Posts Tagged ‘forgiveness of sins’
Scripture reading for June 16th: Acts 10:24-48
Peter got out of his comfort zone, and went with the men to the house of Cornelius. He found a large crowd of people awaiting his arrival and explained to them how God had helped him overcome his religious fear of becoming unclean in the house of a Gentile. (Acts 10:27-28)
Peter asked Cornelius why he had sent for him. Cornelius told Peter and the crowd about the vision he had and instructions to send for Peter. “Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” (Acts 10:33b) This invitation opened the door wide for Peter to preach the full Gospel message!
After telling the people that God accepts people of all nations who fear God, Peter preached Jesus Christ. “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what happened through out Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached–how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him. (Acts 10:34-38) He then told them about the crucifixion and resurrection on the third day and Jesus’ command for the disciples to preach that Jesus is the judge of the living and dead. Peter told about forgiveness of sins for all who would believe in Jesus’ name.
As Peter was preaching, the Holy Spirit came on all who were listening. Peter and his Jewish Christian companions who had been baptized in the Holy Spirit at the first Pentecost now heard these Gentiles also speaking in other tongues and praising God! God was no respecter of persons or nationalities! Peter ordered them baptized in water and stayed to instruct them.
Have you experienced Pentecost? Don’t just read about it and think it was nice for them! It is for today! “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–fr all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
Scripture reading for June 30th: Psalms 128-134
When journeying to the House of the Lord, one begins to think about the need to have mercy for our sins. We are all sinners and are aware that we have broken God’s laws. Those laws are initially written on our conscience. For Israel, they were written on tablets of stone and then written into the Law of God as received by Moses. Breaking of those commandments brought the need for God’s mercy and forgiveness. A sacrifice of blood must be presented by one of the priests. God must accept the sacrifice and forgive the one who offended Him and broke His law.
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.” (Psalms 130:1-4) As the psalmist travels onward toward the temple, he begins to call out to God for mercy. He knows his need of forgiveness and mercy and asks unashamedly in faith. He also acknowledges that none could stand if God kept a record. We know that He does keep good records! (Revelation 20:11-12)
The psalmist waited in anticipation for the Lord. The waiting was one of eager expectation of God’s mercy and comforting presence. “O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption. He Himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.” (Psalm 130:7-8)
Like the psalmist in this psalm, we anticipate the second coming of Jesus Christ and know that our sins are forgiven and that we have a glorious future in His presence. This blessed hope causes us to cleanse our lives from all sins and live in the same holy expectation. (Titus 2:11-14) Like the watchman waiting for the morning, we wait for the trumpet to sound and Jesus Christ to return. His unfailing love is better than life and full redemption includes a glorified body and unspeakable joy with Him forever! He will redeem Israel from all her sins as well as they trust in Him! Praise the Lord!
Scripture reading for October 15th: Mark 1-3
Mark’s Gospel is concise and active. It is alive with the Good News of God here with us and in love with us. This revelation is found in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man! Mark wastes little time with preliminaries of the Jewish history of the Christ and prophesies of His birth. He gets right down to the action of Jesus living among His people and loving and serving them by teaching, healing, and casting out devils. He ate with the people and told them stories that opened up for them the kingdom of heaven and their own need for a relationship with the Father. One story of a healing is the subject of our study today.
As a result of a spectacular healing of a man with leprosy, people were coming from everywhere to find the man who could bring these miraculous results. Crowds gathered wherever Jesus went. He returned to Capernaum where he had done miracles and a crowd quickly gathered. There were so many that people were crowded around the house to hear Him preach the word. A group of men brought a friend who was paralyzed to Jesus for healing. Because of the crowd, there was no way to get him inside, so they carried him up on the roof. They opened a hole big enough to let the man down and lowered him into the room.
When Jesus saw the faith of the friends, He immediately responded to the man by saying: “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5) This caused some religious leaders who were present to begin to think about how wrong this statement was to come from a mere man. After all, only God could forgive sins! (Mark 2:7)
Jesus had immediate understanding of their thoughts and sought to help them believe. He asked them why they were thinking these things and asked them which was easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven” or “Get up, take up your bed and walk”? In order to remove their objection, he told the man to get up, take up his bed, and walk. This the man did to the amazement of the crowd!
This story should help us to see how faith should motivate us to seek Jesus for answers to whatever problems we face. Jesus honors faith and no problem is too hard for Him. We may not have faith ourselves, but believing friends can also be a great blessing by taking us to Jesus. The obstacles must be pushed or broken through so we are not discouraged or denied! What friend do you know that needs help today to get to Jesus? Take a few minutes of your day to pray for him. As the Lord leads, get another friend or two and go and lift him to Jesus together! What a joy to delight Jesus with your faith! What a blessing faith-filled friends are! Miracles are waiting for those who break through! He truly is God!