Short Devotion: The One Thing - Acts 16:29-31

 

There’s a story in the Bible in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Acts where the great missionaries Paul and Silas end up in prison. During the night, an earthquake occurs and all of the jail doors suddenly open. It’s a great opportunity for all of the prisoners to escape and when jailer sees this, he tries to kill himself because he knows he will be held accountable and his family publicly shamed for allowing prisoners to escape. But Paul and Silas stop him from committing suicide and tell him all is well. In verses 29-31, we read these amazing words of response:

Acts 16:29-31 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (NIV)

At the heart of Christianity, there is one important issue that we all have to remind ourselves constantly: we need to be saved. We all do things that offend God – there is not one of us exempt from that, no matter how good, faithful, or religious we may be. Those offenses pile up throughout our lives, so unless we find a remedy to forgive us of those sins, we will be separated from God forever. We cannot rescue ourselves from this predicament; we need someone else to save us and there is only one person in history who can do that: Jesus.

At the moment, we’re looking for someone to rescue us from the plight of this pandemic. Or we need someone to boldly lead us through this unparalleled time. But even if someone discovers a cure or a leader emerges in a time of crisis, it still leaves us separated from God. No matter what happens in the world, there is still a gap between us and God. If we ignore it, we doom ourselves. If we currently set it aside and promise to get back to it, we run the risk of doing too little, too late.

In this age of uncertainty, the right time to get right with God is now – as you are reading or viewing this message. And God, who is always gracious, makes it easy for us – all we have to do is to confess to Him in prayer that we’ve messed up, made mistakes, and selfishly sinned. After that, we can ask Jesus to forgive us of our past and place our lives, hearts, and souls into His hands. If we simply do that, then we are showing God that we believe Jesus is our Savior and instantly the gap will be bridged and the breach between us will be closed.

It sounds too good to be true and too simple to be effective and yet here’s the reality: it works.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to close the gap between ourselves and God. Save us from being separated forever and restore us to God’s gracious love. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Thank you for viewing and reading this message. May God bless all of your hopes and dreams. Bye for now 😊

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to read more about the church, please visit the website at www.erinpres.org.

Finding Forgiveness

Audio version here

Acts 10:43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." (NIV)

It’s amazing how much emotional baggage and physical damage we endure simply because we will not let go of our guilt or own up to our mistakes. Last week, I was at a coaching-counseling center which primarily works with pastors. It was an intense time, but also a liberating one because I was able to unburden my soul, whilst expressing my weaknesses and fears, mistakes and doubts. I came away from the center feeling lighter, stronger, and better. It was a remarkable time and one that was centered upon the forgiving nature of Christ.

We tend to cling to our regrets and mistakes because we don’t want to disclose our foolish and fallen ways. It’s a matter of pride, mixed with fear and resentment. On the surface things may appear to be calm, but beneath our skin, a lot of damage is being done to our vital organs, immunity system, and muscles. The mind and heart do not function separately from the body and soul. Whatever troubles our spirits affects the whole person.

This is why believing and experiencing Christ’s forgiveness is both good news and vitally important to us. When we take time to confess our mistakes to Him, we are embracing His fullness, strength, and love. When we place our bitter regrets and foolish choices into His Hands, He can heal us of the past, restore us to God’s favor, and lead us to a better life. We call that peace; Christ calls it love.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, each day we battle with regrets and bad choices. Sometimes, at the end of the day, we can’t sleep because of foolish mistakes and fearful consequences. Lead us to Your throne of grace and help us to humbly bow before You, so that we may seek Your forgiveness and rediscover health, healing, and wholeness in the process. In Your Holy Name, we confess and pray. Amen.

Shrove Tuesday

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Today is Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras as the French call it. It’s also known as Pancake Day in Britain, or more precisely “Shrove Tuesday.” It’s supposed to be the day that we all go to confession and have our sins ‘shriven’ or absolved by the priest, so that we can be better Christians throughout the six weeks of Lent.

Pancakes are part of the celebrations because Lent was traditionally a time of fasting, so fatty foods like meat and sausage were all used up during the Fat Tuesday feasting. The easiest way to prepare and eat was through the making of pancakes. This part of the celebrations probably pre-dates Christianity because communities all over the world would hold an end of winter feast to use up the last of their winter meat before it spoiled.

Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday weren’t originally celebrated in Reformed Presbyterian churches because of the strong connections to the Roman Catholic Church. These days, however, people are more interested and intrigued with mixing traditions rather than maintaining doctrinal standards. We’re more into what I term “Pancake Piety,” where we mix the best of the different strands of Christianity in order to be more inclusive in our community. There’s nothing wrong with doing that, because some of the oldest traditions on our Christian calendar were once a mixture of Biblical celebrations and pagan feasts.

So, today we gather to feast and have fun, to sing and party, to revel and relax. And whether or not we go to confession and have our sins shriven, we all understand that Jesus, and not the priest, is the Holy and Only One who absolves us from our past mistakes and justifies us before God. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but with Christ as our Savior, we can be forgiven and restored to God’s Kingdom.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, from what we read in the Gospels, You loved to feast and have fun with other people. We know that at the heart of our celebrations, You are in the midst of us. As we gather together to celebrate this day, we seek Your forgiveness and long for Your absolution from all of our sins. In Your Holy Name, we ask and pray. Amen.