Day 241: And So, Jesus said to 'them': "What Sin Might That Be?"
Read: Psalm 25
Beloved friends, on my heart and deep within my spirit today is the word 'hope'. Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about hope, and I desire to spend a little bit
of time with you on it. I remember when I was a child, growing up in
church, we used to often sing that hymn: "Since Jesus Came Into My
Heart". Do you remember that one? I seem to remember being bemused by
one particular line of that hymn that goes like this: "I’m possessed of a
HOPE that is steadfast and sure, since Jesus came into my heart, And no
dark clouds of doubt now my pathway obscure, since Jesus came into my
heart ..." And I remember that I used to think how can you be 'possessed
of a hope'?
For myself, and perhaps for you too, hope is not
just a wish or a desire, but a settled confidence in God and in His
promises. Christian hope is a continuing reliance upon God’s wisdom, and
love, and power. What distinguishes our hope from those without faith
is that instead of just hoping for something, our hope is in someone.
Someone who loves and cares for us, whose possession of wisdom and
understanding is far far beyond ours. Someone who has the power to
accomplish whatever He pleases, both in our lives and in the world. I
pondered too, with my past, just what hope did I have? Perhaps you too are po8ndering with your own past, just what hope you have as well.
Psalm 25 finds David gearing himself up spiritually for what future
lies ahead of him. He spends significant time looking backward,
admitting to his own inadequacies and past mistakes. This is a pit that
we can all identify with quite readily. However, David does not
keep his gaze backward for long. Without ever making an endless array of
excuses for his past, David looks forward because he knows God is for
us, not against us. He was forgiven, we were all forgiven when we
clothed ourselves in Christ Jesus. But we still have a tendency to look
back, pick up our past, weighing ourselves down all over again with the sins we burdened ourselves with. When will we get God's hint?
The enemy has always had a great way of trying to keep each of us tied
to our past sin, weighing us down with sorrow or pain and regret. We
have all fallen short, we will always fall short of the grace of God.
God knows this, but just how much of the message of hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ do we actually internalize and live out in
our daily lives? Whoa! Did I just dare to ask you that question? Well, I did! I hope you will have a response sufficient for the Lord when He asks you too! Do you remember feeling almost weightless when you were first saved. It was the literal removal of the weightiness of sin. What a glorious Savior! Step forward you're free!
Let Us Pray: Psalm 25 is a Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon. Spend some meaningful and quality time with it. Internalize it! Absorb It! Make it your own! Take possession of the limitless hope contained within it's Living Words! Look forward to the eternal hope offered to us without price through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and take firm possession of this too. For the hope that is, will be, forever before you!
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Read: Psalm 25
Beloved friends, on my heart and deep within my spirit today is the word 'hope'. Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about hope, and I desire to spend a little bit of time with you on it. I remember when I was a child, growing up in church, we used to often sing that hymn: "Since Jesus Came Into My Heart". Do you remember that one? I seem to remember being bemused by one particular line of that hymn that goes like this: "I’m possessed of a HOPE that is steadfast and sure, since Jesus came into my heart, And no dark clouds of doubt now my pathway obscure, since Jesus came into my heart ..." And I remember that I used to think how can you be 'possessed of a hope'?
For myself, and perhaps for you too, hope is not just a wish or a desire, but a settled confidence in God and in His promises. Christian hope is a continuing reliance upon God’s wisdom, and love, and power. What distinguishes our hope from those without faith is that instead of just hoping for something, our hope is in someone. Someone who loves and cares for us, whose possession of wisdom and understanding is far far beyond ours. Someone who has the power to accomplish whatever He pleases, both in our lives and in the world. I pondered too, with my past, just what hope did I have? Perhaps you too are po8ndering with your own past, just what hope you have as well.
Psalm 25 finds David gearing himself up spiritually for what future lies ahead of him. He spends significant time looking backward, admitting to his own inadequacies and past mistakes. This is a pit that we can all identify with quite readily. However, David does not keep his gaze backward for long. Without ever making an endless array of excuses for his past, David looks forward because he knows God is for us, not against us. He was forgiven, we were all forgiven when we clothed ourselves in Christ Jesus. But we still have a tendency to look back, pick up our past, weighing ourselves down all over again with the sins we burdened ourselves with. When will we get God's hint?
The enemy has always had a great way of trying to keep each of us tied to our past sin, weighing us down with sorrow or pain and regret. We have all fallen short, we will always fall short of the grace of God. God knows this, but just how much of the message of hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ do we actually internalize and live out in our daily lives? Whoa! Did I just dare to ask you that question? Well, I did! I hope you will have a response sufficient for the Lord when He asks you too! Do you remember feeling almost weightless when you were first saved. It was the literal removal of the weightiness of sin. What a glorious Savior! Step forward you're free!
Let Us Pray: Psalm 25 is a Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon. Spend some meaningful and quality time with it. Internalize it! Absorb It! Make it your own! Take possession of the limitless hope contained within it's Living Words! Look forward to the eternal hope offered to us without price through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and take firm possession of this too. For the hope that is, will be, forever before you!
http://www.youtube.com/
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