Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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The Cleansing Jesus

David Panicker
Baltimore MTC, MD

9 And I will put this third into the fire, refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, “They are my people”; and they will say, “The Lord is our God.”


Humankind was created in the image of God to serve as His people.  When Adam and Eve gave into their own desires, they turned away from God. Ever since then every person must make the decision of God verses sin being lord over their life.  Generation after generation, God refined His people through a cyclical pattern. God bestowed blessings and rewards to His people, who took it for granted and believed they don’t need Him therefore turning away from God and following their sinful desires. Then the trials and tribulations began and people turned to God praying for mercy and grace. The cycle would repeat where ‘good times’ people strayed from God and ‘bad times’ people followed God.
The cycle was broken when Jesus came to cleanse us from sin and impurity as we call on the Lord our God. As Adam is noted as bringing death into the world by sinning, humankind made sacrifices to God to atone for sins. Jesus put an end to death by being a sacrifice for humankind. Over time actions and traditions became ‘going through the motions’. The Pharisees and Sadducees taught the law of the Lord yet they became arrogant in their belief that they would know when God sends the Messiah and that their interpretation of the scriptures was undeniable. Jesus refined humankind when He taught the people the will of God, not just through scriptural text but through parables that explained the meaning and purpose of what God asks of us.
Jesus will return to judge the world. Therefore, it is time to decide whether we would rather enjoy living sinfully in the world now and pay the price with eternal damnation or be refined and saved through the blood of Jesus the Christ that frees us from sin for eternity.

PRAYER

Lord God, we praise You for love and mercy.  We earnestly confess that we are sinners and need Your strength to help us follow Your will. Thank You Lord for all the blessings and mercies that You have bestowed upon us. We request You to give us the wisdom we need to make the correct decisions. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
“The blessing by faith, I receive from above;
Oh, glory! my soul is made perfect in love;
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know,
The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.”
James L. Nicholson, 1872

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