CHAPTER 38: REDEMPTION AND THE YIELD 2023
Did my business get better? Yes. Did my personal life get better? Yes. While the world talks badly about christianity, my life, is substantially more.
The yield of my redemption is a better me, not a perfect me by any means, but definitely a more productive work in progress. There is more, an even better answer for you, later.., stay with me.
What is Redemption? Webster’s Dictionary 1828 says: Repurchase of captured goods or prisoners; the act of procuring the deliverance of persons or things from the possession and power of captors by the payment of an equivalent; ransom; release;
Isaiah 44:22
New International Version
22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you.”
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
I had hoped Romans 5 would say exactly what happened, and it does, however, I feel pushed to tell you what it means to me. Each day my life became less encumbered with nonsense and more layered with specific responsibility.
It was reflected in my balance sheet and my dreams. My dreams changed. Over a period of time I didn’t want what I had always thought was important. I say it again, the things I thought were so incredibly important — they weren’t so important anymore. This is Discernment, another gift of the spirit. And that turned out to be a very good thing.
I googled “discernment”, this is what I got.
The ability to judge well, in christian contexts, perception in the absence of judgment with a view to obtaining spiritual guidance and understanding without providing for a time of healing and discernment, there will be no hope of living through this present moment without a shattering of our common life.
Proverbs 3:5-6
New King James Version
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall [a]direct your paths.
You see, we are on to something now. When you believe in the God of the Bible, you believe in the devil in the Bible, if you believe in the devil in the Bible, you know that you need the God of the Bible. It is very important to know how dangerous this world is and how satan moves to destroy you and everything in it. Christ gave me and you redemption, a free pass out of here and into the Lord’s mercy and grace. He forgave me my sins, all of them, even the ones I did today. To stay in order I must stay ever vigilant of myself — and I cannot stay in order without Christ, even with Christ, temptation is real because I have free will and my mind is a dangerous neighborhood. Scripture everyday ensures a better business, a better hope for tomorrow. But I must believe these things — sin is real, the world is pretending like its not.
1 John 1:8-10
New King James Version
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
I am not perfect. However my life does mean more to me that in ever did. Redemption and the Yield depends on me, how much I commit to the Lord, and the book, the more I commit, the more my life changes, the more my life changes — I understand more, period, a lot more is clear and correct, my decisions are better. There are many types of Christians, including the ones who are kidding themselves, I learned that very early on.
Back in the days of the old testament, in the world of Israel, Judah, Babylon, Assyria, God’s people acted like they believed in God, but they truly were worshipping false gods. It is like me going to church on Sunday after a night on the town of drunken debauchery. That’s an easy one, what about lying on the balance sheet, running the numbers in your favor, a second set of books, lying to your spouse, and then with a shower and a shave back in church to sing praises to the Lord. Not groovy.
In the book, people fell away from God, discernment fell to the wayside they lost everything, overtaken by armies, taken captive — lost their country. Scary stuff. God warned them through the prophets to stop living treacherously. I wish that America would listen to the scripture, as the Word talked with God’s people so long ago, those words are still masterfully stated today. In the midst of troubles beyond measure…
Jeremiah 2:28
New King James Version
But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise,
If they can save you in the time of your [a]trouble;
For according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah.
False gods, money, property, prestige, debauchery, no honor, no rules, everybody is right in their own eyes, that is what happened then, and for you and me, we best see what we have been saved from right now in this time. Basically I hear a lot of nonsense, and it seems to center around such a notion as this:
“If there is a Heaven all of us should go there, no matter what we have done.” Idiot
That is the prevailing thought right now. So is everybody good? No, everybody is not good. For me, it is best I stop considering such things and get back to scripture.
Acts 3:19 English Standard Version (ESV)
19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
How does Webster’s define repentance? To turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life. 2a : to feel regret or contrition. b : to change one’s mind.
Hosea 4:6
King James Version
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou
hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee..
I know this stuff is hard. It is hard for me. We all make mistakes, we all sin, we all want more than we deserve, and then we think we deserve it anyway! All of us, myself included, have a hard time with selfish and ambition. I get it, I understand! The gospel is hard, and takes forever to understand and then I realize I don’t understand as much as I thought. I get it. The yield of redemption is that I do get it if I stay the course! Sometimes right away, sometimes a little later, but I GET BETTER. I understand that the gifts that we have, many of them cannot be replaced, and none of them are worth risking, none of them are worth gambling, all of them were given to me, a sinner, to help me live my life. In my acceptance of Christ, I am redeemed, and in realizing that my life becomes so much more and everything in it is for the good. I am something the Lord can use, and if He can use me, He surely can use you.
Romans 10:9
If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Saved from what? I was just trying to be important! A few million dollars would make me important, right? No. Not right. Long story short, I am already important, with or without millions, I am important.., to God, my Father in Heaven. My salvation is important to God, my choices are important to God, my example is important to God.
John 15:4-5
New King James Version
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
You’re saying, like me, “hey, I know a lot of successful people, and they are not believers.” Okay, I know them, too. And guess what, I like them, good people! I pray for them to find the Lord, because when tough times come, God saved me. Let me tell you a little something. He called my name and I answered, right? Wrong. I called His name, and He answered.
Jeremiah 33:3
New King James Version
3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and
[a]mighty things, which you do not know.’
My life changed, dramatically, everything. I work for a lot of people, some believers, some not. All I can tell you is what happened to me. All the things I wanted, before my relationship with God and the yield of redemption, all of it pales in comparison to what the Lord has brought me in my relationship with Him. Truly, there is no way to be where I am — from where I was — without Divine intervention.
John 10:28-30 New International Version (NIV)
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[a]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
I know a lot of successful people and not so successful people who claim to be believers, however they don’t act like it. I know non-believers who act better than believers. I say, turn it up a notch and stop playing with your redemption.., the yield is in the choices you make with such an awesome gift. Charles Malik lived from 1906 to 1967. He was the ambassador to the United Nations from Lebanon and president of the 13th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1959, he stated:
“The good in the United States would never have come into being without the blessing and power of Jesus Christ…Whoever tries to conceive the American word without taking full account of the suffering and love and salvation of Christ is only dreaming. I know how embarrassing the matte is to politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, and cynics; but, whatever these honored men think, the irrefutable truth is that American is, at its best and highest, Christian.”
Okay, so good words, if they are true, and I believe they are, the same God that created the United States of America is the same as the God that has redeemed you. That is a powerful God. What stands against you? The enemy is real, the world is against the Lord and your faith. Scripture says it all.
2 Peter 3
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Day of the Lord
3 First, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days to
scoff, living according to their own desires,
All of us can pretend to be followers of God, picking and choosing what works for “insurance” purposes regarding our faith. Things don’t work so well when misrepresenting your faith. Again, I learned it from people lying about their intentions in the past.
Jeremiah 3:10
New King James Version
10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to
Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.
Fraudulent faith, not cool. Use your redemption to further what the Lord has brought you, but take care of what you have this very day, so that what you have yields first, then proceed.
Chapter 38 Redemption and the Yield 2023,
What is redemption: God’s forgiveness, a free pass to a good life.
What is the Yield?
Forever Truth..
“If you stay the course..”
Live by it, He’s got your back.
Amen.
