The Messenger

Blog Reader Blog Retreat (BRBR) Session #1

Read Mark 1:1-8

My prayer this weekend is that we would all put down our pre-conceived notions of what theses stories say and hear them with fresh ears and dive into them like we are a part of them.

Your story is God’s story and we will use the life of Jesus to better define our life story. The Gospel is HIS, He is the Author of it, it comes from him but he is also the subject of it.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the WORD and the WORD was with GOD and the WORD was God”

Jesus is the truth of what the whole gospel is built on. For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Last night the ladies and I read the Gospel of Mark (1:1-8) out of the amplified bible. The Holy Spirit led us to focus on Mark 1:4:
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness (desert), preaching a baptism [obligating] repentance a change of one’s mind for the better, heartily amending one’s ways, with abhorrence of his past sins) in order to obtain forgiveness of and release from sins.

Oh repentance of sin…what a way to start retreat. I’m sure some were a bit taken back that I was coming as a messenger to them encouraging them to uncover their sin and lay it bare before the LORD but to me that is a message of hope. Without repentance and a turning away of that which entangles us, there is no comfort that can be had from the grace of God. Discovering sin points us to Christ as our ultimate source of Hope. Recognizing sin leads you t LONG for Christ , to remind you that you need a savior!!

Most of you are probably not in WILLFUL sin. You aren’t rebelling against God and not willfully creating havoc. Some of you are and if that be the case lets get together and talk it through. Why? What do you need? What are you missing from CHRIST THE MESSIAH that you would so willing set aside the righteousness of Christ and dig deep into sins deadly trap?

Most of us have the sin of IDOLOTRY: good desires that have become overgrown! Sin is an inborn condition not merely a behavior that needs to be changed. Not all sin results from deliberate choices for KNOWN evil over knowing God. We are all part of a fallen cursed creation, we are sinned against by others and through our own sin we reap the consequences. For example, a lonely woman who as lost all of her friends because of her abrasive tongue, or the financial debt we are stuck beneath because our wants and desires have gone astray and we have no self control. Consequences to sin. The biggest consequence is separation from God.

John brought the message to the people and I bring the message to you:

Turn and repent!

What do you need to clear out to make way for Jesus?