So, What Is Confession?

October 2, 2012

This week I’m blitzing daily blogs to unpack each point of yesterday’s Jet Pilot’s Compass for you.  The first point is:  CONFESSION…

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”   (1 John 1:9)

In the original Greek language, what we translate as confess is a compound Greek word: to say and the word for sameness.  It literally means to say the same thing God says or to agree with God.  If you know the Word of God and are in the Spirit enough to be convicted by the Holy Spirit, you can know what God says and how He feels about what you have done.

Your confession is to agree with Him. Our responsibility is to agree with Him.  He does all the rest.

He knows when we are lost.  Because He loves us He very much wants us to agree with Him that He might recover us and lead us into the green pastures and still waters that lead to a table of provision and a full cup that never empties.  That’s why He wants us to confess our sins and start climbing in the right direction spiritually.

He is not a divine policeman with a huge club just waiting to crack us over the head when we step out of line.  The ministry of Jesus is summed up in the Gospel of Luke this way: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (19:10).  That Gospel shows us in beautiful ways the blessings that came into the lives of lost people because Jesus found them and led them to the blessings of salvation.

Agree with Him and He will guide you to the blessings He has just for you.

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Posted by Dick Woodward

A Prayer with No Petition

September 12, 2012

“Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion…”    (PSALM 103: 2 – 4 NIV)

The Old Testament people of God sang from the Psalms when they worshiped God.  When they worshiped, sometimes they talked to God about God.  Sometimes they talked to God about people, usually their own life.  And sometimes they were not talking to God at all, they were talking to people about God: praising, praying, and preaching.

When we read the psalms we should always ask ourselves, “To whom was the author speaking and about whom was he speaking?”

The verses quoted above are from a psalm of prayer.  But the strange thing is there is no petition in this prayer.  The verb “to pray” literally means to ask.  So we are not really looking at a prayer psalm but a psalm of praise and thanksgiving.  The Psalmist’s soul is so full all he wants to do is praise the Lord in grateful worship.

What an example for us to pray with no “gimme” in our prayer.  Does your soul ever get so full that all you want to do is thank the Lord for all His blessings?  He begins by thanking God for his salvation.  In the Gospels Jesus heals ten lepers and only one comes back to thank Him.  Jesus asked the question “Where are the nine?”

Are you one of the 90% who never thank the Lord for redeeming your life from the pit of sin?  Or do you want to be part of the 10% who thank the Lord for their salvation in grateful worship?

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Posted by Dick Woodward

A Beautiful Word

August 28, 2012

“Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life…” (Psalm 23:6 NLT)

Mercy is the unconditional love of God.  This beautiful word is found three hundred and sixty-six times in the Bible.  (Perhaps God wants us to know we need His unconditional love, every day of the year – and He even covers Leap Year!)  Many people think we don’t hear about the mercy of God in the Bible until we get to the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew.  However, two hundred and eighty of these references to the mercy of God are found in the Old Testament.

My favorite Old Testament reference to the mercy of God is found in the last verse of the Twenty-third Psalm.  David ends his greatest Psalm with the declaration that he is positively certain the mercy of God will follow him all the days of his life. The Hebrew word he uses here for “follow” is a word that can also be translated “pursue.”  David brings the most profound and eloquent description of the relationship between God and man ever written to a conclusion by making the declaration that the unconditional love of God will pursue him all the days of his life.  By application, this is true for any of us who will confess our sins.

There are so many ways to fail.  When we understand the meaning of the mercy of God, however, we should realize that we cannot possibly out-fail His mercy.  As I place my failures on a scale, I like to place all those times the Bible uses the word “mercy” on the scale opposite my failures.  I invite you to do the same thing no matter how horrible you think your sins are.

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Posted by Dick Woodward

The Secret Things

July 26, 2012

“The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that He has revealed to us that we may obey…” (Deuteronomy 29:29 NLT)

According to Moses, there are secrets God has determined to keep secret.  (Perhaps these secrets are on a need to know basis.)  However, the things God wants us to do, He has made very plain through His Word, especially the Living Word, His beloved Son.  But, if God has willed to remain silent about His secrets, it would be pompous arrogance for us to say we can answer all the “why” questions regarding our suffering.

Where did we ever get the idea that we should expect to understand everything that happens to us?  Where did we ever get the absurd notion that God owes us an explanation for everything He has done and is doing in our world and in our lives?  If God gave us an explanation for everything and the answers to all of our “why” questions, the very essence of faith and the need for faith would be eliminated.

Almighty God has willed that without faith we cannot please Him, or come to Him (Hebrews 11:6).  God is pleased when we echo these words of Job: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15 NKJV).  In my own words, God is pleased when we come to Him in our crucibles of suffering and cry, “If you heal me, that’s all right.  But, if you don’t heal me, that’s all right, too, because You are all right!”

Can you say you are all right because He is all right? Can you leave the secret things with Him?

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Posted by Dick Woodward

The Great Shepherd

April 22, 2012

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”    (Psalm 23: 1-3)

These are some of the most familiar words in the Bible loved by Protestants, Catholics and Jews.  They describe our relationship with God.  They tell us that when God is our Shepherd we have green pastures, still waters and a full cup that never empties.  This is because our great Shepherd makes us lie down.  He may use problems we cannot solve to make us lie down.  However, since we are creatures of choice we can choose to get up again.  When we do our green pastures turn brown and our cup empties again.  He then restores our soul by driving us into the paths of righteousness that restore us.

Many devout souls also love this psalm because they see in it a description of a believer’s death.  To them death is the great Shepherd coming into a life for the last time making a devout person lie down so He can give them the green pastures that never turn brown and the full cup that never empties in the eternal state.  The only way He can give us these eternal blessings is to make us lie down in death.

The key to these eternal blessings is found in the opening words of the psalm: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Meditate on these words one word at a time.  They are the key to living here and in the hereafter.  Can you say that He is your Shepherd today and always?

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Posted by Dick Woodward

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