Posts Tagged ‘forgiveness’

Hosea (part 2: Love | Hate)

Posted: July 22, 2010 in Christianity, prophecy
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Throughout the book of Hosea we find God wrestling with the decision to depart from Israel (the northern kingdom).

Prophecies of judgment are consistently followed by promises of forgiveness:

 

God loved Israel and His heart broke to see them fall into apostasy. He’d done everything He could do to win them over, yet they refused to love Him in return. Now He was left with no option but to remove His presence from them so they could experience the harsh reality of life apart from God’s provision.

If you think about it, this kind of thing happens all the time in romantic relationships. One person has a disproportionate love for the other and does everything he can do to win the other’s affection. When nothing seems to work, out of desperation and heartbreak, the lover removes himself from the relationship.

Suddenly the loved one realizes how much she truly cares about her lover. The old saying is true: you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

Here are some of the lessons learned from Hosea:

  • The person you marry has the power to make your life on earth either heaven or hell.
  • When you feel the pain of unreturned love, your heart aches because of what you’ve lost.
  • When God feels the pain of unreturned love, His heart aches — not because of what He’s lost — but because of what His people have lost.
  • Divine judgment is only used as a last resort — when all other options have been exhausted.
  • Even God’s discipline is an act of LOVE, designed to bring people back into the blessings of the covenant relationship (see also Prov 3:11-12 & Heb 12:4-12).
  • It’s better to remain faithful in the first place, than to have to learn the hard way.

Jonah: Bigger Than a Whale

Posted: July 12, 2010 in Christianity, culture, prophecy
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You’re probably familiar with the story of Jonah and the whale, but are you familiar with the prophetic significance of this tiny book? It’s only 4 chapters and occupies less than 2 pages in my Bible. Have you ever read it?

Jonah lived in northern Israel and was called by God to proclaim judgment in Nineveh, the largest city in Assyria.

(Alarm bells should be going off in your head right now. If not, read this and this.)

Had the Israelites known Jonah was called to proclaim judgment over Nineveh, he would’ve been a national hero.

But the purpose of prophecy is to bring people to repentance, thus saving them from judgment. Knowing this, Jonah feared the Ninevites might be forgiven rather than destroyed. You’d think a prophet would rejoice in God’s grace, but instead “Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord” (1:2).

Imagine God telling you to go to the mountains and caves between Pakistan and Afghanistan to tell the Taliban about Jesus Christ.

Would you be thrilled about that assignment?

What would it take to get you there?

What if the terrorists believed you and repented?

What if God sent the Taliban blessings instead of destruction?

Impossible?

That’s what Jonah thought, too.

Jonah believed that since God had chosen Israel from among the wicked nations, he had to show mercy to Israel, even though they were rebellious. He also thought God had to destroy the Ninevites, mainly because they weren’t Israelites.

Does God HAVE to bless America? Why?

Is God FORBIDDEN from blessing America’s enemies? Why?

God is free, sovereign, and powerful; He can’t be held captive to the expectations placed on Him by rebellious nations or self-righteous saints. The Lord’s love and compassion extends to all of creation; He loves the unlovable, forgives the unforgivable, and pardons the unpardonable … IF they’ll turn to Him in faith.

A Tiger in the Woods

Posted: February 23, 2010 in Christ, Christianity
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On my way to the office this morning I listened to a leadership lesson from Dr. Henry Cloud called, “INTEGRITY: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality.”

Recorded in the spring of 2009, Cloud says that leaders need to have the character and integrity to embrace negative realities. 

“When we’re immature, we want problems to go away; we don’t embrace them intentionally. But mature leaders go looking for problems because they know that problems are the things that stand between them and the vision … Ultimately the greatest leaders are the ones who have given themselves to embrace the hardest problems.”

Then in the next breath he says, “Tiger Woods is one of my heros.”

Cloud explains that after winning his first Master’s tournament, Tiger focused on the problems in his golf game (rather than his success) & emerged as the greatest champion in the history of golf because “he morphed to meet the demands of reality; he embraced the negative realities about himself and the things he needed to change.”

Hmmmm … it’s amazing the difference a year can make!

Will Tiger Woods ever be used as an example of character and integrity again?

Before you answer too quickly, consider this:

If integrity is the ability to embrace the negative realities about yourself and change the things that need to change, then maybe it’s possible for Tiger’s character to catch-up with his golf game?

Remember, a fundamental Christian belief is that people can change through the power of the Holy Spirit and the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

Now before you pummel me with objections that Tiger is a Buddhist (maybe?) and thus declare Tiger’s ultimate destiny while secretly hoping for his failure, perhaps you should consider the opportunity Christians have to guide a broken man onto a path of forgiveness and restoration.

What would Jesus do?

Jesus Wants the Rose

Posted: December 8, 2009 in Christ
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I love this video from Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor of The Village Church in Texas. Matt recently underwent brain surgery & continues to recover. His testimony of faith during this difficult time is inspiring. My prayers are with Matt & his family.

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