Tag Archives: condemnation

Have you lost your first love? (Revelation 2:1-7), May 12, 2017

Today’s Podcast

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Remember the seven letters Jesus had John write to the seven churches in Asia Minor? They still have a lot to say to us if we listen.
Scripture
1. Revelation 2:1-7
2. The One: Write down My words, and send them to the messenger of the church in Ephesus. “These are the words of the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks and moves among the golden lampstands:

“I know your deeds, your tireless labor, and your patient endurance. I know you do not tolerate those who do evil. Furthermore, you have diligently tested those who claim to be emissaries, and you have found that they are not true witnesses. You have correctly found them to be false. I know you are patiently enduring and holding firm on behalf of My name. You have not become faint.

“However, I have this against you: you have abandoned your first love. Do you remember what it was like before you fell? It’s time to rethink and change your ways; go back to how you first acted. However, if you do not return, I will come quickly and personally remove your lampstand from its place. But you do have this to your credit: you despise the deeds of the Nicolaitans and how they concede to evil. I also hate what they do.

“Let the person who is able to hear, listen to and follow what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches. I will allow the one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death to eat from the tree of life found in God’s lush paradise.”

Devotional
1. The seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor raise lots of questions today about the stability of those churches
  1. Only one was left unscathed by Jesus’ remarks
  2. All the others were condemned for something they did or failed to do in the course of their daily activities
  3. All but one also had at least one redeeming quality
  4. The order of the letters might be in the order they might be visited if you took a trip to see all of them on a journey in those days
  5. Every letter also points to characteristics Christians today exhibit and should avoid
2. The first letter written to Ephesus
  1. Know your deeds
  2. Tireless labor
  3. Patient endurance
  4. Do not tolerate evil, or those who do evil
3. You abandoned your first love
  1. Became legalistic in examination of the deeds of others
  2. Rethink your ways
  3. Remember how you felt when you first received grace and mercy
  4. Go back to those days
  5. Go back to how you first acted
  6. Love each other and share the message
  7. Demonstrate the joy of the Lord
  8. Don’t fail to mix grace with justice
4. Listen, follow what the spirit proclaims, there is a reward at the end
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Show grace or condemnation to those who wrong us, which will it be? (John 8:11), February 17, 2017

Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
We have a choice to condemn or show grace when someone wrongs us. Which will you do?
Scripture
1. John 8:11
2. Jesus: Well, I do not condemn you either; all I ask is that you go and from now on avoid the sins that plague you.
Devotional
1. The doctor asks, “Does it hurt when you move your arm like this?” You reply, “Yes, it does.” His expert treatment. “Then don’t move it that way.”
  1. We would think the doctor is a little crazy wouldn’t we?
  2. Sometimes he’s right.
  3. Humans are the only animal that do things the body isn’t built to do.
  4. Try to build safety gadgets instead.
  5. Bone structure built to withstand hitting something at the speed you can run
  6. Cheetah, dog, elephant, human
  7. We wear ride motorcycles at 90 mph and wear helmets and leather jackets for protection
2. Critics dismissed by asking the one without sin to cast the first stone.
  1. Caught in the act, witnesses to attest to crime
  2. The law said she should be stoned for her adulterous actions
  3. But wait, where was the guy?
  4. Doesn’t it take two?
  5. If she was caught in the act, wasn’t he caught in the act also?
  6. Didn’t the law apply to both? Why, yes it did!
3. Jesus wrote in the sand
  1. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what He wrote?
  2. Maybe a list of everyone’s secret sins
  3. Maybe He began to put names to the violations of God’s laws
  4. We’ll never know what Jesus wrote in the sand that day, but no one threw a stone
4. Then Jesus taught us something we should all remember
  1. He told us He came to extend grace and forgiveness to all those who believed in Him
  2. He also told us to show grace and forgiveness to those who wrong us
  3. He demonstrated it in more ways that we ever could
  4. Jesus gave His life as a demonstration of that grace and forgiveness
5. When I’m quick to judge or condemn others for their actions, maybe I need to stop and remember this scene in the streets of Jerusalem. Jesus didn’t condemn but asked that the woman caught in adultery avoid sinning again. He extend grace and forgiveness to her. I expect He changed her life forever just like He can change mine and yours. All we have to do is ask and then let Him empower us to live the way He wants us to live.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Under whose authority? (Matthew 21:24-25) May 16, 2016

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Exodus 25-28

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 21:24-25
Jesus: I will answer your question if first you answer one of Mine: You saw John ritually cleansing people through baptism for the redemption of their sins. Did John’s cleansing come from heaven, or was he simply washing people of his own whim?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The chief priests and elders came to Jesus questioning His authority. Here He was doing miraculous things in the courts of the temple and they couldn’t believe He was doing them by the power of God. Jesus taught those who would listen the meaning of God’s word and showed them the fulfillment of prophecy through His actions and the chief priests and elders thought He must be working with Satan instead of the Almighty. The crowds were flocking to Jesus, so the chief priests and elders knew Jesus must be doing something wrong to attract so many people. They couldn’t get people to come to the temple in such droves, so Jesus must be in league with the devil to gathering such a throng around Him.

We would never do that, would we? We would never look at someone drawing such crowds in the name of God and say they were doing so by the power of Satan, would we? We would never accuse the miracle workers of slight of hand, trickery, and deceit to draw the crowds they do, would we? Hmmm!

When the disciples came to Jesus and wanted Him to stop those performing miracles in His name, He said to leave them alone. If they were doing so under false pretenses, at least His name was being lifted up. They would be judged by their actions, but His name would still be glorified by their actions if His name was used for the healing ministry they were doing. Hmmm! Do we condemn those who perform miracles in Jesus’ name, calling them charlatans, doing it only for the money?

I wonder what Jesus would say about our conversations today if He dropped into our churches and social groups and homes as we talked about our brothers and sisters. When we begin to belittle our fellow denominations or we start talking about the televangelists or we demean all faith healers when one or two are found to plant fake victims of disease or illness in the audience, are we doing what these chief priest and elders did?

I think we might be. I think Jesus might just ask us to answer a few questions that would cause us to stop us in our tracks, back away slowly with an embarrassed look on our face, and run back into our holes. You see, if people are doing good in Jesus’ name, it’s not our place to figure out their internal motive. If they are doing so for their personal gain, that’s for God to sort out. If they accept funds and use that money to satisfy their own greed and avarice, they will answer for it before God. We don’t need to worry about it.

But they might also be using all that money for the good of others. They might be pouring that money into other ministries and we really don’t know unless we are able to see the books and few of us have that access, do we. What we do know is that Jesus’ name is being lifted up and He is given credit for the healing, the ministry, the miracles that are taking place. And that’s what He wants. Those that are instruments of those actions will answer to God for the motive of their actions.

The same is true when we talk about each others denominations. Are the baptists right? Are the Methodists on the wrong track? Will the Presbyterians be at the head of the line in heaven? Will the Catholics be at the back of the line or the front? Are the Lutherans leading people the wrong direction? We talk about each other a lot. The truth is there is something right in all our doctrines and methods of governance. And the truth is there is something wrong in all our doctrines and methods of governance.

The right is that we all worship God and put our faith, trust, and hope in Jesus, His Son, who gave His life for our redemption. The wrong is we are all sinners and flawed because of it. Every one of our denominations grew out of discord with a parent denomination. God never intended denominations to happen within His church, but we began to have discord from the very beginnings of the church with the arguments about whether Gentiles should undergo the rite of circumcision when they became members of Christ’s body, the church.

Since that time, groups split from one denomination after another. The Catholic, universal church began, but the Orthodox church split from the universal church, then the Greek Orthodox saw they had it right so they split again. Luther came along to address the problem of indulgences levied by corrupt, greedy priests more interested in property than piety and the Protestant religion was born with the Lutheran church, then it split because of governance. Then it split because of doctrine questions, then it split over the treatment of segments of the population, then it split over the question of missions, then it split over… Now churches split over the color of carpet or where the keyboard sits on the platform.

Are we any different than those chief priests and elders asking about the authority of the other ministers around us? Think about it the next time you decide to have one of those ministers of denominations for lunch!

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.