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Week 36: 3rd Sep – 9th Sep (Guilt and Consequences)

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Guilt and Consequences

Week 36: 3rd Sep – 9th Sep

Bible passage to read: Amos 6


“I have known only you out of all the clans of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities” (Amos 3:2).
God said this to his people the Israelites, that they will not go unpunished because they are his people and he has warned them many times and they still disobey him; What an irony you may say, why will God choose to punish his loved ones in the first instance? After all he confesses to love them but how will he allow them to face bad consequences.
God punishes those he loves dearly. He sees punishment as a way to hold us responsible for our offence. God did the same thing for David. He forgave him his sins of killing Uriah and sleeping with Beersheba but he did not leave him unpunished. If God had leaved him unpunished, he might not have realized the gravity of his offence in the face of God.
Just like in the case of most of us Christians, God is expecting too much from us. God was disappointed with David because he was presenting him to people as a good example then. But David disappointed heaven and God was so furious about. He would have let go but not in the case of David, a man after his heart. God was wandering how David would have messed up after depositing so much in training him and uplifting him to that enviable position.
Moses case was similar to that of David. God showed himself to Moses in the burning bush, he used him to do great miracles but Moses still acted in an unbeliever’s way by allowing the Israelites force him to misbehave. God was so sad about this issue that he never allowed him to reach the Promise Land. He loved him so much that he did not allow any other person to bury him. But he has to correct him in order to serve as good examples to those coming behind.
For believers in Christ, the guilt for all our sins, past, present, and future has already been nailed to the cross. As Christians, we shall not be held guilty of Sins again. That was done once for all. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Christ sacrificed himself; God sees only the righteousness of Christ when He looks at us. Our sin has been nailed to the cross with Jesus, and we will never be punished for it. However this does not mean that we wouldn’t account for our doings on judgement day.
If we continue to act in sinful ways and we do not repent and turn from that sin, God brings His divine discipline to bear upon us. If He did not, He will no longer be a loving and concerned Father. Just as we discipline our own children for their wrong doings, so does our heavenly Father lovingly correct us his children for our own good (Hebrews 12:7-13).
“As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who was never disciplined (Hebrews 12:7-13)? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does for all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children after all. Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father, other than that we should stay away from Sin.


Devotional Prayer Points

  • Have mercy on me oh Lord
  • Cast me not away from your presence oh Lord
  • Blot out all my iniquities in Jesus name
  • Oh Lord, please give me a humble heart to acknowledge my mistakes before you always in Jesus name
  • Create in me a clean heart for you in Jesus name

Author: Evangelist Daniel Daramola

Author: CCC Handbook Weekly Devotional
CCC Seventh Year Parish 2
UK

Source:Celestial Handbook
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