The Inevitable Penalty

July 1st, 2014 by Dave Leave a reply »

You will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny —Matthew 5:26

There is no heaven that has a little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure, holy, and right, and He will not allow you to escape from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit for even one moment. He urged you to come to judgment immediately when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty. Now you have been “thrown into prison, [and] . . . you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny” (5:25-26). Yet you ask, “Is this a God of mercy and love?” When seen from God’s perspective, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road. Decide to do it right now, saying, “Yes, Lord, I will write that letter,” or, “I will be reconciled to that person now.”

These sermons of Jesus Christ are meant for your will and your conscience, not for your head. If you dispute these verses from the Sermon on the Mount with your head, you will dull the appeal to your heart.

If you find yourself asking, “I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God?”— then ask yourself if you are paying your debts from God’s standpoint. Do now what you will have to do someday. Every moral question or call comes with an “ought” behind it— the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do.

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Journal DJR.
Good morning Lord,
Sometimes I think it’s not fair … that I have to get everything right. Or at least that’s your goal for me. Christlikeness. And of course I can’t obtain it by trying real hard. I could be tempted to go on a guilt trip and beat myself up. Then I realize that it isn’t about fair, it’s your great love for me. You know I can’t do it (on my own) and dont expect me to. And have provided all the resources to make it happen. Then the don’ts and can’ts and shouldn’ts fade into the background and morph into “Opportunities” Opportunities to see your grace in action. To see how fast I can come to repentance, instead of how long I can escape it. To see how short my prodigal journeys can become, rather than how long I can prolong my return home.

It’s all about seeing things from your perspective, rather than mine. Thanks for showing the way by how you lived .

John 5:19 “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. …. 30 I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.

Lord, Help me become more like you, … seeing what the Father is doing and obeying quickly.

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