The whole world is being shaken! And followers of Jesus around the world are experiencing one common issue: FEAR is taking hold.
USGS reports 47 earthquakes (greater than Magnitude 2.5) around the world on one day, Tuesday, 2/26/2012;
Tsunamis and hurricanes/typhoons ravaging countries;
Arab regimes are falling in many Middle Eastern countries. Most are being replaced by radical leadership seeking to impose Shariah Law and anti-Israeli sentiment, while destabilizing relations with Western democracies;
Pressure from all over the world against Israel; to divide Jerusalem; to give Samaria and Judea to the Palestinians; to exercise restraint and allow the Iranian-backed forces to continue their relentless rocket barrages, killing people and destroying properties in Israel;
Economic turmoil in the European Union; Greece bailout causing riots and potentially threatening the stability of all Western banking systems;
US government in a stalemate over increasing debt limit, balance of trade, unemployment, and the radical environmentalism that…
Some trees, like some people, use the wounds of their past to shape them for sheltering. They grow to have room in their hearts for all and that certain open-armed welcome you just know you will need someday.
Others go on to be more nurturing. They serve and give generously, providing those who come to them with nothing less than plenty. We will look at some of those types of trees, today.
Drink it Down
And, although these trees offer tantalizing refreshments, let us not forget the harm they endured to become what they are:
For Larger Storage
It can be hard to imagine how these trees must have looked when they were going through all this scarring and the needed recovery, but now they look inviting, as if something special might be happening in their lives.
Looking into this clear stream and viewing the pebbles on the sand so surprised me. I seldom think on how much is hiding below the water, below the surface.
How easy to notice the reflection of glorious cloud billows and soaring trees, shimmering on the surface! How delightful the sparkles that wink into view and then dance away!
How common to love the outward appearance of the stream.
But to look down, to concentrate on what’s beyond the first impression, to stare deeply at what makes the stream a stream–that is like God.
When, upon looking, we find courser things such as mud, sand, dead leaves, gravel, what then?
Why! Then, elevating! Elevating grit and pebbles to positions of great importance!
For without them lying still, working their quiet work, the dancing sparkles become quagmire.
For though I caused you sorrow by my letter,
I do not regret it;
though I did regret it— for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—
I now rejoice,
not that you were made sorrowful,
but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance;
for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God,
so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.
For the sorrow that is according to the will of God
produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation,
but the sorrow of the world produces death.
For behold what earnestness this very thing,
this godly sorrow,
has produced in you:
what vindication of yourselves,
what indignation,
what fear,
what longing,
what zeal,
what avenging of wrong!
In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.
So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender
nor for the sake of the one offended,
but that your earnestness on our behalf
might be made known to you in the sight of God.
“Christ died for our sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” 1 Peter 3:18
Jesus’ death is God’s way of saying, “Even though you have failed me many times, even though you’ve sinned, even though you’ve made mistakes, I still love you! I still want you!”
Sometimes we might think, “I have failed so many times, I don’t see how God could work in my life. I keep sinning the same ol’ sin and my sin seems so great, I feel like I’m disqualified even from the dishonor roll.”
You need to understand grace.
Grace is the power of God working in you, through you, with you, and for you. “Faithful is He who has called you, and He will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24 He did it for Abraham, Moses, David, the disciples—and He died to do it for you.
The wonderful truth is that God uses imperfect people to accomplish His perfect will.
He uses flawed people to accomplish His flawless will.
If you’re willing to let Jesus have His way in your life, God will use you to be a blessing to others, just like he used all the others on the dishonor roll.
You need to understand that God never tires of forgiving us.
Even if I have to ask God for forgiveness 5 times a day for the rest of my life, if I am sincere about it, He will forgive me.
How do I know that?
1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
To fully grasp the meaning of this verse, we must realize the wisdom of God in placing His Son close to Greece, where the language has an extra verb tense we call “aorist”. The aorist tense means “keep on keeping on”.
So the above verse, in aorist tense, really says: If we keep on confessing our sins, He keeps on being faithful and just, and will keep on forgiving us our sins and keep on cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
I need that.
Notice, also, the word “all”.
God is willing to forgive ALL our sin.
Why?
He loves us. Even though we sin, God wants to use us if we repent.
Once we realize we have sinned, we need to confess and ask God to forgive our sins. We can’t just say, “God loves failures, so I’ll just keep sinning and let God clean up after me.”
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:1-4
We have to give our failures to God. We have to say “Lord, I sinned! I blew it! And I confess and repent from the bottom of my heart.”
“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
Have you noticed the two words, “confess” and “repent”? They are both vitally important, and most folks think they are the same, but they are not, therefore an explanation is in order.
Repentance: This is turning around, turning your back on your sin, hating it enough to change or to want to change. It is the giant, “OH NO!” that accompanies our realizing the consequences of what we have done.
Confession: God does not forgive excuses; He forgives sin. If you tell Him all about how it was the other guy’s fault or how you couldn’t help it because of your headache, you are not confessing your sin.
Listen to the prayer of David after He committed his great sins:
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:1-17
How does God respond to people who have sinned? How does He respond to our failures?”
Mark gives us a clue, on the morning of the Resurrection:
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'” Mark 16:5-7
In other words, even though the disciples sinned, even though they had lost faith, even though they had abandoned Him, Jesus wanted to be with them!
Allegory of Hope: Oil on Canvas, Francesco Guardi, 1747
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
. . .
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
After years of protests and criticism from pro-life advocates, the biggest breast cancer organization, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has announced it is halting further grants and donations to the Planned Parenthood.
Figures from August directly from the Komen for the Cure foundation show 18 affiliates of the breast cancer charity gave a total of more than $569,000 to the Planned Parenthood abortion business in 2010. That was down from the $731,303 Komen officials publicly confirmed in October 2010, when they acknowledged that 20 of the 122 Komen affiliates gave to Planned Parenthood during the 2009 fiscal year.
Now, Komen says it is halting all grants because of public pressure from pro-life groups and due to the impending investigation in Congress of the Planned Parenthood abortion business.
abortion effects an increase in breast cancer–
they would stop forever,
since they claim to be pro-woman
and anti-cancer.
But even if they do not care about the millions of tiny women-in-the-making that have been killed in this country,
it still makes no sense to use cancer money for abortion:
A pre-born baby is not a cancer.
Home's Cool! 