Posts Tagged ‘jonah’
THIRTY ONE DAYS OF BIBLE TRUTHS – DAY 29 (ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY)
Friday, January 29th, 2016
BIBLE VERSE: “Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads” (Joshua 7:6)
TRUTH: In Old Testament days, a sign of true repentance, shame and sorrow over sin was the “rending” (or ripping) of your upper body clothing and sitting in a pile of ashes, while pouring some over your head. It was a public sign of humility and complete openness of the individual before God that public or private sin needed to be confessed. When Jonah preached to the 100,000 people of Nineveh, they all put on sackcloth (uncomfortable clothing made from black goat’s hair), poured ashes over their heads and repented of all their sins corporately and individually. God saved each and everyone of them, from the King of Nineveh (now Mosul, Iraq) to the lowliest person.
TRUTH: In Old Testament days, a sign of true repentance, shame and sorrow over sin was the “rending” (or ripping) of your upper body clothing and sitting in a pile of ashes, while pouring some over your head. It was a public sign of humility and complete openness of the individual before God that public or private sin needed to be confessed. When Jonah preached to the 100,000 people of Nineveh, they all put on sackcloth (uncomfortable clothing made from black goat’s hair), poured ashes over their heads and repented of all their sins corporately and individually. God saved each and everyone of them, from the King of Nineveh (now Mosul, Iraq) to the lowliest person.
This outward sign, in the sight of God, is the ultimate act of owning and accepting personal responsibility for one’s actions. We don’t go the sackcloth and ashes – or the rending and dust over heads – route these days, but we are still responsible for our own actions. God will hold ALL mankind responsible for any unconfessed sin and unlike the latest psychobabble in modern society, each person who ever lived will give an account, saved or unsaved. There will be none of this before the Judgment Seats of Christ: “my parents did not love me”; “I grew up poor”; “I was hurt by some ungodly pastor” or some such excuse.
The best thing we can do to help ourselves from now, is to accept responsibility for every corner of our lives from the seen, to the unseen and be like Joshua in this verse above (Joshua 7:6)
– Joshua tore his clothes: so approach God in with an spirit of surrender and openness to His correction and direction.
– Joshua fell on his face: he approached God in complete reverence and awe as to Whom he was appearing before. We should do likewise.
– Joshua was before the ark: we should go immediately and directly to the Foot of the Cross and camp there until Holy Spirit releases us in complete forgiveness.
– Joshua poured dust on his head: he, and thus we, accepted responsibility, which is the first step to redemption and restoration.
– Joshua tore his clothes: so approach God in with an spirit of surrender and openness to His correction and direction.
– Joshua fell on his face: he approached God in complete reverence and awe as to Whom he was appearing before. We should do likewise.
– Joshua was before the ark: we should go immediately and directly to the Foot of the Cross and camp there until Holy Spirit releases us in complete forgiveness.
– Joshua poured dust on his head: he, and thus we, accepted responsibility, which is the first step to redemption and restoration.
SUNDAY SCHOOL LOST OUR CHILDREN….
Sunday, December 30th, 2012…..BUT GOD HIMSELF REVEALS TRUTH!
How did we lose our kids – good ‘church’ kids – to the world when we are the best at playing church. When we have the best electronics and entertainment gadgetry to keep the youth in pews. When we have e-bibles; paraphrased bibles; backpack bibles; water-proof bibles; metal-cased bibles; study bibles; men’s bibles; womens’ bibles; Pentecostal bibles; bible on dvd; audio bibles, YouVersion Bibles; Gideon Bibles….and TONS OF DUSTY BIBLES ON SHELVES IN AMERICAN HOMES….because nobody is ready them!!!!!! Nobody, that is, except the ONLY 9% of American Adults who have the only view that counts with God – A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW! It is even worse with our teens/college aged young people.
Back in 2009, Ken Ham wrote the Christian book shocker of the Decade when “ALREADY GONE” hit the book stands. It was an indictment against EVERY adult Christian – leader and parent – who have ever pastored, been a church elder/deacon, or taught in a church in any capacity. I remember buying several copies and handing the book out to Fellowship of Christian Athlete and youth leadership to make them aware of what was happening around us.
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