Passion for the Lost and for the Justice of God

Dears brothers and sisters,

I was reflecting a bit on some of the things that I have been learning, and I called to mind a conversation I had with a friend wherein he told me that he was wrestling with the thought of people we know and love never coming to the Lord and having to face eternity apart from Him and to face judgment without having the great priest to serve as an advocate. I was thinking about how there have been times where I am broken and upset to think about people that are close to me that will never receive the blessings that are given us through the cross unless God intervenes. When I step back from this train of thought, I recognize that my hurt for the lost leads me to wish that God would do things differently and I challenge His goodness and question His justice, which is not where I wish for my heart to stay.

I wanted to share this passage with you guys;
"What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory..." (Romans 9:22-23)

In reading this passage and turning my attention to Him, I realized my fault was that my attention was more on the pain of losing those close to me than it was on his goodness. This passage poses the question what if God has endured with much patience. We know that his desire is for all men to know Him (1 Timothy 2:4) and that seeing the creation made in His own image stray from His love causes him longsuffering (as it is translated in KJV and ASV) because it breaks His heart more than it breaks our hearts and more than our hearts can know to see man reject the very purpose for which he was created. We know that God is good in that he creates these vessels of destruction to make known His power, and furthermore, to make known the riches of his glory. So while I look to the lost and am confused sometimes at how God could punish, Paul looks at the lost and sees God's glory magnified for his vessels of mercy. Let us learn from Paul and see God's greatness in everything.

My desire is for us to be a people who have hearts for the lost and that we would break with compassion for those that don't know Him but that this brokenness would be born of a right and proper view of God. We should break for the lost because we have a passion for His righteousness, His justice, and His great love.

Love you guys, and I am praying for you.
In Christ,
MTL

1 John 1:10

Dear brothers and sisters,

I recently started a Bible Study with my brother Thomas through 1 John, and I wanted to share something that was ministered to my heart in studying ch. 1.

"If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:10)

If we have God's word in us, one of the first things it speaks into us is humility. We recognize that we are not without sin, we are not perfect, we need help, we need grace, and we need God. It is so easy to become discouraged when we see our sins, and we are right to be upset because our sins are an offense to our Father. But we rejoice in this, that where our sins are revealed, God is at work, humbling us and showing us where we need Him and His grace which He so willingly gives through the blood of His perfect and righteous son, Jesus (Romans 5:8-9). Mourn for your sins, for "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted," (Matthew 5:4) but do not let your mourning hinder your rejoicing in Him, because "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20b).

I pray that this note finds you guys rejoicing in His love and grace.
Blessings!
MTL

Discipline

Hello all,

I wanted to share something with you guys that I feel the Lord has been ministering to me a bit this week.

"Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? 'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.'"
(Heb 12:3-6)

This week, I feel that the Lord has been showing me some sin in my life that is not yet put to death completely, and I trust that He will continue doing this in all of us who seek Him for the rest of our lives. I just wanted to encourage any of you who may be experiencing the same. It is a difficult thing to be shown just where it is that we are less than perfect and to be made aware of where we are at fault just as the author of Hebrews writes, "for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11) So, when we are convicted of our sins, take heart that it is the Lord disciplining us that we might yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness, to be made to better resemble our savior and to better worship him. The discipline we receive from Him is a demonstration of His love and grace at work in our lives.

I want to encourage you guys as we fight to put our sins to death to look to the cross and be reminded of his grace and how much he suffered that we might be reconciled to God and begin this process of sanctification.

Love you guys,
In Christ,
MTL