Category Archives: Forgiveness

Accountability, Affliction, Bible, Captivity, Compassion, Consequences, Enemies, Forgiveness, God's Will, Judgment, Punishment, Restoration, Scripture

NO COMPASSION

ZECHARIAH 11:6

“‘For I will no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land,’ declares the LORD; ‘but behold, I will let the people fall, each into another’s power and into the power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will not rescue them from their power.’”

It is hard to have compassion for people who willingly make bad decisions. At least, it is for me. When people fall into hard times due to no fault of their own, I want to reach out and lend a helping hand. But someone who time and time again chooses to satisfy their own flesh at the expense of themselves and others seems to deserve whatever comes their way. Does that seem hard? Well, look at today’s verse.

The Lord is saying He was going to allow His chosen people to suffer because of their willful disobedience. When He says He will show no compassion, He is saying there is no pity for their plight. He was, in fact, going to send another nation to punish them. Babylon would rise up and defeat them and carry them off into exile, just like the Lord said.

APPLICATION

Unlike the Israelites, we have mercy and grace through the blood of Jesus to cover our sins. That does not give us freedom to live as we want, though. We still must follow the Lord. Paul says in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” The answer to that question is obvious, isn’t it?

I really love what the Apostle John writes in 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That’s it. That’s the secret. Confession! We need to stay “confessed up.” Unlike the Israelites, who were taken into captivity for 70 years, we can have immediate forgiveness.

I have to confess something to you. I have to confess my sins daily, sometimes more than that. I have learned how important that is. I start my mornings doing that. It’s the first thing I do right after I have a short time of worshipping the Lord. I do my best to humble myself before His throne and ask Him to forgive me of any impure thought or unkind deed. I want His cleansing. Don’t you? It’s there, for the asking.

Cleanse me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

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Advocate, Bible, Deliverance, Forgiveness, Grace, Restoration, Salvation, Scripture

FORGIVEN

ZECHARIAH 10:6

“And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back, because I have had compassion on them; and they will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them.”

“It’s all good, bro. No sweat!” Have you ever been told that before? You have done something that was not good, but the person who you offended said that to you. They forgave you. They were willing to go on and forget the whole thing. You probably had more regrets about the incident than they did. That’s a pretty good feeling to know you had been forgiven.

The Lord is reminding the people of Israel that He had forgiven them. I just love those words He said here in today’s verse – “they will be as though I had not rejected them.” In other words, He had received them back from their rebellion. They were welcomed back into His eternal grace. Then He gives a promise – “and I will answer them.” Wow! That’s our God.

APPLICATION

I can’t help but think about Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” He forgives. He restores. He sets us back into position as His children. Just what does that mean? He treats us as if we had never sinned. He chooses to forget those sins. They are under the blood.

Do you understand that? Christ’s blood, shed for you, has the power to “blind” God from seeing those past sins. Now, He isn’t really blinded, but those sins are placed out of His sight. God does that. Isn’t that amazing. Don’t you wish people could do the same? We can’t forgive anything, can we?

I want to encourage you to forgive. Forgive that neighbor that you allow to get on your last nerve. Forgive that person who cut you off in traffic. Forgive the wayward child who has returned home. And forgive yourself for things you have done (this may be the hardest forgiveness of all). God forgives!

God, my Father, You are a forgiving, gracious God who loves me beyond description. I praise You.

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Affliction, Battles, Bible, Confession, Defeat, Exile, Forgiveness, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Judgment, Obedience, Persecution, Restoration, Scripture

NO TRAFFIC

ZECHARIAH 7:14

“‘but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, since they made the pleasant land desolate.’”

No traffic sounds good, doesn’t it? I live in a city where we have daily traffic jams. One spot in particular causes daily delays. They have attempted to correct that spot and improve the flow of traffic, but it really hasn’t helped a lot. But traffic congestion can also mean that many people are coming to your area or at least coming through it. It helps the economy which in turn helps your community.

God promises the traffic will stop in Israel. He says, “so that no one went back and forth.” Because of their unrepentant sins, God “scattered them…among all the nations.” They were led into exile by foreign invaders. Their land would be left desolate. There would cease to be any reason to come to that land because everything of value was gone.

APPLICATION

Has your life been left desolate because of your sin? There is hope in Jesus. He can restore that which was lost. He can return you to a place of fruitfulness. But that is only possible as you confess and submit to Him. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

You see, our cleansing is just waiting – waiting on us to respond to His calling on our lives. When we do respond, He is there – faithful and righteous to forgive us. What are you waiting for? Aren’t you tired of the windswept streets of your life – desolate due to sin? He can restore the flow of His Spirit.

Warning: When you decide to go all in with Jesus, He will make your life exciting and real. He will lead you to new opportunities for service. He will give you a hunger for His Word that can only be sated by study and application. He will give you a passion to reach the lost with the Gospel. Are you ready for some “traffic” in your life?

Lord, lead me and I will follow. I want to be about Your business.

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Access, Answers, Asking, Bible, Confession, Forgiveness, God's Will, Hearing, Prayer, Scripture

NO RESPONSE

ZECHARIAH 7:13

“‘And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,’ says the LORD of armies;”

Don’t you just hate it when you text someone, and they don’t text you back? In days past, you would write a letter and wait for a response. Later on, you would call and leave a message on an answering machine, expecting a return call. Our frustration with not receiving a response hasn’t changed, has it? We still want to hear back, and the sooner the better.

So, when the Lord said these words to Zechariah to deliver to the people, they must have stung. The Lord of armies (also known as the Lord of Hosts) says “they called and I would not listen.” Why? Because their unrepentant sin had cut off communication. It was as if the phone line to heaven had been cut. They called out, but no one answered. I bet the silence was deafening.

APPLICATION

Do you want God to hear your prayers? Then stay “prayed up.” Confess your sins quickly and completely. Name them. Ask Him to reveal to you those secret sins you keep tucked away. Psalm 90:7-8 tells us. “7 For we have been consumed by Your anger,

and we have been terrified by Your wrath. 8 You have placed our guilty deeds before You, our hidden sins in the light of Your presence.”

Did you catch that last phrase? It said, “our hidden sins.” Another translation says, “our secret sins.” Come on, you know you have them. What have you not confessed to the Lord? What is that secret sin you are holding on to? I know you don’t want to cut off communication with heaven. No one wants that.

Our approach to the altar makes all the difference. If we come as the Israelites did with pride and arrogance, God will not hear. But if we come in humility and brokenness, He promises to hear and answer. God wants to work in our lives. He really wants to. Clear the slate. Confess those sins. Allow Him to work in the ways He wants. You won’t be sorry.

Thank You, Lord, for hearing my confessions. I want to keep our lines of communication wide open.

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Bible, Crowns, Forgiveness, High Priest, Kings, Prophesy, Scripture

PRIEST AND KING

ZECHARIAH 6:11

“‘Also take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.’”

I am neither a Catholic, who are accustomed to a Priest, or living in a monarchy where there is a king (or queen). I live in the U.S. where we elect a President and Vice President every four years. We have never seen our President as king or priest. To even suggest such a thing would be ridiculous, whatever political party is in power.

So, when we see this act performed in verse 11, it can be kind of confusing. The crowing of Joshua, the high priest, was meant to show that he would serve as both priest and king. Why do I say that? Because this vision was a prophecy of the Messiah. We know Jesus is our High Priest and our King. Joshua was symbolizing their future Messiah, the one who had all power.

APPLICATION

I need to ask you if you have accepted Jesus as your High Priest and King. I love the book of Hebrews. In it, we see Jesus in those roles, especially as High Priest. Hebrews 4:14-16 beautifully describes this. “14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.”

The picture here of Jesus as our High Priest sitting on His throne should encourage us in our daily walk. He is not idly sitting by, just watching us mess up and then extending mercy and grace. No! He is walking right beside us through His Holy Spirit, and He is interceding on our behalf.

That’s what a High Priest does – he intercedes for the people for their sins. In our case, Jesus is the supreme ruler of the universe since He is part of the Godhead. He rules and reigns perfectly. He did not sin and cannot sin. We can always trust His will to be in our favor – ALWAYS.

I worship You, my High Priest and King. I lay any crowns I will receive at Your feet.

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Access, Asking, Bible, Cleansing, Cross, Direction, Escape, Forgiveness, God's Will, Heaven, Salvation, Scripture

WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?

ZECHARIAH 5:10

“So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, ‘Where are they taking the ephah?’”

If you have children, you have probably put up with “explorations.” We put up baby gates and all sorts of contraptions to try to keep the little buggers contained. But lo and behold, they would find ways to escape. I can remember sitting and watching my children trying to figure out how to get loose. I would jokingly ask them, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Zechariah just watched the two winged women swoop down and pick up the ephah with the woman (wickedness) inside and fly away. His first thought was “Where are they going?” I don’t think he was concerned about the woman’s welfare. He was just curious about their destination. By this time, Zechariah wasn’t afraid to ask anything of that angel. (Come back tomorrow to see where they take her.)

APPLICATION

As I was thinking of an application for this verse, the thought came to me – what happens to our sins? Where does God carry them? We have the answer right in Scripture. Psalm 103:11-12 says, “11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our wrongdoings from us.”

That’s a long way! You can’t get to the east by traveling west or vice versa. You just keep traveling in the direction you are going, whether that be heading east or heading west. In other words, you can’t get back that sin once it has been forgiven. It’s gone. Now, you may choose to sin again, but it won’t be that same sin. It will be a brand new one.

God could pile all our sins up in one big heap in heaven (mine would be mountainous) and show them all to us when we get there. But no, He removes them. So, we don’t have to ask that question I asked earlier. We know where He carries our sins – to the cross, where they are forgiven forever. Amen? Amen!

Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary
Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near

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Angels, Bible, Forgiveness, Scripture, Wickedness

STORK WINGS AND A BASKET

ZECHARIAH 5:9

“Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of the stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.”

Once, while walking a beach in Florida, I witnessed an osprey (a large raptor) swoop down and grab a little dog that was walking by its owner. Fortunately, the dog was on a leash. However, this meant that now there was a tug of war between the lady and this bird. I watched as she snatched her dog out of the bird’s talons and back to the beach. (In case you are wondering, as far as I know, the dog lived happily ever after.)

We are near the conclusion of this vision, but not without another strange sight. Zechariah sees two winged women fly down and pick up the ephah with the woman inside and carry it away. Scholars have all sorts of opinions about this verse. No one seems to come to a concrete decision about who these women were and where they were going. It is obvious the wickedness in the basket is being carried away. We have to speculate these women were agents of God who alone has the power to vanquish sin. Let’s leave it at that.

APPLICATION

With that view in mind, we need to see how this verse applies to us. Remember, every verse of Scripture is inspired by God and applicable to us. So, how does this verse apply to us. If you use the explanation that I ended the previous paragraph with, God is the one who has the power to take away our sin. He has done that through His Son, Jesus Christ. I don’t know what the two women in Zechariah’s vision represented. All I know for certain is they carried away the wickedness. Don’t you want God to do that for you?

I am involved in a men’s group that meets each Thursday evening. We are in the book of Romans right now and are in chapter 6. Oh man, is that chapter good. Verse 6 and 7 apply here. “6 …knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for the one who has died is freed from sin.”

Did you catch that? “our body of sin might be done away with.” The Greek word for “done away with” actually means to completely make inoperable. It might as well be carried away and dumped. Once we are in Christ, our old man is dead, gone, done away with. Aren’t you glad? I sure am.

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me; Buried, He carried my sins far away; Rising, He justified freely forever: One day He’s coming—O glorious day!

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Accused, Bible, Captivity, Death, Devil, Evil, Forgiveness, Judgment, Redemption, Salvation, Satan, Scripture, Sin

A WHAT IN A WHAT?

ZECHARIAH 5:7

“And behold, a lead cover was lifted up. He continued, ‘And this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.’”

I have seen some strange things in my life. I remember once in Liberia; I saw a woman carrying a car engine on her head. That’s right, a car engine. I was told by a Liberian man that a Liberian woman could carry whatever two men could lift and put on her head. Now, that was strange. I wonder how she got it down.

I bet Zechariah was a little shocked when he saw what was inside that ephah. Under the lead cover was a woman. A what? A woman. What in the world? Albert Barnes explains it this way. The woman represented Israel’s sin. Her sitting symbolized their comfort in their sinful condition. And the lead cover showed the weight of their sin. Not a pretty picture. The largest measure (ephah) with the heaviest weight (lead) was what Zechariah was seeing.

APPLICATION

Do you realize the weight of your sin? Hebrews 12:1 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,…” You can’t run weighted down. Sin is heavy, much heavier than you think.

I love this quote. “Sin will cost you more than you ever thought you would pay. It will take you further than you ever thought you would stray. And it will keep you longer than you ever thought you would stay.” Zechariah saw the weight of Israel’s sins portrayed in his vision. We can see it all around us today.

Sin destroys families. It cost people their livelihoods. It wrecks relationships. And it keeps some people tangled in unhealthy lifestyles. You don’t believe in sin? Satan loves that. He loves you not believing in it because he knows he has you right where he wants you. But there is a way out. You can be set free from the chains that bind you. Just come to Jesus.

My chains are gone, I’ve been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood His mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace

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Appearance, Battles, Bible, Confession, Deception, Evil, Forgiveness, Judgment, Salvation, Scripture, Sin

THE APPEARANCE OF EVIL

ZECHARIAH 5:6

“And I said, ‘What is it?’ Then he said, ‘This is the ephah going forth.’ Again he said, ‘This is their appearance in all the land.’”

Let me begin this blog by saying that I cannot get the picture of our world right now as it relates to this verse out of my mind. Every day when I walk around our city, I see the appearance of evil. Maybe the Lord has just given me spiritual eyes right now. I do not want to sound judgmental. Believe me, I know my sins stink just as bad. But there just seems to be a flaunting of sin all around us.

God, through the angel, is showing Zechariah the ephah, the measuring basket, that is full of the people’s sins. They had been unrepentant. Their sins were rampant. They had reached a full measure demanding justice. Some scholars equate the use of the ephah with their sin of stealing mentioned earlier since they would use it falsely for measuring grain to sell.

APPLICATION

I recall my late brother-in-law telling me that the older he got, the more he saw how sinful he was. The light exposes sin, and the closer we get to it, the more we see it. Look at the words of Paul in Ephesians 5:11-13. “11 Do not participate in the useless deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.”

Our sins will be exposed one day. As a matter of fact, they are exposed now to God. He knows everything we do. I love verse 8 in Psalm 90 which says, “You have placed our guilty deeds before You, our hidden sins in the light of Your presence.” Actually, I don’t really love that verse, but you know what I mean.

Don’t let your sins fill the ephah. Empty them out every day. Confess them to the Lord and seek His forgiveness. If you are not a believer in Jesus, come to Him now and receive forgiveness and eternal life. If you are a believer, purify your heart and walk in holiness today.

Cleanse me, Father, and let me walk hand in hand with You today.

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Accountability, Bible, Confession, Forgiveness, Judgment, Redemption, Scripture

FOR ALL TO SEE

ZECHARIAH 5:4

“‘I will make it go forth,’ declares the LORD of armies, ‘and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and destroy it with its timber and stones.’”

We have all done things which we hope no one ever finds out about. When we were little, we would lie to cover up a broken lamp. The infamous “nobody” did it, right? We lie to cover up another lie. We steal and hope no one sees. Am I right? Of course, I am. Sin lurks in dark places.

Today’s verse continues the thought from yesterday’s blog. Those who swear and steal will be found out and their homes will be made into a spectacle by the Lord. He wants all who see them to know that this is what happens to those who break His commands. This is what happens to the unconfessed.

APPLICATION

God’s wrath is still real today. Those who thumb their nose at God and His commands will suffer judgment. Romans 1:18 tells us, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,…” It doesn’t have to be that way.

But John tells us plainly in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We want the world to see this. We want all the world to see us confessing and being forgiven. Why? To draw them to Christ. Confessing our sins is a great way to show the power of our holy God.

So, let me ask you something. Are you all “confessed up”? Are you clean before Him? If Jesus appeared right now, how would He find you? I come to Him every day with a repentant heart because I long to be more and more like Him. I want to be holy because He is holy. Don’t you?

Father, I do not have anything hidden from Your sight. Purify my heart this day.

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