Good day Black Creek Church family, 

 

In the last few days, I have been noticing a theme. 
Last night, I heard a dialogue - God and the people of Israel, who were complaining about Him not being fair...  

In it, God emphatically stated, " 'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, 

but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live  ".Ezekiel 33:11

 

This morning, I read Jonah 1, where he was commissioned to go tell the wicked to repent so that God could let them live...

Jonah ran away from God (that doesn't go well) and then grudgingly gave part of God's message to the people (only the condemnation part).  

And the people changed!  

Check it out in  The Bible Project - Jonah, and Introduction to Jonah, and Jonah in audio.

 

In Ezekiel 33, the people's frustration is that 

God's ways are different from our ways of 'fair', 'payback' and the 'balance of right and wrong'. 

 

The Bible tells the story of a God who is:

Righteous and Just.

Angry at sin and it's fruit.

One who brings Judgement and condemnation against all that is evil and wicked. 

AND

A  God, - Father, who loves us

Who spends all to redeem us.

Who actually pays the debt we owe

So that we can return to full fellowship with Him.

 

Both are true

God is love, forgiving, and faithful.

God is just, judge, and full of wrath towards evil

BUT 

He gives every person the choice to choose where they stand

....the wicked turn from his way and live

Under the 'covering' He provides: Jesus. 

Or not. 

 

 Continue to pray for Charles, please.  His recovery is accelerating.  

Pray for his eating and drinking.  These are still high-risk activities for choking or aspiration.  

He is still at risk for falling and is not always aware that he must not get out of bed without help.

We are giving thanks for all that has been restored so far.

 

This is such a familiar and short passage, 

yet it so profoundly explains the whole Plan of God 

and our part;

to receive... or not

 John 3:16   For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, 

that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 

but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, 

but whoever does not believe is condemned already, (Stays condemned)

because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

 

Blessings as you walk forward into all that Our Father has for you.

 

Peter Jackson

Part of your Team

Black Creek Community Church

peterj@blackcreekchurch.ca