FWD: Morning Manna (Oct. 26); BP: Jer. 50; RBTTY: I Tim. 6; Jer. 9-11

 
Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net

 

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-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:37:52 -0500
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (Oct. 26); BP: Jer. 50; RBTTY: I Tim. 6; Jer. 9-11
 

October 26                                                                                                                                                                               “Pardoned, Not Paroled”

 

“And I will bring Israel again to his habitation and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan and his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead.  In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none—and the sins of Judah, and they shall be not be found. . .for I will pardon them whom I reserve.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                              Jeremiah 50:19-20

     The road Home may seem long and the return quite difficult, but the same One Who adopted us is the same One Who’ll welcome us there with open arms.

     Sin and repentance.

     In reality, those two words should never be far-removed from each other.  Does that mean we should “sin that grace may abound”—i.e., do what we know is wrong simply because we know the Lord will forgive us?

 

     As the Apostle Paul put it, “God forbid!” (Rom. 6:1-2, 15).

     We should hate sin as much as the Heavenly Father does—knowing what Price He had to pay to redeem us from self, sin and satan (Rom. 5:6-11).  Likewise, we should “reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ, not letting sin reign unchecked in our lives” (Rom. 6:11-12) simply because we know it grieves His Holy Heart and makes us unusable to Him (Eph. 4:30; II Tim. 2:21-23; Jer. 19:1-15).

 

     Israel and Judah had allowed the “sin of syncretism”—i.e., a blending of two or more religions together—to creep in upon them during their days of exile.  They knew it was wrong to intermarry with other nations; yet, they intermarried.  They knew it was wrong to worship graven images and foreign gods; yet, they did both.

 

     That’s why they had to ask “Does anyone know the way to Zion?” (Jer. 50:5a) and “forgotten their Resting-place” (v.6b).  Such is always the case with a “slow slide into sin,” where a foothold becomes a stronghold and soon one’s spiritual identity is diluted by depravity and we no longer know who or Whose we are anymore.

 

     Even though we all grieve the Holy Spirit from time-to-time by our sins of commission and omission, the Heavenly Father never stops loving us and longing for our return Home.  Like the Prodigal Son’s father, He continues wooing and warning us—pleading with us to “come to ourselves” and looking forward to the day when He sees us returning, even though the stench of sin is still strong upon us (Lk. 15:17-20a).

 

     Like that father, He “runs to meet us, having compassion upon us, embraces us with a Heavenly hug, kisses us with the kiss of forgiveness and restores us to our lost estate as a joint-heir with Christ” (Lk. 15:20b-22).  Isn’t that a wonderful thought, Pilgrim, when we realize our Lord’s last name is Forgiveness and He earnestly desires for us to return unto Him?

 

     Assuredly it is.  Hallelujah!!  May the Holy Spirit help us to remember we’re pardoned, not paroled, in Christ and to know our true “soul-satisfaction” comes when we’re abiding in Him and feeding upon His Word (Jn. 15:1-7).  Amen and amen.