Archives for October 2017

Good morning,

God is loving, merciful, and forgiving. We are unloving, unmerciful, and unforgiving. God has not left us without options. We can come before God, repent of our sin, and God will forgive us.

His mercy is a boundless, fathomless, endless ocean!

(James Smith, “The Evening Sacrifice; Or, A Help to Devotion” 1859)

“You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive–and abundant in mercy to all who call upon You.” Psalm 86:5

What a beautiful representation of God is this! How comforting, at the close of another day’s cares and troubles, sorrows and sins–to be reminded that our “God is good,” and especially that He is “ready to forgive”–ready to pardon all the faults and follies of this day–ready to pass them by, and still treat me as His beloved child!

He only requires me to confess and be sorry for my sins–and in a moment, all is forgiven, all is forgotten, and forgotten forever!

Then He is “abundant in mercy.” The fountain of His mercy has not yet run dry. Run dry! It is not in the least diminished! His mercy is a boundless, fathomless, endless ocean!

God has plenty of mercy for miserable sinners . . .
  mercy to pardon them,
mercy to purify them,
mercy to comfort them,
mercy to save them–
mercy for all who call upon Him!

O my soul, take home tonight this lovely representation of your God, and believing that He is good, ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy–go to Him, call upon Him, and plead with Him. Then you may obtain mercy, and find grace to help you in every time of need.

Good and gracious God, I adore You for Your goodness; I bless You that You are ready to forgive; I rejoice that You are abundant in mercy. And now, O Lord, glorify Your mercy in me–show Your readiness to forgive, in me! Let my heart be eased of every sorrow–and let my conscience be cleansed from every sin! Let me lie down to rest tonight guiltless–rejoicing in the glorious fact that You have blotted out my sins as a cloud, and my transgressions as a thick cloud, and are now at eternal peace with me!

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

Last evening our church celebrated The Lord’s Supper, Communion. (1 Corinthians 11:17-34) Jesus told his disciples to do this in remembrance of me. (11:24-25)

The Bible is a book of remembrances.  God does not want us to forget what He has done. He gave Israel holidays to help them remember. Integral in all these remembrances is the blood.

Passover reminds us when the death angel passed over the homes that had blood on the lintel and doorposts. (Exodus 12:1-13)

Rosh Hashanah or the Feast or Trumpets, is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days specified by Leviticus 23:23–32. The people were to seek the Lord and repent of their sins in preparation for Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. (Leviticus 23:26-32, 16:1-34) The High Priest goes into the Holy of Holies, sprinkles the blood on the altar, to make atonement for the holy place.

The Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot/Feast of Booths/Feast of Ingathering reminds us of the wanderings of the children of Israel during their forty years in the desert and God’s supply once they got there. Blood sacrifices were a daily occurrence. (Leviticus 23: 34-42)

Each of these remembrances required a blood sacrifice. Today, however, there is no tabernacle or temple. How can the sins of the people be atoned? The simple answer is they can’t.

The only blood sacrifice available is the Jewish Messiah, Jesus. Being God, He was the perfect sacrifice. He was sinless, unspotted by sin, and willingly gave His life to atone for mankind, once for all.

Jesus paid the sin debt that the Law, sacrifices of goats and bulls, and we as individuals could not pay. His death, burial, and resurrection, atoned for man’s sin.

God wants us to remember and then act upon what we know. It is God’s desire that all men and women trust Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

Want to know more, call me.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001