Repentance

Remember the Height From Which You Have Fallen

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Daniel

I woke up with such clarity on a specific warning from Scripture that I felt the need to document this. It concerns what is talked about in Scripture as the great apostasy (or falling away, withdraw from the faith) in the end of times.

“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.” 1 Timothy 4:1 NLT

Yesterday I was sharing at a nursing home facility about the love of Jesus and was surprised by what came out of my mouth. Every time I share something I pray that the Holy Spirit would speak through me and minister life to those who hear me. This has been a default prayer for the past seven years of ministry. I depend on the Holy Spirit to enliven and bring forth the Scriptures I have immersed myself in for most my life. I let him pick the songs. He determines the flow and the theme and the message. I am his partner in building the kingdom of God, one day at a time, one concert at a time, one song and message or conversation at a time.

I say all of this to encourage you to do ministry dependent on the Holy Spirit’s leading as well. May your every conversation with people be led by the Holy Spirit. He knows exactly how to turn a phrase to grab someone’s attention and, most of all, to woo their heart.

I was blessed by what came out yesterday, and I am also deeply concerned and saddened.

Yesterday he was speaking this to my heart, you are either the persecuted or the persecutors. Which are you? There is no middle ground. You will eventually land on either side. The Nazi’s or the the Jews.

I thought this was interesting and reminded me immediately of Isaac and Ishmael. One was the son of promise, the other of the flesh. One represents true faith and the other what I will call “religion”. Of course I don’t mean true religion as defined in Scripture as ‘care for the orphan and widow and maintaining a pure heart’, but how people often derogatorily use the word these days to describe self righteous judgemental pricks.

Jesus said to his brothers, the world cannot help but accept you, you are one of its own but I testify that it’s deeds are evil therefore the world hates me. Later he said to his disciples, if the world hated and persecuted me it will hate and persecute you.

Of course who is he referring to as “the world”? Not simply those outside of religious circles (many of which heard Jesus gladly), but to the religious of his day. Did sinners have a problem with Jesus? No. They flocked to him. Porn stars, drug addicts, women who had abortions, alcoholics and porn addicts found nothing but love and acceptance and compassion from Jesus.

The Pharisees, however, hated Jesus, persecuted Jesus and eventually crucified Jesus. Jesus had said to them, “you are like whitewashed tombs. You look pretty on the outside but inside are full of dead mens bones”. He told them to their faces, “woe to you! How will you escape the fires of hell?” These are those who had their theology hammered out. They were the respected theologions of their day. The ones who were clearly “right” about everything and had the rest of the world convinced and living in fear of their disapproval. Their acceptance mattered more to the people then the acceptance of God. People would not speak up favorably for Jesus because the Pharisees agreed to put out of the synagogue anyone who did speak up on behalf of Jesus. This was a serious repercussion. The synagogue was their way of life, much like how being a Muslim is not simply just their religion but an entire way of life today.

I recently read the book of Revelation. Yeshua had some warnings to give to most of the seven churches. They each received a message of “Repent, or else” except one church. They received affirmation from the LORD:

The Message to the Church in Philadelphia

7 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia.

This is the message from the one who is holy and true,
the one who has the key of David.
What he opens, no one can close;
and what he closes, no one can open:
8 “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me. 9 Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue—those liars who say they are Jews but are not—to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love.

10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. 12 All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.

13 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

He says to the church of the city of brotherly love, “you obeyed my word and did not deny me.”

What, exactly, is the word that they, and you and I, are to obey?

To love one another. That’s it. This is the one new command of the LORD Jesus. Love.

This is God’s great big master plan to transform the world:

“Love the one you’re with”

That’s it. Those who recieve love will then in turn love and it will spread like wildfire exponentially growing to fill the earth and change everyone’s heart. Lets try it!

THE APOSTASY

The great apostasy that is coming and, newsflash, is already here, is that people are refusing to love others. Religion has become for many, instead of caring for orphans and widows and living a pure life unspotted from the world, now a matter of having all your theological ducks in a row.

We have deceived ourselves into thinking that it is what you know, what you believe that is important, instead of how you live, and the love in your heart. The mantra I hear is ‘your doctrine must be correct or your doomed’. You know what I mean? And if you “step out of line” there are many who are chomping at the bit to report you and crucify you and cast out your name as evil. Where have I heard that before?

I have experienced this kind of persecution and I refuse to take part in it. I choose to be the persecuted rather than become a persecutor. Hey people, this is the separating of the sheep and the goats. I’m serious.

Did you catch the ferocity of Christ’s words there to the church at Philedelphia? Jesus talked about to those who belonged to “Satan’s synagogue—those liars who say they are Jews but are not”. Does this not apply in our churches today? Do you know those who say they are Christian but have no love? God will judge us for what is truly in our hearts and by our words and deeds. These will reveal where our faith is truly at and whether we follow the true Christ or another who is in Christ’s place (aka the antiChrist – literally “in place of Christ”).

Yes I am insinuating that there are those in the church, some of which are highly respected theologians and teachers, whose hearts are devoid of love who are currently following a poser christ – the antichrist. I know this because I was one of them. It was the most serious battle of my life to separate me from this false Christ because I was convinced that he was the only one there was. Fear ruled me. It took a great deal of time and pain and ultimately, love, to set me free.

Yes, we still have Pharisees in our day as well. Don’t think for a moment we don’t. They don’t seem to have an ounce of error in their doctrine but have little to no real love. They are unkind and treat others harshly. They judge, they condemn, they fear monger. They use fear and intimidation to get you to kowtow and submit to them and their authority. I would suggest to you that this is the real apostasy… the abandonment of love. We have left love and followed fear. We have joined the persecutors instead of the persecuted.

A parable (Ok, so actually this was a dream, but I was concerned about being judged for taking so many lessons from my dreams, it’s just how God speaks to me, and I’m ok with that):

I was out walking one day with my wife and we saw an ugly little lizard. My wife reacted in fear and it immediately noticeably grew which surprised us and caused us both to react with more fear. It grew some more. It seemed to feed on our fear.

It became hostile to us and a battle ensued. We enlisted the help of some friends and it fed on their fear as well. Somehow we managed to kill the dragon as it reached the size of a border Collie. We decapitated it and buried it in a large barrel of sand. It’s body at the bottom of the barrel and the head near the top and we left it.

We forgot about it for a while and enjoyed some peace.

images-1One day I remembered the dragon and for a moment the fear and panic revived in my heart. In that very moment the head of the dragon was drawn back to its body and it revived. It escaped and went on the wreak havoc and spread chaos feeding on the fear which was now rampant until grew into a great dragon.

The Air Force was called in. We were going to bomb this dragon with a serious payload – a nuclear bomb. The dragon, however, snatched the plane out of the sky and sent it hurtling into a volcano. The volcano reacting with the detonation created a super volcano explosion which destroyed the world. The end.

I would propose that fear is the opposite of love. Fear is the enemy of love. You cannot be filled with fear and love at the same time. You must choose one or the other. Which will it be?

Many of us have already gone the way of fear. Jesus will set you free if you want to be free. The thing is, we must actively choose to be free. We must pursue freedom and refuse to listen to the fear mongers.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

My one goal in life is to see others come to Jesus. I want the number to grow of those who will take part in the tree of life. The reward for overcoming and returning to Jesus, your first love and your purpose to “love the one your with” is the tree of life.

The Message to the Church in Ephesus

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” – Revelation 2:1-7 NIV

Categories: Apocalypse, Exposing Self-Righteous Religion, Repentance | 1 Comment

Will God Forgive You For Anything?

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Daniel

I once had a conversation with a friend and co-worker about Jesus and forgiveness. He could not believe that God would forgive him for sleeping with his best friends wife. He was overwhelmed with guilt.

I tried to tell him that God forgives all and every and any sin. It fell on deaf ears.

A while ago a Christian brother and I prayed with a man who admitted to rape and murder. He too was so overcome by guilt he could not receive our prayers or God’s forgiveness. I didn’t know whether to turn him in or what. Apparently he “got away with it”.

I am a firm believer that justice does and will prevail no matter what. No one, no where, ever “gets away with it”. The guilty may be out of prison or jail but they are constantly being hounded and tormented by they weight of their guilt. We reap what we sow.

I am reminded of the movie The Machinist with Christian Bale. What an amazing film. Christian Bale starved himself (read more) in preparing for his role as an insomniac, emaciated, delusional character who as it turns out SPOILER ALERT!!! (skip to next paragraph if you want to watch this for yourself!) is haunted by a suppressed memory of a crime he had committed. He finally turns himself in and finds some peace.

I once met a man in the Spokane homeless shelter. He had been on the run for years all over the country and lived as a nameless homeless man. He too was haunted by his past and guilt over something he had done which led to a warrant for his arrest being issued in Spokane. He was back in town to after all these years turn himself in. Jesus had done a marvelous work in his life and he had finally found peace and was ready to face the consequences for his actions.

He turned himself in and to his complete surprise, they could find no record of him committing a crime and no record of his warrant. He was free to go. I saw him shortly after that and didn’t recognize him at all. He had a beaming smile and a new lease on life.

I often wonder what would have happened if King David, instead of trying to hide his adultery and have Bathsheba’s husband Uriah killed, if he instead confessed his sin to his friend Uriah and begged his forgiveness. Would Uriah have tried to kill him in a rage? If it were me I might have. No doubt this was a very real fear for David as he weighed his options.

Instead of repenting, he chose to compound his sin and guilt… and still God forgave him. There were serious consequences that plagued him the rest of his days however, but he was forgiven and embraced back into sweet fellowship with God.

After his repentance the baby died. After David’s moral failure the enemy had access to his family in the area of sexual deviance. His son Amnon raped his sister Tamar and destroyed her life. Another brother Absalom then kills Amnon and later tries to seize the throne. To incite the people to join him and to convince them how serious he was in his rebellion to his father David, Absalom publicly sleeps with several of Davids concubines.

These are the kinds of consequences that David suffers for his moment of passion with another man’s wife and his subsequent cover up. We don’t actually “get away” with anything. We reap what we sow. Our sin will affect our children and our children’s children and everyone else around us. Your sin becomes part of your legacy. This is how you affected the world and you have to live with that. But you can change your legacy! Your sin can be forgiven and forgotten for all eternity!

David was forgiven. He changed his legacy. As all the consequences for his sin unfolded in his life, he enjoyed the wonderful bliss of a reconciled relationship with God (who is love) as soon as he repented. But… not a moment sooner.

If any of us want to enjoy the awesome friendship of God as some of the consequences for our sin continue to play out, then we must repent. If we’d rather be miserable and alone as our sin wreaks its havoc and continue to compound our sin and our guilt and our agony, eventually leading to its horrifying abysmal end, then don’t repent. These are the only two options.

Unfortunately the default is the latter option… to do nothing. You actually must take action to repent. To not repent requires no action on your part whatsoever. Put on another movie and distract yourself until your dead. Another misspent life down the toilet bowl of the universe. Forgive me for being feces-ish I mean facetious.

Our sin is serious. So serious that Jesus actually had to die an agonizing death on a cross and most of all suffer the rejection of his Father and bear all the righteous wrath of God for sin on the blackest day ever to repair the rift and discord in the universe that our sin has caused. Our sin will also cause you to miss our purpose, mainly to be loved and then to love others and whatever else it is that God had foreordained for us to accomplish in our short time here. We are, after all, his masterpiece created for good works. We get to repent! You get to repent! God is granting us the privilege of repenting from that which causes us harm! AWESOME!!!

Repentance means having a change of mind. It is taking on a whole new paradigm for how to view reality through God’s eyes. Have a change of mind about who God is, and change your mind about sin. It involves leaving sin (your idols) and coming to Christ. It means to stop trying to be your own god and submit to the only true God who is love. Just think, we get to surrender to love!

“And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ You are witnesses of all these things.” Luke 24:46-48 NLT

So yes, God will forgive you for anything but you must repent. What do you need to repent of? What do you need to turn yourself in for to God (or even to the authorities)? Take it to the LORD. David gave us a wonderful glimpse into the prayer he prayed to get right with God. He encourages us to learn from his example and use his prayer as our own:

Psalm 51
New Living Translation (NLT)

A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

Some really serious sinners have found grace and redemption in Jesus Christ. No, you haven’t out-sinned God’s grace because, “Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds”. Grace is always shown to be greater. Its his trump card. You played your hand of rebellion and sin and you thought you had him beat. He plays the grace card and wins… your heart.

Jesus loves you and I love you! Stay tuned and Subscribe!

Categories: Forgiveness, Repentance | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Follow the Narrow Way, Your life depends on it!

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Daniel

I was listening to the Sermon on the Mount on my smartphone’s Bible app as I was cleaning the kitchen the other day. My wife was in the other room and I kept saying to her, “Catherine, he sounds serious… Catherine, he’s not kidding”.

This morning I am wide awake at 1:55 with Jesus words echoing in my ear, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV)

Jesus GateOf course it must be stated right from the start that Jesus himself is the narrow gate. He says:

“Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.” (John 10:9 NLT)

Relationship and fellowship with him is to follow the narrow way.

Jesus has been so kind and compassionate to me. I think some of the reason I often avoid listening to him and seeking out what he has to say to me daily is because I think he is going to come down hard on me.

He never does. It seems that his aim is to kill my sin with his kindness and turn me from my self-destructive sin. (Is there a sin that isn’t self-destructive?)

I just looked up and read this from Romans 2:

“Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

5 But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. 8 But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. 9 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 10 But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.”

The fact is, I want to walk the narrow way that leads to life. Fact is, I don’t want to store up judgement by refusing to repent. I want to stop all the ways I live for myself and wickedness and “give Jesus a try”. I don’t want any vice to keep me from experiencing the life of Jesus to the full. I want to be a good friend to Jesus.

I don’t doubt for a moment that deep down you also want to respond to Jesus in this way. I have no doubt that you want to experience for yourself the abundant life Jesus said he came to bring to you:

“I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” (John 10 NIV)

Are you experiencing a rich and satisfying life?

As I ponder this question for myself I am amazed to be able to say, yes. In spite of myself I actually am experiencing an abundant life. Crazy huh?

It may seem like we don’t have too many real live examples of someone experiencing the abundant life, but I think that is because we are always looking for examples of someone who follows Jesus perfectly. I know that I follow Jesus. A cursory glance over my blog posts will reveal that I don’t do this perfectly and often times there are still foxes on the loose in the vineyard (to borrow a biblical metaphor).

We often wait till someone is dead to honor the memory of their life because the living still have time to disappoint us and leave us with egg on our face as they have been known to do (It’s happened to me so many times!).

You Are A Role Model

Even though you or I may not be bold enough to say like Paul, “follow me as I follow Christ”, we are still ALL role models for someone. We like to think we aren’t or we may even blatantly say as some sports figures do, “I never set out to be a role model.” We pretend we aren’t because we love to live for ourselves and seek our own pleasure. (Jesus brother James writes that this makes us adulterous people – see James 4).

If we are looking for perfect examples to follow, look no farther than Christ. He followed his father beautifully. He modeled what a follower looks like with a kind of trust that led him to do only what the Father does and speak only what the Father speaks. He followed His loving Papa all the way to the cross. He knew his Father deeply loved him. He was secure and grounded in that love and knew that his Sovereign loving Papa was leading him every day into what would be the most joyful ending to the story. Jesus didn’t have a five-year plan, he had a “what’s next Papa?” plan. We can too.

Someone told me yesterday that there hasn’t been anyone who has done a pure deed with the purest of motives besides Jesus. That touched my heart to hear that. My Savior and your Savior, has the purest of motives in his dealings with you and I.

The Narrow Way

theWaySo, back to talking about the narrow way.

For whatever reason this quote from the Matrix comes to mind. Morpheus tells Neo, “There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”

Did you know that Christians were first called “followers of the Way”? This, no doubt, was a reference to Jesus who called himself the Way.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Yes the way is narrow. Jesus is it. The only way. There is no other way to the Father. So rest assured if you have received and are trusting Jesus you are on the narrow way. But are you walking in the way? Are you walking the path of Jesus that leads to you experiencing a rich and satisfying life?

Walking the path is going to look different for every one of us. What does “walking the path” look like for you? I can’t tell you. You have to ask the One who is the path and who destined a specific path for you.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2 NLT)

What good things has God planned for you? The question is, will you take the time to seek the One who holds the answers? He will never force the way upon you. You will never just stumble upon it but must do your part. We have a role in this. Paul writes in Philipians 3:12:

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”

I am reminded that the Christian life, being a follower of the Way, has much to do with maintaining a clean conscience before God. This means we “get to” repent and turn from sin every time it is brought to our awareness. This is how we stay on course and remain in fellowship with the Way.

The still small voice of God is here right now. He is speaking to your heart in this very moment. Are you listening? The stakes couldn’t be higher. Your life is at stake.

God rewards those who diligently seek him. Won’t you join me in submitting to Jesus today? Cave to his kindness and just let him love you. Repent and turn from your sin so you can enter his loving kingdom and come under his protection and experience his wonderful guidance along the narrow path to true and abundant life!

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Categories: faith adventure, Repentance | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Love Your Neighbor… Rebuke them?

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Daniel

I was reading Leviticus 19 in my journey through the Bible and was struck by the verse just before the famous “love your neighbor as yourself” verse.

Here it is: “Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.” (Leviticus 19:17 NIV)

Here it is in context in another translation: “You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (Lev. 19:17-18 NET)

I thought that was interesting. It has always been a real struggle for me to rebuke anyone. This is mostly because I doubted that any rebuking I would do would come from a place of love.

Jesus quoted the above Scripture when asked what the most important command in Scripture? He was asked this once by an “expert” in the Torah:

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’(Duet. 6:5) This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’(Lev. 19:18) All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:34-40 NIV)

So often in today’s society we think that “tolerance” is love, when in reality it is just the opposite. If you saw someone in a kayak heading down a river and knew a fatal waterfall is just beyond them, wouldn’t it be unloving not to do everything in your power to stop them and save them? Yet in our society we are told we ought to be tolerant of their right to explore rivers so don’t make them feel bad or upset for their choices. “That would not be loving”, so says the world.

I got pissed off the other day thinking about the fact that so many enemies of God are demanding of their loved ones, “It’s me or God. Make your choice. You can’t have us both.”

Let me explain.

Say your Christian friend or neighbor, brother or sister, parent or child is shacking up (we all know someone who is). Of course they just want to be accepted (as we all do) just as they are with their chosen lifestyle. But you, the Christian who loves and obeys Jesus (?), you want them to love Jesus and obey him too! And don’t we all agree this is the very best thing any of us could do? BUT, they stubbornly refuse to repent and so you are left with a difficult choice. Either you follow Scripture and rebuke them and likely suffer loss of “relationship” OR you accept them the way they are with the choices they have made. This is the demand they make of you.

How dare they hold you hostage like this and make you a partner in their sins! They are cruel!

gilbert-k-chesterton-writer-tolerance-is-the-virtue-of-the-man-without

I admit it. I accepted them. I refrain from rebuking because I didn’t really love them. And to top it off I’m not loving God in this either. But guess what? I get praised by the world for being “loving”. I get acceptance from society for being tolerant.

Tolerance sucks!

How loving is it to tolerate our friends, neighbors, and most especially our own family to their own destruction? The way I see it, tolerance is the enemy to love! Tolerance condemns! Tolerance also reveals a lack of real faith.

John the Baptist didn’t tolerate Herods sin of shacking up with his brother Philips wife. He could have kept his mouth shut and avoided the hurt Herod would bring his way but he did not. For your and my benefit he did not. His principles and his God were of more value to him than his life. Eventually he lost his head… literally.

Do I have the courage to love my neighbor like that? Do you?

BUT, the good news is that we all have the wonderful privilege of repenting from our sins! YEA!!!

I repent!

I repent of all my sins and I also repent of refraining to bluntly rebuke you when I see you sinning! (In love of course). You can do the same for me.

May God give us the wisdom and courage to do as His loving Spirit directs.

Your thoughts?

Update: Is this a New Testament idea? How do we rebuke others the way God would have us to, saturated in the love of Jesus? How do we follow Christ’s example in this? Paul’s example? (Paul said, “follow me as I follow Christ”).

Categories: Repentance | Tags: , , , , | 6 Comments

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