OUR SACRIFICE TO GOD MUST BE OUR LOVE AND OBEDIENCE

Above all else, God wants our heart and soul.

Eternal Perspectives          by Sally Bair

Sacrifice

Most parents think nothing of giving up their comforts or pleasures for the sake of their children, because they love them. Love seems to always bring out the best in us.

Wise King Solomon was asked to settle an ownership issue between two new mothers. One of their baby’s had died and both mothers claimed the living child was hers. When Solomon demanded the living child be cut in half so each mother could have a part, the real mother begged the king to give the baby to the other mother in order to save its life. She was willing to give up her own child, thus proving her blood relationship.

Such an act of sacrifice can be seen in the lives of people everywhere. We think of first responders and servicemen and women, who not only are willing to risk their own lives for the sake of others, but also their marriages, home life and opportunity to earn a better living.

Are we willing to sacrifice our money, time, talents or lives for the sake of others? Whether we give through volunteering, by attending regular worship service or babysitting our own children, our sacrifice becomes effective only if done with love and godly obedience.

When King Saul disobeyed God, the prophet Samuel told him, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed [is better] than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22) Samuel emphasized that sincerity and obedience must be Saul’s reason to make any required sacrifices.

God takes pleasure when we serve Him with hearts of love and obedience Him. God would have our actions accompanied by a heart given over to Him.

The apostle Paul expands on this truth. “I beseech you … to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God …” (Romans 12:1) True sacrifice means setting ourselves apart from the things of the world for God’s use. Our love for Him will become a willing and joy-filled sacrifice for His sake. Just as it did for Jesus, when He sacrificed Himself on the cross, in obedience to His Father and out of love for each of us.

Lord, thank You for Your ultimate sacrifice. Strengthen and empower us to love and serve You in obedience to Your Word—even when letting go of our own desires seems painful.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  

IS THERE ANYONE YOU NEED TO FORGIVE TODAY?

By all means, don’t put it off! Forgiving others any wrong they may have done is crucial to our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. It brings freedom and joy and peace that nothing can offer. Do it!

Eternal Perspectives               by Sally Bair

Forgiveness

I once had a friend who said no one deserved more than two chances to right a wrong. How many times have we said, or thought, “Once is enough. I won’t let you hurt me again.”

Our human nature finds it hard to forgive. When we’re wronged, perhaps it diminishes our fragile ego or we feel it puts us in a bad light with others. Worse, we may believe the offense deserves revenge because we “don’t deserve such harsh treatment.”

Abuse and bullying, common in our society, are hard to take unless love is involved. Stories abound of wives who have been beaten but refuse to file charges against their spouses. Instead, they keep returning, hopeful the abuse will stop. Parents continue to forgive and accept their children in the midst of their disobedience, all for the sake of love.

Of course, the greatest example of love overcoming hatred, abuse and torture is Jesus. In His darkest hour while hanging on a cross, He asked His Father, “Forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” (Matthew 18:22)

Then Jesus told them a parable about a king who forgave a huge debt owed by a cruel manager. In turn, the manager, now free of his debt, showed no mercy—became ruthless, in fact—toward someone who owed him little.

The limits on forgiveness are of our own making. When we refuse to forgive, we condemn ourselves by holding onto past hurts and pain. Forgiveness may be difficult, but it frees us from the countless ways we offend God, each other, and even His creation. We don’t have to wait for an apology to forgive someone who offends us. And we must never forget that the crux of the matter of forgiveness is this: “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:15)

Lord, thank You for Your mercy and undeserving forgiveness. Lead us to forgive all who have broken our hearts, made us bitter or stolen our happiness. In Jesus’ name, amen.

PRAISING GOD SEVEN TIMES A DAY

How many times a day do you praise our risen Savior? Seventy times seven doesn’t seem enough when we think of all He’s worthy of.

Eternal Perspectives   by Sally Bair

Seven times

I’ve always been fascinated with numbers. As a kid I counted everything, but silently so others wouldn’t think me weird. I counted the steps to our second floor, the bites I took of an apple and the cracks in the sidewalk. I still count things. Habits can cling like static electricity.

Numbers are important in the Christian faith, too. The number seven has special symbolic significance and means completion or perfection, as in God creating the universe in seven days. He also instituted seven feasts. He instructed Abraham to make a candlestick—the Menorah—of seven branches as a symbol of the light of His Word. He sent seven plagues upon Egypt which led to the freedom of the Israelites, God’s chosen people. The number itself and references to it are mentioned many hundreds of times in the Bible. A person would find it enlightening to study the number seven.

Because the number seven has great meaning to God, it has for us, too. It did for King David, who wrote, “Seven times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous judgments.” (Psalm 119:64) Whether he literally praised God seven times a day is not the issue. We do know he made it a priority to praise God. Not only during religious services or before meals, but throughout the day. Every day. Although David’s psalms often express remorse, fear, sorrow, hopelessness and other negative emotions, they always end with praise to God.

One of the best-known lessons about the number seven is about forgiveness. Jesus taught that we should have no offenses. “If your brother sins against you … seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-4) The act of forgiving brings complete freedom from anger and hatred.            

We can develop a “praying heart” like David, where prayer and praise became a permanent part of our life in spite of wrongdoing of others toward him. Having a God-consciousness of praise and thanksgiving, rather than a self-consciousness, will bring great reward. Our God-thoughts alone, about His goodness, can bring peace in the midst of turmoil, as they did for David.

Praise to God includes more than words about His attributes. It encompasses words and thoughts about His “righteous judgments,” His teachings. We’d have no life if not for His Word.

Lord, we give You praise. May we praise You not seven times seven, but at all times. Thank You for Your Word that tells us You alone are worthy of our praise. In Jesus’ name, amen.

           

GOD'S GRACE EXTENDS TO THE LEAST DESERVING

What would we do without God’s grace? Yes, obedience follows on our part, but without His unearned favor, we would lose out on His love, His freedom from sin and bondage, and His incomparable peace and joy. We are blessed, indeed.

Grace

Eternal Perspectives          by Sally Bair

My computer messed up again. It wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. I admit, most times it messes up because of operator error. But not all times. When it errs on its own, I feel like throwing it out and starting with a new one. I mumble and complain, wanting to give up on it.  

We mess up sometimes, too, some more than others. I know a man who became a hard-core drug addict, thief and Satan worshiper. His life and marriage appeared to be doomed. Many people probably believed his was a hopeless case and he’d end up going straight to hell. But God in His mercy and grace brought him to saving faith. Today he is a pastor who ministers especially to others who are caught in the same kind of seemingly hopeless, unredeemable cycle.

We may know of others who appear to be beyond help and unsalvageable. The chronic alcoholic. The addicted gambler. The sex offender. Even the serial killer. They all appear to be outside the realm of redemption. Some believe in the worst punishment possible for such offenders because “they will never change.”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ shows us otherwise. Over and over, Jesus taught that we should love even the worst offender. God’s Word offers hope for the hopeless, without exclusion. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)

All men? Too often our prejudices contradict God’s grace. We tend to give up on people and lack patience with those who are evil. But God doesn’t.

The prophet, Jonah, ran away from God because he didn’t want to obey Him by  preaching to the evil people in Ninevah. Perhaps he was afraid of the Ninevites. More likely, he felt they didn’t deserve to be rescued from their noted, unrelenting wickedness. He didn’t want God to change His mind and give them a chance to repent.

After being spit out of a whale’s mouth, Jonah did go to preach repentance to the Ninevites. Surprised because the undeserving Ninevites repented, Jonah sulked. In the end, however, he realized that God offers grace to all of us—the good and the bad.

Lord, we thank You for being “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8) As you grace us with forgiveness and blessing, may we be gracious to everyone we meet, including the least deserving. In Jesus’ name, amen.