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1996-11-14 - Roadblocks
They keep us from getting from one place to another be it on the highway,
in the office or at home. They take many forms from physical barriers, to
the boss who shows up with something very urgent, to that stack of bills
that needs to be done. And yet so many of the things that restrict us are
things that are only in our minds. Take this puzzle for example:
There are eight glasses in a row. The four on the left are full of water
and the four on the right are empty. The goal is to have every other glass
full and do so by only touching four glasses. This is pretty obvious to most
folks. If the glasses are numbered one to eight, left to right, then you
exchange two and five, and four and seven. Now all the odd glasses are filled
and the even ones are empty.
Then comes the second challenge. Return the glasses to their original position
and once again make every other glass full. The difference is that you may
now only touch two glasses. Most folks, including myself have a much tougher
time with this task. The solution is this. Take the second glass and pour
the water from it into the fifth glass and return the second glass to its
place. Then take the fourth glass and pour the contents into the seventh
glass and return the fourth glass to its place. Now all the glasses are odd/even
and you have only touched two glasses. Try this with your friends. They will
think you've gone Mensa on them.
The point is this. The roadblock most folks run into in the second puzzle
is a restriction they place upon themselves. No one said that you could not
pour the water from one glass to another. But, since we are instructed to
only move two glasses we restrict ourselves to that mode of thinking
needlessly.
A far more important roadblock to deal with is why you won't accept Jesus
or walk more closely with Him. I ask people why they won't come to Jesus.
The answers are things like "I have some things in my life to fix first."
or "He could never accept me after what I did." Nothing could be further
from the truth. These restrictions are only in our minds and not in the mind
of God. As for fixing ourselves:
Isaiah 64:6 - For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all
our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like
a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
The very best efforts we can muster are filthy rags. We are incapable of
meeting the standard of perfection that is required by the Law. The Law had
to be satisfied and we could not do it, but God had a plan. Jesus would come
and live a perfect life and give it to us. Roadblock removed. And what about
that thing on our past that God could never forgive?
1 Cor 6:9 - Or do you not know that the unrightious shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous,
nor drunkards, nor revialers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of
God. [ Keep Reading ] And such were some of you; but
you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
Simply put, God can forgive anyone. And the only thing He can not forgive
is not accepting the solution He has made for us. There is simply no other
way to get to Heaven. But the work is all done. There is nothing left for
us to get or do wrong.
John 3:14 - And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up; [15] that whosoever believes may
in Him have eternal life.
John 3:17 - For God did not send His son into the world to judge the world,
but that the world should be saved through Him.
That 'whosoever' includes everyone from you, to me, to the president, to
the poorest and hungriest soul on this earth. No restrictions, no preconditions.
All He asks is that we come to Him and accept the free gift of eternal life
He offers. Does it sound too easy? It is only easy because God knew that
we needed all the help we can get. He is not some huge "Thou shalt not" in
the sky who doesn't care. His caring knows no limits.
Isaiah 53:4 - Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, afflicted. [5] But
He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;
the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we
are healed.
1 John 4:9 - By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has
sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
[10] And this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us
and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
All the work has been done by God on our behalf. He wants spend all of eternity
getting to know us and us Him. Does this sound different than what you have
heard about God? Do you want to know this love? It is easy too. All you have
to do is admit to God that you have sinned, and are not perfect. And you
want to accept His gift of eternal life. Along with that gift comes peace
with God and membership into His family. We'd love to meet you. If you need
a little help getting started, try something like this prayer.
Lord Jesus, I now know that I can not make it on my own. I am not perfect.
But You are and want to share that with me. I accept Your offered work of
salvation and eternal life that You have for me. I want to be a member of
Your family and live with You forever in Heaven. Thank You for dying for
me and caring for me. Amen.
Not too hard. If you have prayed this prayer, or something like it from your
heart, we would like to know about it. We'd like to help you find a church
where you can learn more about this new life you have entered. There you
will be able to meet others who have accepted Jesus as Savior, learn more
about Him and make some new friends who will help you to grow in your
understanding of how much God loves you. Send us a note at
Webservants@cfdevotionals.org and
we'll get back to you as quickly as we can. Thanks.
Lord Jesus, You have done so much for us, and shown us such wondrous love
and care there are hardly words to begin to thank You. The simple truth that
You do care and have come and suffered and died, and rose again to make a
way for us to share eternity with You is staggering. There is not much we
can do but thank You and learn more about You and this great heart You have
toward us. Guide us and lead us as we learn and grow. Amen.
Grace & Peace,
Mike
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