Tag: Jesus

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Condemned already. John 3:17-18

On By Ben JenningsIn Devotional1 Comment

H- Highlight
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 3:17-18

E- Explanation:

When Moses put the serpent up in the wilderness, he did so in response to the great need of the people of Israel. They were already bitten. They already had poison running through their veins. They were going to die. Their only real hope was to trust in God by looking to the provision that He had given to them. 

We are sinners. The wages of that sin is death. Outside of Christ, we stand already condemned. The death sentence hangs over us. The default position of every person is condemned. 

Christ’s purpose in coming was not judgement. He came to save. He came to be lifted up so that all would believe on Him.

Luke 19:10 (KJV)

10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

A- Application:

If you are not saved today, know that right now you are condemned. Look to Jesus and live! Today is the day of salvation. Not tomorrow. Right now. You don’t know what tomorrow holds. Call on the name of the Lord to save you from your sin! Do it today.

If you are saved today, point people to Jesus. Everyone is going to spend eternity somewhere. Heaven or hell. Those without Christ are condemned already. Tell them about Jesus Christ! Tell them about the salvation in Jesus that is by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone. 

R- Response:

Heavenly Father, please help me find someone who needs to hear about you today. I pray that you’d help me to lead someone to you even this week. Amen.

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Tell Someone About God’s Forgiveness. Psalm 130:7-8

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment


Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

(8) And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Psalm 130:7-8

Explanation
We see here a transition from talking to God and asking for His help, to proclaiming to those who need the same deliverance where it can be found.  Our hope for deliverance is in the Lord.  Why?

  • With the Lord there is mercy.
  • There is an abundance of redmeption.
  • God is able to redeem Israel from all “his iniquities”.

This is a declaration to everyone in the nation that God has more than enough mercy, forgiveness, and redemption to go around.  

Application
When we have sinned, then cried out to God, and experienced His forgiveness and deliverance, we should take one more step.  We should declare that God is a forgiving God.  We should proclaim that there is hope in Him.  The lost can be saved when they go to God for mercy.  They can be forgiven just like we can.

Response
Heavenly Father, who in my life needs to hear about the abundance of mercy that is found in you?  Direct me to them this week.  Help me to love them through bold proclamation of your forgiveness.  Amen.

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Luke- Week 7- Day 4

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

Luke- Week 7- Day 4

But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.  (36)  Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Luke 6:35-36 

Question #3- Why should I love?

But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again;

Luke 6:35a

This is a restatement or summary of what He had commanded.

Why should we love this way? 

1. Reward from God

“and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest:

Luke 6:35b

Jesus tells his disciples that those who love like this will be rewarded by God in a big way.  Those who love like that show that they are his disciples.  They show that they are blessed. Those that display this kind of love show that they are “children of the Highest”. Their identity is connected to God because they are loving the way God loves. The next phrase is the key to the whole passage:

“for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.  (36)  Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”

Luke 6:36

Our motivation for loving is not the performance of those we are called to love.  Our motivation for loving is found in the fact that God loved us when we did not deserve it.  God is kind to the unthankful.  God is kind to the evil person.  That means God has been merciful to us.  Since God has loved us when we were undeserving, we ought to love those around us that we may feel do not deserve it either.

Application:

Romans 5 says something particularly important about God’s love for us.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  (7)  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  (8)  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  (9)  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  (10)  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

Romans 5:6-10

If God loved us when we were His enemies, this means He loved us when we did not deserve it.  He did not wait to demonstrate His incredible love for us when we were deserving.  He loved us first.

When we love others unconditionally, intentionally, and as an action, our reward will be great.  We will demonstrate that we are people who God has changed.  We will demonstrate that we are born again!

Response:

Take a moment to thank God for loving you when you did not deserve it.

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Recognize our sin. Luke- Week 6- Day 1

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

Recognition of Personal Sin.  vs.4-6

As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  (5)  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;  (6)  And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.  Luke 3:4-6 

Explanation:

John’s preaching and teaching are described here.  This is not a recording of one message that he taught.  This is a sampling of the themes of the message of John.  You can see in verse 4 that Luke helps us to understand that Isaiah predicted the coming, the message, and the mission of John the Baptist, this voice in the wilderness.

What was that message and mission?  John was sent to prepare the way for the Messiah.  How were the people to prepare?  The answer is repentance!  It is described here starting in verse 4-6.  For repentance to happen there must be a recognition and a turning from personal sin.

Like a king sending people ahead to make the journey easier for him travel, John was coming to do the same thing in the hearts of the people to ready them for Jesus. 

There are topographical metaphors to speak to matters of the inner person.  The crooked path is made strait.  Preparing people’s hearts means straightening out what is crooked in them.  The valley shall be filled.  The low and base things of the heart are brought up.  The mountain shall be brought low.  The high and prideful things of the heart must be brought low.  John said “he must increase and I must decrease.  The rough ways shall be made smooth.  Anything in the way of God coming and working in the heart, or any sin that is loved and keeps people from turning to Christ must be abandoned.

Application:

There is no salvation without a recognition of personal sin and repentance.  If the heart is not prepared to acknowledge and turn from sin then they are not ready to accept Christ as their Savior.  What did Jesus came to save us from?  He came to save us from our sin and its’ consequences.  Sin is the obstacle to heaven.  It is the obstacle to a right relationship with God.  It is also the obstacle to repentance.  Often, people do not want to repent because they love their sin.  We can make church as “cool” as we can, and I’m certainly not voting that we strive to be irrelevant.  But no matter how “cool” you make things, if you preach the Gospel it will be rejected by some people, because to preach the Gospel you must preach repentance of sin.

Is there a sin keeping you from believing in Christ? Is there a sin keeping you from fellowship with Christ?

Repentance is the answer.  Turning from your sin to Christ by faith is the answer.

Response:

Is there a sin you need to repent of today?