing someone else’s problem by saying they should just stop sinning shows an appalling lack of sensitivity. This is especially true since millions of believers have spent years trying unsuccessfully to stop doing things like smoking, drinking to excess, watching porn, etc. Others can’t control their anger, lust, appetite, or envy. Would you deny all of them participation to the rapture? Maybe the next time you hear of someone struggling with sin you should take some time to ponder the old saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” And if you don’t have any sins you can’t keep yourself from committing, why are you sinning at all?
To read this entire article by Jack Kelly please go to: http://bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com/2008/12/homosexuals-in-rapture.html
Some of the great heroes of the Bible had sin problems they couldn’t control. Moses had trouble with his temper, David had a weakness for women, and we’ll get to Paul in a minute.
If you don’t have any besetting sins, praise the Lord. But dismissing someone else’s problem by saying they should just stop sinning shows an appalling lack of sensitivity. This is especially true since millions of believers have spent years trying unsuccessfully to stop doing things like smoking, drinking to excess, watching porn, etc. Others can’t control their anger, lust, appetite, or envy. Would you deny all of them participation to the rapture? Maybe the next time you hear of someone struggling with sin you should take some time to ponder the old saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” And if you don’t have any sins you can’t keep yourself from committing, why are you sinning at all?
To read this entire article by Jack Kelly please go to: http://bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com/2008/12/homosexuals-in-rapture.html
No comments:
Post a Comment