Subject:Let Goods and Kindred Go

Recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. (Hebrews 10:32–35)

The Christians in Hebrews 10:32–35 have earned the right to teach us about costly love.

The situation appears to be this: In the early days of their conversion, some of them were imprisoned for their faith. The others were confronted with a difficult choice: Shall we go underground and stay “safe,” or shall we visit our brothers and sisters in prison and risk our lives and property? They chose the way of love and accepted the cost.

“For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property.”

But were they losers? No. They lost property and gained joy! They joyfully accepted the loss.

In one sense, they denied themselves. It was real and costly. But in another sense, they did not. They chose the way of joy. Evidently, these Christians were motivated for prison ministry the same way the Macedonians (of 2 Corinthians 8:1–9) were motivated to relieve the poor. Their joy in God overflowed in love for others.

They looked at their own lives and said, “The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life” (see Psalm 63:3).

They looked at all their possessions and said, “We have a possession in heaven that is better and lasts longer than any of this” (see Hebrews 10:34).

Then they looked at each other and said — perhaps sang — something like Martin Luther’s great hymn:

Let goods and kindred go
This mortal life also
The body they may kill
God’s truth abideth still
His kingdom is forever

John Piper

Do You Have Eyes to See?

“‘But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, “Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.” So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?’ And he said, ‘He who showed mercy on him.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”

LUKE 10:33-37

 

PONDER THIS

What was wrong with these men who passed by the man who was beaten on the road to Jericho? Their problem was not primarily gross iniquity but gross indifference. Rather than being a part of the solution, they became a part of the problem. They were not the ones who beat the man. They were not the ones who robbed the man. Their error is not in the fact that they did something, it is that they did nothing! They simply passed him by.

Many in the Church also pass by those who have needs and hurts.

Jesus has called us to compassionate involvement. The Good Samaritan who ministered to this man is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the way Jesus cares for those whom others have cast aside.

This man had genuine compassion, not false compassion. This is not mere sentimentality. The word compassion comes from two words, com, meaning, “with,” and passion, which means, “to feel deeply.” A person who has compassion sees people through the eyes of Christ. Compassion means with suffering, with feeling; the Bible says the Good Samaritan saw the man and was with him. The problem with so many of us is we just don’t see. We don’t look! We’re so busy. We pay no attention. Needy people are all around us. Will you see?

What are some ways you are indifferent to the hurt of others? What are some reasons we justify this?

How has Jesus shown us compassion? When has compassion led you to serve someone who’s in a tough place?

PRACTICE THIS

Look for a person or group of people to serve and show the compassion and love of Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How to Contemplate Calamity

“The waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me. . . . This God — his way is perfect.” (2 Samuel 22:5, 31)

After the loss of his ten children owing to a natural disaster (Job 1:19), Job said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). At the end of the book, the inspired writer confirms Job’s understanding of what happened. He says Job’s brothers and sisters “comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11).

This has several crucial implications for us — lessons for us here at the dawn of a new year — as we think about calamities in the world and in our lives — like the massive disaster that occurred December 26, 2004, in the Indian Ocean — one of the deadliest natural disasters on record with 1.7 million people made homeless, half a million injured, and over 230,000 killed.

Lesson #1. Satan is not ultimate; God is.

Satan had a hand in Job’s misery, but not the decisive hand. God gave Satan permission to afflict Job (Job 1:12; 2:6). But Job and the writer of this book treat God as the decisive cause. When Satan afflicts Job with sores, Job says to his wife, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10), and the writer calls these satanic sores “the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). So, Satan is real. Satan brings misery. But Satan is not ultimate or decisive. He is on a leash. He goes no farther than God decisively permits.

Lesson #2. Even if Satan caused that tsunami in the Indian Ocean the day after Christmas, 2004, he is not the decisive cause of over 200,000 deaths; God is.

God claims power over tsunamis in Job 38:8 and 11 when he asks Job rhetorically, “Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb . . . and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” Psalm 89:8–9 says, “O Lord . . . you rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” And Jesus himself has the same control today as he once did over the deadly threats of waves: “He . . . rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm” (Luke 8:24). In other words, even if Satan caused the earthquake, God could have stopped the waves. But he didn’t.

Lesson #3. Destructive calamities in this world mingle judgment and mercy.

God’s purposes are not simple. Job was a godly man and his miseries were not God’s punishment (Job 1:1, 8). Their design was purifying, not punishment (Job 42:6). James 5:11 says, “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

But we do not know the spiritual condition of Job’s children who died. Job was certainly concerned about them (Job 1:5). God may have taken their life in judgment. We don’t know.

If that is true, then the same calamity proved in the end to be mercy for Job and judgment on his children. This double purpose is true of all calamities. They mingle judgment and mercy. They are both punishment and purification. Suffering, and even death, can be both judgment and mercy at the same time.

The clearest illustration of this is the death of Jesus. It was both judgment and mercy. It was judgment on Jesus because he bore our sins (not his own), and it was mercy toward us who trust him to bear our punishment (Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) and be our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Another example is the curse and miseries that have come on this earth because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Those who never believe in Christ experience it as judgment, but believers experience it as merciful, though painful — a preparation for glory. “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope” (Romans 8:20). This is God’s subjection. This is why there are tsunamis. But this subjection to futility is “in hope.”

Lesson #4. The heart that Christ gives to his people feels compassion for those who suffer, no matter what their faith is.

When the Bible says, “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), it does not add, “unless God caused the weeping.” Job’s comforters would have done better to weep with Job than talk so much. That does not change when we discover that Job’s suffering was ultimately from God. No, it is right to weep with those who suffer. Pain is pain, no matter who causes it. We are all sinners. Empathy flows not from the causes of pain, but from the company of pain. And we are all in it together.

Lesson #5. Finally, Christ calls us to show mercy to those who suffer, even if they do not deserve it.

That is the meaning of mercy — undeserved help. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). This is how Christ treated us (Romans 5:10), dying for us when we were his enemies. By that power, and with that example, we do the same.

John Piper

Logic Will Only Take You So Far

“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 PETER 3:8-9

 

PONDER THIS

Suppose you want to go to Europe. You get in your car and drive to New York City. Then you drive to the ocean there. There’s no bridge that crosses the great Atlantic. So, you park your car and get on an airplane to travel the rest of the way. The car is good, but it can only take you so far. Logic is like that. Logic is good, but it will only take you so far. And when you come to a chasm that is so wide logic can’t leap, then faith must fly.

If somebody says to me, “Prove there’s a God,” I just simply say, “I can’t.” And then I just turn back to them, and I say, “Prove there is no God.” And if he’s honest, he’ll say he can’t. And he says, “Well, you’re just naive because you believe there’s a God.” I say, “That’s right. I’m a believer. And you’re a believer, too. I believe there is a God; you believe there is no God. I have faith that there is; you have faith that there isn’t.” What I believe is reasonable, but it goes beyond reason...to faith...that God is.

How have you responded to him or skeptics in the past?

Have you ever tried to use logic to explain your faith? What happened?

PRACTICE THIS

Pray for a skeptic you know, asking God to open his or her eyes to believe and trust in Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Let Goods and Kindred Go

Recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. (Hebrews 10:32–35)

The Christians in Hebrews 10:32–35 have earned the right to teach us about costly love.

The situation appears to be this: In the early days of their conversion, some of them were imprisoned for their faith. The others were confronted with a difficult choice: Shall we go underground and stay “safe,” or shall we visit our brothers and sisters in prison and risk our lives and property? They chose the way of love and accepted the cost.

“For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property.”

But were they losers? No. They lost property and gained joy! They joyfully accepted the loss.

In one sense, they denied themselves. It was real and costly. But in another sense, they did not. They chose the way of joy. Evidently, these Christians were motivated for prison ministry the same way the Macedonians (of 2 Corinthians 8:1–9) were motivated to relieve the poor. Their joy in God overflowed in love for others.

They looked at their own lives and said, “The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life” (see Psalm 63:3).

They looked at all their possessions and said, “We have a possession in heaven that is better and lasts longer than any of this” (see Hebrews 10:34).

Then they looked at each other and said — perhaps sang — something like Martin Luther’s great hymn:

Let goods and kindred go

This mortal life also

The body they may kill

God’s truth abideth still

His kingdom is forever

John Piper 

Are You Blind to the Suffering Around You?

PRAY OVER THIS

“‘So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?’ And he said, ‘He who showed mercy on him.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”

Luke 10:34-37

 

PONDER THIS

The English word compassion comes from two words, com, meaning with, and passion, which means to feel deeply. A person who has compassion sees people through the eyes of Christ. Compassion means with suffering, with feeling. The problem with so many of us is we just don’t see. We just don’t look! We’re so busy. We pay no attention. The suffering are all around us. Thank God that Jesus, the Good Samaritan, saw him.

A long time ago, back when they allowed smoking in airports, I was waiting for a flight. I needed to study so I spread out all my papers. After a while I felt the effect of people smoking around me, so I went to another gate to get a smoke-free space. After I got settled in a man followed me, took out a pack of cigarettes, and lit up. The old Adrian wanted to rise up, but Jesus said, “Down, boy.” As I was considering moving somewhere else, he said, “Don’t move, don’t move. I’ll put it out. Aren’t you Adrian Rogers? I need to talk to somebody. I need help. I’m hurting.” And I thought to myself, “Adrian, how blind you could’ve been that day. How obnoxious you could’ve been if you would have let your old nature take over.” I’m glad God overruled the old Adrian for a moment and let the new man come through because the suffering are all around us; they’re hurting, and they need help.

Who do you know that is hurting and needs help?

Have you ever felt God’s nudging toward compassion for someone else? What was that like?

PRACTICE THIS

Think about a time someone had compassion for you. Thank that person for being an example of Christ to you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Let Goods and Kindred Go

Recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. (Hebrews 10:32–35)

The Christians in Hebrews 10:32–35 have earned the right to teach us about costly love.

The situation appears to be this: In the early days of their conversion, some of them were imprisoned for their faith. The others were confronted with a difficult choice: Shall we go underground and stay “safe,” or shall we visit our brothers and sisters in prison and risk our lives and property? They chose the way of love and accepted the cost.

“For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property.”

But were they losers? No. They lost property and gained joy! They joyfully accepted the loss.

In one sense, they denied themselves. It was real and costly. But in another sense, they did not. They chose the way of joy. Evidently, these Christians were motivated for prison ministry the same way the Macedonians (of 2 Corinthians 8:1–9) were motivated to relieve the poor. Their joy in God overflowed in love for others.

They looked at their own lives and said, “The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life” (see Psalm 63:3).

They looked at all their possessions and said, “We have a possession in heaven that is better and lasts longer than any of this” (see Hebrews 10:34).

Then they looked at each other and said — perhaps sang — something like Martin Luther’s great hymn:

Let goods and kindred go

This mortal life also

The body they may kill

God’s truth abideth still

His kingdom is forever

John Piper 

Can you ever exhaust God’s compassion?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you know what Lamentations 3:22-23 means? It means that God never runs out of compassion.

Have you ever gone to Niagara Falls and watched the water cascading with torrential force? I’ve thought, “Surely the water is one day going to dry up.” But it hasn’t. Friend, greater than Niagara is the compassion of the Lord. His compassions fail not.

In 1923, Thomas O. Chisholm wrote one of the greatest hymns of all time and this stanza is the refrain of this truth, “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.”

ACTION POINT:

God is faithful. What are you facing today? Dear friend, lean upon Him and His faithfulness. He will never, no never, leave you, nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Are you a friend you’d want to have?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. 1 Peter 3:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A recent study just revealed that the average adult has not made a new friend—not even one—in the last five years. Why is it so hard to make a new friend or to find one? Maybe because we’re too busy. Maybe because we lack the five qualities of friendship. Take this quiz. Give yourself 20 points for each quality manifested in your life:

Harmony. We are to be of one mind, not necessarily singing the same note, but complementing one another.

Sympathy. We hurt when friends hurt. The world is looking for friends like this.

Fraternity. We are to love one another like brothers. There is no brotherhood like the brotherhood in Jesus Christ.

Empathy. If you want to be a real friend, you’re going to have to feel deeply. You’ll need to put yourself in the place of the other person.

Humility. Genuine courtesy is thinking of the other person’s needs before your own. You are less concerned with your rights, and more concerned about the relationship.

ACTION POINT:

How did you score? Four out of five give you 80%--that’s just barely a “B.” Begin to develop these characteristics of friendship in your life and watch God change your world!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How to stop feeling lonely

BIBLE MEDITATION:

O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in Thee. Psalm 25:20

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

You may be saved and yet feel incredibly lonely today. Here’s a practical pointer for overcoming your loneliness: Quit dwelling on it. Instead of dwelling on it—which would be the easy thing to do—reach out. Reach out to someone who’s lonely. You don’t have to look far to find them.

    Any nursing home, assisted-living, or retirement center would welcome your visit with open arms.

    A hospital with a neo-natal unit that allows volunteers would welcome you to come and rock some of these little ones when no one else can.

    Does your church have a food pantry? Does your city have a rescue mission?

It doesn’t even have to be that. On your street, in your neighborhood, are there elderly people living alone? How about a young person who needs a friend? What about in your Sunday School or Bible Fellowship class? 

Luke 6:38 promises that when we give, it shall be given to us, and you’ll find out how true that is. There is a locked-in likeness to what we give. It is the law of the harvest. If you want friendship, you must show yourself friendly (see Proverbs 18:24). If you want to feel useful, be available for use.

ACTION POINT:

Why not keep a stack of cards and a pen handy to write a little note of encouragement to a shut-in? Get a prayer list and intercede for others. Travel around the world by means of prayer. Jack Hyles, a great preacher, said, “There is no life so empty as a self-centered life, and there is no life so centered as a self-emptied life.” As you pour out yourself to others, the Holy Spirit will continually pour Himself into you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How to Contemplate Calamity

The waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me. . . . This God — his way is perfect.” (2 Samuel 22:5, 31)

After the loss of his ten children owing to a natural disaster (Job 1:19), Job said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). At the end of the book, the inspired writer confirms Job’s understanding of what happened. He says Job’s brothers and sisters “comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11).

This has several crucial implications for us — lessons for us here at the dawn of a new year — as we think about calamities in the world and in our lives — like the massive disaster that occurred December 26, 2004, in the Indian Ocean — one of the deadliest natural disasters on record with 1.7 million people made homeless, half a million injured, and over 230,000 killed.

Lesson #1. Satan is not ultimate; God is.

Satan had a hand in Job’s misery, but not the decisive hand. God gave Satan permission to afflict Job (Job 1:12; 2:6). But Job and the writer of this book treat God as the decisive cause. When Satan afflicts Job with sores, Job says to his wife, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10), and the writer calls these satanic sores “the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). So, Satan is real. Satan brings misery. But Satan is not ultimate or decisive. He is on a leash. He goes no farther than God decisively permits.

Lesson #2. Even if Satan caused that tsunami in the Indian Ocean the day after Christmas, 2004, he is not the decisive cause of over 200,000 deaths; God is.

God claims power over tsunamis in Job 38:8 and 11 when he asks Job rhetorically, “Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb . . . and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” Psalm 89:8–9 says, “O Lord . . . you rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” And Jesus himself has the same control today as he once did over the deadly threats of waves: “He . . . rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm” (Luke 8:24). In other words, even if Satan caused the earthquake, God could have stopped the waves. But he didn’t.

Lesson #3. Destructive calamities in this world mingle judgment and mercy.

God’s purposes are not simple. Job was a godly man and his miseries were not God’s punishment (Job 1:1, 8). Their design was purifying, not punishment (Job 42:6). James 5:11 says, “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

But we do not know the spiritual condition of Job’s children who died. Job was certainly concerned about them (Job 1:5). God may have taken their life in judgment. We don’t know.

If that is true, then the same calamity proved in the end to be mercy for Job and judgment on his children. This double purpose is true of all calamities. They mingle judgment and mercy. They are both punishment and purification. Suffering, and even death, can be both judgment and mercy at the same time.

The clearest illustration of this is the death of Jesus. It was both judgment and mercy. It was judgment on Jesus because he bore our sins (not his own), and it was mercy toward us who trust him to bear our punishment (Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) and be our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Another example is the curse and miseries that have come on this earth because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Those who never believe in Christ experience it as judgment, but believers experience it as merciful, though painful — a preparation for glory. “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope” (Romans 8:20). This is God’s subjection. This is why there are tsunamis. But this subjection to futility is “in hope.”

Lesson #4. The heart that Christ gives to his people feels compassion for those who suffer, no matter what their faith is.

When the Bible says, “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), it does not add, “unless God caused the weeping.” Job’s comforters would have done better to weep with Job than talk so much. That does not change when we discover that Job’s suffering was ultimately from God. No, it is right to weep with those who suffer. Pain is pain, no matter who causes it. We are all sinners. Empathy flows not from the causes of pain, but from the company of pain. And we are all in it together.

Lesson #5. Finally, Christ calls us to show mercy to those who suffer, even if they do not deserve it.

That is the meaning of mercy — undeserved help. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). This is how Christ treated us (Romans 5:10), dying for us when we were his enemies. By that power, and with that example, we do the same.

John Piper

Should you hide in the dark clouds?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Keep me as the apple of the eye…hide me under the shadow of Thy wings. Psalm 17:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Charles Wesley was walking through the woods by a swollen stream on a stormy day. A lightning storm broke out, and rain began coming down in torrents. Little birds up in a tree were shivering on a limb. A bolt of lightning flashed and one little bird was so frightened, it flew out of the tree, flew down toward Wesley, and went right under his coat.

Wesley was so moved by the scene, he wrote a song we often sing:

“Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly, 

While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high. 

Hide me, O my Savior, hide me, ‘til the storm of life is past; 

Safe unto the haven guide me. O receive my soul at last.”

That’s what our Lord does. He hides us, sustains us, and keeps us.

ACTION POINT:

Are the storms of life raging around you? Hide yourself in the dark clouds—they are just the shadow of His wing.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

A Source That Will Never Dry Up

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you know what Lamentations 3:22-23 means? It means that God never runs out of compassion.

Have you ever gone to Niagara Falls and watched the water rampaging with torrential force? I’ve thought, “Surely the water is one day going to dry up.” But it hasn’t. Friend, greater than Niagara is the compassion of the Lord. His compassions fail not.

In 1923, Thomas O. Chisholm wrote one of the greatest hymns of all time and this stanza is the refrain of this truth, “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.”

ACTION POINT:

God is faithful. What are you facing today? Dear friend, lean upon Him and His faithfulness. He will never, no never, leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Compassion For The Broken

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. - Colossians 3:12-15

There are many broken lonely people.

There are many who are dying and in need of a helping hand.

There are many whose marriages are broken and in need of just someone to listen to them.

There are many who are struggling taking care of sick family members.

There are many who have made mistakes and are paying dearly for them by being  trapped in a prison of deep despair.

Why do we hold others accountable for their mistakes but want forgiveness for our own?

Lord, help us to see.

Lord, help us to hear.

The Last Days of Fragile Parents and Their Blessed Caregivers

Parents once so strong now failing as each day passes.

Their children taking on the role of caregivers, sometimes one child taking on way too much of the care as the others offer up excuses.

Lord, give us compassionate hearts!

Let us equally share in care so that the task will not be so heavy.

It is not one persons responsibility.

Let us be sensitive to the needs of those caregivers, asking if we can help.

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. - 1 Timothy 5:8

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. - Galatians 6:10

2 "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise),

3 "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." - Ephesians 6:2-3

Dare To Care

1 With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD. 

2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him. 

3 When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. 

4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. 

5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." 

6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low! Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me! 

7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.  - Psalms 142

25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things."

26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you seek?" or, "Why are you talking with her?"

28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,

29 "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?"

30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."

32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."

33 So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him something to eat?"

34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

35 Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.

37 For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.'

38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did."

40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.

41 And many more believed because of his word.

42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world." - John 4:25-42

No one cares for my life. 

We have all felt this.

Do we have a passion for those who suffer?

Just open your eyes, they are there waiting for you to show them the love of Christ.

Do you share the hope we have in Christ?

You have many opportunities, where you work, where you live, where you shop, just to name a few.

What about those kids who come from abusive homes?

What about the abusers?

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.

14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."

16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. - Mark 10:13-16

We are a hospital for sinners!

They are sick!

God has the cure!

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." - Mark 2:17

God cares for the lost!

He sent His Son to offer forgiveness and redemption!

He sent you to make sure they know!

17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 

18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. 

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.  - Psalm 34:17-19

Are you doing life without caring for others!

36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? - Mark 8:36-37

Do you look down on sinners?

Remember you were once a sinner!

You were delivered by grace through faith!

That is the good news of the gospel!!!

Christ alone saves!

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. - John 3:17

22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. - Romans 3:22-25

Thanks Pastor Kevin!!!

Jesus, the Bridge Spanning the Great Divide

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” Ephesians 2:16

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Up in heaven is the holy God.

Down below is the sinful man. 

And sin is the dividing rod that separates. 

Without God, man has an empty void in his life he knows he must fill, so man is constantly trying to reach God. But he keeps rebounding off the sin barrier. 

Then God, moved in mercy by the pitiful plight of sinful man, said, “I will do something.”

God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to make a way. And upon the rough-hewn timbers of a cross, Jesus gave His life so you and I could live forever and live forgiven. Jesus built a bridge between man and God. It’s a bridge man could never build. And a bridge that man can never take away.

God made a way that we couldn’t make . . . for me . . . and for you.

ACTION POINT:

Since Jesus built a bridge of love for you to be reconciled to God, it’s your turn to build a bridge of love to someone who is lost and searching.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

THE CONFESSION OF MAN AND THE COMPASSION OF GOD

 Psalm 51

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 

6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 

9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 

11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 

15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 

16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 

18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 

19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar. 

• Sin is serious.

It is offensive.

Sin defies God.

Sin destroys man.

It is comprehensive.

It is pervasive.

Sin appears so subtly.

Sin harms so deeply.

Sin controls so quickly.

Sin devastates so painfully.

• God is gracious.

His cleansing is costly.

His forgiveness is free.

• Confession is the connection.

Confession involves honesty. m Confession involves humility.

• Restoration is the result.

God re-creates our heart.

God re-establishes our joy. m We walk with Him.

We witness to Him.

We worship Him

Thanks Pastor David!