April 3
Judges 9:22-11:28
In the midst of Good Friday and Easter, the reality of what Jesus did on the cross should cause us to pause and consider what Jesus' sacrifice truly means to us personally. In bondage to sin, and without hope, this is our situation without Jesus Christ. That is, of course, if you don't deem yourself "pretty good". The most popular religion in the world, is the religion of "good works". Doing what you supposed to do, judging others who don't do what they supposed to do, it is easy to religiously elevate yourselves and demote others in your sight. This is of course as long as we never actually compare ourselves to the only One who truly matters, God, Himself. Jesus died, so that we can be free. Jesus paid the price that we are incapable of paying. Jesus did what He did so that He could free us from the bondage of sin, and offer us eternity with Him in heaven. But do you believe this and do you see yourselves as deserving of this or undeserving. There must be a change in our heart to process this. The new birth of a Christian and revival necessitates this pivotal decision. Going through the motions, forcing our loved ones to go through the motions can not lead to revival, but reform. Reformation changes the externals, leading our loved ones to follow the same senseless rote rituals and traditions of religion, but unless the heart is changed, nothing really has been accomplished. Forcing your children to go to church, especially when they see that you have no strong desire to go, does nothing to change the heart.
We read the continued cyclical path of the Israelites in the book of Judges, and we read in Judges 10:10-14, " Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.” The Lord replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!” God knew that they reached out to Him because of fear, not because of a real desire to be in a real relationship with Him. So, God simply told them, since they obviously trusted in other gods, why not reach out to those objects of their trust. The same goes with humans, as we read in 11:7, "But Jephthah said to them, “Aren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now when you’re in trouble?” They had previously treated Jephthah terribly, but now in trouble, they cry out to him for help.
As we approach this Easter season, the first question that needs to be asked is, "Do you honestly believe that you have need of a Savior, that your life needs to be saved? Because unless you do, Easter has no real meaning to you. Once you realize this, are you willing to humble yourselves and acknowledge the sins in your own life? For if you do, if you see your sins for the filth that they truly are before a perfect and holy God, it should cause you to fall on your knees in acknowledgment of who He is and who you are. We read in Matthew 5:3-4, "“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted." If this actually occurs, this will not be just another Easter celebration come and gone. In fact, your children will not see this as a time that they are being forced to go to church. When you realize that you don't have to go to church, but that in this new relationship, you actually get to go to church, then your loved ones will see the difference between real and fake, between relationship and religion, between revival and reformation. It must be real and it comes down to a change in the heart. This is where revival takes place. This need not be formal, even in the quiet of your own room, take that moment to repent of your sins and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. This is the whole reason for the season. If never before, let this be your first real celebration of what Good Friday means for His payment on the cross, and what Easter means when death could not hold Him, when He rose from the grave. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: