4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:4-8
And in other news today, a group of people called backsliders have been identified in God’s word, Psalm 107, as those who were following Him, but then backed away. These individuals have forgotten what Jesus has done for them, and they have voluntarily put themselves back into the chains of bondage that the Lord had released them from.
"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" Hebrews 12:15 Today’s scripture passage reminds us that when we fail to live in God’s grace, we may allow a root of bitterness to establish itself in our lives. This bitterness could be toward others, toward God, or toward the seeming judgment or punishment God may allow to come our way. Perhaps the circumstances in life did not go the way we wanted; we avoid people or situations because the hurt feelings come back to tell us the others are completely wrong. We fail to forgive others. If we allow that hurt to take root in our lives, it will affect not only ourselves but it will spread like a cancer to our friends and family. " 3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him." Luke 17:3-4 While some do not forgive others because they have not yet received Christ as their Savior and they have yet to be forgiven themselves, many do not forgive because they simply haven’t been taught how to handle the issue of an unwilling or unrepentant offender. "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." 1 Peter 5:10 No man or woman is born great; we were all, at one time, babies. So too, if you are longing for strong faith that grabs hold of the hem of Jesus – It will take time. Suffering is not meant to make us feel like martyrs; nor is it meant to give us something to complain to others about. Instead, suffering is given to us so we can grow in the faith of Christ. For a little while, we will suffer. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 Have you ever felt like the prophet Elijah who believed everyone was against him and that no one was suffering for God like he was? (1 Kings 18:22) It is tempting to feel, in the midst of terrible suffering and persecution, that we are the only ones that know and understand what we are going through. But today’s scriptures says there is no “temptation” (or testing, or trial) that is not common to man; while we may honestly believe we are alone in our woes – a quick survey of support groups in our local area might show that others deal with the common struggles of life. (As an aside, these support groups need many more Christians to gently share a Christ centered way of recovery.) Today, grace (God’s unmerited favor) is whispering your name, calling you back to God, and reminding you of the gentleness and goodness of the Lord Jesus. While God has called out many names in the past, one of the notable ones is Mark 16:7 where the angel asks the women to specifically tell the disciples and “Peter” that Jesus was risen and that He would appear to them in Galilee. While there is a place for larger ministries, Jesus often showed us that having a crowd was not as important to Him as selflessly serving individuals. While He was leaving Jericho, the multitude that had followed Him told a blind beggar not to shout out to Jesus “have mercy on me.” Instead of seeing blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46) as an impediment to His ministry, Jesus saw an individual to serve; Bartimaeus received His sight that day and became a Believer! What would have happened if Christ had decided to ignore believing Bartimaeus? |
AuthorPastor Doug Mann Archives
October 2014
Please sign up to receive this blog in your inbox by typing your email in the address below.Categories
All
"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." 2 Peter 3:18 Copyrights: All photographs used in individual blog posts have the proper credits given at the bottom of each posting as per the terms and conditions of Weebly. Web Administrator.
|