01/01/2022
010122
Dear friends
Peace to you all in the name of Jesus the Saviour of all humanity.
Today, as on every new years day, it would be my absolute delight to start your new year with a message full of blessings from God Almighty and Jesus christ our Lord and Saviour. Even though you might know it and believe, I pray you would still be blessed by it.
Another year is gone and a new one has started. Time waits for no man and it actually feels like it is passing at an ever increasing speed. Do you agree?
Looking back at 2021 I cannot help but feel that there was alot that I wanted to do but never got around to eventhough I now realise I had alot of time to do it in. My priorities were a bit messed up in 2021 but hindsight is always 20/20, right? Do you have some things still outstanding from 2021?
There is one thing everyone should do without wasting any more time and I would like it very much to tell you about it again today. So please read this message through.
If you were drowning, which person would you like better? The one who dives into dangerous water to actually save your life or the one standing on the shore shouting motivational niceties and declarations of how much they love, accept and affirm you for who, what and wherever you are? The rescuer ofcourse. Even if that is the least likable person in your life and the other one on the shore is your dearest friend for life.
Did you know that a lifesaver sometimes has to punch the drowning person he is attempting to rescue? A drowning person can be so panic stricken that they will attempt to grab hold of their rescuer for safety. They are being driven by instinct and is not thinking straight. The punch or slap serves to shock the victim back into coherent thought.
Today I want to be the one who jumps into dangerous water to help you. You might get sucker-punched but it is all in the spirit to help you. Please keep your peace and read on.
There is one Bible verse that kept popping up throughout 2021 for me and that is Romans 1:16. It says that the gospel is God's power for salvation for everyone who believes. The Almighty God's power, now thát is powerful.
Did you know that the word gospel means good news? Does it make better sense to read the verse then that the good news is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes? You would probably say it depends on what the good news is, right?
Good news can only follow a bad report though. If nothing bad ever happened then news will just be news and of no importance so let me start this message by giving the bad report first. What follows is how you ended up drowning in the first place and in desperate need of a rescuer, eventhough you might not think so right now. But please do keep in mind that drowning people don't think straight.
In the beginning God created everything including humanity (Gen 1-3), and God saw that it was good. Man was made in God's image and God being perfect means that man was made perfect. Perfect is God's standard.
But, Adam and Eve sinned. They rebelled against God in disobedience. This sin permeates the entire creation since then because all humanity came from them (Act 17:26) and mankind has fallen from God's glory into sinfulness. Humanity is plagued by our sinfulness. We all have sinned says the Word of God in Rom 3:23. Our flesh and desires are bent towards it eventhough our conscience tells us that what we do is wrong. This concience of ours comes from God's law that is written on our hearts. But we can suppress it and override our conscience in self-justification making this inner voice ineffective and easily ignored. What is left is a seared conscience.
A great test for your conscience is to ask yourself why you hide the sinful things you do. Why do you fear shame when your sin is exposed? Why do you not want other people to find out about it? Parents, why did your todler act guilty the first time they lied? Did you tell them that lying is wrong before or after they lied the first time?
But we all think that we are not thát bad, right? We compare ourselves to the bad people on the news, or our irritating neighbours, that gossip on the next block, or that drunkard that always beats up his wife, that mother who abondoned her children, that wife that was caught cheating, or that corrupt politician, that homosexual, racist or drug dealer. But God set the standard, which is obviously not being met in any of those people so why bother measuring yourself against them?
Do you think you are a good person? Then test yourself. God gave us 10 commandments to test ourselves against in Ex 20. He gave this law so that we can identify our sin against it (Rom 3:20). The Bible says the Law is a mirror (Jas 1:23-25), revealing our iniquity when we look into it. It's like seeing the mud on your face and the blood on your hands when you look at your reflection in it. So here are the 10 commandments very shortly. 1 - You shall have no other gods. 2 - You shall make no idols to worship, not even of the Lord your God. 3 - You shall not blaspheme His Name. 4 - You shall keep His Sabbath. 5 - Honor your parents. 6 - You shall not murder. 7 - You shall not commit adultery. 8 - You shall not steal. 9 - You shall not lie. 10 - You shall not covet (this is greed, desiring things).
James 2:10 says that if you broke one of these laws then you broke the whole Law so it is useless to compare yourself to other people and say that you are not as bad as they are. The truth is that we have all broken these laws. No one is better than the next person. Sure, some people are more depraved, but we are all equally guilty before our Holy Creator Who set the perfect standard. Jesus is the example, His Law is the measuring stick and His judgement is fair.
What's more is Jesus said that if you hate your brother then you've committed murder in your heart and if you looked at another person with lust then you've committed adultery in your heart. Ironically, when you covet something then your will is bent towards that and by this you've made yourself another god which means you broke the first two commandments while breaking the last. We all, myself included, have done all these horrible sins. We've done it in our 'panicked' state without even realising that we are drowning in our sins. We are unable to meet the standards of God's Law and perfect example in Jesus. This is the whole point and the worst news, we are all guilty and woefully unable to do anything about it. Even those people who seem to live saintly lives, who do good deeds for those in need, or who fight hard for good causes, who would not hurt a fly and take care of stray animals, they too are guilty before their Creator. We will all face His judgement in the end and we will all be required to pay for our sins. This will happen whether you believe in God or not. Your disbelieving in His existence does not actually affect the outcome and does not change it. That is pride speaking and pride is a sin too. It is a heavy concrete block tied to a drowing person's foot. This will make it impossible for the lifesaver to rescue that person.
Romans 6:23 says the wages for sin is death. Physical death is every person's end on this world because of our corruped flesh. Sin is our very nature ever since the fall of Adam and Eve. After death comes the everlasting 2nd 'death' that awaits us in hell that is the due penalty for our sins committed (Rev 21:8). We all need a Saviour because God will judge all and He will punish all for their sins (Isa 13:11). This is every person's future and bad news indeed.
But now I can give you the best news you will ever hear.
In Exo 34:6-7 God proclaims this "The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished;" Yes, God is loving and He forgives sins YET He wíll punish sinners. How can God forgive yet will still punish?
He can do this by sending Someone else to pay your penalty (1Cor 5:13).
This free gift is waiting for you to claim it if you believe and repent.
Allow me to explain what this means.
Do you know why Jesus said 'It is finished' on the cross just before He gave up his Spirit into God's hands?
God, in His mercy and grace, sent His Son to pay the debt owed by us to Him for our sins, and those who believe will receive everlasting life through the righteousness of Jesus, being forgiven of their sins.
Jesus said it is finished because He has paid for all sins on that cross.
Through faith in Jesus' atoning death for our sins we can receive mercy from God, the Judge over all judges. Full atonement guaranteed by turning to God in faith trusting in Jesus Christ and the confession and intentional turning away from our sinful lives and behaviour by His power and Spirit now in us. The Word of God says that your sins will be removed from you as far as East is from West. This is great news and worthy of gratitude to God for His undue grace and mercy towards us. While we were still sinners and in rebellion to God Jesus died for our sins (Rom 5:8). While we hated him He loved us this much (John 3:16).
What use will it be if you try to ask for mercy in our courts but you refuse to admit your guilt? The judge will laugh at you if you ask to be set free but there is enough evidence to throw you in jail. And if he does let guilty people go free then he is not a righteous and fair judge, no he is corrupt. But God has proven His fairness and mercy in Jesus.
Even more, after 3 days Jesus was raised from death and He is now seated at the right hand of God as the Intercessor for all time for those who believe (Heb 7:25). He died for all sin past, present and future so that through Him we who believe and have faith in Him will not face the second death and have eternal life reconciled to our Creator and therefore made worthy to worship Him and to give Him honor and being made worthy to be in His presence now and forevermore.
This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news that is proclaimed to the whole world. You cán be forgiven and you can be reconciled to God. You cán be set free from the debt of sin and from this world and it's temptation and your own weakness against it. All this you can receive by faith and trusting in the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Two Corinthians 6:2 says now is the time to believe and be saved. Do not delay and do not presume on His kindness, forbearance and patience because His kindness is actually meant to lead you to repentance (Rom 2:4).
The choice is yours, believe and allow Jesus to save you or, listen to those liars who affirm you in your sin and who motivates you to just swim harder to get to the shore by your own efforts, but, do not ignore the fact that you are drowning and in need of a Saviour.
Read your Bible to verify the truth. You cannot claim you know what it says and not read it.
From my heart and the pure love of Christ, I pray that God will favor and bless you abundantly in 2022 according to His Will and His Gospel message.
Peace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father. Amen
Love always
Megan
