Confessing Our Sins And Receiving God’s Forgiveness

How are we to receive God’s blessing? Are we to ‘do some great thing’? Are we to prove ourselves worthy of His blessing? No! The Word of God gives this simple instruction: ‘Wash and be clean’ (2 Kings 5:13). Salvation is not something to be paid for or earned. It’s ‘the free gift of God in Jesus Christ our Lord’ (Romans 6: 23). We don’t come to God, saying, ‘Look at me. Look at how good I am. Look at my religion. Look at my morality. You’ve got to bless me. I deserve it’. We come to Him, believing His Word - ‘the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin’- confessing our sins and trusting in His promise of forgiveness - ‘If we confess our sins, He forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong’ (1 John 1:7, 9). Forget about ‘doing some great thing’. Obey the command that really matters: ‘Wash and be clean’.

"What Does It Mean To Find Jesus? ... "

What does it mean to find Jesus? - It means that He has found us.

The Eye's Of The Lord

1Pe 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

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"Sometimes, I'm Not His Friend ... "

Sometimes, I'm not His friend, but He is always mine. Let Jesus be your best Friend!

A New Journey Through The Scriptures

At my Let's Share the Good News and The Theology of G. C. Berkouwer blogs, you can still find the Reading for each day (in its own box at the top of the page). The "New Journey Through The Scriptures", beginning with Genesis 1, starts tomorrow (22nd January 2009). If you follow these readings each day, they will take you through the whole Bible in three years.
I hope you will visit the "Daily Devotional Readings" and receive a blessing from the Lord.
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"When you read God's Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, 'It is talking to me, and about me.'" (Soren Kierkegaard).
Let's commit ourselves afresh to reading the Word of God day-by-day.
Here are some links which you may find helpful.

Look up Scripture passage

Read a specific comment online

Print a booklet containing monthly readings

"The Lord Has Saved Us ... "

The Lord has saved us. Let us serve Him. Let us pray, "Here am I! Send me." Let's share His Good News.

"In His Heavenly Glory ... "

In His heavenly glory, Christ is our Lord. In His saving grace, He is our Saviour.

"The Lord Has Loved Us ... "

The Lord has loved us so much. Thank Him for His love. Let Him know how much you love Him.

"We Look Forward To Christ's Return ... "

We look forward to Christ's return: the completion of the triumph achieved in His death and resurrection.

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This thought is taken from

Isaiah 25:1-26:9

'O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your Name...You have done marvellous things' (25:1). We remember what God has done for us. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour. We rejoice in Jesus Christ who died for us. We rejoice in Jesus Christ who rose again for us. We look forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We look forward to the Day when 'He will swallow up death for ever'. On that Day, 'the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces'. On that Day, we will look back and say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us'. On that Day, we will 'rejoice and be glad in His salvation' (25:8-9). Here and now, let us learn to 'trust in the Lord'. We can trust in Him 'for ever'. He is 'the everlasting Rock' - 'the Rock of our salvation' (4; Psalm 95:1).

Living The New Life

The old life is left in the past. We press on, living the new life. This is the Gospel's description of the Christian: "If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away ... the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Begin the new life. Come to Christ and receive from Him a life which is eternal, life with a glorious, heavenly destination.

Jesus Is Taken Up Into Heaven. Let Us Preach Him To All Nations.

‘In all the Scriptures’, Jesus teaches ‘the things concerning Himself’ (Luke 24:27). Do ‘our hearts burn within us… while He opens to us the Scriptures?’ (Luke 24:32). He calls us to be His ‘witnesses’, to preach His message of salvation ‘to all nations’ (Luke 24:47-48). Before we can preach, we must listen to Him. Before we can proclaim His resurrection, we must consider His suffering for us: ‘See my hands and my feet’ (Luke 24:39) - even after His resurrection, they still bear ‘the mark of the nails’ (John 20:25). Listen to Christ. Consider His suffering for you. Be ‘clothed with power from on high. Let the Lord ‘bless’ you, strengthening your worship and filling you ‘with great joy’. With all this going on in your lives, we will consider it not only our responsibility but our joyful privilege to be His ‘witnesses’ (Luke 24:48-53)!

Jesus is taken up into heaven. Saved by Him, let us live for Him.

Raised from the dead, Jesus Christ now sits at God’s right in the heavenly places. He is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named (Ephesians 1:20:21). His Name is the Name of our salvation. Through Him, we rejoice in God’s wonderful grace: ‘By grace you have been saved through faith… for good works’ (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Saved by the Lord, we are to live for Him. God calls us to live a ‘holy’ life. We cannot make ourselves holy. We are spiritually ‘dead’. We need to be ‘made alive’- by God. Holiness does not come from ourselves. It comes from the Lord. Long before we ever thought of loving Him - He loved us. Our love for Him is so changeable. His love for us is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable. It is eternal. He loved us ‘before the foundation of the world’. He will love us ‘in the world to come’. This is the love of God, the love which inspires us and enables us to live a ‘holy’ life (Ephesians 2:1; 1:4; 2:7). When we realize the truth concerning ourselves - ‘nothing good dwells within me’ (Romans 7:18 - and God - He is ‘rich in mercy’ (Ephesians 2:4) - , we will ‘praise His glorious grace’ (Ephesians 1:6).

Jesus Is Taken Up Into Heaven. In Him, We Will Dwell In God’s House For Ever.

For God’s people, there is a glorious eternal destiny: ‘I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever’ (Psalm 23:6). We ‘receive this blessing from the Lord, …the God of our salvation’ (Psalm 24:5). There is only one answer to the question, ‘Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?’: Jesus Christ ‘shall stand in His holy place’. No one else has ‘clean hands and a pure heart’ - no one else but Jesus. He is the One who receives ‘blessing’ from the Lord - and He gives it to us (Psalm 24:3-5)! How do we receive His blessing? - We must open our hearts ‘that the King of glory may come in’ (Psalm 24:7, 9). How can ‘the Lord, strong and mighty’ live in me? How can I receive His resurrection power? Jesus says, ‘I stand at the door and knock, if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in’ (Psalm 24:8; Ephesians 1:19-20; Revelation 3:20).

Jesus Is Taken Up Into Heaven. He Will Come Again With Power And Great Glory.

‘There before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven… His Kingdom is one that will never be destroyed’ (Daniel 7:13-14). These words point us to Christ’s description of His Second Coming, the Coming of His Kingdom: ‘They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:30). In Revelation 1:7, we have another echo of Daniel’s ‘vision’: ‘Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him’. ‘Lo! He comes, with clouds descending… Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee, high on Thine eternal throne; Saviour, take the power and glory, claim the Kingdom for Thine own. O come quickly! O come quickly! O come quickly! Alleluia! Come, Lord, come!’(Church Hymnary, 316).

Jesus Is Taken Up Into Heaven. May His Name Be Exalted In All The Earth.

‘Be still, and know that I am God … Shout to God with loud songs of joy’ (Psalms 46:10; 47:2). In our worship, there is to be both quiet trust and loud praise. We read the great words: ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble’ (Psalm 46:1). God’s Word brings peace - ‘in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength’. We must not keep God’s blessing to ourselves. We must share it with joy - ‘Sing to the Lord…let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare His praise in the coastlands’ (Isaiah 30:15; 42:10-12). The Lord is to be ‘exalted among the nations’. He is not only ‘our King’. He is ‘the King of all the earth’ (Psalms 46:10; 47:6-7). ‘Father (Jesus/Spirit), we love You. We worship and adore You. Glorify Your Name in all the earth’ (Mission Praise, 142). ‘You, O Lord, are exalted for ever… The Lord reigns, He is robed in majesty…’ (Psalms 92:8; 93:1-2). The Lord is ‘exalted’. We are to exalt Him in our worship. He is not exalted because we exalt Him. We exalt Him because He is exalted. He is ‘exalted far above all gods’. That is why we sing, ‘I exalt Thee, O Lord’. ‘He is exalted, the King is exalted on high’ - This is the truth concerning the Lord. ‘I will praise Him’- This is our response to His truth. We sing, ‘Jesus, we enthrone You, we proclaim You our King’. This is our response to the eternal truth concerning our Saviour: ‘The Lord is enthroned as King for ever’. ‘From all eternity’, the Lord is ‘robed in majesty’. Let us respond to His majesty. Let us ‘magnify’ the Lord - ‘O Lord our God, how majestic is Thy Name’ (Psalms 97:9; 29:10; Mission Praise, 158, 217, 388, 507).

Jesus Is Taken Up Into Heaven. The Holy Spirit Is Given To Us.

We read, in John 7:39, that ‘the Spirit’ would not be ‘given’ until Jesus was ‘glorified.’Now, as Jesus was about to be ‘taken up… into heaven’, He tells His apostles, ‘the Holy Spirit’ will ‘come upon you’ (Acts 1:11, 8). He gives them His Word of promise: ‘I send the promise of my Father upon you’. He gives them His Word of command: ‘stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high’ (Luke 24:49). They wait upon the coming of the Holy Spirit. They cannot fill themselves with the Spirit. They can only ‘be filled with the Spirit’ (Ephesians 5:18). Waiting for the Spirit, the apostles ‘devote themselves to prayer’ (Acts 1:14). They do not earn the Holy Spirit as a reward for spending much time in prayer. Waiting on God, their strength is renewed as they receive God’s gift (Isaiah 40:31; Luke 11:13).

Learning From Paul (5)

When Paul spoke of the discipline of discipleship, he compared it to the discipline of the athlete: "Do you not know that, in a race, all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable" (1 Corinthians 9:24-25). For the athlete and the disciple, the prize is different. Both require the same commitment - "self-control in all things." Paul committed himself to the discipline of discipleship - " I pummel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified (laid aside as of no further use)" (1 Corinthians 9:27). How much do you and I know about the discipline of discipleship? If we are to be true disciples of Christ, it will only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit: "God did not give us the spirit of fear, but the Spirit of power and love and self-control" (2 Timothy 1:7). When we are controlled by the love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be both blessed by God and used by God.

Learning From Paul (4)

When your living room is in a mess, do you take out the vacuum cleaner because you feel like doing this? The discipline of the 'housewife' has much to teach us if we are to learn the discipline of discipleship, which is called for by Paul's words: "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit ... So glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The discipline of discipleship highlights for us the "I have to do this" dimension of the Christian life. Let me tell you a story about a woman in her sixties, a slim woman about five feet tall. One evening, she sat in her living room, waiting for her husband to return from his work in the fields. Suddenly, she noticed, at the window, the face of a burly stranger. She controlled herself, laid aside her needlework, crossed the room and pushed the piano against the door. When her husband returned, he called in a neighbour and, together, they pushed the piano back into its place. To this day, every once in a while, the man will look up from his newspaper and ask, "Who helped you move that piano?" The point is that she had to move the piano. He didn't have to move it back.

Learning From Paul (3)

Jesus said, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). This is the lesson which Paul had learned when he said, “For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). The discipline of discipleship - this is the challenge which Paul’s life sets before us. Are you a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ? When Paul said, “Necessity is laid upon me”, he was not speaking of a shallow or superficial emotion. The Holy Spirit works within us so that we might learn the discipline of discipleship. When your pathway is covered with snow, what do you do? Do you clear the path because you feel like doing this? Do you clear away the snow because it has to be done? Discipline - this is what we need if the pathway is to be kept clear.

Learning From Paul (2)

Paul’s life was not easy. His life story was not always a glowing success story. He suffered persecution because of his faithfulness to Christ and the Gospel. He spent time in prison because he refused to compromise his commitment to Christ. How was he able to remain faithful to Christ in such difficult circumstances? The answer is quite simple: the Holy Spirit. How did the Holy Spirit work in Paul’s life? How does the Holy Spirit work in our lives? The Holy Spirit empowered Paul to be a disciple of Jesus. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be followers of the Lord. The word, “disciple”, is very similar to the word, “discipline.” This is no accident. The life of discipleship is a life of discipline. This is the point which Jesus made, when He said, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).

Learning From Paul (1)

Paul was no silent disciple, no half-hearted follower of Jesus. He was not ashamed of his Lord. He was glad to say, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith” (Romans 1:16). Why was Paul bold to say, “God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14)? Why was Paul so emphatic in saying, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2)? The answer is very simple and straightforward. He was a man who had been grasped by the power of the Gospel. Through the power of Christ, Paul was no longer his own. He belonged to Christ. This was why he was able to write to the Corinthian Christians, “You are not your own; you have been bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). He was a man filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. This was why he was able to challenge the Corinthian Christians: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? … So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). He was a man grasped by the power of the Gospel, a man filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. What kind of men and women are we? This is the challenge of Paul’s life for us.

Praying With The Spirit

1Cr 14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

1Cr 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

1 Corinthians - Chapter 14
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Yesterday Is Gone, Today Is Here & Tomarrow

2008 is simply past history and 2009 is upon us. Our world is struggling in so many areas, in so many situations and the circumstances, well, they just seem to be intensifying.

Much like watching a hurricane building and creating strong winds. However, there is a eye in the midst of such storms where the air currents are calm.

May the Prince of Peace be the eye of the storms that arise in your life. May Christ be the Rock that you stand upon and may the Spirit be the wind in your
sails.

Happy New Year!
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