84.2 Turn Your Hearts To God

(John 1:13-16)

They did not become God's children by natural means, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; God himself was their Father.

The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son.

John spoke about him.  He cried out, "This is one I was talking about when I said, 'He comes after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.'"

Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another.

84.1 Two Baskets Of Figs

(Jeremiah 24:1-10)

The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the Temple. (This was after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had taken away Jehoiakim's son, King Jehoiachin of Judah, as a prisoner from Jerusalem to Babylonia, together with the leaders of Judah, the craftsmen, and the skilled workers.) The first basket contained good figs, those that ripen early; the other one contained bad figs, too bad to eat. Then the Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, what do you see?"

I answered, "Figs. The good ones are very good, and the bad ones are very bad, too bad to eat."
So the Lord said to me, "I, the Lord, the God of Israel, consider that the people who were taken away to Babylonia are like these good figs, and I will treat them with kindness. I will watch over them and bring them back to this land. I will build them  up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not pull them up. I will give them the desire to know that I am the Lord. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with all their heart.

"As for King Zedekiah of Judah, the politicians around him, and the rest of the people of Jerusalem who have stayed in this land or moved to Egypt-- I, the Lord, will treat them all like these figs that are too bad to be eaten.  I will bring such a disaster on them that all the nations of the world will be terrified. People will make fun on them, make jokes about them, ridicule them, and use their name as a curse everywhere I scatter them.  I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them until there is not one of them left in the land that I gave to them and their ancestors."

83.4 Restoration Through God

(Psalm 85)

Lord, you have been merciful to your land;
you have made Israel prosperous again.
You have forgiven your people's sins
and pardoned all their wrongs.
You stopped being angry with them
and held back your furious rage.

Brings us back, O God our savior,
and stop being displeased with us!
Will you be angry with us forever?
Will your anger never cease?
Make us strong again,
and we, your people, will praise you.
Show us your constant love, O Lord,
and give us your saving help.

I am listening to what the Lord God is saying;
he promises peace to us, his own people,
if we do not go back to our foolish ways.
Surely he is ready to save those who honor him,
and his saving presence will remain in our land.

Love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will embrace.
Man's loyalty will reach up from the earth,
and God's righteousness will look down from heaven.
The Lord will make us prosperous,
and our land will produce rich harvests.
Righteousness will go before the Lord
and prepare the path for him.

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

83.3 Keep On Forgiving

(Luke 17:3-4)

So watch what you do!
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in one day,  and each time he comes to you saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

83.2 Forgive As We Are Forgiven

(Matthew 18:21-35)

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?"

"No, not seven times," answered Jesus, "but seventy times seven, because the Kingdom of heaven is like this: Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts. He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before the king. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay you everything!' The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.

"Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he said. His fellow servant fell down and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!' But he refused; instead he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything. So he called the servant in. 'You worthless slave!' he said. 'I forgave you the whole amount  you owed me, just because you asked me to. You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.' The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount."

And Jesus concluded, "That is how my father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."