Repentance and Healing

Jeremiah 3:11-12, 22

Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever…Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings; Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.

The nation of Israel had continued in its waywardness until God's punishment caused them to be led into captivity. The prophet Jeremiah was proclaiming what thus saith the Lord in an attempt to get Israel to repent and turn back to God. Verse 11 provides a glimpse of the magnitude to Israel's treacherousness as it had become worse than that of Judah. Through it all God's love remained strong and desired that Israel turn back to Him as He does with sinners today.

The main message in today's lesson is that God's love forgives each time a sinner repents of his or her sinful ways as there is spiritual healing in repentance. Only God can heal mankind of his backsliding as this is evidenced through His Son Jesus Christ. Because of God's love, He made all provisions for humanity to repent and be saved.

Repentance requires three steps, admission, confession and turning away from sin to righteousness. Just as repentance was proclaimed then, the same message is being proclaimed today. Have you heard the message?
Repent and be healed.

Comments are welcome
Author's contact
wwhite@goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
http://willie-writing.blogspot.com/

Christ The True Vine

John 15:1-2

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

What is Jesus teaching in this parable? He is teaching that He is the Christ the one and only Savior (true vine) and all who come to Him in faith have life and apart from Him there is no life. The other message here is that Disciples of Christ must remain in Him to bear fruit and if and when the fruit bearing ceases then he or she is casted off. With that being said, all believers are expected to bear fruit as this builds the kingdom of God.
How do believers bear fruit? Believers bear fruit through his or her witnessing Christ as believers are the salt of the earth. The earth is to be seasoned by sharing the gospel of Christ and inviting others to believe and join the royal family of God. Fruits of our beliefs are seen by the world through the believer's lifestyle-holy living, and through the believer's fruit bearing, there is growth in the Christian community. God the Father purges/removes any and all obstacles that hinder kingdom building.
All fruit bearing is based on our love for God and others. This represents both vertical and horizontal relationships.
Fruit-bearing Christians bring glory to God and His holiness.
Comments are welcome
Author's contact:
wwhite@goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
http://willie-writing.blogspot.com
Today's discussion is taken from my monthly devotions "Heavenly Bread." Available on www.Amazon.com

Pepsi Refresh Project

This is a reminder to please vote everyday for our project at www.refresheverything.com/helping.

Thanks.

Willie White

Pepsi Refresh project

All;

Please help us (W. C. Management Non-Profit Housing) receive funding from Pespi four Adult and Computer Literacy and Wellness program to seniors in Detroit.

Our url is www.refresheverything.com/helping. You can also, text your vote to Pepsi to 73774 and inserting our project number 1061222 in the body of the text.

Thanks for your help in the matter.

Willie White

Jesus, The Way, The Truth and The Life

John14:6-7

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also; and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Nearing the end of Jesus' earthly ministry and mission, He was having a conversation with His disciples where He promises to return and for them to "let not their hearts be troubled" (v.1). During the conversation Jesus told His disciples where He was going and they knew how to get there. Thomas refuted Jesus' statement by stating they didn't know where He was going or how to get there. Our lesson study picks up with Jesus telling them that He was "the way, truth and the life" and if anyone comes to the Father they would have to come through Him. This is a profound fact because it embodies salvation as Jesus is the way back to God, because Jesus took on humanity's sins; therefore, when God the Father looks at man He sees the righteousness of His Son.

Furthermore, Jesus is the final revelation of God the Father as He is God. Therefore, it stands to reason that Jesus expected His disciples to recognize God the Father in Him. His disciples had traveled with Jesus for three long years and had witnessed all that He had done and taught and should have concluded that He and the Father were one (vv. 7-11).
Jesus is the way, truth and life for He is God.

Comments are welcome
Author's contact:
wwhite@goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
http://willie-writing.blogspot.com

Today's discussion is taken from my devotional "Heavenly Bread", which can be purchased through Amazon.com and my Createspace.com website on Amazon as can all my books and other major book stores.

God's Glory Revealed

1 Corinthians 2:8; John 1:14

And the Word was made flesh dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Which none of the princes of this world knew; for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8).

Today's lesson study focus is on the glory of God, which is glorified through His Son Jesus Christ. Our first scripture describes Jesus being the Word of God who was made of flesh as He walked the earth. His disciples traveled with Jesus and witnessed the many signs and wonders He performed authenticating His deity; yet many failed to recognize Him as the begotten Son of God the Father.

When did Jesus existence begin? Jesus was there in the beginning with His Father and upon His earthly arrival was the final revelation of God as His sole purpose was to bring salvation to the world. Therefore, Paul in our second lesson study text answers an implied question would the princes/rulers of this would have crucified our Lord? Hopefully, the answer would have been no, because after the events that occurred on that Friday, many recognized Jesus as Lord. Prophecy had to be fulfilled and His death was eminent as He had to die only to rise again on Sunday morning.

With that being said, God continues to reveal His glory in many ways; the rising and setting of the sun daily, the moon and stars performing their task on schedule, nature obeying His commands and the seasons changing without any delay. Each time we look at our self and our fellow man we see the glory of God and as each believer witness and live holy lives, His glory is manifested even more.
Look around you and see God's glory-it is everywhere.
Comments are welcome
Author's contact:
wwhite@goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
http://willie-writing.blogspot.com
Today's discussion is taken from my devotional "Heavenly Bread", which is available through Amazon.com and the author.

Blessings of Salvation

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Salvation carries blessings that all believers receive upon accepting Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior, and they are:
a) Redemption is that all believers have been ransomed (bought/redeemed) with the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ paid our sin debt. This gives each believer the blood bought right to come boldly to God in prayer with supplication and thanksgiving.

b) Justification is that believers have been justified (acquitted of all sins), or declared righteous in the sight of God. Justification is the finished work of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 2:8).

c) Regeneration is the believer's new birth (John 3:3). This is taking on the life of Christ as the Holy Spirit abides in each believer (Romans 8:9). Believers become new creatures in Christ.

d) Sanctification is each believer being set apart from sin so that all believers may have an intimate relationship with God to serve Him. Sanctification comes by faith in God (Acts 26:18), union with Christ in His death and resurrection (John 15:4-10; Romans 6:1-11; 1 Corinthians 1:30), by Christ's blood (1 John 1:7-9), by the Word (John 17:17), and the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's heart (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Romans 8:13; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Philippians 2:12-13; 2 Thessalonians 2:13).

Given the overall sin cleansing process and the blessings received who wouldn't want to be saved?

Comments are welcome
Author's contact:
wwhite@goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
http://willie-writing.blogspot.com