Morning Devotional
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Dimas Salaberrios, Ministry Associate with Christian Union, is a dynamic teacher, speaker, and pastor. His bestselling memoir, Street God, was released in September 2015. Dimas holds a Master of Divinity degree from Alliance Theological Seminary and resides in the Bronx with his wife Tiffany and three daughters.
Transcript
I've seen many people fall away from God because they believe that there was some act or something that they've done in their lives that God would not forgive. Or they felt so separated from God, that there was no way back. And I want to encourage you there are sins that have great consequence—like murder, adultery—that could destroy your relationship with your wife, that could put someone like a murderer in jail for the rest of their lives. There are great consequences that come from our heavenly Father as well.
There's one story that I'm reminded of that took place at a church in New York City, where someone was stealing from the church and they caught them on video. And when they confronted that person, the person showed no humility, showed no willingness to deal with the issue. And when that person went home, they dropped dead that day. The whole church knew about it. And the church had a deeper relationship with Christ and a fear fell on that church for the consequence of that man's sin. And it happened in a good way. It purified the church. It isn't a thing that hurts us all the time. But sometimes when judgment falls, and we see it, the fear of God should come on us to seek after God.
This is what happened with King Ahab who was married to Jezebel. In 1 Kings 21:20 it says this. "Elijah said to Ahab, 'I have found you because you sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.'" And Elijah went to Ahab and pointed out his sin. And Ahab finding this news, started to realize that judgment was about to come on him. And in verse 21 the very next verses what it says, "Behold I will bring evil upon you and I will utterly sweep you away." One thing I would never want to hear from God is Him telling me or saying to you—you wouldn't want to hear this—that "I'm about to sweep you away." So at the sound of this, Ahab could have run deeper into darkness. But Ahab found a way to repent.
And I want to read to you—in verse 27 it says, "When Ahab heard these words that he tore his cloths and put on sackcloth and fasted." There was something about when Ahab humbled himself and began to fast and pray, and go before the Lord, that God did not destroy him. But God still let some consequence come on his life for his actions. I'll read it to you in verse 29. "God took notice of his fast and he says, 'Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? I will not bring evil in his day.'" But what was sad was evil fell upon Ahab's children.
So sometimes in this journey with God, we have to realize we can often have a second chance right before us. But we have to be swift to grab it and not think that grace is always going to be there, and we can continue in our lives and we don't have to worry about any consequence. No. When you find out there's an error in your life that's not pleasing to God, I want to encourage you, rush to correct it, and receive God's grace. Humble yourself before Him, and let Him be your Savior, your Lord, and a reminder that He is your soon-coming King. God bless you. Keep looking up, and keep Christ number one. Peace.
