VIDEO “When He Has Come”

When He has come, He will convict the world of sin… —John 16:8

Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned…” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.

Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else.  The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L

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John 17 – Skip Heitzig

God Knows You

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. Psalm 139:1

It seems my mother can sense trouble from a mile away. Once, after a rough day at school, I tried to mask my frustration hoping that no one would notice. “What’s the matter?” she asked. Then she added, “Before you tell me it’s nothing, remember I’m your mother. I gave birth to you, and I know you better than you know yourself.” My mom has consistently reminded me that her deep awareness of who I am helps her be there for me in the moments I need her most.

As believers in Jesus, we’re cared for by a God who knows us intimately. The psalmist David praised Him for His attentiveness to the lives of His children saying, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar” (Psalm 139:1–2). Because God knows who we are—our every thought, desire, and action—there’s nowhere we can go where we’re outside the bounds of His abundant love and care (vv. 7–12). As David wrote, “If I settle on the far side of the sea even there your hand will guide me” (vv. 9–10). We can find comfort knowing that no matter where we are in life, when we call out to God in prayer, He’ll offer us the love, wisdom, and guidance we need.

By:  Kimya Loder

Reflect & Pray

When have you felt like no one else could understand how you were truly feeling? How does the reality of God’s presence help and encourage you during such times?

Loving God, many times I feel misunderstood and alone. Thank You for reminding me of Your presence in my life. I know You see me, hear me, and love me even when it seems like no one else does.

Let Us Draw Near To The Most Holy Place

When the priest entered the Most Holy Place with the incense and the blood, he had to sprinkle the blood seven times on the mercy seat, which was a picture of the atonement, and seven times in front of the mercy seat. God’s ordinance was absolutely specific—not six times, not eight times, but seven times. Then, in Isaiah, we find a prophetic picture of the suffering of Jesus—the clearest picture in the Old Testament of Jesus’ suffering for our sins.

“Therefore I [the Lord] will divide Him [Jesus] a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death.” (Isaiah 53:12)

It is important for us to understand that the word in Isaiah 53:12 that is translated as “soul” is the same word that appears in Leviticus 17:11 and is translated as “life”:

“The life [soul] of the flesh [every human being] is in the blood.”

When Jesus made atonement for our sins, He poured out His soul in His blood. His blood is the most precious blood in the universe because in that blood is the soul life of God, the Creator.

There is more power in one drop of the blood of Jesus than in all parts of the kingdom of Satan put together. The lifeblood of Jesus is the life of God the Creator — a life that is greater than the entire universe and all the creatures He ever created. That life is released only through the blood of Jesus. He became the Life giver when He shed His blood. We should never turn away from the blood of Jesus. There is no other atonement for sin, and no other source of life. One of our big problems, brothers and sisters, is not meditating enough on the blood.

Prayer Response

Thank You, Lord, that I can draw near to You by the blood of Jesus. I proclaim that life is released only through the blood of Jesus—the only source of life. I shall draw near to the Most Holy Place. Amen.

Whose Reality?

To the pure, all things are pure. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Even their minds and consciences are defiled. — Titus 1:15

Hollywood producers may tell you, “Well, you see, we are just a reflection of reality. We’re just revealing what the country is like.”

The truth of the matter is that they do reflect a portion of reality. They reflect what is going on in the gutter, what is going on in the sewer and a few of the other worst places in the country. Then they spread that vileness over the entire nation. They are not just reflecting reality. They are pushing their favorite kind of reality—the reality that appeals to their depraved minds.

We do not have to accept their version of reality. Yes, there is evil, and yes, there is ugliness. But we as Christians know that purity, innocence, goodness, and kindness exist too.

Just recently there has been a trend of good and moral movies coming and generally doing well, to the surprise of the Hollywood elite. Let us support what is good and decent and avoid what is not.

Question to ponder: What good movie have you seen recently (if any)? What made it good?

The Spirit Is Emotion

If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. —1 John 4:12

Another quality of the indwelling Fire is emotion…. What God is in His unique essence cannot be discovered by the mind nor uttered by the lips, but those qualities in God which may be termed rational, and so received by the intellect, have been freely set forth in the sacred Scriptures.

They do not tell us what God is, but they do tell us what God is like, and the sum of them constitute a mental picture of the Divine Being seen, as it were, afar off and through a glass darkly.

Now the Bible teaches that there is something in God which is like emotion. He experiences something which is like our love, something that is like our grief, that is like our joy. And we need not fear to go along with this conception of what God is like….God has said certain things about Himself, and these furnish all the grounds we require. POM109-110

Once the seeking heart finds God in personal experience there will be no further problem about loving Him. To know Him is to love Him and to know Him better is to love Him more. ROR143

“Some Extra Practice”

Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials.—James 1:2

The Bible is replete with instances of God’s wisdom moving men and women through the most difficult times to the most wonderful ends. Take Abraham, for example. Although he is known in Scripture as the “the friend of God,” he was capable of some shabby behavior. On one occasion he actually compromised his wife’s chastity (Gn 12:10-20), and later, submitting to her pressure, fathered a child by Hagar, their maid (Gn 16:1-16). Then, seeking to avoid Sarah’s hysterical recriminations, he allowed her to drive Hagar away from their household (Gn 21:8-21). Clearly, Abraham was not a man of strong principle, and there were great flaws in his character. But God in wisdom dealt with this man and brought him through some great trials until he was changed from a man of the world to a true man of God.

The same wisdom that ordered the path Abraham trod orders our lives. We should never be taken aback when unexpected and upsetting things happen to us. We should recognize that no matter how hard the trial, God’s power will be there to get us through, and God’s wisdom will ensure that the trial will be worth more than it costs.

I like the way Jim Packer describes what may be God’s design when He permits us to go through trials: “Perhaps he means to strengthen us in patience, good humor, compassion, humility, or meekness by giving us some extra practice in exercising these graces under specially difficult situations.” “Some extra practice.” Some of us, myself included, sorely need it.

Prayer

Father, help me grasp this truth once and for all, that Your wisdom ensures the trials I go through are worth far more than they cost. You are more committed to making me like Jesus than I am myself. It hurts sometimes, but deep down I am grateful.

Further Study

Isa 48:1-10; Ps 66:10; Mal 3:3; 1Pt 1:7

What process is God’s testing likened to?

What is the end result?

Thanksgiving

But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God.

He fell facedown at His feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan.—Luke 17:15–16

Thankfulness is foundational to the Christian life. Thankfulness is a conscious response that comes from looking beyond our blessings to their source. As Christians, we have been forgiven, saved from death, and adopted as God’s children. There could be no better reason for a grateful heart!

Lepers in Jesus’ day were social outcasts. Their highly contagious condition ostracized them from those they loved. When ten lepers encountered Jesus, they desperately implored Him to show them mercy. Jesus sent them to the priest. As they obeyed, they were healed! These ten men had been forbidden to enter their own villages, to live in their own homes, to work in their own jobs, or even to touch their own children. Imagine what unrestrained joy must have filled them as they ran back home again!

One of the lepers, a Samaritan, stopped and ran back to thank Jesus. Samaritans were normally shunned by the Jews, but Jesus had healed him! Jesus asked him, “Where are the others?” Ten lepers had been healed. Ten lepers were reveling in their newfound health. Ten men were joyfully rushing to share the good news with those they loved. But only one considered the Source of that blessing and stopped to thank and worship the One who had given him back his life.

We, too, have been healed and made whole by the Savior. We are free to enjoy the abundant life the Savior has graciously given us. Could we, like the nine lepers, rush off so quickly to glory in our blessings without stopping to thank our Redeemer? God looks for our thanks. Our worship, prayers, service, and daily life ought to be saturated with thanksgiving to God (Phil. 4:6).