The new covenant

Today’s scripture:

“(v.11) Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, (v.12) To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, …(v.17) Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.” (Proverbs 2:11-12, 17)

I need to forewarn you, this is probably going to be a very controversial topic but I feel it needs to be said and biblically explained. I’ve often wondered in the past after being born again, if I can loose my salvation, and believing very strongly that I couldn’t based on John 10:28-29. But I didn’t read it carefully and consider all the other passages that say otherwise. But I prefer to put it in another way. Maybe it’s possible for us to give up our covenant with God by our own will. Please dear ones, let me explain and carefully study the scriptures of what I’m presenting here. Don’t take my word for it. But consider what God’s word says about this.

Since the beginning of time, God has held a special place in His heart for marriage. In fact, in Genesis 1:27, we see this on the sixth day of the creation of the world. In chapter 2:18 God says it is not good for man to be alone, that he should have a helper.

It is amazing to me how the words marriage, covenant, testament, and relationship all tie in together. Marriage is a covenant, but we also are familiar of the term covenant when speaking about God’s promise to His people. See, the word covenant and testament are the same, and this all is about a relationship. He says that our intimate relationship with Him is like a marriage. A marriage that is so sacred, it should not be defiled with harlotry. Harlotry in the since of anything that we go after with our heart that separates us from God.

Today we are looking into the sixth topic on the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus is teaching, which is “Marriage Sacred”. In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus says that it there is absolutely no reason a husband and wife should get divorced except for sexual immorality. And if we take in consideration of Matthew 18:21-35, we see that God wants restoration, especially in marriage. I believe God would have a spouse to stay with the other spouse who has committed adultery if there is genuine repentance. I don’t think it would be in God’s will for a married couple to get divorced IF there is true repentance. Can you see the commonality or the sameness of a marriage between a husband and wife vs. the marriage between God and us?

I’m writing this verse out because I want you to see how plainly God puts it as He compares our marriage with Him and with the passage in Matthew 5:32. Look what it says in Jeremiah 3:1–9…

1“They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife, and she goes from him and becomes another man’s, may he return to her again? Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,” says the Lord.

2 “Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see: Where have you not lain with men? By the road you have sat for them like an Arabian in the wilderness; And you have polluted the land with your harlotries and your wickedness.

3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no latter rain. You have had a harlot’s forehead; You refuse to be ashamed.

4 Will you not from this time cry to Me, My Father, You are the guide of my youth?

5 Will He remain angry forever? Will He keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken and done evil things, as you were able.”

6 The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.

7 And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

8 Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.”

You may read this and ask “what about the verse in John 10:28-29?” Where it says that no one can be snatched out of His hand. But God has given us free will (Luke 13:3, 2 Thess 1:8, Prov 3:31, Joshua 24:15, Duet 30:19). These verses show that we have a choice to obey. What the verse in John 10 is really saying is nobody outside of the relationship between God and us can snatch us out of His hand. But, because of our own will we can still choose to rebel. If we rebel enough, He will give us over to sin and to the devil (1 Corinthians 5:5) but for hopes that we will repent.

Now of course, God is also a forgiving God. In fact, Jesus says in Matthew 18:21 to forgive an infinite amount times, that is if you plead for mercy with a contrite (brokenness) heart. See, after He tells Peter to forgive many times, He gives a parable. He said heaven is like this… a servant (you and me) who owed some money to his king (God) couldn’t pay what he owed so he fell on his face (contrite heart or Godly sorrow) and begged for mercy. Then the king (God) forgave all what he owed (salvation). But later the servant was faced with the same thing only this time he was on the forgiving end, but he would not forgive the person who owed him money (backsliding). So, when the King (God) heard this He would not forgive him and through him into prison (gave him over to Satan) until he could pay what he owed (come back to God).

Reflection:

The attitude in this is an attitude of reverence and holiness. If you truly look at scripture you can see how much God holds marriage as a very sacred thing. So sacred He does not want it to be defiled. He would rather give you over to Satan and let you have your way than defile your relationship with Him. God is not forceful. He will go after your heart but if you want sin then sin you will have.

Challenge:

Is there anything that your keeping as an idol in your heart that He looks at as harlotry? I have one in my marriage that I struggle with, and that is having my own way. If your married, go to your spouse and no matter what they have done, forgive them. Explain how sacred this marriage is to you.

-Doug McGowan

Purity of the Heart

Today’s scripture:

1. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 3:36 NIV)
2. “Blessed are the pure in heart,
 For they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8 NKJV)
3. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” (Psalm 119:9 ESV)

Today we are looking into the fifth topic on the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus is teaching, which is “Inward Purity”. Please read Matthew 5:27-30… Jesus is saying His standards of living according to His will is so high, He considers sexual lust to be adultery! But this really isn’t just about sexual lust. It’s about having a pure, undefiled heart before God. He also says if you are entering into any area of your life that is impure, you need to go to extremes to get rid of that which causes you to sin. If you struggle with pornography, you may need to get rid of your smartphone and computer. If you struggle with drugs, you may need to move to a different area where it would be harder to get drugs. And the list can go on with any issue. The point is, you have to get very serious about it because it should concern you not just of your health and well-being but your eternal soul!

All three of the verses above are so significant I just couldn’t leave them out of today’s scripture reading. I’ll explain why in a minute, but first, what really is “Purity”? Purity is to be free of ANY defilement of the mind, body, and soul. To be pure means to be absolutely flawless, 100% without sin, completely perfect! How can that even be possible, you might be saying…Right?

Well, first you have to understand that you cannot be pure in God’s eyes with out being born again. Refer back to the first of today’s scripture…“but whoever rejects the Son will not SEE life…” Now, look at the second one which is in the beatitudes of what this series is all about…“Blessed are the pure in heart,
 for they shall SEE God.”

Sadly, there are many people in the Church that say they are born again, but we know that can’t be all true if we look at the passage in Matthew 7:13-23 …v.13,14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are MANY who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it.” Notice the word “many” and “few”. God’s Word says that there will be few that will find Life. God says He is the Way the Truth and the Life. And sadly, there will be few who will see Him. It also says there will be many who will go to destruction which is hell! MANY WILL GO TO HELL!!! That means a whole lot more people will go to hell than the ones who will enter heaven. Oddly enough, most of America believes themselves to be christains!

Jesus goes on to say that you will know people who are true christains by their fruit. If they are truly belonging to the Kingdom, you will see a change in their life. A sorrow when they sin, a concern about holiness, and a reverence for the Lord Jesus will be the good fruit that they will show.

Many people grow up in the church and say they believe in God. The last part of the passage in Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus is saying that not everyone will go to heaven. They will even preform many miracles like casting out demons and prophecy in His name but they never knew Him. Even Satan believes in God. In fact, he has even seen God more majestically than we will ever see while here on Earth because before he fell he LIVED in heaven WITH God! And yet he rebelled. He wanted to live his own way. Sadly, that is the attitude of MANY so called christains in the Church today. They believe in God but they really don’t want to give Him every area of their life.

So, how are we expected to live a life that is absolutely flawless, 100% without sin, completely perfect? Remember, if you are truly a born again christain, you are pure because you have a perfect person (Jesus) living in you. If you do have Jesus living in you then you will WANT to live a pure life. Now, look at the third verse of today’s scripture. King David gives the answer in Psalm 119. He firsts asks how can we keep our way pure, then he gives this answer… “By living according to your word.” Simple, right? Of course it is simple but it is also hard. But as long as we live with that desire, Jesus will keep us!

Reflection:

To live a pure life is difficult just like it says in Matthew 7:14, but we really don’t have to be perfect, we just need Jesus who is perfect in our life and us willing to accept whatever He wants for us. If we do have Him living our life for us, we will have a desire to be holy. We will be concerned with how we live and that it would be pleasing to the Lord. But if we do slip off the path of purity, the Father comes for us and corrects us just like any loving father or shepherd would do.

Challenge:

Dear beloved, I say all this because I truly am concerned for the Church at large. There are so many people saying that they believe in Jesus but yet they live like the rest of the world. Please check to see every area of your life is a pure way. Would it be pleasing to the Lord? Pray and ask God in every area and have Him “clean house”. Pray the Psalm 51 to the Lord, which is a psalm of repentance.

-Doug McGowan

Reconciliation for His forgiveness

Today’s scripture:

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

Relationships are so very important to God. You can see it throughout scripture. Even in the trinity is a relationship. Husband and wife, brothers and sisters, believers and other believers, father and son, and ultimately Jesus and us. It’s all over the bible and God holds it dear to His heart. He hates divorce (Malachi 2:16), and He hates the separation that sin brings between us and Himself. But He loves reconciliation!

Today we are looking into the fourth topic on the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus is teaching, which is “Reconciliation”. In Matthew 5:23-26 God is concerned about us making things right in our relationship with one another. God says before we even think of coming and offering our gifts to Him, STOP! Don’t go any further. Turn around and make a b-line straight to the one that has something against you and be reconciled. How much more important would it be if we were the ones holding a grudge.

He goes on to say in v.25 do it quickly and do it with urgency! If you delay, you could run the risk of suffering some severe consequences v.26.

In this passage, what would be considered our gifts that we offer to God? Our gifts to Him is anything we do to serve Him. Rather it be in ministry, a church service, tithing of money, doing mercy for someone in need, parenting, fathering, mothering, working to support our family,…etc. In other words, when we were born again, we gave our LIFE to God! Our whole life to Him! That means whatever we do, we do unto the Lord!

So, in all reality, since our whole life and everything we do is a gift to Him, we should always be in check that our relationships are pure. Granted, its impossible to ALWAYS be in check and not take another step until we reconcile our differences, but the point is, we need to have the heart of mercy not of bitterness. Have a heart of peace and not strife. Have a heart of thankfulness and not greed. And when we do recognize we have differences to go quickly to reconcile so there is nothing between you and the Lord.

I feel the Lord pressing on me to use the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:1-9. Cain offered to the Lord fruit from his labor of working in the field and Abel offered his first born of his flock of sheep. Abel’s gift to God was accepted but Cain’s gift was not. Kind of interesting huh? But, notice verse 7, God said to Cain “if you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you have to rule over it.” God is indicating here that Cain’s heart was not right.

Then what happens next? Cain goes over to his brother Abel and discusses this with him, then KILLS HIM! Now, I don’t think a sin like that happens over night. Bitterness and anger towards his brother had to be lingering in his heart for some time, festering deep within himself. God knew his heart was full of anger. For whatever reason he was angry, doesn’t really matter or else scripture would say. The point is Cain did not reconcile with his brother and a life was taken because of it!

If we don’t reconcile quickly, we will suffer consequences of our bitterness and anger. It will grow in us and tear us up and eat us alive until we get angry with just about anything or anyone and its only a matter of time before we either give in to God or end up doing something drastic or being miserable until we do obey.

Reflection:

Our attitude about reconciliation needs to be bent toward God’s will. He holds this so important, He would rather you put on hold anything you are doing for Him, to get right in your relationships. That speaks loudly to me. That tells me relationships are more important to Him then ministry! Our attitude needs to be a willingness to stop anything and everything and go straight to our adversary and at least make an attempt to make it right.

Challenge:

Do you have anything that you are holding against someone? Is anyone you know of holding anything against you? Clear your conscience and go to them and be reconciled. Ask for forgiveness. If you don’t, God will not forgive you! Refer back to today’s scripture.

-Doug McGowan

Self-Control of peace rather than Anger

Today’s scripture:

“A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)

“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.” (Proverbs 15:8)   

These two verses out of Proverbs relate so well to what we are going to be talking about here. The first verse shows the gentleness and mercy within our choice of attitude on how we will handle anger. The second verse shows that the Lord is not pleased and glorified if we come to Him having something against someone else. Which leads us on to the next topic that Jesus is teaching on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:21-22.

Today we are looking into the third topic on the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus is teaching, which is “Self-Control”. In Matthew 5:21,22, Jesus is reminding people about the 6^th commandment, “you shall not murder” found in Exodus 20:13. And if they do murder, they will be in danger of the judgment.

But then in verse 22, He takes it even further and says, “…whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” Anger in of itself is not taking on the physical act of murder, but Jesus is saying even a hint of hatred is just as bad as murder.

Do you understand what this means? If it is true that that kind of anger is just as bad before you even consider the physical act, means you are just as guilty as someone like John Wayne Gacy, or a Jeffery Dahmer, or a Ted Bundy or a Charles Manson. Before you dismiss this as some over the top thing, have you truly considered how high of a standard Jesus puts in His laws? Do you truly understand that our hearts are that wicked and deceived? See… Jeremiah 17:9, Isaiah 64:6, and Matthew 15:19

Consider this next time you get angry with someone. The thoughts you have in your mind when someone cuts you off in traffic or spreads a rumor about you or even hurts someone you love very much! Consider those thoughts that you have in your mind are guilty of murder and are deserving of hell for even thinking of it.

Now, let me quickly clarify something. If you were to have someone commit a crime against you that is deserving of a strict judgment, you would be correct and just and righteous in your anger to what they have done. But my question is, are you entertaining the thought of seeing them suffer or do you want justice to be served? In the beginning of verse 22 Jesus says “…angry with his brother without cause…” There has to be a just cause to have a righteous anger There is a place for anger (see Matthew 21:12-13). But, wanting justice to be served is as far as it should go. Vengeance is the Lord’s to repay (Hebrews 10:30).

I understand all that I have said is very hard to hear and kind of in your face type of talk but we truly need to understand this. As I have said before, I’m guilty of this as well and I am preaching to myself. I need to hear this.

So, now that we know what scripture says about what our hearts are really like and what we truly are capable of, how can we have self-control in the midst of this? Having self-control is just a choice. Sometimes choosing self-control is just getting a way for a time to calm down. Start to pray for the person you are angry at (Matthew 5:44). Pray mercy for them. God’s Word says, “Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7). This means as we sow words of mercy, God will do the same back to us! That is His promise!!!

Self-control is, well, controlling self. It’s having the attitude that you are going to sow goodness of love and mercy to someone even if you think they don’t deserve it. It’s going against your flesh of what you want and doing that what God wants. That is leading your heart to do what is right. Prov. 15:1 says to speak tenderly to them. When your wife makes you angry, say I love you with a gentle kiss on the forehead.

Reflection:

I know there is a lot in this that goes against how we like to think of ourselves, but don’t just take my word for it. Take God’s Word for it. Go into His word and ask Him to reveal truth about all this. And consider for a moment that He is correct about our hearts. I know it’s hard in the moment of passion to fight against our flesh and do just the opposite and pray goodness and justice for our enemies but that truly is what we need to do if we want any blessings from God and our worship be pleasing to Him.

Challenge:

The next time you get angry, read this again and start trying to look at the person or situation, as God would see it. Can you picture the Lord’s hands tightly squeezed around that person’s neck with the look of vengeance in His eyes? He loves the one your angry at. He wants to forgive you as well but as long as you have a hold of their neck He can’t be pleased and bless you.

-Doug McGowan