Pastor's Corner

 

January 15, 2020



WONDERFUL RESULTS

My friends, do you ever wonder if God really hears or answers our prayer? Sometimes when the answer is delayed or seems to take forever to be answered, I get impatient with God and with the circumstances and then make the mistake that lots of us make – I try to fix it myself. Take matters into my own hands (not a safe place or a good idea) and make my own decisions without the OK from my Heavenly Father Who knows everything!

James 5:16 (NLT) tells us that the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. WOW. Well, that maybe OK for you, you say, but I am not a righteous person. You are if you accepted Jesus as your Savior. When Jesus was crucified on the cross, He washed away ALL our sin nature by His precious blood AND He gave you His very own righteousness as a gift. 1 Corinthians 5:21. Jesus gave you His righteousness as a gift so that you would know it was entirely dependent on His perfect performance and His perfect obedience – not yours. I see Christians trying to please God in so many ways that they get worn out doing so. Attending this program, that meeting, going here, going there – all in the hopes that God will be satisfied with them and the things they DO. What the Church needs to hear is that God is satisfied with His Son. That His Son lives in you by the power of the Holy Spirit which makes God satisfied with YOU, too. Completely.

And, the best news of all, is that you can never lose your righteousness. So just as God hears all of Jesus’ prayers, God hears all of yours. Always. Because we are righteous (in right standing with God) our prayers produce wonderful results. Does God always answer “yes” to our prayers? No. Did He answer “yes” to Jesus when He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. No, He didn’t, but Jesus’ ultimate death was the only way you and I can be forgiven of ALL our sin. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. And because Jesus did it God’s way, not His, we can stand before a Holy God, clean and forgiven of all our sin. Do you have to be concerned that the sin you committed yesterday will be held against you? No. If God did that, He would be unjust. He already punished His Son, Jesus, on the cross for ALL your sin and to hold you responsible would be committing double jeopardy. God is just. He wouldn’t do that.

I don’t know about you, but when I found out that ALL my sins were forgiven it didn’t make me want to sin more. It made me so grateful and so much more in love with a God Who is already pleased with me, that I would do anything for Him. His love to humanity is reckless, boundless, never-ending and incomprehensible. When that love comes into you, and you realize how much God loves you without you doing anything to earn it, then you, too will have a freedom you never knew before.

Ask Jesus to come into your heart and give you this gift of righteousness and eternal live. You won’t be sorry.

Rev. Joyce Kaplan , M.Div. Retired United Church of Christ Pastor

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024