I know, I said I'm only coming on weekends...

But this Living Life segment, I had to share :)

(Even if it's yesterday's...)

Enjoy~

-Love, GinniePark

P.S.: It is so hot here in L.A. o.o

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Memory Verse of the Week:

"Jesus answered, 'It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'" - Luke 4:8, NIV

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Repentance Demonstrates Action - Luke 3:10-20

What Should We Do Then?

10: "What should we do then?" the crowd asked.

11: John answered, "Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same."

12: Even tax collectors came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"

13: "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them.

14: Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely - be content with your pay."

 

Pointing the Way to Jesus

15: The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah.

16: John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

17: His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

18: And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

19: But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other evil things he had done,

20: Herod added this to them all: He locked up John in prison.

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Reflection

What Should We Do Then? (3:10-14)

Yesterday we saw that John came bearing a message of repentance. As John repsonds to the crowds, he says that repentance must demonstrate action - sharing with others, treating people fairly, and not being greedy. True repentance is not a feeling. It is a decision and the beginning of true freedom. Repentance is the moment you make the conscious decision to completely surrender your will and selfish ambition to God. It is when you begin to turn from your way of thinking, back to God's way of thinking. It is an inward change of mind that results in an outward change of action which moves us toward a completely new direction in God.

 

Pointing the Way to Jesus (3:15-20)

In terms of repentance, John does not just leave the people with the message of changing one's lifestyle, but he ultimately directs them to Jesus. Repentance without the cross is simply behavior modification. We cannot just say that we believe and live any way we choose, neither can we simply live a morally correct life without a personal relationship with God, because that cannot bring forgiveness from sin. Repentance never comes with demands or conditions - "I'll do this, God, if You do that." Repentance comes out of a genuine realization of desperate need, realizing that you are in a burning building with no escape except by that someone from the outside who can come and save you. It demands the cross and someone paying for your sin. We are not doing God a favor by becoming followers of Him. He has done us an incredible favor by making it possible for us to escape the pitiful condition we were in.

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Application

-If we want to see revival and reformation in this generation, repentance must be at the heart of our following Jesus. Live a lifestyle of repentance. Repent because Jesus died for your sins. By faith in Him and grace from Him, you can put to death your sin.

-Do you come to God with demands or a sense of entitlement? Come to Him with a sense of humility and desperation. He deserves our utter submission and obedience.

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"One of the most fundamental marks of true repentance is a disposition to see our sins as God sees them."

-Charles Simeon

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Act Like You Are Saved

Many of the prophets of God were called to live extreme lives. For example, Jeremiah was once commanded to make a yoke and carry it around. Ezekiel was commanded to lie on his left side for 390 days. Isaiah was commanded to walk around barefoot and . By any standard, these are bizarre and strange behaviors. If anyone even attempted to do these things publicly today, they would be called crazy and either be arrested or institutionalized. (Saying, "God told me to!" is not considered a justifiable defense.)

John the Baptist's life was also very extreme: he ate bugs and lived in the wilderness. At first, he might have seemed like just another religious nut. Yet, the people responded to him. It was John's message that was so convicting. He didn't sing in a lovey-dovey voice, "God loves you!" nor did he blare, "God hates you!" His message was simple. Luke 3:8 says, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." Or, in other words, "If you are really God's people, act like it!"

As modern disciples of Christ, we are called to do the same thing. As John MacDuff writes, "Would that we thus sought more thoroughly to incorporate religion with every-day life, and have all interfused with the fear and love and favor of God...that the grand problem which we, as Christians have to solve, is 'to be in the world, and not of it.'"

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A Letter to God

Lord, I repent of every thought, word, motive, and action that was not from You.

Forgive me for my arrogance and selfish ways.

Put to death every part of my life that is not in submission to You.

Thank You for the cross and its power to save.

In Jesus' name. Amen.