“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.”
EXODUS 11-12
12“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.(12:12-13)
MATTHEW 18:21-35
32“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.35“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
12“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.(12:12-13)
MATTHEW 18:21-35
32“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
JOURNAL
These verses are very hard to deal with...the difference between the old and the new testament astounds me at times. It is so hard for me to accept that God would intentionally kill young children because of the rebellion of one man. I have always just dismissed these verses but honestly they really do bother me. Especially when juxtaposed with Jesus words about not harming children.
Then we have Jesus words on how we should cancel the debt of those who owe us money just as God has canceled our debt to him. This is easier to accept, however what is hard is the mental debt that I sometimes hold...especially when I feel that someone doesn't recognize my kindness or my efforts. I feel that they owe me and t hat is just as much a debt as someone owing me money. Maybe even more because it has a way of affecting my heart and attitude about life in general. I believe this is precisely why Jesus says that "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." Jesus also says that I am to forgive my brother "not seven times, but seventy-seven times". The number is not the issue, Jesus is saying that we should always forgive.
I believe that all of this ultimately goes back to trusting the heart of God in any and all situations, rather than the heart of man. I am to love man and love others but I am not to depend on them and believe in them the way that I believe and trust in God. We are sinners and we will let each other down in small and big ways. It's absolutely guaranteed. That is why it's imperative that the source of my hope and identity is found in God and never another human.
This is hard because bad things happen and God allows them. God still asks us to trust him in spite of all the sin and evil in the world. He asks us to trust him even when we are not guaranteed an easy or "positive" outcome. He asks us to trust him even when doing so guarantees that another human will deceive us, harm us and manipulate us. But that is why I trust God all the more...the Bible hides nothing, it doesn't make excuses for some of the hard realities. It doesn't make empty promises. It gives us the cold, hard truth and asks us to follow, trust, love and sacrifice. This is tough but there is a goodness in it that is hard to describe or define. It is what gives me the courage to follow and believe regardless of the messiness.
These verses are very hard to deal with...the difference between the old and the new testament astounds me at times. It is so hard for me to accept that God would intentionally kill young children because of the rebellion of one man. I have always just dismissed these verses but honestly they really do bother me. Especially when juxtaposed with Jesus words about not harming children.
Then we have Jesus words on how we should cancel the debt of those who owe us money just as God has canceled our debt to him. This is easier to accept, however what is hard is the mental debt that I sometimes hold...especially when I feel that someone doesn't recognize my kindness or my efforts. I feel that they owe me and t hat is just as much a debt as someone owing me money. Maybe even more because it has a way of affecting my heart and attitude about life in general. I believe this is precisely why Jesus says that "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." Jesus also says that I am to forgive my brother "not seven times, but seventy-seven times". The number is not the issue, Jesus is saying that we should always forgive.
I believe that all of this ultimately goes back to trusting the heart of God in any and all situations, rather than the heart of man. I am to love man and love others but I am not to depend on them and believe in them the way that I believe and trust in God. We are sinners and we will let each other down in small and big ways. It's absolutely guaranteed. That is why it's imperative that the source of my hope and identity is found in God and never another human.
This is hard because bad things happen and God allows them. God still asks us to trust him in spite of all the sin and evil in the world. He asks us to trust him even when we are not guaranteed an easy or "positive" outcome. He asks us to trust him even when doing so guarantees that another human will deceive us, harm us and manipulate us. But that is why I trust God all the more...the Bible hides nothing, it doesn't make excuses for some of the hard realities. It doesn't make empty promises. It gives us the cold, hard truth and asks us to follow, trust, love and sacrifice. This is tough but there is a goodness in it that is hard to describe or define. It is what gives me the courage to follow and believe regardless of the messiness.
33“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
JOHN 16:33
33“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
JOHN 16:33
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