Is There Any Hope For The Most Evil Person On Earth? Jonah 4:2

Is there any hope if you are the most wicked person on earth?  The Bible suggests there is.

"He prayed to the LORD, "Isn't this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." Jonah 4:2.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND:
The people of ancient Nineveh were wicked and evil to a degree that rivals or surpasses the worst of today's standards.  Jonah was commissioned by God to preach a message of impending destruction and proclaim God's judgment against the people of Nineveh, but Jonah chose to reject God and go another direction.  After he was swallowed by the fish he repented, and the Lord brought him to Nineveh, and preached the warning message God gave him.  The people repented and God did not destroy the city.

Jonah experienced God's compassion and mercy, so he knew personally that God is a wonderful, loving, and forgiving God.

A GRACIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE GOD
Jonah puts two beautiful words together to describe God; first that the Lord is gracious, and to be gracious is to give favor to those who do not deserve it or to show kindness when it is in your power and right to withhold it.

The second was that the Lord is compassionate.  Compassion is to give aid, comfort, and empathetic understanding to those who are suffering.

Both grace and compassion are acts of the one who is in authority or has power over another one who is unworthy to receive grace or compassion.

SLOW TO ANGER
God must be slow to anger; we are each of us living evidence to His patience because if He was quick to execute judgment each of us would have come to our end long ago.

Jonah should have been grateful that the Lord is slow to anger because he himself had disobeyed and was the object of God's judgment.  Even then God was holding back since God's wrath could have been far worse than a stormy sea and ingestion by a fish.

ABOUNDING IN LOVE
God is not only loving but He is abounding in love, His love is beyond boundaries, and past all measures.  He shows compassion and mercy countless of times to each of the earth's billions of souls every day- that is love which cannot be measured.

A GOD WHO RELENTS FROM SENDING CALAMITY
God may is swayed by our repentance.  It is like He favors forgiveness as if all else were equal He would go with the forgiveness.

The people of Nineveh heard God's message, they repented of their sin and turned to God, so they were spared.  The Gospel promises the same for each of us

To learn more about how you can find complete forgiveness for all your sins see my other post.

(c) Adron 6/3/15

Can You Grow In Grace Or Are You Just Given A Unique Amount?

The Bible teaches that we are given grace but can we increase it or grow in grace?

"...Be on your guard, so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness.  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity." 2 Peter 3:18.

BUT GROW
We are admonished to be on our guard and we are admonished to grow; if we are told to grow in grace then it must be something we are able to do, and even seems we have a responsibility to grow.

"But"
Growing in the Lord counteracts error and lawlessness.  When we grow in our knowledge of His Word, the Bible, we learn what pleases Him and what offends Him. Since we live in a relationship with the Lord then our relationship deepens.

GROW
The first mark of growth is chang. If there is no change there is no growth, if there is no growth then there may be no life.

Not all grow at the same rate or speed, daisies grow in a season but an oak tree may take decades.  Not all growth is observable, sometimes things are happening inside that can't be seen from the outside.

GRACE
We have many cute little ways to explain things that the Bible teaches and it is OK to a point, we often say grace is Gods Riches At Christ's Expense.  That is nice and technically true but grace is a lot more than that, that acronym is chapter one of an encyclopedic truth.  The Bible has many references to grace- some suggest favor, and some suggest a relationship in God of which He gives approval.

HOW DO WE GROW IN GRACE?
There is a one-time experience of grace associated with salvation, and our lives become a continuation of that experience.  As we came to God for salvation so, in the same way, we must come to him for daily needs, guidance, power.

Grace has a relationship with faith. Whatever faith expression you used when you came to Jesus is the same way you must come to him daily.  If you expressed faith by the idea that you accept Jesus then use the same thought that you accept victory or growing in him.  If you express faith in that you ask Jesus into your life use the same expression each day and ask to grow. Live faith and you will grow in grace.

Part of living the faith life is living a disciplined life.  Practice the discipline of reading your Bible every day, spending quality time in prayer, participating in the fellowship of others of faith.  Do the good works He inspires you to do.

LORD
Growing grace will lead you to become more submissive to Jesus as Lord. You cannot grow in grace if you are rebelling against Jesus and his teaching.

SAVIOR
Grace is one of the expressions of salvation that the Bible uses.  If you have not trusted Jesus as savior you cannot grow spiritually.

To learn more about coming to Jesus as your savior see my other blog.

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I sincerely hope this post is helpful and an encouragement.  For more like this see the most popular post in the left sidebar, or use the search box above. 

(c) Adron 5/16/15

What Do We Need From God? Psalm 103:8

We need God to be righteous, all-powerful, all-wise, and those other lofty theological truths, but is there one thing above all else we need from God?

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." Psalm 103:8. NIV.

COMPASSION

Compassion is merciful, tender, understanding, and sympathetic. Compassion takes the other person's situation to heart, and with consideration, purposefully cares and intentionally acts on the other's behalf.

GRACIOUS

Grace brings compassion into action. To say that the Lord is "gracious" is to say God acts out His love in kindness and good to someone who does not deserve it.

SLOW TO ANGER

We would be in trouble if God had a short temper. Our sins all add up to a dreadful stench before His Holy nature. If God was only righteousness, He would have condemned us long ago, but thankfully He is "slow to anger."

Being slow to anger does not mean he never gets angry- He does. We should not presume on the slowness of God's anger, for His wrath is great indeed.  His slowness is to allow us to turn to him.

ABOUNDING IN LOVE

The Lord's love is beyond measure and too vast to comprehend. His love is like an ocean that would flood over the highest mountains. His love is bigger than any problem you may have, and his love is bigger than any sin we may have done.

FAR FROM LOVE

We sometimes feel far from that God of compassion.  He has never left us, but we may have distanced ourselves from him by rebellion, sin, apathy, or we let other things crowd out our relationship with Him.  We must remember God, pray, repent, and return to God who has abounding Love.

We need the God of Love.  If you do not have a relationship with God through His Son, Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again in triumph, then you can't appreciate or possess this God; but only a fearful prospect that you might have worn out his patience and may receive his anger.  Only those who have received salvation by faith in Jesus and what he did for us can truly appreciate God's, wonderful love.

(c) Adron 7/7/13

Is God Against You?

Could God actually be against us? If he is a God of love, we might assume he is always for us no matter what, but what if a trait or attitude on our part puts God against us?

"But He gives us more grace. That is why scripture says, "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." James 4:6. NIV.

PRIDE
Pride may come in many forms, and there is a form of pride that seems to offend God. This is the pride, which is referred to as the sin of angels, for the Old Testament tells of Satin's boast to set himself up above God and usurp the place of God in the universe. Isaiah 14:12-16. This is the boastful pride of one who considers himself better than others.

Is God Against You?

No one in their right mind would say they are superior to God in power, status, worth, or glory as the fallen angel did, but we live that attitude in many ways. We refuse to acknowledge his authority and resist obeying his commands. We want to live our own lives and not submit to his design for us.

OPPOSES
God opposes those who are set on their own course. He is sovereign, and we do not know how he will oppose an individual, but we can be assured he will. It may not be at a time we would think or in a way, we would expect. What we see may not reflect the secret truths of their lives.

FAVOR
We often say God's ways are not our ways. The world is full of wonderful, godly people who live saintly lives of sacrifice and service; many live in poverty, struggle in the lower classes of society, and suffer much to follow their conscience. One looks at them and wonders- yet their biographies are full of joy and gratitude, seldom complaining about their situations and often giving praise to God. They experience God's favor: they are given a grace that is foreign to the mind of the prideful and worldly. God has blessed these humble ones, and they would quickly say it.

GOD
God is long-suffering and patient. When we look at the lives of those who deny God's mastery over them, we wonder why God does not bring them to some immediate doom. We must remember that God is patient in giving us every opportunity to turn from selfish ways and accept his will for our lives.

If you want to know more about God's saving grace, follow this link: Click Here.

(c) Adron Dozat 5/19/13

Does God Care When You Feel Alone?

Sometimes we feel alone in our struggles as if no one sees and no one cares. We wish someone will come alongside to give support.

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him." Isaiah 30:18, NIV.

This verse is taken from the Bible where The Lord describes future judgment, and then in the middle of doom and woe he says, 'yet...' it is a turning point where the heart of God shines through to give comfort and hope. Though his people have sinned and rebelled, "Yet the Lord longs to be gracious."  We cannot excuse sin and wrongs but in life's mess, but we can know that God longs to be gracious to us.

LONGS
To long for something is deeper than just a desire. It fills up your thoughts until everything else is pushed out; it is "a heart-deep preoccupation," or even an obsession. It is wonderful that God longs this way to be gracious to each of us.

GRACIOUS
One may see gracious as the forgiving kindness of God to those who are far from him. When God is gracious he is giving mercy to those who do not deserve it and love to those who are lost from love.

RISES
The Almighty is never complacent. From his heavenly throne he "rises" to show us compassion. Ancient kings always sat, you did not want to be in the room if the situation called for the king to stand up- it meant war or death. God doesn't just sit in heaven wallowing in mushy feelings- he acts.

COMPASSION
Compassion here seems to be love-inspired acts of kindness to those who are helpless. Who isn't helpless in some way? We all have hurt, or guilt, or have experienced injustice, but God longs to be gracious and compassionate to us.

WAIT
Many find it hard to apply faith in some situations; we may hurt too much, or face high mountains of difficulty. This verse ends with an encouragement, "Blessed are all who wait for him." The ancient passage quoted above may have referred to a coming Messiah, but we wait daily for victories small and great. We wait for the Lord to reveal himself in a situation, we wait for the Lord to answer prayer, and we wait for him to deliver us from a situation. We must not give up on God we must continue to hold on in faith; and according to the above promise, we will be blessed.

To learn more about finding God see my other post follow this link: Click Here.

(c)Adron Dozat 3/6/13

Why Does God Not Heal Some People? 2 Corinthians 12:9

What does the Bible say about why some people don't get healing? We wonder why some of us have chronic illnesses or conditions, and others have disabilities. Why do we not receive a miracle of healing or a great cure?

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so the power of Christ may rest on me."
2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV*.

This Bible verse is from the writings of Paul the Apostle, where he describes his struggle with his own infirmities. Like many of us, the Apostle sought to be healed of a disease that troubled him. There is no explanation as to which disease, but its extremity is clear from his many prayers for deliverance.

PAUL PRAYED
Being an apostle, we can be assured of his correct prayer. If anyone should have gotten the answer he wanted, it should have been him. He did not get the healing he sought. Instead, he got an explanation.

GRACE
The grace of God is greater than healing. Some explain grace by the acronym, "God's Riches At Christ Expense." It is a nice way of putting it, but here God's grace is more; it is an active manifestation of the power of God in the life of the person suffering. God's grace, or favor toward him, is supporting him, encouraging him, and lifting him above in his sufferings. This grace is more valuable than healing since he would experience God in a greater way than if he were just healed.

PERFECT POWER
God's power is not lacking and does not need to be finished or brought to perfection since it is perfect already. This perfect is like when one is trying to turn a 10 mm nut using a 20 mm wrench it will not work, but when one takes a 10 mm wrench, they have the perfect tool to turn the nut, we didn't remake the tool into a new one we choose the perfect tool.

The "Perfect" here is the action, manifestation, expression, and experience of God's power. Our weakness is the perfect place to experience the power of God; if we were never weak, we would not see the power and glory of God in our lives in the same way.

BOAST
Why would Paul boast about his weakness? We boast about things that we feel are exalted or better than inferior things. We boast about achievements because they set us apart and above others. Paul felt that the power of God he experienced in his weakness was superior to just being healed. In boasting about his weakness, he was boasting about God's power, which is his strength.

*To see other translations of this verse, click on this link: Online Parallel Bible.

(c )Adron Dozat 10/22/12

How To Be a Person Who Does Good Things. Philippians 1:11.

We want to do good things with our lives; we want to be charitable, kind, thoughtful, loving, and more. How do we get these wonderful qualities?

"Filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ- to the glory and praise God." Philippians 1:11 NIV.

Let's look at this inspirational scripture.

RIGHTEOUSNESS

Righteousness is more than just being declared innocent of a crime; it is to be declared pure and holy, as God demands purity and holiness for acceptance. He himself is pure and holy, and to demand less would compromise his holiness, making him guilty and not worthy to rule or judge.

GOOD FRUIT

The fruit of righteousness comes from having righteousness.

BUT

Righteousness is so lofty a state that man can never obtain it. Righteousness before a holy God would require holy righteousness, pure and without any corruption, stain, sin, or blemish. Who could claim that? Paul believed the people in the church could have this fruit, so he prayed for the church in Philippi to have this fruit to the full.

YET IT IS GIVEN

Righteousness is a gift given by God the Father. It comes not by our efforts or merits but by Jesus Christ. None of our efforts or a combination of efforts will earn righteousness.

HOW

Righteousness comes through Jesus Christ. He is the source of our righteousness. He was righteous himself; that is, he was without sin. None who encountered him found sin in his actions, words, or life. Even the Roman Judge said, "I find no guilt in him." (John 18:38). Since Jesus had no sin of his own to die for, he gave his life to pay for our sins as a substitution; this makes righteousness available for us. We receive the righteousness he offers as a gift, and we receive it by faith.

When we have this righteousness through Jesus, we will have the works of Jesus coming through us. The love Jesus had for others will fill us, and we will love others. The gentleness and kindness of Jesus will be ours. The beautiful life he lived will be the life we live.

THE PURPOSE
Righteousness and the fruit of Righteousness are not for our self-promotion but for the glory and praise of God. He gave us right standing before him; he gives the fruit and the blessings that accompany it.  It is right that he gets the glory, and the right thing to do is to praise him.

(c) Adron 9/16/12

Can We Grow In Grace? 2 Peter 3:18

Can Christians grow in grace? We are admonished in scripture to grow, but what is it, and how do we grow in grace.

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3:18, NIV*.

GROW:
Living things grow, if we do not grow something is wrong. We may complete our physical growth but we should continue to grow mentally, emotionally and especially spiritually.

Growing involves changing. If there is no change there is no growth. Growing implies maturity and coming to the fulfillment of the purpose of the one growing: growing also implies the process of leaving the immature behind.

THE COMMAND TO GROW:
It must be possible to grow in grace or else the Apostle would not have finished his epistle with such a statement. Here we are instructed to grow in grace not as if was something that just happens but something that we must pay attention to do.

There are a few things we must do to grow in spiritual maturity.
      *     We must read God's word the Bible daily.
      *     We must spend time in prayer.
      *     We must participate in a community of believers.
      *     We must express our faith in service.
      *     We must share our faith.

GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE:
Salvation is by God's grace we often say we "are saved by grace." To grow in grace could not mean get more salvation, but it is the other part of salvation: it is the fruit of salvation that grows out of obedience with the attitude of faith that leads to becoming more like Christ.

Grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savor go hand in hand. They are mutually inclusive: you can't really have one without the other.

We can know facts about Jesus from the Bible or history and books, but we must know Jesus in a personal way. Our knowledge of Jesus should be a growing knowledge. We should be growing not only in knowing about Jesus and his life, teaching, work, and who he is, but we should by faith be growing in our personal experience of Jesus.

Knowing Jesus should lead us to knowing him as Lord. As we grow in knowing him more we will be obeying him more fully. We can't honestly call Jesus Lord and not do the things he commands.


To know Jesus as Savior follow this link to my other blog: click here.

* To read this vers in other translations follow this link: Online Parallel Bible.

(c)Adron Dozat

* * * * *

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I sincerely hope this post is helpful and an encouragement.  For more like this see the most popular post in the left sidebar, or use the search box above.  

Adron

Use the share buttons below to save and share this to your social networks. 

Finding Acceptance : Romans 15:7

One of mankind’s deepest desires is to be accepted. Christians should champion this, but we often fail. The church should be a place of ultimate acceptance, yet the church struggled with acceptance even in ancient times.

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you to bring praise to God." Romans 15:7. NIV

AN HONEST NEED
We know acceptance is essential, and we all want approval. We grow up longing for it, and our adult lives still need it. To be accepted is to be free of criticism and judgment, to be embraced as you are without any requirement.

JESUS' EXAMPLE
We think of acceptance as tolerance glorified. Biblical acceptance not just tolerating someone without criticism, but it is to be the same way Christ ultimately accepted us. God takes us even with all the trashy stuff we bring along. We don’t need to become saints to be accepted by God; instead, we assume that we are saints and sons. We don’t need to give up eating meat, pray for an hour a day, do penance, change our hair, or perform miracles, but when we come to God through Jesus, we are accepted based on Jesus' righteousness, not our own. Biblical acceptance is an adoption where we are welcomed with all rights and privileges to a family.

GOD'S VIEW
When God sees those who have received Jesus, He does not know the garbage of our lives; when God sees us, He sees the credited righteousness of Jesus put over us. So our reaction to another who is different should not be to see them as problems or lowlifes, but ones for whom Jesus died. God accepts us only based on receiving the gospel; as debtors to Him, we should look with the same attitude of grace to others.

OUR PRACTICE
When we see someone different in our community, we should not make that mental inventory of the differences between them and us; we should only see one thing- Jesus in that person. Forget accent, custom, tradition or clothing, taste, or lifestyle- if God accepts that person the way they are, how can we not? Are we better than God? Is it possible our standards are higher than His? If God sees that person as beautiful and worthy of the death of his Son, so should we. And if God accepts that person as His child, I insult His choice when I fail to treat that person as my own brother.

God accepts you only because of Jesus, and you can give this liberty to others who call on the Name of the same Lord. It is one of the most Christ-like things you can do.

To learn more about how to be accepted by God, follow THIS LINK.

(c) Adron 8/29/10

To Vainly Receive God's Grace, 2 Corinthians 6:2

We all admit that we have received blessings from God, and it is good to remember our blessings. What should be our response to His many blessings?

“As God’s fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.”

2 Corinthians 6:2, NIV

God will not force Himself upon us but offers us a choice. He gives us understanding, blessings, and light to equip us to receive His "grace." The ultimate grace is the sacrifice of his Son on the cross for me as payment for my sins. God offers this grace of eternal salvation, but we must intentionally receive this grace by faith.

God also shows His "grace" in that he allows us to live each day and draw breath moment by moment. God's many graces to us include blessings of freedom and health, family, sustenance, and more than we could count. You think our response would be gratitude and devotion.

No one can force us to do right by God, but the Apostle "urges" us to not let God's grace in our lives be in "vain." Vain could mean something that has no substance or that is pointless. It is an insult to God’s mercy and grace that we take all these blessings and squander them on our own agenda, whims, and pleasures. We casually take from God and give little or nothing back and even demand more. If we behaved this way in society, we would be charged with embezzlement or larceny.

God’s blessings of Grace are to enable us to be His "fellow workers," what an honor! The angels are never called God’s fellow workers, but sinful man redeemed by the blood of Jesus is brought into a true partnership with God. Yet we who are made in His own image and redeemed by the sacrifice of His Son just go our own way and ignore the awesome privilege of serving His Kingdom.

Since God has given so much to me, does He do wrong to ask a response? If God has given me blessings and I squander them, then I am spending God's grace in vain. If I am saved and live only for myself, I am living in vain. If God has given me a calling and I fail to respond, I am living in vain.

I pray that I do not respond to God’s grace with a cavalier attitude but reverently choose to follow the light he has given me. May I never receive God's blessings in vain, but instead, use them to serve as one of His "fellow workers."

(c) Adron 3/24/10

Modern Lessons From an Ancient Washing Ritual. Exodus 40: 30- 32.

I run to church without a thought about my spiritual attitude. I hurry through service to God without considering if I am soiled by the world or transgressions. The patriarchs did not approach God so casually.

“He placed the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the alter and put water in it for washing, 31. and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet. 32. They washed whenever they entered the Tent of Meeting or approached the alter, as the Lord commanded Moses.” Exodus 40:30-32.

We have the same God but our generation has forgotten how holy God is. The patriarchs would wash “Whenever” they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar. There was no exception, they washed every time. They feared God.

IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
They would wash when they entered “Tent of Meeting,” because it was a place of communion with God. They would wash before approaching “alter” because it was the place of service. Be it either worship or service they came cleansed. The washing was a reminder to lift up holy hands in service to God. It symbolized that they were cleansed spiritually by faith in the coming Messiah as we are saved by looking back in faith at the Messiah who died on the cross for us.

LAW OR GRACE/
Christians are not under Levitical law, but grace. The New Testament shows that the law was a teacher until it was fulfilled in Jesus. Aaron was anointed once as a priest, the washings did not add to the anointing but showed reverence to God. It is the same with the church- no act, ritual, or tradition will add more to God’s grace. These Old Testament verses remind us to approach and serve God with care and reverence, not with hands, or lives soiled by sin.

WHAT ABOUT US
Each day presents opportunities to do good to others, to serve God, and to commune with Him. Every little task may be done as an act of worship and service to God. We must serve and worship with clean hands and a clean standing before him. Since we step through a sinful world and our hands get dirty in the process, we should pause to reflect, confess, and put away the sins we pick up on the way before we come to the Lord's work or do any good deed in his name. Confession is not in an attempt to gain more grace but out of fear of the Lord.

They obeyed “As the Lord commanded.” They followed an external command but we should follow their heart example to show respect for God, and serve Him in holiness.

(c) Adron Dozat 3/16/10 

The Glorious Weakness of Human Effort. 2 Corinthians 12:9. NIV

There is much in life we can do nothing about. We have scores of personal weaknesses. If only we were some superhero with immense strength and super intelligence. But we are just ordinary people, with problems we can’t fix.

“But he said to me, 'my grace is sufficient to you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9. NIV.

If anyone could have expected the Almighty to lift their burden, it should have been Paul the great Apostle. He struggled with an illness he termed the “thorn in the flesh,” (2 Corinthians 12:7). This great man of faith whose service to God is unparalleled sought The Lord in prayer for deliverance on multiple occasions. Instead of healing,g Paul was given the promised blessing that God’s grace will suffice.

Today’s faith community has many definitions of grace. Some say grace is “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” Many sing that we are saved by Amazing Grace. Others define grace as synonymous with mercy, favor, or dignity.

This verse tells that grace:

• Comes from God
• Is sufficient
• Is for me
• Has power
• Is perfect in my weakness.

There is the grace that leads to salvation, where Gog comes into our lives; but this is the grace of God being in our lives, it is an experience of God. This grace is intimate and personal to those of us who call out to God.

God’s power was already perfect, but it is in our weaknesses He shows His perfect power. Often we don’t look to Him until we are faced with our own weakness; then we seek Him and our weakness becomes the vehicle that God uses to manifest His power. If I had never known weakness, then I would never value God’s strength and power. Paul, through his weakness, experienced the power of Christ in a way that even the Apostle would never have known otherwise. His weakness became something to celebrate.

We all have some weakness. Like Paul, we who can’t help ourselves must look to Him Who Can. Paul’s prayer for deliverance was answered not with healing but with “promise perspective,” that God's grace would be enough. Our prayers for victory over our struggles may not result in more strength but in more of God in our lives. Cry out to God about your weakness; thankfully ask the Lord for His abundant grace, keep it up until you can celebrate His power in your life.

____________________________

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I hope this post is helpful and an encouragement.  For more like this see the most popular post in the left sidebar, or use the search box above.

Use the share buttons below to save and share this to your social networks. 

(c) Adron 3/4/10