August 8 2015

August 8 2015 Greetings My Friend “I will be their God and they will be my People.” Each time I run into this passage I find myself stopping and absorbing this message. I find it a comfort and a desire deep inside of me wants to keep searching for God’s love for me. I read this passage often as God sends His people Israel into punishment. They are exiled from their homeland and after announcing judgement He tells them He will forgive them, heal them and in the end He will be their God and they will be His people. The more I read the Old Testament the more I see God trying to teach His people to follow Him and not the ways of the world. I see God putting up with their flagrant disregard for His ways and finally I see God punishing His people. I sense God would rather not punish them but He can’t tolerate their insolence forever and He has to exact judgement on them. I often hear people say “The God of the Old Testament was an angry God.” I sense that these people don’t seem to see how many times God asked His people to repent and turn back to Him. I somewhat relate as a parent myself. How many times did I have to tell my child “no” before I had to back up that “no.” Eventually we pay for the consequence of our actions. As I hear many people teach today that “God is a God of love” I don’t hear that God will punish evil behavior. If I am honest in my walk I realize that God is a God of love but He will also one day hold each of us accountable. I learn that if we accept Jesus as our Savior then our sins will be forgiven. I also hear Jesus teaching “go and sin no more.” I see Jesus having compassion on the worst of sinners. It is those people that seem to “hear” when Jesus says “repent, go and sin no more.” At one point I hear Jesus say that the sinners are going to heaven faster than those that know the law. I learn that following a prescribed set of rules won’t get people into heaven. Again I hear Jesus teach that our walk with God must be from our heart not just our actions. For me I love to do ritualistic things. They are things I can see and do and mark off of a list. That won’t help me grow though. When I learn to confess a sin, ask God to forgive me and then ask God to show me how to walk away from that sin that is the point my growth begins. At first admitting my sin was so hard. I was waiting for God to punish me so hard. I began with a general statement “Forgive me Lord for I have sinned.” One day I sensed God asking me “Exactly what was your sin?” I thought of a small to me sin and told God. I was surprised when I started to let go of that desire to sin. Today I can name my sins easier and I find a calmness in my spirit as I name it. My prayer at present goes something like “Lord teach me my sins so I may know them and then in Your power teach me to walk away from that sin.” I realize God doesn’t want to beat me up with my sin but wants to help me move into peace. It is worth naming my sins. May God Bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet