Life After Sin

By Janet Morris Grimes –

I grew up as a Christian, surrounded by people who were sincere, walked out their faith, and lived by example. To this day, I am truly thankful for the way they demonstrated how I should live my life.

But none of that mattered once I crossed the threshold into sin.

I’m not referring to the little mistakes one might make as I grew up. I am talking about big, life-changing stuff. The kind of stuff I promised myself I would never do. The kind of stuff I thought I was strong enough to handle. The kind of stuff that stays hidden for a while. But eventually, the truth comes out. And the whole world knows it.

It’s the kind of sin that suddenly made me aware of how much I needed a Savior. The kind that proved that on my own, I was not nearly as strong nor as great as my adoring public thought I was.

And that journey led me straight to Peter.

He, like me, thought he could handle it. Jesus, on the other hand, already knew he could not. That he would fall. And it would hurt.

Sometimes, this story is overshadowed by that of Judas. The King of the Betrayers. But in a scene that may be more important, Peter shows us, by example, what happens after the sin.

In the upper room, during what became known as The Last Supper, Jesus predicts Peter’s denial of Him. But He does more than this. He blankets the situation with prayer, in advance. And not only does He predict the fall. He predicts the healing. The overcoming. The triumphant life, after the sin.

It all happens in Luke. Once Jesus confronts Judas about his pending betrayal, a discussion breaks out among the twelve. But, Jesus quickly turns the conversation to Peter.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31 – 32 NLT).

Before Peter is even aware of his weaknesses, Jesus prayed over it. And this happens before Jesus predicts that Peter will deny Him three times on that very day.

And then Peter falls.

It is important to note how Peter responds. Everyone is in turmoil over the death of Jesus. Peter, perhaps more than others because of his own failures. He is not sure how to handle his own guilt.

Thankfully, he doesn’t have to.

Because, once Jesus had risen on the following Sunday, the angel who told Mary and the others about it had a special message for Peter.

“Now, go and tell the others, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died” (Mark 16:7 NLT).

Jesus wanted to make sure Peter knew He was alive, and that He would see him soon.

And Peter was thrilled with that news. What happens next, once he hears that the tomb was found empty?

Peter ran.

He ran to the tomb to see for himself. He ran back to Jesus with open arms. He accepted forgiveness without looking back. He ran to the future, without fear.

And when he had repented and returned to Jesus, he strengthened his brothers.

Just as Jesus had prayed.

Peter proved that the triumph comes by running to the Savior, after the sin.

The Kingdom of Heaven

By Warren M Mueller –

Jesus uses over the phrase “kingdom of heaven” 30 times in the gospel of Matthew. This phrase or the synonymous phrase “kingdom of God” is used over 60 times in the others gospels and epistles. Therefore, this is an important theme in the teachings of Jesus. So what is this kingdom like? First, God has unlimited power and so he has control over everything. As king, everything happens according to his will. However, this is not to say that God is the author of evil. God gave the angels and mankind the ability to obey or digress from the decrees of God so evil is the result of rebellion against God but he is not the author of it. With this as the setting, let’s examine some of the teachings of Jesus and his disciples about his kingdom.

Jesus said that his kingdom is not of this world which is to say that the present conditions on earth are not in perfect harmony with his will (Jn 18:36). Satan and his demons rebelled against the positions in heaven assigned to them by God and so were cast to the earth. Likewise, a curse and corruption resulting in death has come upon mankind for disobeying God’s command not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. As a result of these rebellions, the conditions on earth are like a rotting apple in the garden of God’s otherwise perfect universe. In this analogy, the demons and mankind are like worms that consume and alter the apple which is subject to decay. God has given dominion of this world to the devil who is called its ruler and the spirit at work in those who are disobedient (Eph 2:2).

When Jesus was born, he entered into the realm of Satan as a human. However, there was something different about Jesus because his essence was also divine. He was a dual citizen of both heaven and earth. This meant that, although he was tempted by his humanity to sin, his divinity enabled him to conform to the will of God the Father in heaven (Jn 8:28-29). In other words, Jesus had both a human view and divine view of himself and his surroundings. This is what John the Baptist meant when he said, “Repent for the kingdom of God is near” (Mt 3:1-2 NIV). John’s call to repentance is primarily to change the mind by seeing sin as rebellion and self as fallen away from God. It may also include sorrow and a desire to change but this is an outcome not the motivation. In other words, a person can be sorry for committing sins but continue to do them until there is a change in thinking that drives a different behavior. Therefore, the kingdom of God involves a change of mind as a result of a fundamental change (Jn 1:12-13). This is why Jesus said that each person must undergo a spiritual change so fundamental it is like a birth in order to enter the kingdom of God (Jn 3:3).

How does this change occur? The Bible teaches that those who put their faith in Jesus and their personal savior and Lord undergo a radical transformation internally as the kingdom of God is established within (Lk 17:20). The Holy Spirit indwells each believer and a transformation of the mind begins which works itself outward in changed behavior that reflects the kingship of Christ (Mt 13:11; 2 Cor 3:18). This inside out growth of the kingdom of heaven in believers is like the action of yeast in bread (Mt 13:33). The kingdom of heaven is an invasion of the dominion of Satan. The kingdom of heaven will continue to grow like a mustard seed into a great tree that will spread throughout the earth (Mt 13:32).

The presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the deposit or guarantee of membership in the kingdom of heaven and is the most precious treasure that a person can have (Mt 13:44; 1 Cor 6:19). A judgment day is coming when it will become obvious who does or does not belong to the kingdom of God (Mt 13:37-43). Eventually the bodies of dead and alive believers will be transformed and live with Jesus in a new earth free from the dominion of Satan and corruption (1 Cor 15:50; Rev 21:1-4).

The kingdom of heaven has invaded this world and is transforming it from the inside out. If you are not part of the kingdom of God, I pray that you will enter it through faith in Jesus Christ and experience the joy, peace, love and wonder of this transformation (Jn 3:16-17)!

Signs of the End Times? The Blossoming of Israel

By Dianne E. Butts –

In Deuteronomy 27-30 (see 30:15-21), Moses told the people of Israel that if they lived according to the good ways God wanted them to live by, they would be “blessed” and would prosper. But if they “forgot” God, which means moving away from Him and refusing to live the good ways He wanted them to live, He would not bless or prosper them. This is because the Israelites were to represent God the world. God is good, so the people were to represent Him by being good. If they were not good, they were not representing God and needed to be removed from the land so that the rest of the world would not have a bad and wrong impression of God.

Unfortunately, Israel did indeed forget God and began to live in the same way the rest of the world was living. They did not represent God to the world, so God removed them from the land He had given them.

When Israel was taken out of the land and the people dispersed all over the world, the land became a nearly uninhabited, desolate wasteland—a picture of the condition of Israel’s relationship with God.

But the people of Israel began returning to the land after World War II, and on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation again after nearly two millennia of being dispersed. Since then, that desolate desert wasteland has begun to blossom, just as Bible prophecies predicted. Here are two examples of those predictions:

“But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 36:8-11, NIV).

“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it’” (Ezekiel 36:33-36).

Today, according to 101 Last Days Prophecies by Eternal Productions, “Israel’s increased rainfall and world renowned irrigation technology have caused the land to blossom. Incredibly, as foretold, they currently export over 1,200 million dollars of fresh produce each year, including over 100 million in flowers and ornamentals plants. Amazingly, this recently re-gathered, often attacked, tiny nation exported over 54 billion dollars worth of goods in 2010. This was inconceivable a century ago. In contrast, their neighbor, Jordan exported less than 8 billion in 2010” (p. 9-10).

Could the re-blossoming of Israel be a fulfillment of prophecy and a sign of the End Times?

Clean, Dry, Towels

By DiAne Gates –

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations” (KJV Psalm 100:4-5).

Roberto joined our Vacation Bible School In The Park in Houston, Texas. This tall and lanky sixth grader’s enormous dark chocolate eyes spilled over with sadness that made him appear older than his twelve years. But Roberto was the first to arrive each day for VBS.

Now, summertime in Texas arrives the day after Easter, so by the time school was out and Bible School began the temps were scorching by 10 AM. Add humidity to the equation and it was a recipe for wring-and-droop. What I would have given for a clean towel to mop the sweat that dripped from every pore.

The week progressed and I learned this young man was a budding artist. He had five brothers and sisters. Their family lived in an apartment complex and shared a bathroom with two other families. Paper, paint, and brushes for Robert were not on this family’s shopping list.

The last day of Bible School we had a picnic for the children, complete with food, games, and gifts. Roberto’s gift was paper, paints, brushes, and socks—three pair of athletic socks. Those sad brown eyes turned into sparkles when he exclaimed “thank you” over and over again. Would any of our children be exuberant over a small sack of inexpensive gifts like those? Probably not. Hugs were shared and we boarded the bus back to our church in the suburbs.

I arrived home hot and grimy. The first thing on the agenda? A bath. Filling the tub to the top, I slid into the refreshing water and Roberto’s family—sharing a bathroom with more than fifteen people—flashed through my mind. Face to face with his reality made an indelible mark on my heart.

A tornado had ripped across town the week before and many of those folks were displaced from their homes—no personal soak time for them either—and no clean, dry, towels.

I pulled a fluffy towel from the rack, inhaled the scent of fabric softener, and was ashamed of my ingratitude. Like those lepers Jesus healed who forgot to say thank you, I never thought to say thank you for my bathroom, the water, or the clean, dry, towels.

Surrounded by a mountain of provisions from my Lord God and I failed to thank Him for running water, a pantry filled with food, plates to eat on, a car to drive, grass to run through, flowers to enjoy, family, friends—the list of blessings goes on and on. For goodness sake, a washing machine to do the laundry. The majority of people all over this earth lack these conveniences. God has blessed my family beyond measure and I haven’t even thought to thank Him. How about you?

I learned from Roberto never to complain when I must wait for anyone to vacate a bathroom. And I’m now grateful to fold a load of laundry—anytime—‘specially those clean, dry, towels.

Father, please teach me to be still before You each day. To remember to thank You for each and every provision you give to me, even the simple, small ones that I take for granted. Everything comes from You. You are the giver of every good gift.

The Manual

By Alan Mowbray –

I’m a technical writer. It gives me great satisfaction to create an elegant manual that will enable a customer to solve problems and operate their purchased software at its peak capacity. My manuals are free to all customers who purchase our product.

The catch? You have to read it.

Occasionally, a customer calls for help with a problem and the fix is, let’s say, on page seven. I could ask them, “Did you read the manual?”

If I did, the answer would always be the same. “I couldn’t find it” or “It’s not covered in the manual.” But you can’t do that.

Early on, I made the mistake of answering a customer’s cry for help with, “Did you look on page seven? It’s right there.” The customer was already frustrated—whether she read the manual or not.

Click. Dial tone.

Then she called my boss. Ahem, you only do that once. Time to enroll in Bedside Manners 101.
So when a customer calls and I perceive they never took the time to read the manual I wrote and could recite from memory, I refuse to take offense. I help them. I guide them through the process. At the end, I bring them to the manual and show them how to find the answer for themselves the next time.

Customer service is more than solving a problem, it’s also teaching. I spend extra time to help my customers to understand the product and manual. Because if you are successful and can solve your own problems by using the manual, you don’t need my help anymore and I’ve done my job.

God gave us a manual, too. The Bible. But instead of reading the Word of God and knowing it intimately, we skim through it in frustration or boredom—failing to find the answers we need. Then we complain to God or others, throw up our hands in defeat, or even worse, sit on the problem in silence until it gets uncontrollable and painful.

Our customer service skills can be just as bad. How can we expect to assist those who are spiritual newbies if we haven’t read—and understood—the Manual ourselves?

Our spiritual walk constantly shifts us back and forth between the status of student or teacher. At times, we end up being both. Ever been teaching and getting a download from the Father at the same time? So cool. But through it all, we need to understand our current status and act accordingly. And both require using The Manual.

As a teacher, your customer service skills can water a seed or kill it. If someone came to you for spiritual help—although you might like to—would you respond with a curt, “Did you even take the time to open your Bible and read it?”

No, you wouldn’t. With a gentle, loving heart, you would stop what you were doing, take the time to open The Manual with them, and show them what God says about that specific issue.

Jesus is the perfect example of this. Calm, loving, generous, and direct, He did everything in His Father’s power to help us. We need to be the same. When you hear that cry for help, apply love—and The Manual.

End of my customer service story—that frustrated customer that hung up on me is now one of the most knowledgeable customers I have. She could do my job. She doesn’t call with problems anymore, she calls just to say hi and tell me how much she appreciates the company I work for.

Job well done.

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