[Faith-talk] Fwd: Today's Turning Point with David Jeremiah

Wed Jan 9 21:51:09 CST 2008

Well, you didn't ask me, but I'll take a stab at it all the same...

To reject what is wrong is pleasing to God, even if it is not pleasing to
men.  I cannot help when I read that but be reminded that we are all
sinners, and by that measure have all done wickedness.  And to be quite
honest, we will again assuming we live long enough.

I've never heard it said any better than I first heard from a Baptist
minister now more than a decade ago: We love the sinner, but we hate the
sin.  That applies to all people, including ourselves.

What this verse of Psalm 45 tells us is that we can expect little earthly
reward for this practice.  It isn't going to be easy, and people aren't
going to appreciate it when we say to them that something is wrong, and
recognizing that it is so, we can neither condone nor participate in it.
It is, however, pleasing to God, and that is what truly matters.

I think people should do the same in examining their own conscience.  We
should look at the things we have done and ask ourselves, was that wrong?
If so, I believe three things are appropriate.  First, whatever can be
done after the fact to rectify what we've done ought to be done.
Secondly, we should will ourselves to not do that again.  Third, we should
pray for the grace that would allow us to accept that our sins are
forgiven through Jesus Christ, and to sin no more.

This is something that Catholics are required to do in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, but it seems to me that it's a good idea for anyone to do
now and then.  In fact, I find that if I haven't done it for awhile, it
can be really hard to stand up against some things.  The right thing is
sometimes controversial or even downright unpopular.  I mean, I live in
Oregon, and when the subject of euthanasia comes up, I am morally
obligated to say that it's wrong.  It would be so much easier to keep my
mouth shut, knowing that Oregonians overwhelmingly support it.

That probably goes a bit beyond what you were hoping for.

Joseph

On Wed, Jan 09, 2008 at 06:11:33PM -0700, Lisa Felix wrote:
> .hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma }
> Hi Eric,
>  
> Wow, that scripture verse, Psalm 45:7 is quite interesting.  What do you think about it?  What does it mean to you?  I'm curious, what did you get out of this devotional, or what thoughts came to mind when you read it.  Please share.
>  
> Lisa
> > Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 17:07:00 -0800
> > From: chargerdodger at yahoo.com
> > To: faith-talk at nfbnet.org
> > Subject: [Faith-talk] Fwd: Today's Turning Point with David Jeremiah
> >
> >
> > --- Turning Point
> > <turningpoint at turningpointonline.org> wrote:
> >
> > > Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 06:00:36 -0600 (CST)
> > > From: Turning Point
> > > <turningpoint at turningpointonline.org>
> > > To: chargerdodger at yahoo.com
> > > Subject: Today's Turning Point with David Jeremiah
> > >
> > > Today's Turning Point
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Wednesday, January 9
> > >
> > > An Unnatural Choice
> > >
> > > You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
> > > therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the
> > > oil of gladness more than Your companions.
> > > Psalm 45:7
> > >
> > > Recommended Reading
> > > Matthew 3:16-17
> > >
> > > People who live exclusively in one culture live much
> > > of their life subconsciously. That is, they are so
> > > used to the ways and traditions of their homeland
> > > that they don't have to think before acting. But
> > > when they go to another culture to visit or to live,
> > > every choice is a conscious one because everything
> > > is new. They have left their natural state and are
> > > living in an unnatural one.
> > >
> > > Jesus' "culture" was one of intimate fellowship with
> > > the Holy Spirit. From eternity past, He had lived
> > > with the Father and the Spirit in heaven; and when
> > > He came to earth, that relationship continued. He
> > > was human and had to submit to the Spirit, but He
> > > had no sin nature that battled against the Spirit.
> > > Not so with us. Our sinful, fleshly nature is not
> > > naturally at home with the Spirit. So, moment by
> > > moment, we have to choose to obey Paul's command to
> > > "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). Jesus
> > > is our example, but the choice is ours.
> > >
> > > Choose today to be filled with the Spirit. It is a
> > > humanly unnatural choice, but one that your new,
> > > Christlike nature will gladly agree with.
> > >
> > > God commands us to be filled with the Spirit; and if
> > > we are not filled, it is because we are living
> > > beneath our privileges.
> > > D. L. Moody
> > >
> > > Read-Thru-the-Bible
> > > Genesis 27:18 - 29:35
> > >
> > > Visit us at www.turningpointonline.org/
> > >
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