By
dpettitt on October 4th, 2008
Posted in God | No Comments »
God has made us a promise, a promise on which we can stand because God is always faithful, he is always the same; he never changes.
God has promised us in Micah 7:19 to “hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” Notice how strong the word “hurl” is. Not toss, not throw, but hurl. Dictionary.com describes “to hurl” as “to throw or fling with great force or vigor.” Merriam-Webster describes it as “to send or thrust with great vigor” or “to throw forcefully.” Our sins are hurled into the depths of the sea, never to be brought up again.
God has not forgotten our sins. No, so much better, He has chosen not to remember our sins. In Hebrews 8:12, God promises, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
If you are heavy with the burden of sin, confess your sins to God. He promises to remember them no more. And if God chooses not to remember them, surely you need not dwell on them either, for God is a merciful, forgiving and loving God.
By
dpettitt on September 14th, 2008
Posted in God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, The Trinity | No Comments »
When you’re a new believer (or even a non-believer), it’s often difficult to understand how God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit can all be one. This is how I reconcile the Trinity for myself. I hope the explanation will help you understand. There is the Godhead (which we know as God). The Godhead, however, has three distinct personalities, if you would, each with it’s own purpose.
God is the creator and the adopter. He has adopted us into His family. We are His children. When we think of Him, it should be as a Father. Fathers (most) love their children unconditionally. They are not always pleased with their children, but they love them unconditionally nonetheless. Consider yourself. You love your children so much, you would do almost anything for them. But there are times when they do things you are not happy about. That doesn’t mean you love them any less. It’s BECAUSE you love them so much that you want to teach them the right things–you want to give them the best of everything. And in doing so, you know you must reprimand them at times. You do not do this because you are mean. You do this out of love for your children, in order to set them on the right path. When they do things that are wrong (expecially when they’re older and no longer under your roof), you will cry for them. You can teach them the right things, but you can’t MAKE them do the right things. And it hurts us as parents to see our kids doing the wrong things, especially when we’ve already been there and can impart our wisdom on them so that they don’t have to make the same mistakes. But they don’t listen.
Well, the same applies to God. In His loving way, He guides us. He gives us everything we need and cries for us when we make mistakes or when we get hurt. But He NEVER stops loving us! How wonderful is THAT! Unconditional love. No matter WHAT we do, God always loves us. He may not like what we’ve done, but He ALWAYS loves us!
Jesus is our Redeemer. Because of our sin, we were separated from God. Jesus came to Earth and lived a totally blameless life. He, like a sacrificial lamb, was slaughtered as atonement for our sins forever. Because He did that, we have been reconciled to God and can have a relationship with God. Before that time, we were not acceptable to God and could not have a relationship with Him. When Jesus said His final words, “It is finished,”, He did not mean sin was gone, nor did He mean He is dead, He meant that He had now taken on all our sin, taken on the judgement that should have been ours, so that we might live and have a relationship with God. Jesus redeemed us–He paid the price for our sins.
The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. He is given to us when we are born again as our guide, as our conscience, as our protector. Those little thoughts that creep into your mind all the time (i.e., you need to call so-and-so) are not intuition. They are from the Holy Spirit. When you do or say something, and you get this “feeling” in the pit of your stomach or a voice in your head that says, “you shouldn’t have said that”, THAT is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit CONVICTS us! Listen to Him! He is there to always keep your feet on the right path. He also gives you POWER to speak boldly for God. He gives you whatever you need. All you have to do is ask. Ask for strength. Ask for wisdom. Ask for knowledge. Ask for a loving heart. Ask for forgiveness. He will give it to you as long as you are sincere in asking and repent of whatever you may have done wrong.
Well, I could go on and on. But I’ll leave it at this. I am still learning. Everyday I learn something new. I’m just now learning about the Holy Spirit. Read Ephesians–it’s only 6 chapters–and you will learn all about the gift of the Holy Spirit that God gives to believers. It is so hard for me to even fathom how awesome God is. He has provided us everything we need. He loves us and has given us so much. And we don’t have to do anything but believe and accept His gift! Once you DO accept it, God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell inside you. The Holy Spirit works on you to change your ways. We do not have to do anything to receive our gift, but once we have it, the Holy Spirit changes you inwardly so that you WANT to do things for God. You WANT to serve others. You WANT to love others. And you WANT to share that good news with others. That’s how God’s kingdom increases–you save one at a time for Jesus. And not necessarily with words, even. Your actions and how you live your life are a testimony in themselves.
By
dpettitt on September 9th, 2008
Posted in God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit | No Comments »
As a Christian, I know that God is a forgiving God, a loving God, who loves me so much that He sacrificed His only Son so that I might have life.
That statement is so powerful. Imagine, if you can, sacrificing your own child for the sake (soul) of another human being. I for one, do not know of any person who would be willing to do that. But God did–for me!
God tells us that if we sin, we are forgiven. There is one sin, however, that is “unpardonable.”
Read Matthew 12:31-32.
“And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
I’ve often thought, as a four-letter word slipped out of my mouth, that I had “blasphemed” and wondered if that meant I would never be allowed to enter the gates of Heaven and spend eternity with the Lord, but in studying this verse more fully, I have learned differently.
The “blasphemy” spoken of here is the refusal of God’s gift of grace or the denial that Jesus is the only way to salvation. It is a rejection of Christ and a crediting of His miracles to Satan. But because I am concerned enough to ask that question, I know that I have accepted, not rejected, God’s gift of grace and the Holy Spirit dwells inside me, a gift from God. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38
I am saved indeed!
