God's Roadmap

Now may the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God, who loved us and in his wonderful grace gave us eternal comfort and a beautiful hope that cannot fail, encourage your hearts and inspire you with strength to always do and speak what is good and beautiful in his eyes (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 TPT).


Thursday, March 28, 2024

Redeemed from Regret and Condemnation

 


“I do not know Him!”

Peter’s words of denial echoed across the High Priest’s courtyard into Jesus’ ears. The one who boldly proclaimed only hours before that he would go to prison or die with Jesus now shriveled with panic before a servant girl.

The compassion in the Savior’s eyes when He turned and looked at Peter shattered this disciple’s wall of defensive fear. Remorse and embarrassment moved him to run away and weep bitter tears.

Despite his earlier statement of loyalty, Peter’s faith didn’t stand up to the test of persecution. He and the rest of the disciples, except John, hid while Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross.

Peter’s soul probably didn’t need any help from Satan to feel incriminated. While Jesus’ body laid in a cold, dark tomb, this fearful man had three days to wallow in regret. Even after the resurrection Peter must have wondered what Jesus thought of him.

Redeemed from Regret

Not until the walk on the beach before Jesus ascended to heaven did this follower of Christ come to know he was forgiven by his Lord.

After the Holy Spirit descended upon believers on the Day of Pentecost, boldness entered them. Peter grew into the leader of the new church. He received the revelation of living in Christ’s identity, and allowed God to redeem his soul from the grief of past failures. Now rather than denying Jesus, Peter stood strong under the tyranny of the same Roman government that crucified the Son of God.

At times we may feel the same way Peter felt. We probably have instances in our lives where we have denied the Lord. Maybe we didn’t witness to someone like we should have. Or we stayed silent when we could have defended the gospel. There are other mistakes and trespasses we could have committed that cause us to look back with remorse.

These emotional enemies drop hammers of anguish on our souls. We do need to repent, but we don’t need to remain in the dark hole of sorrow. If we do, we only dig the chasm deeper with each mental shovel full of self-blame.

The remedy for us is the same as the one for Peter. Allow the conquest Jesus won to silence the voice of our accuser.

No Condemnation

Tradition tells us Peter died by being crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy to die in the same manner as his Savior. What a difference liberation from his former history did for the man who denied he even knew Jesus’ name.

Liberation from our history can make the same difference for us too. God doesn’t condemn us and He doesn’t want us to condemn ourselves. Jesus paid for every sin we have ever made and will ever commit. The key is to receive this gift and look forward through God’s lens of triumph instead of the rear-view mirror of yesterday.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1 AKJV)

 If you feel guilty over failures, don’t run from Jesus. Rush into His arms and receive the beautiful redemption He died to give you. (click to tweet)

On this Resurrection Day, think about the victory Jesus won for all of us. Guilt, condemnation, and shame have been washed away by the blood of God’s Son. We can be as effective as Peter was after Pentecost when we realize the power of living in Christ’s identity.

Celebrate Resurrection Day by knowing who you are in Christ.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV)

What are your thoughts? Join the conversation.

 

Image by bess.hamiti@gmail.com from Pixabay 

 

 

 

Thursday, February 29, 2024

5 Benefits of Holy Living

 


by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

Holiness is viewed by the world around us as an undesirable trait.

The reason for this is because they don’t understand what holiness means. To unbelievers, holiness means being a boring, never-doing-anything-fun type of person.

According to Strong’s #H6944 holiness means, hallowed, consecrated, dedicated.[i]

Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due His name; worship Yahweh in the splendor of His holiness. (Psalm 29:2 HCSB)

One of the dictionary definitions of holy is having a spiritually pure quality.

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Happy Valentine's Day From the One Who Loves You Most

 

Happy Valentine's Day From the One Who Loves You Most

by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

Chocolate, roses, fancy dinners, and stuffed animals are the primary gifts given for Valentine’s Day. These are physical reminders of affectionate feelings for another person. But after the day is over, do we revert back to old ways and forget the loving things said and done because of a special holiday?

Our tokens of love are emotional. Feelings aren’t wrong, but we can’t depend on them to guide our lives. Sometimes we don’t feel like being loving, we would rather be grumpy or rude. 

But real love does the action without the feeling.

Thursday, February 8, 2024

6 Ways Jesus Shows us The Power of I AM

 


by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta 

In the Garden of Gethsemane, the chief priests and Pharisees came to arrest Jesus and brought a crowd with them. The King James Version uses the word band. Other versions state multitude or detachment. But the word is translated from the Latin speira (Strong’s 4686) and denotes a Roman military cohort of 600 men. This shows what a threat Jesus was to the religious establishment.

 But no matter how many they had with them; Jesus couldn’t have been taken had He not submitted. God’s Son could not be contained by humans.

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Groundhog Day Can Teach Us Not to Rely on Shadows for Truth

 


by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

The legend of Groundhog Day tells us if this furry little creature comes out of hibernation and sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter. No shadow means an early spring. Spring brings to mind new life as trees and flowers bloom and animals give birth to young. We hope for relief from the bitterness of winter. But this observance is merely tradition. How many times is the groundhog wrong? His shadow doesn’t represent the truth of the season’s weather.

Groundhog Day Can Teach Us Not To Rely On Shadows For Truth.

Thursday, January 25, 2024

3 Lessons We Can Learn From Israel's Kings

 


by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

The Old Testament provides us with multitudes of examples of Israel’s failures to obey God. Despite warnings from prophets, the people refused to turn away from false gods. When the leaders fell into sin, most of the population followed.

Here are 3 lessons we can learn from Israel’s kings. If we will read their history with open eyes we can learn from their examples and avoid the same mistakes they made.

1. Disobedience Has a Price.

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come (1 Corinthians 10:11 NKJV)

Saul took it upon himself to offer a sacrifice that only the priests were allowed to do. He decided what to do rather than listening to the Lord. Because of this disobedience the kingdom was torn away from his family and given to another.

David’s sin with Bathsheba is recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 11. He repented and God forgave him, but he paid a heavy price. The child Bathsheba bore died, the sword never left David’s house, and his children lived in turmoil. One of his sons raped a daughter of David and his son Absalom attempted a coup against his father’s kingdom. But because of David’s repentant heart, God made a promise that David’s descendant would always be on the throne.

Solomon started out right. He was the wisest man who ever lived. He penned hundreds of proverbs and songs and his wisdom was known throughout the world. Yet because of his marriage to multiple women from heathen countries, his heart was turned away from God and toward the idols of his wives (which God forbade His people to do for this reason). God preserved one tribe because of his promise to David but the remaining tribes were torn from Solomon’s line and after his death given to his servant Jeroboam.

And the most famous evil king of Israel was Ahab. He brought the worship of Baal to Israel after he married Jezebel. He wouldn’t listen to the prophet Elijah’s warnings. He died in battle and the dogs licked his blood from the chariot where he fell.

2. Advice From Ungodly People Can Draw Us Away From God.

 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14).


Solomon’s son Rehoboam reigned in Judah after his father’s death. He rejected the counsel of the elders who had advised Solomon and instead he listened to his friends. He fell to peer pressure.

Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but later relied on the king of Syria instead of the Lord. He was diseased in his feet the rest of his life.

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, walked in the ways of David but he did not take away the high places of false worship. He later allied himself with the evil king of Israel, Ahaziah, to make ships to go to Tarshish.  Because of this the ships they made were wrecked.

When Joash became king of Judah he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Yet when Jehoiada the priest died, Joash listened to the leaders of Judah and they bowed down to worship wooden idols. After years of the kindness of Jehoiada into Joash’s life, Joash still killed that prophet’s son. Because of this act, judgment was executed against Joash and his own servants conspired against him and killed him.

3. A Divided Heart Will Make Us Unstable.

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. (Ephesians 4:14-15 AKJV)

In 2 Kings 10 Jehu destroyed the worshippers of Baal yet in verse 31 it says, But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin.

Jehu destroyed the elements of Baal but did not totally dedicate himself to the Lord. He had a divided heart and a divided heart will make us unstable in all our ways (James 1:8).

We live under a new covenant and we are not judged for sin the way these Old Testament kings were. But there is still a consequence to sin and the lessons the lives of these kings left behind can show us what happens when we abandon God and go our own way.

We can be thankful for God’s mercy and forgiveness, but we can spare ourselves so much pain and heartache if we will follow His ways to begin with.

What have you observed about the lives of these kings? Share your thoughts.

3 Lessons We Can Learn From Israel’s Kings. If we read their history we can learn to avoid the same mistakes they made. (click to tweet)

Image by Jukka Niittymaa from Pixabay



 

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Do You Know How Much You Matter to God?

 


by Barbara Latta

As we enter a new year our thoughts are on new ways to set goals or start resolutions.

But we can also be tempted to look behind us and allow any despair, heartbreak, or loss from last year to overwhelm us. Our soulish health depends upon changing our focus.

The only reason we should look in the rearview mirror is to learn from mistakes. We don’t need to stay in the pain of the past. God doesn’t want us living in regret.

We can anticipate the future with hope when we focus on the love Christ has for us and that He gives our lives significance.

The best way we can start this year is to know we matter to God.

We can learn how important an individual life is when we read the story of the Samaritan woman (John 4:1-25).

Jesus left Judea to go to Galilee. In that day, Jews did not travel through Samaria. They would take the longer way around to avoid putting their feet on the soil of a despised race. Except for Jesus.

The Scripture tells us that Jesus “needed” to go through Samaria. He knew a woman with a broken heart and a spiritual thirst would be there. A woman who felt insignificant. A woman who didn’t matter to society. A woman who felt alone and isolated. A woman who sought love but remained empty.

She may not have mattered to anyone else, but she mattered to the Son of God. She mattered so much He changed His route just to be where she was.

The Messiah ministered to this woman’s soul and healed her hurts by accepting her despite her sin and failures. His words changed her destiny. He broke religious tradition and racial prejudice because she was important. He showed her what true love was all about.

Do you ever feel the same way this woman did? Do you feel lost in the billions of people in the world as if you don’t matter?

The Savior speaks to us as individuals. He is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). We matter so much He died in the place of each of us.

He meets us where we are like He did with the Samaritan woman. You matter. I matter. He gives each life significance. He wants our fellowship. He wants us to let Him love us.

We can start the new year by accepting Christ’s love and letting Him show us how important we are to Him. Please know you matter to God.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10 NIV)

Join the conversation and share your thoughts.

We can start the new year by accepting Christ’s love and letting Him show us how important we are to Him. Please know you matter to God. (click to tweet)

 Have you set new goals for this year? My most recent article on Crosswalk encourages us to make prayer a priority and grow into a habit in 2024. You can read the article here. 4 Ways to Make Prayer a Priority This Year

Image by Treharris from Pixabay