Trust His Mercy!

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12 NKJV).

Within the reflection and overview of the history of a people whom God chose, we see the explanation provided as to Who Jesus is, Where He is, and Why He came, again.

He is our high priest–ordained, appointed and established by God for all times.

He is sitting at the right hand of His Father, ready to advocate on our behalf--alleviating the need for mortal man to intercede for us.

He came because the people chose not to follow the mandates of the old covenant (The Law as given to Moses), to establish a new covenant–writing upon our hearts–what He wants us to know and do. It is because the people were not diligent in keeping The Law–making sacrifices for the atonement of sin (They made a business of it–selling the elements to be used for the sacrifices created a problem for the very poor; they had no means of atoning for sins since they couldn’t afford to pay for the elements.) With the new covenant, we can boldly approach the throne of grace for ourselves–whether we are rich or poor–and know with confidence that He hears us and forgives us and then “remembers our sins no more” as long as we do not repeat them. He cannot forgive sin for which we consistently do because by our very actions–we have not repented.

When we have repented (turned away from all things that are not like God) and live a life that pleases God, He does not remind of us of our sins to provoke us to guilt–He forgives and then forgets about them–wiping the slate clean.

Man is not so. We love to keep throwing the past at a person–attempting to make them feel guilty because of a lack of understanding. Once God forgives us–what “we did” (past tense) is nobody’s business and they have no right to keep fishing in our ponds when our sins are in the sea of forgetfulness. Now, we have to trust in His mercy–to forgive ourselves–and not allow the enemy to keep bringing our past before us. We did what we did; we repented, God forgave us and that is the end of the matter.

Don’t allow others to condemn you for the things God has forgiven. Let it go and trust in His mercy to guide you in forward movement, not past mistakes.

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Father to Sons

June 2013

Dear Sons of Valor,

As I watch your every move, I’m saddened by what I see—the Creation, the image of me—no longer recognizable because of all you wanted to be.

I gave you power to get wealth and you instead chose greed because of your need.

I gave you sons and daughters to be your pride and joy and yet you abused and misused them all, the girls and the boys.

I gave you dominion over all the earth, took it back, and yet reconciled our relationship, but you decided to revile it by ignoring my warnings through all my messengers.

I gave you chance after chance to get it right and take your rightful place in your home and you abandoned that which was given and left them alone.

I gave you opportunities to reach out and build and yet you chose to tear down those walls and tried to rebuild on your own foundation and not that of my Son’s.

I watch you slither and creep among those who wish you nothing but ill-will and I try to speak to your heart, but you tune me out, still.

I watch as you allow your daughters to never understand what a right relationship should be with a man.

I watch your sons go through life angry and hurt because you were not there, your manhood to assert what a real man does.

Time is running out for you to understand, I created you to be the head, not behind, and I need you to be the man, the strong foundation on which family is built to last, providing direction and counsel for all in your home that will last and to do all things with honor and integrity so your children will see what life is meant to be.

Look unto me, if you’re not sure what to do.  My love is unfailing towards you at all times and I am here, just call on me for direction and inspiration and stay in My Word and watch me fulfill all that I promised to you as the man, the head, the priest of his home, walking more like Me, every day!

Your Loving,

Heavenly Father

Honoring God’s Choice

When we look at our society and the church world today, what do we see?  Do we see leaders whom God has chosen or do we see the promotion of nepotism and self-appointment?

As a reference, I would remind those reading to re-visit the situation with Adonijah and Solomon when their father (King David) was dying.  Adonijah took it upon himself to garner support from those with questionable characters to elevate himself to the throne as king.  When God’s anointed priest and prophet refused to support him, he threw a party celebrating his kingship and did not invite the priest or the prophet or Solomon.  Later, while they were partying, David kept a promise  (as directed by God) to Bathsheba and placed her son, Solomon on the throne as king.  When the people at the party found out they were celebrating a self-appointed, not God-anointed king, they quickly left the party and Adonijah was afraid (I Kings 1:32-34–read the entire chapter)

When God first “called” Samuel, he thought it was Eli calling him (his leader, mentor and teacher).  Finally, after the third time of mistaking a voice, Eli convinced him that God was calling him to do a great work (I Samuel 3:8).

Peter reminds us that we should “make our calling and election sure” (I Peter 1:10).

More and more people are being misled and misguided by “church leaders” who are self-appointed and not God-anointed.  Many of these are using their ministry to pimp the church and they think God is not watching.  Just as many “church leaders”  are put in positions of authority because of nepotism, not ability and Godly character.  We know because we see it everyday.  How many people are leading churches because their father did or their grandfather did?  How many of these were called or appointed to ministry by their fathers or grandfathers?

The difference in God-called leadership whom He has anointed is remarkably distinctive.  God-called leaders hold the heart of the people close to them and are only interested in pleasing God.  Self-appointed or nepotism-appointed ministers have only one agenda–how they can use the ministry to benefit themselves.  We can all see the difference in those communities where God is actually reverenced over those who are seeking reverence for a “man or woman”.

With whom will God say, “He is well-pleased?”  We need to understand and honor God’s choice, more than man’s choice as it pertains to the things and directions of God.