The repentant thief

In recent days and weeks my thoughts have been on Psalms 32, psalm of David. This is what it says in the Bible,

1 Oh, what joy for those
     whose rebellion is forgiven,
     whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
     whose record the LORD has cleared of sin,
     whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
     I was weak and miserable,
     and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline
         was heavy on me.
     My strength evaporated like water
         in the summer heat.                                       Interlude

5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
      and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
   I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
        And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.        Interlude

6 Therefore, let all the godly confess their rebellion to you while there is still time,
      that they may not drown in the flood waters of judgment.
7 For you are my hiding place;
      you protect me from trouble.
      You surround me with songs of victory.             Interlude

8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
      I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
      that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
       but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
      Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

As I read verses one and two, "Oh, what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!," the two thieves who were crucified one on the left and the other on the right of Christ came to mind, specifically the one whose sins were pardoned by Christ before his death. We often categorize people and draw boxes around them. We then decide with whom to associate and whom to keep away. But, every single human being is God's child. The thieves on the cross were someones' sons. They had a father and a mother. May be they had wives and children. But they were thieves in the eyes of everyone, including themselves. Their punishments were for their deeds. They died as thieves deserving the punishment for their deeds. Every single person who knew them knew them for who they were - THIEVES - and as they hung on the crosses, if one was to ask if they stood a chance to go to heaven, the answer would be an emphatic NO! None whatsoever would be the answer.

Yet, one of the thieves who confessed himself to the LORD on the cross, received pardon and his soul had the good fortune to spend eternity in paradise with the Son of God - Christ. The other thief never took responsibility for his actions, probably blamed society for the person he had become, never felt sorry for what he had done, and mocked Jesus on the cross. His afterlife does not get a mention in the Bible. (Luke 23:39-43)

In my previous blog about Manasseh, the most evil king of Judah, a descendant of David, who committed the most heinous acts against God and man, that included sacrificing his own sons to Baal, killing the prophets of God, while in his own punishment from God, when he repented, humbled himself before God and called out to the God of his ancestors - Jehovah, the Bible says that God was moved by his plea and restored him to this throne. Psalms 32 was written by Manasseh's forefather - David, who had first hand experience of God's just punishment and mercy on those who truly repent and call on God for forgiveness. This Psalm could very well have been written by Manasseh or the thief on the cross.  Their experience with the God Jehovah paralleled David's experience.

Look my friend, there is no one whose life is unsalvageable, who is unrepairable, who is beyond God's saving grace. Until your breathing stops, and you have not lost your faculties, you have an opportunity to turn from your sins. If you acknowledge Jesus Christ as the son of God and believe in his death and resurrection, repent of your sins, confess them to Jesus, you will have a full pardon and the promise of salvation and an eternal life with God.  In the world's eyes as the thieves on the cross you may never regain what's been lost, but in the eyes of God you will be made a just man, a just woman.

A repentant Manasseh was not able to turn all the people of Judah back to God, but he was able to secure his salvation. David writes in verse six, "Therefore, let all the godly confess their rebellion to you while there is time, that they may not drown in the flood waters of judgement." Manasseh in his humbling experience of defeat, resulting exile and imprisonment realized the grave errors of his ways and repented, humbled himself before God and prayed to the God of his father and forefathers for forgiveness.  The repentant thief on the cross was not able to change the opinion of his self in the society that knew him, but he was able to change the course of his afterlife and secure a place in Paradise.  And today, his life and its final events impact us by giving us the assurance of God's mercy and forgiving love for every single man, woman and child and give us the hope of salvation we have in Jesus.

When you commit yourself to God, your future will be secure in God, as David writes in verse eight of the Psalms, "The LORD says, "I will guide you [whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight] along the the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." So "do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and a bridle to keep it under control." Rather make the freewill choice when the opportunity exists! May God bless you and keep you!!

All is Lost, so you say...

Have you ever felt like all was lost? Do you think that your life is so far gone in sin that God would not consider you, that there was no hope for you, that you cannot be saved?

Let me assure you that the Bible points towards a God who hates sin, but loves the sinner who would seek him and repent; a sinner who would humble himself/herself in God's presence and trust in his mercy.  He is gracious enough to take you in to his outstretched arms, hug you tight, put a new spirit in you and breathe a new life in to you.

Yesterday night as I was reading through 2 Chronicles, chapter 33, it talked of king Manasseh of Judah. He was the son of king Hezekiah, a very God fearing man. Following Hezekiah's death, Manasseh assumed the throne to the kingdom of Judah at age twelve and reigned for fifty five years.  We read that unlike his god fearing father, Manasseh was a very, very wicked king who did pure evil in the sight of God. He was so wicked that he not only worshiped other Gods, he turned the temple of the LORD that his ancestor Solomon had constructed, where God's glory was to reside, into a pagan temple, worshiping anything and everything except the God of Israel and Judah - Jehovah.  The Bible says that he did things that were detestable in the sight of God. He sacrificed his own sons in the fire, we read. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics.  He aroused the anger of the LORD.

The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people through his prophet, but he ignored the LORD.  Jewish teachings say that Manasseh had prophet Isaiah killed by ordering him to be sawn in half. The man was "evil to his bones" so to speak. God punished him. We read, that the LORD sent the Assyrian armies, who defeated the armies of Judah and captured Manasseh.  They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. Like an animal! Once proud, powerful king brought to his knees, led away like an animal, in public disgrace and humiliation!

While in his imprisonment, in deep distress, Manasseh sought the LORD his God and cried out humbly to the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the LORD listened to him and was moved by his request for help.  So the LORD let Manasseh return to Jerusalem and to his kingdom.  Manasseh had finally realized the LORD alone is God!  (2 Chronicles 33:12-13)

A repentant Manasseh set his life straight and cleared out the pagan shrines from the temple of God and encouraged his people to return to God. But the damage of a long ungodly reign, fifty five years, had already done the damage to his kingdom, set the people in their sinful ways.  Manasseh found it hard to completely clean out the pagan gods from his people's lives, but Manasseh found God's mercy.

If a totally wicked, evil man such as Manasseh found mercy and God was moved when he cried out to him in his distress, we should take courage that Jehovah is a merciful God who loves his creation, men and women, created in his own image.  No matter what depths of sin we are in, it is not all lost if we seek his mercy. After all, his son Jesus Christ bore the brunt of the punishment for our sins and through his sacrifice every single human being, the good, the bad and the ugly lives have pardon and a promise for a new life.

Come to Christ, ask God for forgiveness no matter what your sin, have faith that he will forgive, pray for him to remove the guilt for Christ has borne it for you and I, and you will find a new life as king Manasseh did.  The damage of our actions as in Manasseh's case may have been done, but God can set our life straight and through it the damage undone.

In the new testament book of Luke, chapter 15, verses 4-7, we read the parable of the lost sheep that Jesus said.

If you had one hundred sheep, and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it? And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders.  When you arrived, you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found.   In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away.

Our past can't be rewritten, but we certainly can do something about our present and set the course for the future.  Would you accept Christ as your savior? Heaven will rejoice when you come to Christ and put your life into his hands. He is passionate about his relationship with you. God loves you!

God's people - who are they?

The sinners in Zion shake with fear.  "Which one of us," they cry, "can live here in the presence of his all-consuming fire?"  The ones who can live here are,

1. those who are honest and fair,
2. who reject making a profit by fraud,
3. who stay far away from bribes,
4. who refuse to listen to those who plot murder,
5. who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong.

These are the ones who will dwell on high.  The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress of safety.  Food will be supplied to them, and they will have water in abundance. - (Isaiah 33:14-16)

PS: the last three sentences from the scripture quoted above gives God's children, his people, the assurance that their needs will be met in the most unimaginable of ways, for he is a sovereign God!

A reason for right living...

Another reason for right living is that you know how late it is; time is running out.  Wake up, for the coming of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.  The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here.  So don't live in darkness.  Get rid of your evil deeds.  Shed them like dirty clothes.  Clothe yourselves with the armor of right living, as those who live in the light.  We should be decent and true in everything  we do, so that everyone can approve of our behavior.  Don't participate in wild parties and getting drunk, or in adultery and immoral living, or in fighting and jealousy.  But let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and don't think of ways to indulge your evil desires - (Romans 13:11-14)

Jehovah of the Old Testament - a God for all humanity!

Often I have had these questions in my mind, and may be you have them too...

1. Was the Old Testament God only for the Abrahamic Jews?
2. Why are some born with disabilities?
3. Does God love them any less than those seemingly with no disabilities? 

In essence, does God have prejudices?

I want to answer these questions by posting God's word from the Old Testament book of Isaiah that helped me form my conclusions. In chapter 56, prophet Isaiah writes under the power of the Holy Spirit,

Blessings for All Nations
56 This is what the Lord says:

“Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and to display my righteousness among you.

2 Blessed are all those who are careful to do this. Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from doing wrong.

3 “Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will never let me be part of his people.’ And don’t let the eunuchs say, ‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’

4 For this is what the Lord says: I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me.

5 I will give them—within the walls of my house— a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear!

6 “I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant.

7 I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

8 For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.”

Sinful Leaders Condemned

9 Come, wild animals of the field! Come, wild animals of the forest! Come and devour my people!

10 For the leaders of my people— the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds— are blind and ignorant. They are like silent watchdogs that give no warning when danger comes. They love to lie around, sleeping and dreaming.

11 Like greedy dogs, they are never satisfied. They are ignorant shepherds, all following their own path and intent on personal gain.

12 “Come,” they say, “let’s get some wine and have a party. Let’s all get drunk. Then tomorrow we’ll do it again and have an even bigger party!”

In these old testament texts it is clear that Jehovah is the God of all. He does not spare the Israelites for their sins (vs.9 to 12) and He welcomes the foreigners and the eunuchs who will commit themselves to God and be obedient to his commands just as much as the Israelites. Who is a eunuch? Though by definition it is someone who has been castrated, someone who will not be able to fulfill God's command in Genesis 1:28, I want you to look past this literal definition and see any person who is not able to perform to his or her full potential as would a normal person. [Our interpretation of what is normal is very subjective.] God wants the outcasts of society, the ones who don't measure up in the eyes of their peers, as noted in 1 Corinthians chapter one.

Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God... (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

Christ came in to this world so that each and every one of us may have salvation through his death and resurrection. He was the ultimate sacrifice for all mankind. In the New Testament of the Bible, Apostle John quotes Jesus in John 3:16, speaking to Nicodemus, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

Romans, chapter 8 teaches us that nothing can separate us from God's love. Apostle Paul writes in verses 31-39,

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.

34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?

36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”

37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I came across the video posted below on You Tube. Nick Vujicic, a man who lives with disabilities unimaginable, yet whose witness to God's glory and love, puts me, a man with no seeming disabilities, to shame!

Nick Vujicic Fully Living for Christ

John 9:1-3 says "As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him."

I would conclude that this God has always been for all humanity and will continue to be so until the end of time. I encourage you to build a relationship with this God and you will not be disappointed. He will meet you where you are. Will you welcome him in to your life?

God bless you!

PS: You may also want to read Romans 10.

Naked deceptions...

About a week ago one morning I woke up from a dream. I rarely dream when I sleep. On occasions that I have dreamt in my sleep, when I wake up I wouldn't recall what I had dreamt.  This particular morning I woke up and remembered my dream - I was standing stark naked in broad daylight.  Unless you were a nudist, for any grown up man or woman standing stark naked in the broad daylight is an unnerving experience. Especially when you are someone who relies on his clothes to hide the "abs of flab" and all other bodily imperfections.  When I woke up I shared this dream with my wife and as we were talking she quipped - "isn't that how every human being is in the sight of God, standing stark naked! He may be saying something to you."  When I heard her say that, it felt like a jab, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. Aren't we standing stark naked in the sight of God, with all our imperfections and shortcomings, that we hide from our spouses, children, friends, our near and dear ones, and the world. We present to others what we want them to see about us.  The true person that we are, we cover it up well. We are good at deceptions!

Paul wrote, the absence of fear of God in our lives leads us to become full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.  They (the ungodly) are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful.  They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents.  They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving. (Romans 1:28-31).  Man does absolute wickedness in the cover of darkness, behind closed doors, hidden away from all prying eyes.

But are we really deceiving anyone with our smartness at this game of cover up we play or are we deceiving ourselves?  In Revelations, chapter one, Apostle John writes of his vision of Christ.  "When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands.  And in the middle of the lampstands was the Son of Man.  He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest.  His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow.  And his eyes were bright like flames of fire.  His feet were as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.  He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth.  His face was bright as the sun in all its brilliance."

When a lamp is lit in a dark room, it's light brightens up the darkness in the room disclosing/exposing its contents. And so when the omnipresent LORD, described in John's vision, with eyes bright as flaming fire, feet as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, a face as bright as the sun in all its brilliance, is presently looking at us, what we conduct in the secret is absolutely, fully exposed in his line of sight. The Bible says, "the eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." (2Chronicles16:9).

In the book of Zechariah, chapter one, we read of another vision, a vision prophet Zechariah had on February 15, 519 B.C., "In a vision during the night, I saw a man sitting on a red horse that was standing among some myrtle trees in a small valley.  Behind him were red, brown, and white horses, each with its own rider.  I asked the angel who was talking with me, "My lord, what are all those horses for?"  "I will show you," the angel replied.  So the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, "They are the ones the LORD has sent out to patrol the earth." The Bible in 2Kings 6:17, talks of the vision of prophet Elisha's servant as the Aramaen king and his troops were closing in to capture Elisha, "Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!"  The LORD opened his servant's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire."  God's heavenly host is everywhere, his eyes are upon us at all times!

Our pursuit to gratify our insatiable lust takes form in the innermost depths, the dark corners of our heart and mind, unseen and unknown to anyone else, but they are totally, fully exposed in the brightness of the eyes of the omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient LORD.  His eyes, bright like flames of fire search out the darkest corners of our hearts and minds, hid from human eyes, to see if we are fully committed to him.  For if we are not, be mindful of what the LORD says in Revelations 16:15, "Take note:  I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their robes ready so they will not need to walk naked and ashamed."

Lord have mercy upon us. As David prayed, search me O God and know my heart. Test me and know my thoughts.  Point out within me anything that displeases you. And lead me in the paths of everlasting life.  May your grace lead us home!

Love

Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way.  Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.  It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

 

Thy will be done - Hillary Scott