Meditation

07/15/2022

“Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field. Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—-both men and animals; it bear down, everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.” (Exodus 9:20-21, 25, 30 – Lostness)

Those who do not have faith or who ignore God’s Word lose everything. They are lost to the good things of life, to joy and happiness, and to God Himself. Lostness is the greatest of human tragedies. God’s people should be burdened and dedicated to share with others the danger in ignoring the Word of God and refusing to have Jesus Christ in their lives.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:

Precious Abba, You have given us Your Word to read, to understand, and to apply to our daily lives. Too many think it’s a good book, but do not truly understand it or have a desire to do so. It is our best way of knowing You and understanding Your ways and Your nature. Jesus came to this Your Creation to model the behavior we should have and to teach it to others, too. So let us pray this day, for those who think Christians are deluded or not smart enough to understand anything. They believe only in worldly things and themselves. Let them feel Your Presence, Abba, and help them to understand just how much You love them and want to provide eternal salvation for them. Today we continue to pray troops serving in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, that a peaceful solution might be found and let the fighting be silenced. We also pray for those who are suffering in body, mind, and/or spirit, with friends, family, for those we don’t know. Amen

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“God can use troubles to change hearts.”

KNOWING GOD:

“Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; We are the clay, your the potter; we are the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are your people. Your sacred cities have become a desert; even Zion is a desert, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and glorious temple, where our fathers praised you, have been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins. After all this, O Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure? ” (Proverbs 64:1-12 – Lostness)

Beloved, people experience their own sinfulness and the absence of God. God’s anger stands over the lost person. Good deeds are worthless when the person is not rightly related to God. The only hope for a lost person is to confess sins and call on God for our salvation.

I AM:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 – Lost)

Sin pays equal wages—-eternal death. God in love give what is not earned—-eternal life. You must decide whether to be content with your wages or accept God’s gift. Until you accept God’s gift, you are lost.

2ND THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. Then the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the ‘sinners’ and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why doe he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?’ On hearing this, Jesus said to hem, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’” (Mark 2:15-17 – Lostness)

Evangelism helps lost people find a cure for their sin sickness. Self-righteous people are usually the last to acknowledge they are lost. Jesus is the only Physician who can cure sin sickness. He sends His followers not to judge others but to proclaim the good news to all people, even at the risk of being criticized by the self-righteous. Jesus paid special attention to those the religious hypocrites rejected. He calls us to follow Him to love sinners. No where are we given the right to judge others in their sin, for God sees all sins exactly the same. There is no “white” lie and “black lie” they are the same. When you approach the lost as if you have already judged them, you have just committed the sin of judgment and must immediately confess your sin and seek His forgiveness. Rather, when you approach anyone, you must come to them in the spirit of love. Then, and only then, can you present the good news of salvation with credibility and truth.