Devotional Thoughts for God’s Family – 1

1 Corinthians 7:10 (NLT) For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

Do you mean to say that I can be sorry for the things I have done and be sinning in it? Yep.

Do you mean that even if I change my ways and am sorry for what I have done I can still be doing it sinfully? Yep.

Did you know that there should always be a beating somewhere in the repentance process? I know you are thinking that this devotional is whacked (NPI), and I need a vacation, but hear me out – -this might make sense to you.

First, let’s talk about the beatings – there used to be a phrase when someone was in trouble, do you remember… “Let the beatings commence!” Well, that’s probably what you are thinking when I am talking about beatings. Let’s take a look at another passage of the Bible which will shed light on this touchy (NPI) subject.

Luke 18:13-14 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God.”

Notice that the tax collector was beating his own chest in sorrow. He wasn’t being beaten by anyone, or God for that matter. And he wasn’t beating himself up – as to exclude the impact of his life and actions on others, being consumed with only himself, he was sorrowing before God.

The sorrowing prompted him to beat his own chest.

That’s the beating that should accompany repentance. Sorrowing for what I have done is a beating, it is a direct assault against my selfishness. And sorrowing causes me, it prompts me to think of the impact of my life upon others.

Most confession that people engage in is not truly confession, but concession. That is, two parties coming to a table to figure out how to go on in the best way possible. This is why the Apostle Paul says this kind of sorrowing leads to spiritual death.

The reason is, if I am engaging in worldly sorrow I have no care for others, I am not changing for the better on the inside either, I am simply maneuvering through a situation as quickly as possible so I can get on with my life.

As a professional counselor I journey with people through tough times. I once sat with a couple, counseling them through a sexual affair. It was dreadful for them both. It was a long process of recovery. And there were great moments of healing along the way. But I became deeply concerned for this couple when the husband said to me, “How long do I have to keep doing this, when is she going to get over this?”

Can you imagine the tax collector beating his chest looking around wondering how long he had to do that until he was done? That wasn’t in his heart.

No, He would have stayed there all day if necessary, to express to God his sorrow. He was contrite. His heart was broken, and he chose to feel the brokenness.

The Pharisee couldn’t even focus on his own sin, he was just pointing at the faults of others. The tax collector was willing to come face-to-face with his sin and was grieved by it.

I teach that there are two different kinds of suffering. One kind of suffering that is far worse because it has a tendency to last a long time and be progressively more difficult, and happen again and again, is suffering that is imposed upon you, against your will for dumb things you do.

The other kind of suffering is usually shorter, but not always, and it will bring resolution quickly. And that kind of suffering is imposed upon me…by me. That latter being the wiser for sure.

The tax collector is suffering in confession (self imposed) as he comes face-to-face with who he is. The Pharisee is in a perpetual world of suffering and he doesn’t even know it. How do I know?

Jesus said, “I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God.”

Anyone who is not justified by God is suffering. And that person will be in a perpetual state of suffering in this world and onto the next.

Learn my friend. Learn how to enter into true confession. Learn of the great freedom in being wrong. Be willing to be wrong because you will choose your own suffering which is a better path.

Lord, when you found me, I was all wrong. You have changed me and made me right, but still I hurt others. And I still do wrong things. Lord, I confess that I do not stop often enough and consider the impact of my decisions upon others. Help me to see people the way you see them. And Lord, please let me see your heart – because I know the things that I do hurts your heart too. God, thank you for loving me before I was born. Thank you for accepting me before you made me.

Devotional Thoughts for God’s Family – 2

I would like you to read this passage as your devotional for today. I will have few thoughts at the end, which coupled with yesterday’s devo and tomorrow’s, will put us in the right place as we move forward as the church. Where ever you are in your local church, meeting in person or not, before you reengage fully, consider doing so with a clear conscience.  

Psalm 91 (NLT)

Have mercy on me, O God,

because of your unfailing love.

Because of your great compassion,

blot out the stain of my sins.

² Wash me clean from my guilt.

Purify me from my sin.

³ For I recognize my rebellion;

it haunts me day and night.

⁴ Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

You will be proved right in what you say,

and your judgment against me is just.

⁵ For I was born a sinner—

yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.

⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,

teaching me wisdom even there.

⁷ Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;

you have broken me—

now let me rejoice.

⁹ Don’t keep looking at my sins.

Remove the stain of my guilt.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Renew a loyal spirit within me.

¹¹ Do not banish me from your presence,

and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and make me willing to obey you.

¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,

and they will return to you.

¹⁴ Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;

then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.

¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,

that my mouth may praise you.

¹⁶ You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.

You do not want a burnt offering.

¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.

You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

¹⁸ Look with favor on Zion and help her;

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—

with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.

Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

There is a word that king David doesn’t use, but you can feel it through his vulnerable writing. He is reaching out to God after killing Uriah one of his mighty men and taking Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba) to be his own. He slept with her, found out she was pregnant, and then, to save his own skin killed her husband who was one of 30 of his most loyal and mighty warriors.

David feels the weight of his sin and he is desperate. Do you feel it?

Notice he is not desperate for God to fix the situation – read through again and see what David is desperate about.

How often are we sorry and so desperate for God to fix something we broke? We want to get back on track and move on, that isn’t really confession friend. David is sorry before his God and desperate because he is broken, less so the situation he faces.

Godly sorrow is coming face to face with God and being grieved about our condition and because of our condition, the impact we have had on others. Worldly sorrow is being grieved about my circumstance. In worldly sorrow I am consumed with myself and I lack concern for others.

Be broken in the name of Jesus. Be desperate in the name of Jesus. Come to God because you have no where else to turn to change who you are. Fall before him and be bankrupt.

God is once again giving us a chance, not to do better, church – to be better. It starts with being better, and that starts with recognizing that we need it.

Lord, we need you so much. We like David, are desperate. Lord, confession is so important in our lives – thank you for this sweet gift. Because we know that there is joy that comes after. Please make our hearts soft and malleable so that we can be formed. Please do not let us become cold and hard-hearted and resistant to your kind touch. Help us to have a heart like king David.

Devotional Thoughts for God’s Family – 3

2 Corinthians 7:10 (ESV): For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

If you can get an “I’m sorry” out of a person, you should be pleased, right!? In our devotion this morning, I want to investigate how a form of “I’m sorry” can actually lead to spiritual death.

What is it about worldly sorrow that leads to death?

Think of it this way: Imagine that you have done something wrong to someone. I would like you to think back on a way that you have hurt someone. Even though you have confessed and made up already.

Now imagine that there is a line in the sand in front of that person and they are on one side and you are the other. There they stand having been hurt on one side of the line and there you are on the other, do you see it?

On their side of the line is all that they have to deal with. Whatever it is that you have done, it has become their responsibility to clean it up. What if you hit them, well, there is physical healing and mental healing too. They are left with that, it is on their side of the line.

To help you understand what worldly sorrow is, imagine if you came up to that line and said, I am sorry, would you forgive me?” You have no desire to cross over and help that person with what you did, you are simply trying to absolve yourself of any further involvement with their pain. In effect, your problem has now become their problem.

Sorrow and forgiveness for you would simply be a legal justification to move on with your life and leave the one you hurt alone in their hurt. Sorrowing and forgiveness seeking is supposed to be a doorway to draw closer to the person so that restored relationship and healing can happen.

Can you see it? How often we approach people and we want to simply do the “right thing” so that we can move on – Paul says that leads to death in every stretch of the imagination!

My counsel to you is to do your best to walk across that line, with permission of course. Walk across that line and seek to find out what your decisions cost the other person.

Sometimes that walk leads to repentance, sometimes it leads to sorrowing that makes us change our ways. Sometimes we realize that there are other ways of expressing ourselves than what we have become accustomed to doing.

What keeps us on our side of the line? Why can’t I cross over? Several things to think about.

The first is, has anyone ever crossed that line for you? Its hard to do so if you have never seen anyone do it. If you have been blessed by someone else taking responsibility for the hurts they have caused you, it will empower you to do the same when your time comes to humble yourself and seek true forgiveness.

The second is, fear. Being so afraid of being wrong that you can’t imagine even humbling yourself to another. And what goes right along with that is resentment and unforgiveness, which stands as a huge wall for you to break through to meet the other person where they need you to.

Go there. Walk across that line and watch what happens in you, I dare you to. Don’t look at what the other person says or does, leave that in the hands of God. You do what the Spirit of God is leading you to do and leave it at that. I promise you, gentleness and peace will come to you as the Father approves of the moves you make to engage in Godly sorrow.

Lord, we ask for strength and boldness to walk in true love. Help us to feel what you feel when we hurt others and when we walk in sin. Lord, we recognize that your anger is poured out on Jesus at the cross, so today you have different emotions when you look at our sin, especially the sins that are directed at others. Help us to capture your heart. Help us to feel what you feel for others.

For the stout hearted, I wonder what God does feel for others. Can you for just a moment think about sitting with God on his throne (its take your kid to work day and he has invited you to see what he does). Through the day you see things that are amazing. But at one particular time, he seems to be staring off somewhere. You follow his line of sight and off in the distance he is looking at someone you hurt.  God planned this, for you to be with him on this day so you could be close to him.

So… what expression is on God’s face as he looks at the other person you hurt? If you say angry, mad, disappointed… that’s about you, at the moment he is holding you but not looking at you – he is looking at the person you hurt. Come on, you can do this, what do you see? That’s right – sorrow, God is hurting for that person.

God’s grace allows you to sit there and experience this, otherwise God would be very mad at you, he isn’t. Also, God’s grace allows you to feel what God is feeling for that person. Can you imagine beginning to feel what God feels for that person? Study his face and ask to feel those things you see on his face.

Lastly, this is Godly sorrow at it finest…big God smile…what if God were to turn and look at you and say, “Child what are WE going to do about this? Would you go and tell that person how we feel about their hurt?”

God, first, I am sorry for hurting your heart. I am saddened by what I have done to cause you pain. I confess to you I was wrong and I am ready to do whatever you lead me to do to make this right. I will go, I will find that person and share with them how I hurt your heart and how you feel about them and that I was wrong. I will seek their forgiveness and work hard to change. Thank you for inviting me here today to sit with you and see your face. You helped me see what godly sorrow really is.    

Blessings

Pastor D