Archive for the ‘Forgiven’ Category
Tuesday, May 8th, 2012
Salvation, June 8
… We who first trusted in Christ…
In Him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:12-14, www.solascriptura.com
Father, Paul was a Jew speaking to Jews and here in his letter to the Ephesians, a Gentile area, Paul teaches us that those who love You and obey You are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”. Father, for this degree of certainty, we are grateful.
We are Your “purchased possession”. Father, we sometimes forget to focus on what You paid for our salvation. Jesus suffered immeasurably, not just at the Cross, but in his descent into the bowels of hades, which removed him temporarily from Your presence. We know You will not allow sin or sinners into Your presence, but that is exactly why Jesus came…to comingle with us and to save sinners and that includes every human being in history. He paid a great price for our personal salvation.
Father, Chuck Smith, one of Your more effective servants offers the following clarification about this complex thought of Jesus being separated from You. “Through the eternity past, He has always been one with the father, never separated. But when God laid on Him the iniquities of us all, because God can not look in agreement upon sin, there came that separation, as He tasted for a moment that separation from God, in order that you would not have to be separated from God eternally. God laid on Him the iniquities of us all. And when the sin’s of the world were laid on Jesus, He was forsaken of God. And thus that cry, that rang out; my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.”
We are Your purchased possession, cleansed by Jesus. You, Father, are the guarantor of our salvation. Perfect! Amen.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O. Box 302, Franklin TN 37064
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Tags: believed, Christ, Ephesians 1:12-14, glory, Gospel, Holy Spirit, inheritance, possession, promise, purchased, redemption, salvation, sealed, trusted, truth, word
Posted in Christianity, Forgiven, Holy Spirit, Religion, salvation | 11 Comments »
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
Temple of God, May 1
…do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Ephesians 5:17-20, www.solascriptura.com
O’ God, we do pray for wisdom and discernment, we do pray for Your word to penetrate our hearts and minds. We do seek to fulfill your will for our lives.
Here we are taught that being out of control, whether it is from alcohol or drugs, leads to dissipation. Most of us have seen the ugly effects being drunk or spaced out. What we need Father, is to learn from what we see and then to rely on Your Spirit within us to overcome temptation and to present our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit.
Your admonition is completely positive when You tell us to speak to each other in psalms and spiritual songs, making melody in our heart, to You and to the world. When that happens, we simply give thanks to You, in the name of Jesus. What a perfectly natural response to joy, sent to us as a gift.
When disappointments come, and they will not cease to come until we are with You, we do not have joy for the pain, but we are able to have joy as we endure the pain by accessing Your peace and comfort. We are Your temple, You will deliver us; of that we are certain. We pray for Your counsel in our lives in Jesus’ name, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O. Box 302, Franklin TN 37064
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Tags: dissipation, drunk, Father, heart, hymns, Jesus, Lord, melody, singing, songs, Spirit, Temple, understand, unwise, wine
Posted in Christianity, Forgiven, Holy Spirit, Perseverance, Prayer, faith | 6 Comments »
Monday, April 30th, 2012
Prayer, April 30
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
James 5:13-16, www.solascriptura.com
Father, James, the half-brother of Jesus, seems to be one of the more direct persons in proclaiming Your will for us. He speaks clearly and bluntly and always with a sense of urgency concerning our salvation. May we listen intently to the words You gave him.
Here we are reminded of the power of prayer. Father, we sometimes keep our needs, both spiritual and physical, to ourselves. We know that is not recommended although personal and private time with You is still very important.
When we share our concerns and needs with each other You tell us that is good. How Father can we be blessed if we do not ask? Help us, today, to ask for Your intervention and help us ask our family and friends for prayer, especially when there is a specific need. In asking, we declare our hope in You.
We pray that we will be alert to the needs of others, intervening with sincerity and optimism, believing in the power of Your grace and mercy to us all. Heal the sick and broken-hearted and rejoice with those that rejoice, praising You for Your loving care. We pray in Jesus’ Holy name, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O.Box 302 Franklin, TN 37064
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Tags: confess, elders, faith, fervent, healed, Lord, oil, pray, Prayer, sick, sing, suffering, trespasses
Posted in Christianity, Forgiven, Hope, Prayer, Providence of God, faith | 4 Comments »
Sunday, April 29th, 2012
Forgiven, April 29
Now early in the morning (Jesus) came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.
“Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”
This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
John 8:2-11, www.solascriptura.com
Jesus, You teach us much in these verses. We pray for wisdom and discernment in understanding. You, again, cite, “early in the morning” as the time You went to the Temple to pray and teach. Prime time with the Father seems to be “early in the morning”.
Then You teach us that the scribes (lawyers) and Pharisees (religious leaders) are in the role of accusers. You did not say they accused falsely, Jesus, You said they too commit sins of various kinds and if any of them thought they were without sin, then step up and cast the first stone in the killing process.
You then teach us that everyone has a conscience that either accuses them or excuses them and that we personally know when we have sinned whether other people know it or not.
Then, in Your mercy, you teach us that adultery is not a sin unto death if one confesses and repents (changes direction). You forgive the woman and you encourage her. O’ God, if we could but have that kind of mercy and hope when we see sin in action. Help us today to be part of the healing process, not one of those who accuse. In Jesus’ Holy name, we pray, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O.Box 302 Franklin, TN 37064
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Tags: adultery, condemned, Conscience, convicted, Forgiven, Jesus, law, Moses, pharisees, scribes, sin, stone, stoned, Temple, woman
Posted in Christianity, Conscience, Fidelity, Forgiven, Hope, Providence of God | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, April 25th, 2012
April 25, Family Bible Study, from www.solascriptura.com
The Apostle Paul presents a point of view you should consider. He says, “I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I can’t. I do what I don’t want to-what I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience proves that I agree with these laws I am breaking. ROMANS 7:15-16 TLB
Paul is teaching us that we know what we should do and when we do bad things, we knew they were bad. He says our conscience proves to us that what we are doing is wrong.
Then Paul says: So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free. ROMANS 7:23 TLB
What Paul describes as our “deadly lower nature”, is the “default setting” we find ourselves in at birth. You know what a default setting is. For instance, if your new car measures the mileage as miles instead of kilometers, then the factory has preset the odometer to miles. You can take action to change the default setting to kilometers if you want to, but if you do not do so, it will continue to measure the distance you travel in miles.
If you find yourself wanting to change the default setting of your life from dominance by a deadly lower nature, often referred to as the dominance of the flesh, you must take action. You were born in the flesh but God placed in you, a spirit. God wants His Spirit and your spirit to be united, to be as one. When you agree that is what you want as well, you turn to Him ask him to forgive you for all the sinful things you have done. God promises that He will change the default setting of your heart from one of flesh to one of Spirit, His Spirit in you.
You will still have impulses to revert to your old default setting of “the flesh” but God has promised that he will intervene for you. Listen to His wonderful promise: No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 NKJV
How can you escape? First, understand that temptation does not come from God. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me; “…for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone” JAMES 1:13 NIV. Who is the tempter? Remember when the comedian said “the devil made me do it”. Does blaming the devil let you off the hook?
Can you defeat temptation by your own resolve? In this life will you ever be “not tempted”? Is victory over temptation ever “yours”? Know this: “God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect”.
2 SAMUEL 22:33 NKJV
Do you sometimes feel like there is a tug of war going on inside you? How do you deal with it?
Core Christian value: Our lower nature (flesh) is at war with our spirit. We have a “built-in” knowledge of right and wrong. God wants to unite our spirit and His Spirit. He will strengthen us.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project P.O.Box 302 Franklin TN 37064
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Tags: Conscience, flesh, forgive, slavery, temptation
Posted in Conscience, Family Bible Study, Forgiven, Holy Spirit, Perseverance | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
God’s Children, April 11
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
I John 2:1-6;12, www.solascriptura.com
Father, we come to You, cleansed of our sin because Jesus, our Advocate, has made it all possible. We know there is no other way to be in Your presence except at the nomination of ourselves by Jesus.
Our Advocate, the One who appeals to You, Himself, paid the price for our sins. This is true of no one else, therefore all judgment has been assigned to Jesus. We can boldly enter into Your presence because our faith is based on the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of a new heart and a completely new start.
The Apostle John speaks plainly about obedience. “He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Keeping Your commandments is not easy. We know our walk with You is a little “uphill” but each day of obedience makes the next day’s hill, easier. John says, “walk just as He walked.” That is our prayer today. Help us be more like you every day. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O. Box 302, Franklin TN 37064
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Tags: advocate, children, Christ, commandments, Father, Forgiven, Jesus, liar, love, perfected, propitiation, righteous, sin, truth
Posted in Christianity, Forgiven, God's Children, Hope, faith, peace, salvation | 28 Comments »
Friday, April 6th, 2012
Forgiven, April 6
… as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Colossians 3:12-13, www.solascriptura.com
Father, it is so right to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control) and so wrong to be the opposite of these words. We do not need anyone to tell us when we are bearing bad fruit, those behaviors which are clearly not within Your will for our lives.
If we yield the fruits of the Holy Spirit, we will be as “sanctified”, a posture we seek but which eludes us too often. Father, we need to be more consistent. We know, Jesus, that being like You, in our relationships, is Your desire for us. You equip us to do so when we ask. For Your forgiveness and empowerment, we are grateful.
Help us today to be forgiving towards people just as you are constantly there for us, always forgiving. In Jesus’ Holy name, we pray, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O. Box 302, Franklin TN 37064
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Tags: beloved, Christ, elect, forgave, forgiving, God, Holy, Humility, kindness, meekness, mercies, tender
Posted in Christianity, Forgiven, peace, salvation | 8 Comments »
Thursday, April 5th, 2012
Salvation, April 5
“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah–
“not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Jeremiah 31:31-33, www.solascriptura.com
Father, this Old Testament prophecy signaled the coming of the Messiah, the One who would cause the relationship of every human being to change as it pertains to You. The Old Covenant was a promise to Israel, Your chosen people. It did not surprise You that they would fail to comply with Your commandments, but You, in Your mercy and grace, provided a solution, a Savior, Your only begotten Son, the Messiah, Jesus.
Father, Your prophet tells us that a New Covenant was coming, wherein all mankind would have Your laws written on their hearts and minds. Father, each of us are recipients of the New Covenant and we praise You for not requiring us to be redeemed by our adherence to the Law, something Israel could not do and something we are unable to do. The straight edge of the Law simply clarifies the extent of our sins.
Yes, we are still to obey the Law, but there is a new Law in place, wherein Your grace, and our faith in Jesus, leads us to want to obey You and this is the best part Father; Jesus not only paid for our sins but He said the Holy Spirit would come to comfort us, teach us and give us counsel after He was resurrected and taken to Your side. We do not depend upon our will and our strength nor are we asked to do so.
We are Your people Father and You are our God. Thank You just doesn’t quite cover the gratitude we feel. How can we adequately respond to the promise of eternal life? We know the answer, because Jesus told us: Love You with all of our heart, mind and soul and love our neighbor as ourselves. Help us do so, today. Amen.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project P.O.Box 302 Franklin TN 37064
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Tags: behold, Egypt, God, hearts, husband, Israel, Judah, law, Lord, minds, New Covenant, salvation
Posted in Christianity, Forgiven, God's Children, Law of God, Mind of Christ, Providence of God | 241 Comments »
Friday, March 23rd, 2012
Law of God, March 23
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”
then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,
and having a High Priest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
Hebrews 10:16-22; 26, www.solascriptura.com
Father, the promise You have made to us concerning the law being written upon our hearts is a gift of immeasurable value. We are never far from the truth. All we need to do is to seek You and You will shed Your light on our souls and teach us afresh of that which we have sensed from the beginning.
You say that if we but ask, you will forgive. Such grace and mercy, so undeserved, is an incomparable gift. “Thank You for going to the cross that our sins might be forgiven Jesus” seems like a totally inadequate statement. The suffering You endured is beyond our understanding. Help us this day not to sin intentionally.
It is not a wonder to us Jesus that You would be extremely disappointed if we intentionally sin. It would be like asking You to return to the cross, repeating the sacrifice, for each of us who consciously choose to sin. We need to walk with You, fully aware of Your presence in all matters. Bless us we pray, in Your name, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O. Box 302, Franklin TN 37064
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Tags: blood, boldness, brethren, consecrated, covenant, deeds, flesh, God, hearts, Holiest, Jesus, law, lawless, laws, Lord, minds, offering, remember, remission, sin, sins, veil, washed, write
Posted in Christianity, Forgiven, God's Children, Law of God, Providence of God, faith | 12 Comments »
Monday, March 19th, 2012
God’s Children, March 19
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
I John 2:1-6; 12, www.solascriptura.com
Father, we come to You, cleansed of our sin because Jesus, our advocate, has made it all possible. We know there is no other way to be in Your presence except by Your grace and mercy and at the nomination of ourselves by Jesus.
Our advocate, the One who appeals to You, Himself, paid the price for our sins. This is true of no one else; therefore all judgment has been assigned to Jesus. We can boldly enter into Your presence because our faith is based on the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of a new heart and a completely new start.
The Apostle John speaks plainly about obedience. “He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Keeping Your commandments is not easy. We know our walk with You is a little “uphill” but each day of obedience makes the next day’s hill, easier. John says, “Walk just as He walked.” That is our prayer today. Help us to be more like You every day. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O. Box 302, Franklin TN 37064
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Tags: advocate, Christ, commandments, Father, God's Children, Jesus, liar, perfected, propitiation, righteous, sin, world
Posted in Christianity, Forgiven, God's Children, Perseverance, faith, peace | 201 Comments »