Discard Custom and Convention for Compassion

“²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” – Luke 15:20 (ESV)

This verse is from the parable of the prodigal son. You know the one, where the son took his inheritance early, left and squandered it all and then returned to a father who welcomed him back with open, thankful, and excited arms. All of that is great, but I was looking here at this one verse to where I was led this morning.

In that day the men were to be dignified and stoic. They had servants to do for them. Not to mention that once the son had gone with his early inheritance, he was considered dead to the family. So, it was out of custom and convention for a head of household to act in such an open, thankful, excited and revealing way.

As my pastor described for me to get a visual, imagine this father seeing his son in the distance and hiking up his cloak and coverings and sprinting to embrace his son who had been “dead” and was now alive. I am sure that the son was filthy and had a pretty good stench to him as he had been living and working with pigs.

The father was not concerned with the condition of the son and did not listen to the son’s confession or even consider what had transpired. He simply heaped on compassion to him. He forgot and went against all customs and conventions of the day to drench his found son in compassion for he considered himself whole again.

How often is it that we avoid compassion because it is not conventional or customary to give it in our times today. I think of giving forgiveness where it would be customary to condemn. I think of service to those who may not be “deserving” of service. I think of hugging someone instead of hitting them when they do wrong against us. We have to step out of the customary and conventional response to demonstrate compassion and that will disrupt the situation entirely.

What is your reaction when something goes awry? Are you of the action to stick to the response expected? What if you were to discard the customary and conventional responses and deliver compassion instead?

Cleaning Yourself

I wrote about asking for a clean or innocent heart. This morning I read and am writing about cleaning yourself up.

“¹⁶Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,

¹⁷learn to do good;

seek justice,

correct oppression;

bring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow’s cause.”

— Isaiah 1:16-17 (ESV)

The LORD is speaking through Isaiah here to the Judah. He has told them of their wickedness and now is guiding them through it. Notice verse 16 and how it leads off, “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean”. We have the task of cleaning ourselves up.

Now, the word “clean” is again used and as I have mentioned before, the Hebrew word for “clean” can also mean “innocent” and when used brings out more meaning for me. I think of it in this way. I have the task of cleaning up my known sins and dirtiness. I can make myself innocent before man by following the law. I also make the decision not to consciously sin. I will still sin as I am a sinner forever, but I can choose not to sin consciously. And even when I do, part of the washing up is confessing those sins to the LORD to be forgiven and washed clean.

I have to be careful in that I am not saying we are able to wash away our uncleanness and save ourselves in the process. We are only saved by the grace of God and thanks to the birth, death, and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. There is no substitute for that salvation and being washed white as snow.

What I am referring to is washing away that which I know to be sin and cleaning myself up for presentation to the LORD. We are not going to get all of the dirt off or out, but we can wash up cleaner than we were a moment ago.

How, through our daily, continual prayer and confession. We are to ask for forgiveness daily. We are to ask for forgiveness continually. We are to seek to be cleaned all the time. I can say that I sit in my office early in the morning daily and offer up prayer to the LORD. I proclaim His Glory, thank Him for all, seek His guidance, and ask for forgiveness. This is my daily action to clean myself up.

Even as I take daily action, I admit that I am not in continual prayer and confession. I wait. I wait until the next day and offer up my prayer. But just as in most everything else, by waiting I miss things. I forget my sins. I omit my sins, somehow thinking that they are gone and I can wrap them into a “forgive my sins LORD” declaration. But that doesn’t cut it. It is like showering and only allowing the water and soap to run down without scrubbing to remove the caked on dirt.

I have to remember to be in continual prayer to confess and ask for forgiveness right away. I have to wash up and make myself clean to remove the sin immediately. I have to make and keep myself clean for the LORD. No, I cannot save myself pure, but I can remove the caked on sin and dirt and get closer to righteousness, cleanliness, and innocence than I have ever been.

What is your view of cleaning yourself up? Are you relying on someone to do it for you? What if you took responsibility, not for your salvation, but to clean yourself up to be as presentable to the LORD as possible at all times?

Asking for Clean Heart

The Hebrew word for “clean” can also mean “innocent”. This really helps with me in the impact of my study this morning of that word, “clean”. I am in Psalm 51 and the title of the chapter in my ESV Bible is “Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God” which is the first part of my verse of study this morning.

“¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.”

— Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

Doing the substitution of “innocent” for “clean” opens the verse a bit more for me. “Create in me an innocent heart, O God” has a bit more impact when I am reading. I am guilty of sin and always will be. But, I am also washed clean and returned to the innocence of the lamb thanks to the redeeming blood of Christ.

As I read, I have to remember that this Psalm was written prior to Christ coming and dying for the sins of the world. Daily requests to the LORD for cleanliness or innocence took the place of the yearly pilgrimage for offering and asking for forgiveness. Yes, the pilgrimage was still part of culture, but David here is giving the example of not waiting on the once a year thing and seeking cleanliness daily.

Christ came and died and rose again. His blood was spilled that ours would not have to be. He provided that we would be washed clean. We would no longer be “required” to provide offering of animal sacrifice, as Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. As the physical temple curtain was torn, giving access to God directly, our daily ask for forgiveness was amplified as the way. We now have that direct line to the LORD and He can and will give us a clean heart.

Yes, we are to ask daily for a clean heart. We have been washed clean, but we do still need to confess daily and ask that the LORD work in us. I am a sinner always and will be dirtied up from that sin each day. I need to bathe in Christ each day to cleanse myself of the dirt and sin.

“⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

“¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

— Psalm 51:7 & 12 (ESV)

I ask for a clean heart daily. I pray to the LORD, admit that I am dirty with sin and ask for His forgiveness. I ask to be watched over and that the LORD will keep me from sin, knowing that I am prone to sinning and always will be in this world. Only He can restore me daily to innocence when I come to Him asking for cleanliness.

When you pray, what are you asking for? Are you seeking only the glorious things? What if you were to ask for you daily dose of cleanliness that is only provided by the LORD?

Sin is at the Root, God Knows and Solves

This morning I am reminded that at the root of all my issues is sin. Yes, that is right. Everything that is at odds in this world is a result of sin.

“¹²Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” – Romans 5:12 (ESV)

Remember how we got here. Adam and Eve fell for the lies of the evil one and did the one thing that God told them not to do. As a result of that doing, they and we were cursed to live lives full of sin. Until that first sin, things were to be just as God drew them up. Wonderful and lovely. Yet as a result the lovely and wonderful were put on hold.

But, God provided the way out, Jesus. You see, Jesus came to this world to provide the way for us to return fully to God as we were intended. We are His greatest creation and God wants us to return there. Jesus came to restore us by dealing with the root cause of our issues, sin. He came to take it on Himself so that we would be spared. He provided forgiveness for our sin.

“²And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.’” – Matthew 9:2 (ESV)

Jesus was in the mode of healing people during this time. He had been doing so and the people knew it so they brought Him another to heal. And Jesus surprised them all. He healed the root of the issue, sin. The surprise was that this was not really what they were looking for, they were hoping to have their friend walking away. But Jesus was there to solve the deeper problem, not just that which was on the surface.

Isn’t this what we should all be looking for in our lives, the solving of the root issue so that we can get on with things and not worry with the issue any longer? I know for me it is. I have plenty of issues in my life that are getting in the way of my just moving on, but to know that God has taken care of my deep rooted issue, sin, I know that I will be able to get through them. God blots out my sin and forgets it as gets to the healing of my soul.

“²⁵I, I am he

who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,

and I will not remember your sins.”

— Isaiah 43:25 (ESV)

What a great thing. God forgives and forgets. I am a sinner, yes, but I am also forgiven of those sins. I am hard on myself for the sin, but God has forgotten them thanks to my salvation. God has gotten to the root of my issues and solved it so that I can move on to do that which He has for me, completing the tasks He has for me, bringing glory to Him, and celebrating my adoption into the family of God.

Where are you as relates to your issues in life? Are you still trying to solve those that are on the surface? What if you sought God and allowed Him to solve the root of them all, sin, by accepting Him as the only one who can forgive them?

The LORD of Second Chances

How often do we get a second chance? Well with the LORD, it seems as though I am getting them all the time. And the second chances continue beyond the second. Even in beginning, the LORD demonstrated His forgiveness and offered up the second chance.

“¹The Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.’” – Exodus 34:1 (ESV)

Notice the words that are used in the above verse by God, “Cut for yourself…like the first…which you broke”. Moses was given the second chance to present the word of God, the Ten Commandments, to the Israelites. Moses had broken them and the LORD was redoing them.

I know that I find myself irritated at having to do things over and over again because someone did not appreciate it in the first place, and/or there was no appreciation for the work in the first place and therefore no responsibility was taken. With Moses, he spent time with the LORD, the LORD created the writing on the tablets, and Moses threw them down and broke them.

Now, Moses was angry and pointing out to the people the error in their ways. I believe that the people would not have appreciated the Word of God, the Ten Commandments at the time. But, God knew they needed His Word, the Ten Commandments and despite the actions of Moses firstly, He went through the process once again. The LORD had granted the second chance.

I have made mistakes and as a sinner will continue to make mistakes. No matter the time I spend in the Word of God, I will still wander away and sin. I need a second chance. Thankfully, the LORD provides those second chances that come with my repentance. The Israelite people were the chosen people of God and He afforded them the second chances. I am a child of God and He affords me second chances as well.

What is your thought on second chances? Are you of the thoughts that we get one chance and then we move on? What if you repented and accepted the second chance that the LORD affords for you as a child of His?

Compassion and Forgiveness

We are going to be persecuted in this world for those things that are not in line with what is considered socially acceptable. Take all of the challenges and persecution that is taking place in the Middle East at this point in history. Whether you are on the side of Israel or the side of Palestinians, there is persecution that comes with your decided views.

“³³And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And they cast lots to divide his garments.” – Luke 23:33-34 (ESV)

Notice here Jesus’ approach to the persecution. He calls for God to “forgive them”, and why, “for they know not what they do”. Jesus was in a situation where He was being persecuted well beyond anything that I will be subjected, and His go to was to show compassion for those persecuting Him and ask that they be forgiven. He is not asking for one side to be right and the other side to be wrong, Jesus is simply asking for compassion and forgiveness for all involved.

I have to remember that people are going to be people and they are going to do what is in the mind, whether that is of their own volition or it is driven by the evil one. These are only people and have every opportunity, just as I did, to repent and accept Christ. My role is to bring the love of Christ to them and as I do so, I have to show compassion to them and forgive them.

I do not have any special powers and am certainly not Christ. But, I am one of His children and am tasked to bring His way to the world. I am to demonstrate and be the example of Christ in the world today. The example that Jesus set was one of compassion and forgiveness and it is my role to bring the same to others in this world.

I believe that we are sorely missing God in the world today and we need all of His children to take up the example of Jesus and spread it far and wide, yet not to forget those in our immediate vicinity. I have a duty to complete the work Christ set for me:

“¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” – Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus went through this world bringing His message to ALL, regardless of who they were or where they came from. He provided countless examples of compassion and forgiveness in His time here. He then challenged me to do as He did and bring His message to all and demonstrate that same compassion and forgiveness in the process.

What are your actions when things go sideways around you? Are you taking the process of condemning those who hold a different view? What if we used the example of Christ and showed compassion and forgiveness to all involved?

Sin and the Mortal Body

It is easy to speak of sin and the body when we are speaking metaphorically. Jesus died so that my sins have been atoned. This gives me the sense that I can still sin and that is okay as that sin has already been taken care of by Jesus. Well, I am writing this morning to declare that not to be the case.

“¹²Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ¹³Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” – Romans 6:12-13 (ESV)

Yes, my sin has been atoned through the death and resurrection of Jesus in my place. Yes, even if/when I sin, those have also already been forgiven. Still, that does not give me carte blanche to just go around sinning without consequence. I am still responsible for following the teaching of God and the example of Jesus. I still have to work to avoid sin. As Paul notes above that we should “not present your member to sin”, I have to remember not o subject my mortal body to sin.

I am not immune to consequences. When I do wrong, I am still responsible to pay for those wrongs. Just as in this world, when I break the law of man, I pay the price for the breaking of that law. With sin it is the same. If I subject myself to committing of sin, I am forgiven for that sin thanks to the blood of Christ, yet I am still responsible for the punishment that comes with the committing of that sin. When I lie and get caught, I am forgiven for lying, yet I am held to the truth as a consequence.

The best approach, as Paul indicates I to not subject myself to sin. I have to work to avoid the conscious committing of sin. I have to stay away, where I can, from sin, and subject myself to righteousness. My writing in the mornings is an example of me avoiding sin and subjecting myself to God and His will in my life. I am filling myself with the study of His Word and as a result am more easily able to avoid the temptations of sin that are all around.

It is great to be a follower of Christ and saved by His grace and free from the burden of sin. I am so relieved to know that my sins, past, present, and future are forgiven. This relief of sin allows me to progress forward, knowing that whatever I do, I am loved and accepted by God into His kingdom. Yet, I have to still do my part and work to avoid sin where I can. I have to remember to not subject myself to the consequences of sin where I am aware. I have to fill myself and my body with the Word, work, and will of God so that sin is rooted out.

What is your approach to sin? Are you progressing as though you have carte blanche to do as you please? What if you worked to avoid sin and instead filled yourself with the Word, work and will of God?

Jesus’ Death and God’s Forgiveness, Once is Enough

It may sound a bit difficult to believe and after my writings to and understanding to continually ask for and seek out forgiveness from the LORD, but once is all it took for it all to take. Jesus’ death on the cross and God’s subsequent forgiveness of our sins only needed to happen once for the benefit to be realized.

“¹⁴For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified…¹⁷then he adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ ¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” — Hebrews 10:14 & 17-18 (ESV)

Here in Hebrews the writer reminds us of what I wrote above. The Jesus died and gave Himself as an offering of sacrifice for our sins and God recognized that sacrifice and forgave us. This one act took the place of all other sacrifices for sin that had, were, or will be offered. There is no longer the need for sacrifice for my sin as that has already been done and accepted.

But, that does not mean that I am without sin any longer. This is where the continued need for forgiveness comes in. Even with the one sacrifice and forgiveness event for my sins, I am still a sinner and in need of forgiveness. I have to recognize my sin and repent of it to the LORD in acknowledgment of His grace and salvation. I have to know that now that I have accepted grace and salvation from the LORD, I will not be plucked from His loving arms, I also have to remain humble and know that I will continue to sin and need His love each day.

Once was certainly enough for my salvation. I still need to present myself daily to the LORD on my knees in reverence of what He has given to me and ask that it continue as I will always be in need.

What process are you following for forgiveness? Are you continuing to offer sacrifice in belief that the next one will do it for the foreseeable future? What if you accepted that Jesus’ death and God’s Forgiveness was enough in the one instance and that we still need to present ourselves to Him recognizing that we are always in need?

Forgiveness, Continued Please

This morning I was brought to Hebrews and the passage titled, “Redemption Through the Blood of Christ”. Where I am thankful for the passage, I felt compelled to simply ask for continued forgiveness this morning.

As I sit here in Texas, USA, I am afforded freedom and protection (presumably) from other world actors and entities. I am up this morning reading God’s Word and blogging here without immediate fear of persecution. I am, thanks to the shed blood of Christ, have been forgiven of my sins from yesterday and of those I have yet to commit. I am a part of the family of God and know that I will not be plucked from His hand.

All of the above said, I am asking this morning for continued forgiveness and protection in this world that seems to be falling apart as we watch. Regardless of what is going on in this world, my world is protected by God, thanks to the grace and salvation that was offered by God and that I accepted to join Him in glory. And even with the grace and salvation acceptance, I still continue to ask for forgiveness as one time just is not enough in my heart to make things right with God (even though from His perspective it most certainly is enough).

You see, I know that we are in a difficult time and there are a lot of forces drawing us into the evil that is in the world. I am not going to blame anyone or any others for the position we are in, I will only apologize and ask for forgiveness and mercy from the LORD for me and His people as He is who is in control of all events and knows the outcome even now as things escalate. God is the only one who will save His people, and He will do just that, as our role is to give it to Him to do so and then do as we are asked as a part of His plan.

Our Father, thank you for your provision and blessings in our lives. Forgive me for where I have failed you and where I continue to fail you. Please have you hand of grace over your people and guide us as to where you would have us in your great plan, as it is your plan and we are here to do your will as pertains to that plan. I ask this in your name and glory, Amen.

What is your view of your standing in this world? Have you been forgiven? What if you ask for continued forgiveness, grace, and salvation and maintained your pledge to do the will of God?

Just Thanks for Forgiveness

This morning I only wish to say Thank You for the forgiveness that has been provided to me. And that thank you is directed to God the Father in heaven.

“¹³He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” — Colossians 1:13-14 (ESV)

There is not much to my thoughts, only the deep heartfelt thanks for the forgiveness of my sins that I have committed and will continue to commit. In fact, just this morning I confessed of a sin that I slipped into yesterday. I have struggled with this sin in my life and due to idleness, I allowed the evil one to draw me back in. I have no excuse for slipping, it was fully in my control and I allowed it to happen. Even in that slip, I know that my acknowledgment and repentance this morning leads to my forgiveness.

I am so glad that even in the disappointment with my sin, the LORD still forgives me. He loves me and knows that I am a sinner and will slip from time to time. What He is looking for from me is the acknowledgment that I have sinned and show repentance to be forgiven. At that repentance, from the heart, I will be forgiven. And, then the next step is to work to not sin again.

Thank you Father for the forgiveness that you heap upon me daily in my failures. I am ever grateful for your love and understanding of my sinfulness. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

What approach do you have as relates to your sin? Are you repentant of your sins? What if you were and were also thankful to the Father for the forgiveness of those sins?