Repenting of Controlling
At many times in Christian history there were attempts to spread Christianity by forced baptisms. In the name of the Prince of Peace persons were baptized at the point of a sword. We now have given that up by trying to force unconverted souls to conform to “Christian culture” by pressure and legislation.
Repenting of our Pace
In this contemporary era we have adopted a pace that allows us to run past our own souls. We run off and leave a part of us that was never meant to run. Our spiritual selves require the therapy of stillness and meditation. The running noises that we live with deafen more than our
Repenting of Self-sufficiency
We long for self-sufficiency and our inadequacy mocks it. We want independence while working with tools that someone else has made. We study to know all we can and forget that our knowledge is built upon people who lived and shared it before we were ever born. We do not seem to realize that
Repenting of Our Rightness
“Every man's way is right in his own eyes” (Proverbs 21:2a NASB). For this we need to repent. Our arrogant certainties lead to constant argument. For this we need to repent. A cocky intolerance that forbids even listening to someone else’s opinion. For this we need to repent. Seeking only opinions and information
Sanctifying Repentance
The goal of sanctification is Christlikeness, which is the restoration of the divine image. The process of sanctification is the pursuit of the divine likeness; it is what we run toward. The way is surrender, obedience, and repentance. This has to be all carried out in the context of full identification with Christ. Christ
False Repentance
The self is so deceptive that it can claim repentance while refusing repentance. Its desire for self-righteousness can produce a self-congratulating repentance. It is selective in what it turns from. It lives with a kind of dissonance that leaves the soul with no song. It brings a false virtue, leaving us empty of the
Neglected Repentance
I grew up thinking that repentance was a one-time thing necessary to be born again. I now believe that repentance has to be a way of life. There are always turnings and mid-course adjustments as we come to know ourselves, as we come to see ourselves exposed in the Word of God, and as
Selective Repentance
We categorize our sins. We conveniently seek to hide our idolatries from ourselves. We rant against the gross sins of others to embrace the treasured sins of our own pursuits. We could name them, but we dare not. They have become too precious to examine. We have declared by our ignoring them that they
Repentance Described
Repentance means to turn around, do an about-face and go in the other direction. What does repentance look like? That’s what John the Baptist’s audience was asking. He did not give them the classic evangelical response. He said give away your extra coat. Share your food. Be generous. Stop being greedy. No extortion.
Old Self — New Self
Do you remember the person you used to be before you came to Christ? Do you see the new person you are becoming since you came to Christ? Have you noticed that the old does not like the new? Do you see how God is changing all those old patterns of living into new
Growth Rings
The history of a tree is told in large and small growth rings. Thick rings indicate good growth while thin rings indicate a poor growth year. For Christians, you cannot read this year’s growth ring until next year; it may take a year or two to view this year’s growth. You will look back
Intercession for Our Good
“Intercession is that inner action within the divine Trinity whereby man’s unreality is prayed to align with the reality of the divine will. This intercession is a prayer that we be conformed to the divine likeness as expressed in the life and teachings of Jesus Himself. This is God in conversation with Himself weighing
Ascension for Intercession
“Jesus ascension was an act of intercession. The scars in His hands, feet and side are visual prayers of intercession. Jesus took back to the Godhead something very significant about the experience of being a man. He ascended to the Father in order to communicate by intercession the reality about humans that He had
Suffering Tears
“This we see in the “loud crying” or the KJV “strong crying” (Hebrews 5:7). Jesus is feeling great emotional and spiritual pain. He is anticipating great pain on the cross. This is not the pain of nails and wood, but of an awful bitter cup that He is going to drink. He embraces the cross
Agonizing Prayer
“Go with me to the Mt. of Olives. There is a garden there called Gethsemane. We will pass by eight disciples sound asleep. We will go a little farther and find three more that are asleep but are not sleeping well. They are trying to be awake, but can’t quite make it. Let’s walk
The God Who Exists
“The man on the street rejects believing in a God who permits suffering. They only want a God who will fix all things. The one who enters into suffering and weeps with the suffering ones is as much a stumbling block to modern man as it was to people in the New Testament era.
Jesus Reveals God
The Revelation of God’s weeping comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Jesus Christ is God’s revelation of Himself to the world. God is like Christ. It is God saying, “If you really want to know what I am like, I am showing you in JESUS. Get to know Him
Intercession for the Transgressors
“You cannot separate the tears of the Son from the self-talk of God. His tears are acts of intercession. They both speak to God while expressing the tears of God. To us, tears are a non-verbal form of communication. To the Father they are words that speak volumes; they carry meaning to the Heart
Man of Sorrows
“In the great Suffering Servant passage (Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12) we learn that the Suffering Servant is the Man of Sorrows. We may want someone to walk with us who makes us feel good, someone who is very pleasant company. If we walk in His company we may look in His direction and see
God Prays with Tears
If Jesus was fully God and fully man, then the tears Jesus shed are the tears of God. “The God Who Prays Is Also The God Who Cries. The very thought of the tears of God has moved me deeply. God is not the Unmoved Mover. The God revealed in the Holy Scriptures
Priestly Bells
"You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. You shall make on
How Big our Salvation!
We tend to say that we are saved by the cross. This is only part of it. There are seven key parts of Christ and His ministry that are essential to our salvation. Incarnation, A pre-existent member of the Holy Trinity, the eternal son, became flesh. Life, The scripture says that we are “saved
Love Would Not Let Us Go
The Father loved us so much He would not abandon us. Yes, we had disgraced the family name by our rebellion, yet, He refused to disown His own creatures though they were fallen willfully. His love would not let us go. The law said, “Let them go.” Justice said, “Let them go.” Reason said,
One with the Lamb
Jesus “became the God-man, not for a mere 33 and 1/2 years but for eternity. He who was one with God is now one with us, so that we can be one with the Father through the intimacy of His eternal union with the Father. He came not only to write our names in
Hidden with Christ in God
“Many of us have seen what are called Russian nesting dolls. The way it works is you have one little doll inside another doll. You open it and there can be three or four more inside that one. This might illustrate a little of what Paul means when he says, “your life is hidden