forgiveness

A Confession and A Lesson

/ Troy Rogers / Leave a comment

confessionRecently, my children were exposed to something that I really wish they hadn’t been. There was an individual who started behaving very poorly in their presence. The details aren’t important, so I will leave them out. However, my children heard some things that were untrue, and were presented in a very ungodly way.

Confession: When I heard about the situation, Immediately I was angry. Not just angry, but so angry It felt like my blood was boiling. Maybe angrier than I have ever been. Not just because of what was said and done by this individual, but because it happened in the presence of my children. You have heard of “Mamma Bears” well, I was morphing into “Daddy Tyrannosaurus Rex”. I wanted to fly off the handle. I wanted to “fix” the situation by taking a “stand”. Never mind that whole, being slow to wrath thing (Proverbs 19:11, Proverbs 14:29, Proverbs 29:11, Proverbs 15:18). I must confess, I was not following these principles in my thinking.

            The Lesson: As I was putting my children to bed that evening, I told them that I was so sorry that they heard the things that they did. My daughter said, “Daddy, the Bible tells us that we should pray for those people. Can we pray for them together?” As she held out her hand towards mine.

Wait a second! That surely couldn’t have been what Jesus meant when He commanded His disciples to love their enemies, and to pray for those who persecuted them?!? (Matthew 5:44). Surely Jesus wouldn’t actually expect us to take a situation where someone behaves so poorly, and for us to not retaliate (Matthew 5:38-42). Surely all of those things are nice, well and good, but… Certainly are not principles to be applied when someone is being so incredibly rude. Surely then, we have a “right” to fight back… Then we turn our eyes to the cross, and we find Jesus praying for those who were literally, actively killing Him (Luke 23:34). I guess Jesus meant those things He said.

I thank God for my children daily. I also thank Him for the lessons that they teach me. Adults (like me) hear the teachings of Jesus, and we like them. They sound great in a book, but when we are faced with the situation in front of our face, we look to justify why that teaching really doesn’t apply here… Children, remind us that it does. It is no wonder that Jesus also said, “unless you become like children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3). I write this as a reminder to myself, Jesus meant what He taught, even when it hurts. He preached it, He practiced it, children understand it. It is time I do as well.

In Him,

Troy

The Prayer That Shook Me

/ Troy Rogers / 4 Comments

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It was going like any other Sunday, I woke up, and had my coffee. Then our family began getting ready for worship. We made it to the building, and I taught our auditorium class, and preached the morning sermon. We had some family visiting that afternoon, and we enjoyed the company. Then it was time for us to leave our home and drive to Lindsay Ok. It was the night for our “preacher exchange” and I was scheduled to preach for that congregation. It was a pleasant experience, welcoming, friendly, and loving are words that quickly come to mind as I think about the church there. After my lesson was concluded, I sat in the pew so that I could learn a lesson…

I was holding my son Jagger during the closing prayer, hoping I could keep him quiet(ish) until the prayer was finished. Then I heard words uttered that stopped my thoughts. maybe I am the only person who has never heard someone say these words in prayer before, regardless of whether or not this is a “common” prayer, or straight from this man’s heart. The words he prayed meant the world to me!

What did he say?!? – You are asking, so now I will tell you.

“Father, please, help us each day to focus on your Son. Father please, help us all to live the life, that He gave up for us.”

WOW!

“Help us live the life, that He gave up for us” What a thought! I so appreciated this brother’s words. I needed to be reminded of them. Church we do not live “good lives.” We do not try to be the best “us” that we can be. We try to be like Jesus! (1 Cor 11:1) All along realizing that I am not perfect, and will never be just like Jesus. Is it truly on my mind, today, that I am going to live like Christ?

Do we live the life that Jesus lived when it comes to..

1. Our love?- John 3:16, John 15:9

2. Our Submission to the Father?- Matthew 26-27

3. Our forgiveness/mercy/ and grace? – John 8

And so many other categories? I have been challenged. I have been encouraged by this prayer, I hope that you will be too.


“Heavenly Father, we are humbled by the mere thought that you allow us to pray to you. Help us today, to live the life that Jesus gave up for us. Help others around us today, to see Jesus clearly in our lives. in His precious name we pray, Amen.”

“Get Up!”

/ Troy Rogers / Leave a comment

In Joshua chapter 6 we read of a powerful tale. We read of a faith building moment for the nation of Israel. God told Joshua to command the people to march around Jericho for a certain number of times/days and that when they completed their task and the trumpets blew, and the people shouted, that the city would be delivered to them for them to conquer.

God also told them, not to take anything that they found in the city and keep it for themselves. But, one man named Achan disobeyed. We read in chapter 7 that because of Achan’s disobedience Israel lost a battle.

We find in chapter 7 Joshua as he is feeling defeated after a loss in battle, rubbing dirt on his head, falling to the ground and crying out to God. Let me ask you, have you ever been there? No, I’m not talking about being outside of Ai after the battle of Jericho. I am referring to that bad place mentally, spiritually, and emotionally when you are feeling defeated because you have allowed sin to take in your home, or maybe even in your life?

I love what God’s response is to Joshua! What does God say? “Get up!” He cuts through all that is surrounding Joshua, and charges him to get up, purify himself, and the nation of Israel because they still had work to do!

If you find yourself feeling down and out, because of sin, consider this your wake up call, “Get up!” purify yourself, your household, and let’s get back on the path to heaven!