The Cost of Rejected Forgiveness

Monday, August 28, 2023

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you?  Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?  But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself.  For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.  He will judge everyone according to what they have done.  He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.  But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.  But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.  For God does not show favoritism.  Romans 2:4-11

Paul’s message to the believers at Rome is that of a story as old as Adam and Eve’s first two sons; it’s a story of jealousy and choices ^{(see Genesis 4)}.  Cain was the firstborn, and he despised his younger brother, Abel.  God had instructed them what to bring as an offering, but Cain stubbornly brought what he wanted, while Abel obeyed God.  When God rejected Cain’s “innovated worship” and accepted Abel’s obedience, anger raised-up in Cain like a volcano of jealousy; he killed his brother.  That was a momentary wrong decision fueled by bad judgment and independence.  Unfortunately for Cain (as his parents before him), when he sinned, he persisted in defending his petulance.  When God judged him for it, he whined, claiming God was being too hard on him.  This was resoundingly-odd, considering it was Abel rotting in a shallow grave.  Cain spent the rest of his days wandering like a lost soul.  Indeed, he was lost, and judged. 

We’re still playing “Cain and Abel” these days.  There has been war someplace on this planet without fail since the first killing.  As Paul wrote, God’s kindness and patience with humanity is an offering of forgiveness.  Sadly, human stubbornness is in abundant supply.  In the spirit of independence, alive and thriving today, we don’t need some Jew from the antiquities to die on a cross for us.  We are good enough, thank you…we’ll meet any challenge head-on.  Thanks, God, for the offer, but no thanks…we’re good.

Only we’re not!

Even in the short space of my lifetime I have witnessed the diminishing sense of kindness and compassion that human beings have for each other.  (You have only to observe Interstate road-rage for a half-mile to validate that statement).  The value of human life plummets in the murder statistics.  Porch-pirates, sales of home security systems, with weapons to back them up are at an all-time high.  As was the case with Cain and Abel, killing (with weapons or words) is how we deal with the anger of a lost soul.  And we seem to get better (darker) at it every year.

Many people reject God’s kindness, simply ignoring what a magnificent, precious gift of forgiveness they refuse….choosing instead an eternity of separation from their Creator.  That is the sad reality of evil…thinking we stay strong by holding God at arms-length, we condemn ourselves to eternal punishment.

Placing all that in perspective requires us to turn and look at Calvary’s Lamb, Jesus, nailed to a rough-hewn cross, beaten within an inch of life’s endurance,  spat-upon, alone, abandoned, yet crying-out:  Father, forgive them! 

This is the kindness of God; it is the offer of healing and hope. 

For You Today 

The choice is always there…reject His forgiveness, or receive His goodness,

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library. 

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Of God, Humankind, and Ants

 

Friday, January 8, 2021

Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings; honor the Lord for his glory and strength.  Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.  Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.  The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.  The God of glory thunders.  The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.  The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.  The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.  He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox.  The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightning.  The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.  The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare.  In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”  The Lord rules over the floodwaters.  The Lord reigns as king forever.  The Lord gives his people strength.  The Lord blesses them with peace.  Psalm 29:1-11

I’m a good bit larger than an ant.  And that’s not just because of pounds gained over the holidays, or coronavirus boredom eating; it’s just the nature of humans and ants. That is also the kind of relationship between humankind and God; we are a lot smaller than the I AM.

It’s easy enough for a human to crush an ant without much effort.  After all, at my post-holiday length, girth, and mass, it would take around 45,000 ants to equal the space I take up on this planet.  Still, if given a choice, I do not squash ants; they are God’s creatures, and you don’t mess with that.  Unless they sting you!  Or infest your picnic.  Or start gnawing the beams that hold your house up.  Then you call the exterminator.  As part of humanity my benevolence towards ants does have a limit. 

There is also a correlation in this with our relationship to our Creator.  He doesn’t smash us like unwanted bugs; His benevolence and patience extend to humankind on a much deeper level than ours does toward ants (and each other). 

Aside from the fact that God’s understanding of us is much greater than our understanding of anything, God also has limitless capacity for grace and mercy.  It is a good thing that is true, because we wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving otherwise.

And that is where my astonishment about we humans leaps to the foreground.  I am amazed at how lightly humankind presumes upon God’s grace and mercy by treading on His holiness.  It is almost like an ant invading the picnic and staring the human in the face and saying, I’m taking that slice of gooey German chocolate cake, buddy…and what’re YOU gonna do about it?  I can tell you, an ant with an attitude like that would be a stain on the checkered tablecloth in a heartbeat.

The Psalmist tells us our attitude towards God should be that of honor and worship.  That is a far cry from the reality of today’s world.  There are so many who deny even the existence of God, let alone His preeminence.  Many acknowledge God’s existence, but their lack of honor and worship disdains His rightful place in our lives.  For too many humans, worship is reduced to a ritualistic nod of acquiescence to custom, or simply doing what one must to cover the bases just in case God might notice their naughtiness and take away their toys.  We humans can be arrogant and petulant enough to make nursery school children look like Harvard scholars.  We seem to be as thankless to our Creator as ants raiding the picnic.

Unfortunately, it has always been thus.  The first thing Adam did upon hearing there was nothing forbidden him, except that one tree in the middle of the garden, was to hunt up a ladder to pick the highest cherry on the limb.  Our first parents literally ate themselves right out of house and home.  There is nothing like forbidden fruit to ensure we humans will make another stupid choice.

To the point for today’s Psalm…this poetic reminder of God’s majesty, holiness, and power, and the call to worship Him with all reverence and fidelity, is no suggestion; it is the sound of the ram’s horn, an alert that we stop being petulant ants at God’s picnic, and line up to serve the King of Kings.

For You Today

Here’s a good question at the start of another year:

What will you do differently this year to keep your worship of God genuine, fresh, and holy?  He is that important, you know.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on this text see The Voice of God and Kicking the Hornet's Nest      

 

Kicking the Hornet's Nest

 

Monday, June 8, 2020

Psalm 29:1-11

Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings; honor the Lord for his glory and strength.  Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.  Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.  The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.  The God of glory thunders.  The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.  The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.  The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.  He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox.  The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightning.  The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.  The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare.  In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”  The Lord rules over the floodwaters.  The Lord reigns as king forever.  The Lord gives his people strength.  The Lord blesses them with peace.

The last thing in the world I would ever do is intentionally kick a hornet’s nest.  The key word is intentionally.  I did that once with yellow jackets nesting in a dead, hollow branch of an oak tree.  I was a teenager, helping my Dad in the yard.  The dead limb was huge and hanging over where my brother parked his car.  The little black and yellow dive demons objected to my sawing off the limb that contained their living quarters.  They were VERY unhappy; I spent 2 days in the hospital.

The whole point here is that you do not poke what can poke back much harder than you can take.  If you read David’s psalm objectively, the characterizations of God’s power are bigger than any poke you can handle.  Consider:

·       God’s glory thunders over the sea (which is pretty thunderous itself)

·       God’s answers split the gigantic cedars like twigs

·       God’s power makes the mountains shudder and jump like young oxen

In short, who would want to mess with a God like that?

Yet, it is common in our day to see the cavalier arrogance many people have about God.  That kind of thinking survives only so long as God’s patience.  If you have ever watched a petulant child get angry at his parent, you get this idea.  The child isn’t getting what he wants, so he threatens to run away, or tries to hit the parent.  The parent responds with a smile, or a shrug, or a calm rebuke.  The child ramps up his onslaught, louder, angrier, promising the parent will be sorry.  He’s pushing the envelope, and doesn’t understand that with which he’s trifling.  His parent’s patience is about to result in something akin to what I experienced in that oak tree…more than you ever bargained-for. 

This is a picture of God, our Creator, and the petulance of humans who refuse to even acknowledge the Sovereign of the universe.  God’s patience is incredible (more so than mine).  But God’s patience is not limitless.  He allows us much freedom to find our way, but, we are ultimately responsible to come to Him on bended knee:

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:9-11

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, your Word is clear; our responsibility is to choose to love you with all our hearts, minds, soul, and strength.  And when we do that, our hearts find peace.  Help us today to choose well.

For You Today

You can probably recall much of the same experience I had as a child; I knew if Mom or Dad used all 3 of my names, calling out Russell Jay Brownworth…the patience zone had appeared in the rearview mirror!  The hammer was about to fall!  God also has a place like that.  Best not to kick that hornet’s nest!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Psalm 29 see The Voice of the Lord and Joy and Judgment

When Stubborn and Rebellious Meets Immovable and Faithful

[i][ii]

Monday, March 18, 2019

The Lord said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt.  Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  I told them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’  And I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.  Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey.  But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people.  If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.”  When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes.  For the Lord had told Moses to tell them, “You are a stubborn and rebellious people.  If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you.  Remove your jewelry and fine clothes while I decide what to do with you.”  So from the time they left Mount Sinai, the Israelites wore no more jewelry or fine clothes.  Exodus 33:1-6

It was a simple thing; the zipper on my jacket wouldn’t cooperate, and I was late for the school bus that would take me to my first-grade class.  Mom started to help me zip-up, and I yanked the zipper out of her hand – NO! said the brat with all his superior 6-year-old wisdom, I’ll do it!  It’s almost like there’s a merit badge for always being self-sufficient and claiming to have accomplished life by yourself.  It’s like that with politics, family, relationships and matters of faith…we seem to learn the hard way, proving there are much fewer geniuses than we imagined.

Israel was helpless, enslaved for 400 years in Egypt.  God sent Moses to announce the captivity was at an end.  Pharaoh eventually capitulated and let the people go.  Slaves became free, and they imagined that meant they were in charge of the universe.  But that was a cardinal error; the brat-nation had much to learn. Stubborn and Rebellious Israel had met Immovable and Faithful God.

There’s that old saying, what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object.  The problem with applying that to a relationship with God is there’s nothing that is irresistible when compared with immovable God.  It’s much more that we, the created beings of God’s hands, are fragile, housed in temporary bodies with imperfect and limited knowledge.  When it comes to a contest with humans vs. Yahweh, we are more like the local nursing home residents’ football team going up against the New England Patriots in a Not-So-Super-Bowl…it won’t be pretty!

God, in His infinite wisdom, kept a safe distance (for Israel) from Israel.  They needed that space to find out just how dependent they were on their God.  Rebelliousness and stubborn ways need to experience stubbing toes and falling-down.  It’s how we learn to walk.

People who have suffered a stroke, or been in a coma, learn this lesson in a heartbeat.  When they wake-up they realize there are things that must be learned all over again.  Simple things, like how to pick up a ball, or say a simple word they’d used a million times. 

It is this way with the stubborn rebelliousness with which we convince ourselves we can make it just fine without our Creator.  Baby steps, all over again!

For You Today

If you want a tested, reliable, immovable and faithful path to spiritual liberty and life, let Scripture have the last word today and every day:

For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.  Remember what it says:  “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”            Hebrews 3:14-15

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   Pixabay.com

[ii] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

Rivers of Tears

[i]

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Your laws are wonderful.  No wonder I obey them!  The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.  I pant with expectation, longing for your commands.  Come and show me your mercy, as you do for all who love your name.  Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil.  Ransom me from the oppression of evil people; then I can obey your commandments.  Look upon me with love; teach me your decrees.  Rivers of tears gush from my eyes because people disobey your instructions. 

Psalm 119:129-136^(NLT)

David loved God as a shepherd boy tending his father’s flocks.  He loved God when he was a fugitive, running for his life because King Saul had a paranoid-schizophrenic break with reality, fearing that God was giving his throne to David.  Saul’s fears were founded, as God was about to have an obedient king in place of the disobedient Saul:

But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’  Acts 13:22^(NLT)

David loved God even though he was human and could sin as humans do.  That love for God drove David to repentance when he got publicly caught in his sins with Bathsheba; he repented and was restored. 

As a king David was moved to rivers of tears because he saw disobedience throughout the nation of Israel, and he knew the people were making the same mistake as Saul.

When it comes to having a relationship with God, the important thing for human beings to remember is that obedience trumps words, feelings and anything else! 

When David wrote this Psalm he was well on the other side of his most infamous moments of sin and separation from God.  He had experienced both the joy of obeying God’s word, and the pain of his own arrogance as his sin separated him from God’s fellowship.  And you can certainly tell the difference!

Therein is a model with which we can live!  It is the word of God that gives light to our understanding, instruction to our hearts and forms a safe footing for our steps.  Disobedience brings darkness to the soul, confusion in the heart and one trap after another in which we will fall as we are confronted with life’s harshness.

David declared God’s laws/ways were wonderful.  I have heard it described otherwise by today’s culture, as many refuse to have anyone tell them what to do, or how to live.  The difference between David, and those who refuse God’s way, is the reality of just how lovely and fulfilling life can be under God’s wing.   

For You Today

Obedience brings joy.  Don’t be like the child who shouts NO!!! to his parents about eating his string beans; that child will never know the strength healthy food can bring.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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[i] Title Image: Ian Thomson, via Wikimedia Commons