'forgiveness' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.” vs. 15 1 Timothy 1:15-17 Paul wasn’t a half-way sort of guy. By his own estimation he was a brilliant scholar, far more zealous for the law than any of his peers, blameless in all of his words and actions. But after his encounter with the Risen Christ, he came to see that he was also…
Daily Devotions
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” vss. 9-10 Psalm 51:1-10 Even though most people are acutely aware of their shortcomings, they have different ways of referring to them. Some are comfortable with calling them sins, while others might call them personality defects, addictions, or mistakes. They are those words or actions that haunt us from the past…
Daily Devotions
If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self.” vss. 18-19 Philemon 1:10-21 Paul is doing everything he can to ensure that Philemon will receive Onesimus with love when he returns. He knows that when Onesimus ran away he may have left some debts behind or even stolen…
Daily Devotions
And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” vs. 6 Genesis 15:1-6 Abraham’s response to God’s promise of many descendants was picked up by Paul as a proof that salvation comes through faith and not through obedience to the Law. Abraham didn’t have much going for him according to the scriptures. He never did settle down, was unbelievably cruel to the mother of his first son, and a big-time liar while he lived in…
Daily Devotions
…God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.” vss. 13b-14 Colossians 2:13-15 There is a Cursillo retreat ritual, likely inspired by this verse, during which participants are given small sheets of white paper on which they are encouraged to privately make a list of their sins. When they have finished, they are invited to…
Daily Devotions
O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.” vs. 2 Psalm 25:1-10 Guilt and shame have haunted human existence from the beginning, a pair of companions on life’s journey that we would love to be free of. They’re universal feelings–everyone has experienced them, and of the two, shame is the most disheartening. We can negotiate with guilt. It comes as a result of something that…
Daily Devotions
When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’” vs. 54 Luke 9:51-55 When the Samaritan villagers refused to receive Jesus as he made his way to Jerusalem, James and John were filled with indignation. They wanted to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them–they wanted to kill them all. Jesus of course rebuked them and simply went on to…
Daily Devotions
But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” vs. 27 Revelation 21:10, 21-27 As the book of Revelation draws to a close, its writer describes the holy city of Jerusalem as the center of God’s new creation. The vision brings to mind the great castles of Fantasyland, a place where there is no night, death will be no more, and everything is suffused…
Daily Devotions
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” vss. 22-23 John 19:20-25 After the resurrection the disciples were amazed and uncertain. They didn’t know what to do with the good news that had exploded into their lives, and they didn’t know if Jerusalem was safe for them. Isolated by their…
Daily Devotions
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.” vs. 1 Psalm 51:1-17 There are likely few people who believe they never do anything wrong. Aside from the narcissists scattered among us most of us are deeply aware of our own sins and transgressions. We know that we have injured ourselves and others with hurtful words and deeds and are often troubled with feelings of guilt and remorse. Certainly…
Daily Devotions
Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the Lord, and he answered them…O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.” vss. 6, 8 Psalm 99:6-9 Moses, Aaron, and Samuel were great heroes of Israel. Through them this wandering people, freshly removed from Egypt, had become a nation founded on the Law of God, a country…
Daily Devotions
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures…” vss. 3-4 1 Corinthians 15:1-6 Paul has had a lot to say to the Corinthians and the nature of their life together. He’s told them the kinds of things that they should be focusing…