Your Sins Are Forgiven

"For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?"
Matt 9:5

I spent about an hour last night practicing mental math. I often see, posted on facebook, comments about how someone did not have to use Algebra at all that day, insinuating that it is a wasted study on our young people. It apparently was for those people who have to ask me to do some mental math for them. After all, there's no need to learn something if someone else will do it for you. Actually, math problems run through my head sporadically throughout the day, especially when I am sitting around waiting for something. It can be something as simple as counting the tiles on a ceiling or floor and figuring the area of a room. I don't do too many complicated equations; just what I can do in my head. I just like numbers! I enjoy the challenge of solving problems in my head instead of on paper or on a calculator. I taught myself mental math when I was very young and to tell you the truth I sometimes wonder why others have not shown an interest in learning it when it can be so much easier to do than the traditional ways we've been taught. But, there are those who always like to do things the hard way.

The scribes were a bit upset when Jesus forgave a paralytic man his sins. They judged that he was blaspheming. His response was "which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven; or 'Stand up and walk?'" Indeed, which is easier? Four simple words and they are not as difficult to say as one would expect and when said they heal a multitude of wounds. "Your sins are forgiven!" Practice saying them. It is easier to forgive than to be angry or to hold a grudge the rest of your life. Forgive those whom you are angry with; whether, you feel justified in your anger or not. Forgive others. Forgive yourself. Jesus died so that this might happen. He worked out the problem of sin. He did all of the work. Don't be trying to work things out according to your sense of justice. That is the hard way and the wrong way. Step out in faith and receive your forgiveness. Step out in faith and forgive others their trespasses against you. Step out in faith and receive wholeness! It is easier than staying angry your whole life. With Christ, it is easier than one might expect.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Jonah 4 - Jonah Is An Angry Man

God calls some of the most unlikely people to do His will. Jonah is an angry man. He's upset because after going through the ordeal with the fish; then relenting and doing God's will by going to the people of Nineveh to warn them to repent; they repent and God saves them! And... Jonah is angry. After all of his trouble, God saves the people, anyway. Jonah is angry because God did not destroy the people.

Jonah goes out to the wilderness to pout under the shade of the tree that God provides for him. God sends a worm to destroy the tree and Jonah is angry because God destroyed the tree.

"But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” (Jonah 4:10 NIV)

Jonah is an angry man. Are you an angry person, as well? Have you ever considered the trivialness of those things that upset you; that make you angry? Think about some of those little things that you allow to take away your peace. Is it really worth it? Should we rather not take pity and pray for those who can't figure out their right hand from their left rather than lose our peace by being angry with them?

Trust in the LORD. Trust that all that He does is for the good of those whom He loves and He loves you.

May the peace of the LORD be with you always.  Pr. J

Jeremiah 3 - Will The LORD Divorce Us?

^"From our youth shameful gods have consumed
    the fruits of our ancestors’ labor—
their flocks and herds, 
   their sons and daughters." (Jer 3:24 NIV)

Now, if this isn't the truth! Our shameful gods consume the fruits of our labor. How much have you lost in pursuit of false gods? False gods take; while, our Maker, who is our husband (Isa 54:4), gives.

We have turned our backs on God and sought other gods. In this chapter we are compared to unfaithful wives and prostitutes. We have committed adultery and idolatry. As children of our heavenly Father, we have run away from home!

Yet, what do we hear from Him! What good news is this? The LORD will still take us back! He forgives us!

“‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord,
    ‘I will not be angry forever. 
“'Return, faithless people;    I will cure you of backsliding.'” (Jer 3:12, 22)

Even while we are unfaithful, the LORD is faithful. The LORD forgives all who repent and believe in (and even desire) His promise of reconciliation with Himself in His Kingdom through Jesus Christ our LORD. Our Maker, our Husband, does not want a divorce from us. He doesn't want a divorce from we who have committed adultery and idolatry against Him. He wants us reconciled to Himself; therefore, He sent His only begotten Son, to be our Savior, to be our peace.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Psalm 95 - God Was Angry

I wonder how many "Christians" know the story of the Israelites escape from Egypt.  If they have heard it, did they really listen?  I think we like to forget the part that the Israelites wandered through the desert for forty years because God was angry with them for not trusting Him. They were not wandering around just because they were lost.  Well, I guess they were lost in a sense because they did not trust nor listen to God. 

God was angry!  How many of you, does that surprise?  Isn't God suppose to be an all loving, all giving, just an even-tempered, all gracious God.  Indeed, He is all loving.  But, scripture also tells us that God can be angry when His children refuse to listen to Him, refuse to trust Him, refuse to follow in the way He has led them.  Indeed, He is quick to forgive all who turn to Him in the name of His Son, Jesus the Christ.  But, he is not overjoyed knowing that there are those who would forsake Him or His Son who was willing to die so that all people might be reconciled to Him in the promised land, the Kingdom.  Make no mistake, when you sin and willfully follow in the ways that would lead you away from the kingdom of God, you are separating yourself from God and the promised land.  God wants you to be reconciled to Him in His Kingdom.  Why would He be happy if you chose another way and rejected the promised gift?

The Israelites feared entering into the promised land in the way that God would have them go.  They feared and chose another way.  They rejected God's full promise to them, at least in the way that He would give it to them.  And... God was angry. The consequence was to wander around outside the promised land for forty more years. For sure God was with them as they continued their journey through the wilderness.  And... God is with you.  You have no need to fear following in the way that God has prepared for you through Jesus Christ, our LORD.

God's Peace - Pr. J

P.S. If you're having problems remembering the story, read again the story of how the Israelites decided, out of fear, that they would not enter the promised land as God directed them. It can be found in Numbers 13 and 14.