Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Oh, What a Savior!

"And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim. 11 And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians...12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. 13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. 14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. 15 And the children of Israel said unto the Lord, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day. 16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel" (Judges 10:10-16).

In a fiery sermon, Pastor Fred Boyd, who recently spoke at church said, "We make sinful decisions and serve the devil and then when things go wrong we blame God or we cry out to him for mercy. Why don't you cry out to the devil for mercy--he's the one that you've been serving." God used that sermon to bring several in our church to repentance. One of them said to me, "Pastor, I've been blaming everybody else for the consequences of the poor decisions that I've been making. But it's nobody else's fault, but mine. Today, I'm taking responsibility for my sinful decisions and their consequences. I've asked the Lord to forgive me and from this point on I want to serve and honor him with my life."

Have we truly repented of our sin? In other words, have we turned from it and desire instead to honor and please the Lord? A person that has truly repented has an attitude that says, "I deserve whatever consequences I have coming to me. And whether or not God has mercy on me I'm going to, with his help, forsake my sin and serve him." God is merciful and if he gave us what we really deserve we would be in Hell. But God is also a Holy and loving God that will deal with the sin in our lives. Have you sinned against the Lord? If you are a Christian that has strayed from the Lord, Cry out to him in true repentance and God will be faithful and just to forgive your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). If you've never been born again I urge you to turn from your sin and self rule and trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life. God's holiness demands that you pay for your sin in hell for all eternity. God's love and grace cannot bear to see you there. Therefore God sent his son Jesus Christ to die on a cruel Roman cross to satisfy his justice on your behalf. Three days later he conqurered death by rising again, proving that he has the power to grant eternal life to all who believe in him. Oh, what a savior!

O what a Savior

Verse 1
Once I was straying
In sin’s dark valley
No hope within could I see
But they searched through Heaven
And found a Savior
To save a poor lost soul like me

Chorus
O what a Savior
O Hallelujah
His heart was broken
On Calvary
His hands were nail scared
His side was riven
He gave His life’s blood for even me

Verse 2
Death’s chilly waters
I’ll soon be crossing
But His hand will lead me safely o’er
Then I’ll join that chorus
In that great city
I’ll sing up there forever and ever more

Repeat Chorus

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