We can be so caught up in Church Doctrine and trying to keep them by our works that we fail to see what the glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior means to us as believers. It is His work on the Cross and His overcoming death that is the gift of God to mankind.
We live because Jesus died. He rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures for God’s glory. Faith plus nothing allows His glory to shine not ours.
Acts 22:3 Then he said: 3 “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women
To reject the grace of God, in Jesus, after hearing and believing in His gift of salvation, separates us from God. It makes it hard to come back to faith after.
There is no other sin that cannot be forgiven but rejecting the very heart of God that He gives us when we first believe. It cost God the life of His only begotten Son to be able for Jesus to give us Holy Spirit to reside within us.
To be able to get the plank our forgive the sins of others we first need to repent and forgive ourselves.
James 4:7 (ESV) "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Only by surrendering to God and, through His grace, putting on His full spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-18) can we stand against the father of lies (John 8:44). James' strong words remind us the key to true reconciliation with God is putting aside our pride. However we've chosen to play "god" in our lives, our most gracious and loving Lord still desires reconciliation with us. When we turn from the world, humbly repent and return to God, He is waiting for us as the joyous Father welcoming home the prodigal child (Luke 15:11-32)
Jesus is our perfect example of humility, and because of His unwavering obedience, God highly exalted Him (Philippians 2:3-11). Today, let's follow Jesus' example as we humble ourselves before our Lord. Then as we draw near to God, may we seek to glorify Him. Today, may we humbly repent, then rejoice in our heavenly Father's assurance that "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12). First 5
We’ve missed the point if we don’t see that unplugging and refueling is a laboratory for forgiveness, which begins with self-forgiveness. An invitation to befriend your scattered and wounded self.
Grace, indeed, is WD40 for the soul.
And the permission to let go of the strange measurements we lug around for self-worth.
Bottom line: When I lose sight of who I am (or where I am grounded), I forget to be here now. The gift of enough in the sacrament of the present. As long as I’m preoccupied with apprehension of where I need to arrive, I’m unable to pause, or care, or give, or weep, or mourn, or savor. Sabbath Moments
With change comes fear, insecurity, sorrow, and stress. Change finds you. It found the apostle Peter. He and his pals were sailing on calm waters when all of a sudden a storm hit. When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he decided to step out in faith on the water. It is possible to walk right over the storms of change – Peter proved it!
Unfortunately, one other thing changed Peter’s mind. “… when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” (Matthew 14:30 NIV). When Peter saw Christ, he was strong. When he saw the storm, he was not. One thing to remember: as Peter sank, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” He knew where to find help, and Jesus reached out his hand to catch Peter. Jesus is always there to pull us to safety.Max Lucado
Acts 26:4–8
4 “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. 5 They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. 7 To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. 8 Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?The New King James Version
Paul is on trial for claiming that the hope of Israel is fulfilled in Jesus. Paul proclaims that the promises made to the Jewish people have now been fulfilled. Paul is also referencing his belief in the resurrection of the dead, which he has mentioned during his previous trials. Paul claims that his hope is shared by every Jew, including himself as a Jew.The source of controversy is Jesus’ death and resurrection. Paul understands it as the fulfillment of what Jews hoped for. Faithlife Study Bible
The Jewish historian Josephus described the Pharisees as “a body of Jews with the reputation of excelling the rest of the nation in the observances of religion, and as exact exponents of the laws.” Paul pointed out that he was not some stranger or foreigner trying to start a new religion. He was a Jew, a Pharisee, who lived out his Jewish faith better than most. Paul was not being judged because he had done something wrong. He had not turned against his own Jewish heritage. Instead he fervently believed in the promises God had made to the nation of Israel: the promise of a coming Messiah and the reestablishment of the kingdom of God. Paul did not reject the hope of salvation for Israel. Instead he saw that hope fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The fact that Jesus had been raised from the dead confirmed to Paul that all believers would be raised from the dead to enjoy the blessings of the promised kingdom of God. The NKJV Study Bible
The prospect of eternal life should engage us to be diligent and stedfast in all religious exercises. Yet the Sadducees hated Paul for preaching the resurrection; and the other Jews joined them, because he testified that Jesus was risen, and was the promised Redeemer of Israel. Many things are thought to be beyond belief, only because the infinite nature and perfections of Him that has revealed, performed, or promised them, are overlooked. Paul acknowledged, that while he continued a Pharisee, he was a bitter enemy to Christianity. This was his character and manner of life in the beginning of his time; and there was every thing to hinder his being a Christian. Those who have been most strict in their conduct before conversion, will afterwards see abundant reason for humbling themselves, even on account of things which they then thought ought to have been done. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Acts 23:6 But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!”
Philippians 3:5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;
Acts 24:14–15 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets. I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.
Acts 13:32 And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers.
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