Life-or-Death Decisions

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and cures. Now choose life.

Deuteronomy 30:19

After forty years of wandering through the desert, the Jordan River was all that stood between the people of Israel and the Promised Land. Most of the generation of Moses called together to speak to on that day had never known the Egyptian captivity of their parents. Their home had been the desert, and their hope had been the land across the Jordan. From where the Israelites stood, it looked like the hard times were finally over. Stability and prosperity lay ahead.

Yet Moses knew that even in a land of promise and plenty, every individual had a choice. The choice Moses shared with the people of Israel is the same choice to follow God and receive the benefits of an obedient life. Or you can make a choice to dishonor God and reap the natural negative consequences of your actions.

Although crucial to determining your eternal destiny, accepting or rejecting God's gift of salvation is only one choice you make in this life. Every minute is filled with choices, choices that draw you closer to God or farther away from him. Choosing life means choosing God. When you choose life, you prevent curses (which are simply the opposite of blessings) from taking hold. Moses's words are a reminder that your choices, both big and small, matter, choose wisely. Choose life.

God's grace gives you the freedom to choose between good and evil. God's love allows consequences to act as a guide, helping you make decisions that honor God while improving the quality of your life.

Pray for wisdom from God to make the choice of the Father and not of our will. ~ MME Team

Fully Forgiven

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       

                                   

                                                

                Being a scapegoat is not a job most people would volunteer for. After all, it implies taking the blame for what others have done. But in the Old Testament, God offered forgiveness to his people in exactly this way. The priest would lay his hands on the head of a goat and symbolically transfer onto the scapegoat the blame for the sins the people had committed. The priest then sent the animal into the wilderness to take the people's offenses far away. Once the scapegoat removed the people's sins, God in his holiness could once again draw near to the people he loved. 

               In the New Testament, a different kind of scapegoat appeared - Jesus Christ. As God's Son, he willingly chose to bear the offenses of the whole world, to take the blame for everything the people had done against God since the dawn of time and until the end of it. Jesus was innocent of the sins and transgressions of the people, and yet as the scapegoat, he took the punishment for them all so that his beloved people could be spared. 

             The great hope and promise of this verse is that it tells you exactly what you need to do to allow Jesus to be your scapegoat, which opens the door to God's forgiveness in your life. To confess simply means "to agree." Take a few moments each day to agree with God about how well your thoughts, words, and actions have lined up with what he desires for your life. Move forward with confidence, fully forgiven and free from guilt.

             Once God forgives you, all traces of your past offenses are gone. His forgiveness wipes away any feelings of guilt or blame. 

            Pray today to God to teach you how to confess your sins and find eternal love and justice in his merciful presence. 

            God Bless, ~ MME Team

God's plan for our life.

We may think we are in control of our destiny, our future, but how wrong we are. God is at the head of all our success and blessings. It is not how hard, how smart, or how brave we believe ourselves to be that defines our purpose, our placement, or even our success in this world. 

It is only by the grace and mercy of God's love that we live in peace, tenderness, love, and hope... all descriptive words that define how Jesus lived his life in this world. A world that is hurt and many times heart broken. It was not by the flesh that Jesus found salvation and eternal life but by the spiritual father's love, OUR GOD, that he/we are all saved and have the Holy Spirit to lean on daily during our battles with temptations and weaknesses. 

Let us not rely on ourselves but instead put all energy in our faith in our Lord that His plan is active and living in us. When we struggle then that is when we must fall to our knees in prayer and speak with our God in a private intimate relationship that only He and us will ever know. Your relationship with God is as unique and special as His unique individualized plan for each of our lives. Rejoice in God's goodness that His love is perfect and always available. We must only ask for it and we will receive it. 

God Bless  ~ MME Team