Category: forgiveness

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God Restores the Unfaithful

Hosea unfaithfulness 2aHosea 1-4  Hosea lived his life as a bachelor in the northern kingdom of Israel but was called by God to do something “out of the ordinary!” God said; go; find a prostitute and marry her. Because God called, Hosea stepped out of his comfort zone. He found a prostitute in the gutter and married her. He lavished upon her riches untold, just as God did for us. Yet, Gomer eventually returned to the gutter where Hosea found her and redeemed her.  It is a picture of us before God redeemed us.

Hosea’s sought to save his wife, Gomer, from herself. However, just like Gomer we sometimes willingly leave the “pimp”/Satan to return to that scene of abuse and degradation. We too often find the glitz and glamor of trinkets calling to us. We forget that sin is pleasurable just for a season.

Israel saw with her eyes but not her heart. She heard with her ears but failed to recall:  “I chose you out of many peoples and redeemed you for one reason: I loved you.” Hosea’s marriage to Gomer was a real-life picture, as hard as it was, of how God felt about His people’s rejection of Him. Thankfully, this is not the end of the story. Just as God promised restoration to Gomer and Israel,  He promises restoration to us. He chooses to do that because He wants a people to be a sweet aroma of Christ to the lost and dying world.

God is waiting to restore. Will you yield to Him?

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I am sick of all this hate!

Ezek 22 to 25 hateEzekiel 25 to 27 You can almost hear God’s voice echoing those words! He observes and hears the nations around his beloved Judah saying how much they hate Judah. Then when he pronounces His discipline on Judah He doesn’t hear; oh so sorry BUT now is our time to take their land and the riches left behind. They, like many today, hated that God chose Judah and not them. They were boastful when the Babylonians were allowed to discipline them. They had scoffed at Judah, hated them and sought to destroy them. Today we hear such words as “we will wipe them off the map.”  It is time to be reminded of God’s promise to Abraham and the warning from James:

“And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.” [Gen 12]

 

“But as it is, you boast about your arrogant plans. All such boasting is evil.” [James 4]

 

We remember the parable of the prodigal son as a reminder that we have a choice. We can hate or love. The father loved his errant child as much as he loved the older son. And when the errant child came home from his foray into the world, he did not ask to be forgiven, but the father did. The older son, like the nations around Judah, turned and scoffed. He would not welcome him home or celebrate his return. He hated his brother. And so God is saying to the older brother and to us: “I am sick of all this hate!”

What will God hear us say? 

 

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Ezekiel’s Four Parables

ezekiel 15 to 18 parables3a2a

Ezekiel  15 to 18 In the NT Jesus told three parables about things or people that were lost and found. One is about a family with two lost boys who were lost both physically and spiritually. Ezekiel’s four parables mirror this story in many ways because it is true, parables are earthly stories with a heavenly purpose.

Parables: #1 In the branch parable we see a branch full of life thrown into the fire. Life without God is like the fires of hell.  #2 In the unfaithful bride parable we see a rags to riches story. God takes us from the gutter and bestows his blessings yet the lure of the world is always at the doorstep of our heart.  Be on guard!  #3 A beautiful and prized eagle, God, raised up a people yet a false eagle, Satan, offered promises that were false. Beware false “eagles” come dressed as sheep in wolves clothing.  #4 In the parable of the two sons we see a family whose lives mirrored the NT story. The younger was restless and disrespectful of his father. Seeking his inheritance he left and walked the world.  The older son served his father but with an ungrateful heart. The younger returned and sought reconciliation but the older remained unforgiving. Confession of sin is the first step back to God.

Israel had been blessed by God but was unfaithful and ungrateful. Yet, like the prodigal’s father, God was always waiting to restore the relationship. She would need to return to the Father in confession and repentance. What would she do?

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Suppose there was no tomorrow???

Do you realize that there may be no tomorrow…EVER!

How does that grab you?

2Chron 33 God's grace2a

2Chron 33 King Manasseh was evil to the max. God sent his prophets to speak to him but as this chapter reveals, he paid no attention to them. Fast forward; God decided enough is enough so he sent the Assyrians to take him to Babylon. There is nothing like hooks in your nose, bronze chains and extradition to a foreign land where you are faced with a prison cell, cold gruel, day-old bread, and water to awaken your senses and that is what happened to King Manasseh. He then “realized that the Lord is the true God” and repented. Not all prison sentences end the way it did for Manasseh but God in his mercy allowed his release and return. Not only was he released and returned but he was given his kingdom back!

There are some powerful lessons to learn here and it begins with how you pay attention to the Lord and His Word. Not only that but your sin, like his, affects your family and your children as it did with his son Amon who was as evil as Manasseh was in his earlier life.

The Chronicler records these words: the annals record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols BEFORE he humbled himself. Grab that last phrase: before he humbled himself.

Lesson: You can listen and repent now or you can do it later—but beware because

 God doesn’t guarantee there will be a tomorrow.

 

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Ahab the Crybaby King

What do you do when you don’t get your own way? This story in 1Kings 21 reveals the truth of

Jer 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

ikings 21 ahab the crybaby king2a

God lists Covetousness, Deceit, Murder under the heading “all things God hates.” Yet, like King Ahab, we quickly push those under the rug when we want our own way. He is a man who wants his way all the time and when he doesn’t get it, he retreats to his “man cave” bitter, angry and pouting.  He knew the Law that inheritances of land were not to be sold according to Lev 25 but that didn’t seem to matter to this spoiled king. Queen Jezebel is used to his tantrums and thus takes matters into hand to get Ahab in a better mood. However, sly old Ahab doesn’t quite tell the truth to Jezebel but she goes on her way to deceive and commit murder in his name. Naboth will be stoned and Ahab will have his vineyard, end of the story—right? Well, not quite.

As Ahab tours his new possession, Elijah arrives and reminds him of the tenth commandment, “do not covet” along with the one “do not murder.” God is less than pleased and so Ahab’s days will be numbered. It is then that this crybaby King retreats to his “man cave” once more but this time he seemed truly repentant and God’s mercy and grace are invoked.

How would you react? Would you ask why God didn’t wipe him off the map? It is all because God’s grace is greater than our sin. It is all because God sees the heart whereas we only see the outward manifestation. Stop and think – 70×70 is how we are to forgive and God demonstrated that to Ahab and He does it to us!

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