Open Your Lips And Confess

Psalm 32:1-7 KJV; 15th Sunday after Pentecost; Confess your sins and receive forgiveness.

Confess And Be Forgiven

1 John 1:5-10 KJV; Confess and step out of the darkness and into the marvelous light of Jesus the Christ.

Love Others Even As God Loves Us

John 4:7-16 KJV; for Christmas Eve.  As God abides and us and we in Him we love even as He loves us.

Helping Our Neighbor

Romans 15:1-7 KJV

Everyone Will Know He Is Lord

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:9-11 KJV)

You may not bow before the name of Jesus now. You may not confess that Jesus Christ is Lord now. But, there will come a day when you will. There will come a day when you will come face to face with God Almighty and you will recognize that Jesus is the truth and he is the way that was meant for you to follow. Prayerfully, on that day, when you meet him face to face, you will already know him and love him. 

Many will say that I do not need love. I do not need anyone. The truth is that we all need to be loved and to love. We were not created to live in isolation. Without love, we may exist. But, we will not thrive and God intends for us to thrive. He intends for us to live abundant lives and not so much abundant in more things that we need or even can use; but, to live life in peace and with joy in communion with God as well as in community. 

Make no mistake; whether you will bow at the name of Jesus now there will come a day when everyone will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Don't wait too long to live life knowing our Lord and Savior.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Righteous And Peace

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. (Prov 14:13 KJV)

Whether we like to confess it or not sin affects the world around us. It brings negativity to many. Righteousness also affects the world around us. It brings positivity. It brings peace.

May God help us to live in peace.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

It Is Their Fault

 "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."

                                                                            (Gen 3:8-13 KJV)

It started way back then; this attempting to justify our sins by blaming others when we can no longer keep our sins in the dark so that no one will find out the truth. 

As the story goes Adam was naked in the garden. After eating the fruit that God told him not to eat Adam was fully aware of his guilt. He knew that the fig leaves he wore were not going to cover up the fact that he disobeyed God so he tried to hide from him. 

The reality is that we all stand naked before God. We cannot hide from God. He knows exactly who we are and what we have done. There is no covering anything up so that God does not see. In spite of our guilt; God loves us still....  He loves us enough that he would send his Son, Jesus, to be the cover for our sins. Those measly figs leaves that we have fabricated to hide behind are ripped off and we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. 

When confronted by God about disobeying him  Adam did what so many if not all people have done since that day. We attempt to cover up our sins; to disavow them, by pointing the finger at someone else's guilt in the matter. On more than one occasion when hearing attempts to justify ones actions I have had to remind them that they can only confess their own sins and not the sins of others. 

Years ago while attending worship with a congregation that had the tradition of sharing testimonies; prayer requests; praise reports; and sometimes confessions at the beginning of the service. The woman I attended with stood up and confessed that she was sorry for the way she treated her sister-in-law who was also at this worship service. She asked forgiveness from this woman as she proceeded to let everyone know that she would not have treated her so badly if her sister-in-law hadn't treated her so badly in the first place. Not so unlike Adam and Eve she confessed: I sinned; but, it's really not my fault. She made me do it. 

As we go through life we will sin... even daily, hourly...  We get to own our own sins. No one else is to blame. It is on us to choose to do right or wrong. It is on us to confess that we are sinners and not lay the blame on everyone else. We have a loving God who forgives our sins. 

Let us us confess our sins and not try to hide them by confessing the sins of another. St. John wrote: 

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

He will indeed, out of his great love for us, forgive our sins. St. John wrote:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

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

                                                                                         (Eph 2:4-8)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood..." (Rev 1:5)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Bow Your Knee With Joy

"For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." 

                          (Rom 14:11-12 KJV)

It is either now or later. We can acknowledge our sins and repent now or we can do it later when every knee shall bow before the Lord. We can, if we so desire, wait until the day of judgement and miss out on the joy of living in the presence of God; in communion with him today.

The question is will you be bowing in joyful worship as you come before the one who loves you and has given you his life and light or will you kneel before him uncertain of the outcome as you face him on the day of judgement? 

It is a wise person who would confess and repent of their sins and live in the light of the Christ today. Don't wait for tomorrow. Live life in his light today and rejoice.

"And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

                                                                                      (1 John 1:4-10)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Will You Share The Good News?

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

                                                                                (Rom 10:8-13 KJV)

I have heard it said too many times that "my faith is personal." Indeed it is! 

"I do not have to go to church to worship because God is near to me in creation." Indeed He is. But, we are also members of one body in Christ. That does not mean isolate from one another. But, to gather together often to hear his word and to proclaim it ourselves. We are called to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. That does not come about without knowing who he is and actually knowing him. We come to do this by not just reading the Bible, but by hearing the word proclaimed.

"I don't talk about my faith because everyone has their own faith and I shouldn't force anyone to believe what I believe." Indeed they do! But, is their faith life saving faith? Do we not have so little faith that we are ashamed of sharing the Good News of salvation through Jesus the Christ? Do we not love others enough to desire to see them receive the precious gift of salvation?

The Good News is for everyone. It does not matter who they; where they are from; or what they have done. All who believe that Jesus was raised from the dead for them; for us, shall be saved.

Share the Good News that others might call upon the name of the Lord and be saved!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

On This Mountain

On This Mountain

And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. 

                                                                                             (Isa 25:6-9 KJV)

No more tears... No more crying... We look to the day when the covering that is cast over all of us is completely removed. We look to the day when all people will rejoice in their salvation in the very presence of God; in the very peaceful presence of God.

We can look for the way to peace for most of our lives; but, until we know Jesus the one who lived and died and lives again for us we will not truly know it. We will be doomed to chase after whatever it is that we think we're searching for until the day we abide with and in Christ in his Kingdom.

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:12-15)

Our Savior has come. His kingdom has come through his death and resurrection. Thanks be to God that we can live in that kingdom in peace!

Lord, God, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." (Matt 6:10)

Abide in Christ! Abide in his Kingdom! Live in peace!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

One Body

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:15 KJV)

Let us depart from the idea that we must take care of ourselves first; that we are number one. The first is God. When we abide in Christ we are members of his body joined together with all others who confess that Jesus is the Son of God. 

When Christ abides in us and we in him we are one with one mind serving the Lord and one another. Each member of the body has its particular gifts given to us by God so that the body might be edified and grow in Christ Jesus.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

A Future Of Hope (Quit Dwelling In The Past)

Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 

                                                                                    (Isa 43:18-19 KJV)

It is a good thing to consider the wrongs that we have done and to correct them if we possibly can. It is even necessary. Our past can remind us of things that we do not ever want to do again for our own sake as well as for the sake of others. Without considering our sins; without repenting of them, there is no forgiveness and we will drag those sins with us through the rest of our lives. 

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

                                                                                          (1 John 1:8-9)

It is not so good to be stuck on dwelling on memories of the past. It is not a good thing for you to allow guilt to keep you from moving forward. The past will have a lot of joyful memories. But, it will also have many not so good memories of things that we have done that we should not have done.

None of us are without sin and the sin that we cling to can and will drag us down. We all have things that we wish we could undo. But, we cannot undo what we've done. We can; however, repent and receive forgiveness. In Christ those sins are washed away. They have no power over us. We must let them go or we will live in despair as we dwell on our past leaving no room in our lives for hope for the future.

We must continue to look forward with hope for the promise of God. 

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 

Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:5-7)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." (Eph 2:8)

So, live life in Christ! Dwell on the promises of God. Through Christ you have been saved from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Place your faith and hope in Christ and live life in him!

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. (Rom 15:13)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Prayer of Faith

"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

Is any sick among you? 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 shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." 

                                                                               (James 5:13-16 KJV)

God hears our prayers and the prayers of faith are answered. Sometimes the answer is not as we would expect them. Sometimes there's a but of upside down stuff going on before we get to see God's good response to the prayer. 

I spend many hours a week in prayer. The devil likes to come in and steal some of my time with God. Sometimes, things like my alarm not going off will cause me to lose some of this precious time with God. Sometimes, others will have a need or a crisis. Without prayer though; these crises cannot be handled well. Things get a little chaotic when I don't have the time with God. I can do nothing without Him. The most powerful answer to any crisis begins with prayer.

If there is a need; pray. If someone is sick; pray. If someone has wandered away from the flock and is lost; pray. The prayers of faith are powerful and effective. Let us pray and sing praises always to God who is Almighty; to God our Father who listens and answers.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Confess and Follow Christ Alone

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

                                                                                      (1 John 4-2-4 KJV)

There are so many false gods in this world that one cannot even begin to count them. There are so many spirits that are not of Christ that I cannot begin to fathom the number.

I have come to a point in my life that I have become weary of telling people that they must stay away from tarot cards, horoscopes, fortune tellers, and calling upon the dead to guide them. This is very dangerous business. When we call upon any other entity to guide us we are simply asking for trouble. When we do not trust the one true God to guide and protect us; to show us the way, we will end up on the path that leads to destruction. Do not listen to anyone who would encourage these things. Do not listen to anyone that would tells you that there are many paths to heaven. Jesus, himself, tells us: "...Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

There is only one Spirit that will lead you on the path of Christ and that is the Spirit of God. When we confess that Jesus is the Christ sent by God; we profess our faith; our trust, in his spirit to lead us on the path that he has set before us.

May God help us to not waiver from following on that path.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

The Just Will Live By Faith

                                                                                      

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.  (Habakkuk 2:4 KJV)

Wisdom sometimes comes with age (but, not always). It never ceases to amaze me how some of our eldest brothers and sisters in Christ are able to humble themselves and confess their sins. These sins that they confess seem to pale in comparison to some of the sins that others do not confess.

The ability to understand that all sin no matter whether we consider them big or small sins are an abomination before God. It is understood that none of us are without sin; that we are made righteous only be faith in the Son of God who died for us. There is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. There is nothing that we can do or avoid doing in order to stand before God and be proclaimed innocent.

We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone. Sometimes, it just takes years of being humbled in order to be humble enough to know that we are indeed sinners and are saved by faith alone. This is a gift of God. (Eph 2:8)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Confess The Truth?

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9 NRSV)

Let us not miss the word confess in the verses from 1 John. All too often, I have heard apologies without the person who is apologizing even being able to recognize what they are apologizing for. They might apologize for hurting you or someone else; for disappointing you. They might apologize for not doing what they were responsible for doing. But, do they really acknowledge that they did something they ought not have done or neglected to do something that they promised to do? 

Is just saying "I'm sorry" enough to be reconciled to others if we cannot acknowledge the sin that we have been committing and change? Sooner or later others will recognize that we have not been speaking the truth when we apologized. Failure to recognize the sin in us is a failure to recognize Jesus the Christ who is the truth. Do we think that he is so limited in nature that he cannot see beyond the walls we, ourselves, have attempted to hide behind?

Jesus tells us: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) There is no sense in trying to hide the truth of our sins from ourselves or anyone else. The truth is that Jesus knows what goes on in our lives that others may not be able to see. He knows the real motivation for what we do or do not do. He knows our inmost thoughts. We cannot hide our sins from God; so may as well get it over with; confess our sins; and live life reconciled to God and one another.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Unknown Sin

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24 NRSV)

We confess our sins known and unknown at least every Sunday. Hopefully, as individuals, we recognize that it may be necessary more often than that.

It is pure vanity to say that we know and have confessed our sins when in reality Christians, like everyone, tend to get so caught up in the ways of the world that it is very likely that we do things every day that are not pleasing to God. We might not consider them sins because "everybody does it." But, does God consider them sins? How many things that we do out of habit actually turn us away from God? 

May God grant that our eyes be opened to see the things that we may be doing or saying that are leading us away from God instead of closer to him.

God's Peace - Pr. J

As One We Glorify God

Valaam Monastery on Lake Ladoga, Russian Karelia 

May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,
   and sing praises to your name”;

and again he says,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”;

and again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

   and let all the peoples praise him”;

                                       (Rom 15:5-11 NRSV)

Soon and very soon (like tomorrow night, Christmas Eve) our sanctuaries will be filled with people who have come to praise God. It is always a pleasure to see so many "Gentiles" gathered together to glorify His Holy Name.

St. Paul encouraged the followers to praise God and to rejoice in Him as we welcome one another. We are to welcome all people even as Christ welcomed us. It does not matter whether one is Jew or Gentile, young or old, or where they are from. Their ancestry nor their station in life matters. We are to praise God together, with one voice, so that others might hear and also glorify God.

There is no room for "me" and especially not "poor me" in the Body of Christ. We are one in Christ Jesus and are to live in harmony; lifting one another up with endurance; that all would hear what the scriptures would teach us. Paul's hope was that God would give us all "the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice we might glorify God." 

We are given the scriptures so that we might learn who this Jesus is. Hear them. Read them. Study them. We are given the Holy Spirit that we might understand and be empowered to follow this one who came down to earth to save us from ourselves (and each other). Have mercy on one another, as Christ has mercy. Love one another, as Christ loves. Enter this Christmas season with a desire to do go to our neighbors; to live in unity and peace that God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ might be glorified in all that we say and think and do.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Wisdom Is Trusting The Lord

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.
Proverbs 3:5-8 NRSV

I hear many a person confess their faith in the Lord. They say that they believe in him; they trust him and depend upon him. But, then I see and hear otherwise. We confess our faith in the Lord and then we turn around and trust in the wisdom or rather the lack of wisdom of humankind. We say that we are faithful to him; but, then our actions prove that we do not listen to the wisdom of God. We listen to the wisdom of the world; to our own demise.

May God help us to be more faithful to him and to follow our Lord in the way that he (not we) would have us go.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Jesus Welcomes Sinners

Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table.

                                                                               Luke 22:17-21 NRSV

Jesus is known for welcoming everyone. He is most well known for dying for all people. He reaches out to everyone; that all who believe him might be saved.

I have been excluded from more than one communion table. Lately, I have heard from others who also have been. I must admit that there have definitely been times when I considered excluding someone from the Lord's Table. But, I did not. I knew that if I did, it would probably have been because of my bias and desire to just not see that person receive the gift of forgiveness and reconciliation with the Body of Christ, at least not at that time. But, the Sacrament of Holy Communion is not mine to impart or withhold. It is a gift from God. 

I also find it a bit of problem with inviting all who believe and are baptized to the table (as is the tradition of my denomination) then tell them publicly once they arrive at the table that the invitation didn't include them. Who; after all, am I to judge them? 

St. Paul instructed the people at Corinth to discern for themselves whether they were worthy or not. He wrote: "Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world." (1 Cor 11:28-32) 

St. Paul was not just addressing people who did not recognize the real presence of Jesus. He was also addressing the inability of the people to recognize all of the members of the Body of Christ. They did not wait for others before they ate. They thought only of themselves. They judged themselves to be better than the others and did not consider that they should have to wait to eat and drink with them. St. Paul encouraged them to examine themselves and we should do this and not just before partaking of the Lord's Supper; but, daily. St. Paul did not encourage them to examine others. He did not encourage them to confess anyone's short-comings; their lack of faith; their sins; but, their own. (If, in fact, I felt someone was grievously harming themselves by partaking of this Holy Meal, I would invite them to discuss it; but, in private.)

According to the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus shared the meal which he declared was his body and blood with all of the twelve and one of them he knew full well would betray him.

Jesus welcomed sinners and still does. 

God's Peace - Pr. J