Salvation Wednesday 2/10/16 The Big Trip (37)

Dear Father in Heaven: I love You. Please forgive me of my sins and help me to repent of them this day. Thank You for a beautiful day and on this day we call Salvation Wednesday help my message written for You and under Your hand and guidance reach out to others and help bring the lost in to You to be saved. I know, dear Lord, that I am just a sinner saved by Grace and The Blood of Jesus shed for me and others on the Cross at Calvary. Please be with the family of the one killed in the school bus crash yesterday in our area, and please be with those who were injured. Thank You, Father, for giving to us Your one and only Son Jesus. Please  help me now with a message and to then forward it to those who will read and use it to further Your Kingdom. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, yesterday morning I was watching out the window and saw the school bus picking up the neighbor kids to go to school. The roads were very slick and school should have been delayed so the weather could have been watched. York County had school buses stuck all over the place. After the kids got to school the powers to be decided to dismiss early. On the way home a Cumberland Valley School bus was involved in a fatal accident. I do not know the details but a 20-year old passenger in a car lost her life. Please pray for her family and also for those injured in that bus crash. Today, brothers and sisters, is Salvation Wednesday on this line, so please pray for the lost so that they might come to Jesus to be saved. I missed writing yesterday, as son Keith called on this old man to do some snow plowing. And I love to plow snow. In fact, I must go out and re-do our driveway as we had some more snow overnight. It looks like a winter wonderland in our backyard this morning as the deer are out searching for food. God is so good!

Salvation Wednesday: February 10, 2016: The Big Trip (Day Thirty-seven)

We are sinners!

1 John 1:7-10 New International Version (NIV)

7 - But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 - If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us.

When I look back on the days of my childhood, back when the streets were still dirt and the Dead Sea was still sick, my dear late mamma would try and teach me things. She often called what I did wrong sins. One thing she tried her best to instill in my brother Leonard and me was that we should always tell the truth. She was big on us telling the truth. I can remember her on more than one occasion asking me this. Daniel Webster, are you lying to me? First, you need to know that I was mamma's boy and she always called me Danny, well, except when I was in trouble. Then it was Daniel! But when she would call out "Daniel Webster," I knew she caught me at something big. "Daniel Webster Lehman," wow, I really did it this time. Did you lie to me, are you lying to me? Mamma, you told me to tell the truth so I have learned to never lie. Now that is the biggest one you have ever told. Gosh, what is a kid to do? If I tell the truth I am in trouble and if I lie I am in trouble, and it seems she would already know what I did.

Brothers and sisters, my mamma loved God with all her heart, and I believe gave her the gift of vision to know when her little Danny messed up. Mamma was also like our Lord Jesus because when it was all said and done, she would forgive me, although sometimes it came after me eating a lot of soap or getting my little butt tanned. One time I asked mamma if on days when she caught me lying and I had to eat soap, did I need to brush my teeth? I was sent to bed early for that question. In our scripture of today I want you to notice a few things. At the end of verse 7 it states this, "the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin." The key words for me here are Blood, Jesus, Purifies, All, and Sin.

Our Savior Jesus in all His Grace and Mercy on us Purifies us with His Blood from ALL OF OUR SINS. It is hard for some people to understand that Jesus died on the Cross to do just that, regardless of what that sin or those sins might have been. If I broke the neighbor's window with a snowball  and then lied about it, mamma would forgive me of both of those things, although I still had to pay to fix the window. Our Lord Jesus is the same. He will forgive us of all of our sins if we ask and repent, but we still must pay our earthly debt for those sins. In other words, if you rob the bank and you get caught, and you will, God will forgive you for doing it, but Johnny law is going to put you in jail. Oh, and  just because you are not caught doing what you do wrong here on earth, our Lord God still knows. And even more scary, He knows what we are thinking. Yes, guys, if we are in the food store in the summer and some young lady in a short skirt is bent over the meat counter and we are watching, we are sinning and God knows it. (Did I just confess to something?)

Now let us look at some more of this scripture.

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us."

If we confess our sins to Jesus, and we do not need to confess them to anyone else, He will forgive us of our sins and purify us of ALL, YES, ALL, unrighteousness.  Now if we claim we have not sinned, and to me that means if we are not willing to confess to Him, we are making Him out to be a liar. To me, not confess your sins over to Jesus is the same as saying to Him, I did not sin. I can remember years and years ago there was a doctor who worked in the emergency room at the Community General Hospital. He was sort of a "Ben Casey" look-alike. I heard many a woman say he can park his shoes under my bed anytime. Although those women did not do that, thinking it was still a sin.

Brothers and sisters, with the new snow covering the dirt of the old snow, I think this would be a perfect day to go to Jesus and just ask Him to forgive us of all of our sins and get a clean blood bath. Will you join me in this prayer of confession and faith?

Dear Father in Heaven, I am asking today for You to cover us with the Blood of Jesus and remove all  of our sins from our records. Yes, Lord, I am a sinner saved only by the fact You sent Jesus to die for me, for us, on The Cross. I need forgiven for my wrongdoings, my sinful thinking, for my actions and things I have done that You might know about and I have forgotten. Please, Lord, forgive us, forgive me. I have faith that You will do this, I have faith, dear Lord, and believe that Jesus Christ is our only way to Heaven and I pray that all who are praying this prayer will confess and then, Lord, help us all to repent of sinning and try our best to do better each day. Lord, according to Your Word, I ask that my name be placed in the Lamb's Book of Life and I am lined up and ready for Heaven. I pray to You, Father, in the Name of Jesus, Your Son and my Savior, and I give thanks also. Amen.

If you prayed that in faith, brothers and sisters, you are once again clean. How long will it last? That is up to each one of us. Let us do our best to walk with Jesus today and each day. Now go forth and serve Him, serve Jesus in some way or another today. And know this, Jesus loves you enough He died for You. I love You also.

Pastor Dan

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

I am weak but Thou art strong;
Jesus,  keep me from all wrong.
I'll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Just a loser walk with Thee;
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea.
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be,  dear Lord, let it be.

Just a loser walk with Thee;
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea.
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be,  dear Lord, let it be.