Hi Faith Family!
This is your second "guilt trip" of the season.
This series will endeavor to emphasise that a "guilt trip" is a good thing and a short trip. Our guilt trip is the distance between where you are right now and the cross of your loving Savior. I pray this will be a reflective and meaningful series as we together spend time in giving careful thought and consideration to all Jesus went through in order to show you his love for you. God bless you today.
How does your future look? Perhaps your future is so bright, you've gotta wear shades! It is something to think about, itsn't it? Where do you see yourself 1 year from now? 5 years from now? 10 years from now? Often, the future is uncertain. There will be events in your life during the next decade you could not possibly predict.
The Psalmist speaks of the future at the end of Psalm 37 in this way:
"Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace. But all sinners will be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off."
This is a classic side-by-side comparison between the godly and the ungodly. God is describing believers and unbelievers. But this verse may make you feel even worse than you did just 2 minutes ago. You may not see yourself as blameless. Perhaps the first term you would use to describe yourself would NOT be upright. We are all too aware of where we have made a mess of things. We know when we had deserved a fair portion when "there was plenty of guilt to go around."
The bad news about sin is that there is no future in it. Sinners have hell waiting for them. The wicked and godless have no future--it will be cut off. Like pruning the dead leaves off a houseplant, the future of such people will be cut off.
This fact makes us prepare for a trip--a guilt trip from where we are right now to the cross. We drop our mistakes, attitude problems, and selfishness there. Christ came to take the place of all people, enduring the punishment of sin once for all. Jesus had his future cut off so that we would have a future. Jesus rose from the dead so that we would know everything he taught was true and our future includes our heavenly home with him.
So there is a future for you--a tremendous future, but one you need not wait for. God has brought you from death to life through faith in the Savior. Your relationship with God is renewed and you have free access to God through prayer. God treasures you as his own dear child and you have a future without end.
What fantastic benefits result from this guilt trip! What a loving and committed God we have who will be with us every day until he calls us home. God bless your day!
Prayer idea: Give thanks for your Savior Jesus and all he endured for your soul's salvation. Spend a moment to consider Jesus' time on the cross, giving thanks for his committed love toward you. Pray for someone you know who does not yet believe in Jesus.
Blessings on your week!
--Pastor Dan