The Second Mile: God’S Love in Action

By Mark Wilson Stockman

This book is dedicated to those who feel they have gone beyond the limits of Gods love and forgiveness, and is written for believers and unbelievers alike. There are those who think they have done things so terrible that God could not possibly love them. I know this is true because I was one of them.

I used to feel that God had given up on me, but theres a problem with feelings like that. Not only do they hinder you from coming to Him, but they can obscure the truth of what God has declared in His Word. It is my profound prayer that as you study how God has demonstrated His love for us, you can put your fears and misconceptions aside.

As is true in every area of life, a true understanding of Gods Word will set the captive free!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512762303

Mark Wilson Stockman

I became a Christian over three decades ago, earned a Master of Divinity, and have been a teacher, facilitator and youth pastor. I also have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with extensive management and acute care experience, along with specialty certifications in Critical Care.

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Copyright © 2016 Mark Wilson Stockman.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Image by Kevin A. Mimms, KA Mimms Photographix (author photo)

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-6231-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-6232-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-6230-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016918072

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/07/2016

CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1 Knowing God

Chapter 2 God Is Love

Chapter 3 Without Strength, Without Hope, Without Christ

Chapter 4 God’s Desire

Chapter 5 The Call of the Spirit

Chapter 6 The Gift of Repentance

Chapter 7 Adam

Chapter 8 Sodom and Gomorrah

Chapter 9 King Ahab

Chapter 10 The Second Mile

Chapter 11 Seventy Times Seven

Chapter 12 Fire from Heaven?

Chapter 13 The Cross

FOREWORD

As a young boy I remember being intrigued by my grandfather’s glasses, which he wore constantly. They were bifocals, with the distinct area at the bottom of the lenses that corrected his sight for reading and other up-close activities. Since no one else in my family wore glasses at the time, I would find myself wondering how those two pieces of glass could help Granddad see better. Then one afternoon while Granddad was taking a short nap, he laid his glasses on the end table next to the overstuffed chair in which he had leaned back to close his eyes.

As his breathing settled into a slow rhythm I slowly moved closer to the table, working up enough courage to pick up the glasses and try them on. They were heavier than I anticipated, and when I finally placed them on my nose and ears I was shocked to discover the result. Not only did they not help me see better, but those glasses actually confused my sight and made the objects around me blurry and unrecognizable. If I had tried to function under those circumstances I’m sure I would have tripped over an unnoticed object or stumbled headlong into what were now distorted obstacles. Obviously, I quickly removed them and put them carefully back on the table, thankful that I could see clearly once again.

Many times when people engage in conversation about God or contemplate His character, it soon becomes apparent that their image of Him is terribly distorted. It’s as if they were viewing Him through the wrong set of lenses. What we may consider to be corrective lenses to our thinking process—things like education, popular opinion, personal experience, or expert advice—really only confuse our minds and hearts. Instead of helping us, they can give us an unclear perception of the one true God and His loving character.

Like slowly advancing myopia, we adapt our living to our blurred interpretation of God. We begin to think that God is really as distorted as He appears to our faulty, inaccurate thinking. Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind, including and especially those with a self-imposed or world-sourced blindness. His desire is to show us who God truly is through the simple truth of God’s Word and Christ’s character.

As you read this work I pray that all the preconceived notions of God’s character that have blurred your understanding of His great love and grace will be set aside, just like an unnecessary pair of glasses. As you do so, the true image of the Lord will come into clear, unimpeded focus because to know Him is to know life! As you consider the words and actions of God, without all the baggage of selfishness and hearsay knowledge, you will be pleasantly surprised to discover the real depth of God’s love. Equally important, you will understand more about how that love can make a real difference in you.

A clearer picture of God’s character will help you make good choices about the direction and focus of your life. It will help you to avoid stumbling over misconceptions or hurting yourself by indulging in the destructive behaviors that He clearly wants you to avoid. But the greatest benefit of a clear picture of God and His love is that you can be encouraged to build a real relationship with Him. That relationship will enlarge your life now and prepare you for an eternity with the one who loved us so much that He was willing to lay down His own life for us.

May the Lord Jesus bless you as you take a good long look at the one true and living God of all creation!

David Vanderpool

Pastor, Raymore Assembly of God

Raymore, Missouri

PREFACE

I was not raised in an overtly Christian home. What I mean by that is, my upbringing didn’t encourage me to seek God on a personal and ongoing level. Although we were religious and celebrated Christian holidays (Christmas, Easter, and such), I don’t recall a time when either of my parents prayed with me, led me to read the Bible, or tried to orient my thoughts and attention toward the Lord. We attended church at times, and I was sent to Sunday school classes for a short while, but that was about it. Our relationship with God was religious and external, and I suspect that the way I was raised is the same way most people are raised.

It’s said that children gain impressions of God through the examples of their parents, particularly the father. If a father is caring, compassionate, and patient, then the children tend to see God as having those same traits. However, if a father is rough, unfeeling, and cruel, then the children tend to see God in a similar light. This God/parent association we receive from our fathers is a true and viable process, and I have seen it played out countless times over the past several decades in the lives of others. I’ve also seen it in my own life.

My father abandoned us when I was seven, and the only memory I have of him is of one or two instances when he punished me for something wrong I had done. I can’t remember a single time when he spoke kindly or affectionately to any of us. After he left us, my mother did the best she could as a single parent raising two kids, which was no easy task at the time. She worked two (or more) jobs for minimal pay, took care of my sister and me, went to school to get an education to earn more money, and took care of our house. I heard her crying at night sometimes, trying to figure out what she was going to do. I saw my sister become more and more rebellious, despite any attempts my mother made to try to console her. My father’s abandonment caused a tremendous amount of trouble for us, and I experienced it every day in the things we endured.

Since I saw firsthand how my father behaved and experienced firsthand the consequences of what he had done by leaving us, I assumed that God had more or less abandoned us as well. Whenever I did think about God it was easy for me to assume that He was stern, indifferent, and disapproving (if He even bothered to remember me at all). I associated our heavenly Father’s attitude toward me with what I remembered from my earthly father. I could not picture Him otherwise, even after I had committed my life to Christ.

The insecurity I felt and the inappropriate image I had of God plagued me off and on throughout my walk with the Lord. It didn’t seem to matter how much of my time and effort I dedicated to Him; eventually, I felt that it was never enough. The sense of my being shunned by God intensified whenever I did something wrong, and eventually drove me away from being involved in the church at all. It started with my leaving leadership positions and culminated in halting any meaningful fellowship in a local body of believers. Through God’s faithfulness and love, a few years ago I began to sense a need to get back into fellowship with a local body of Christians, but those same feelings persisted.

I know that I’m not alone in this struggle. I’ve been saved and involved in ministry work for decades. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to speak about Christ to a wide range of people from all kinds of different backgrounds and situations in life. Many of those with whom I have talked (saved and unsaved alike) continue to deal with the very same improper image of God that troubled me. Those people expressed the anguish they had in believing that they have done things for which God is unwilling to forgive them.

The continued draw of the Holy Spirit seemed to be at odds with the feeling of rejection I had experienced for so long, and I knew that something wasn’t right. That’s when I became inspired to take the time to look into the truth of God’s Word once and for all. I was tired of the ongoing contradiction within me, and I knew from His Word that God did not want any confusion in our relationship (1 Corinthians 14:33). This book is the result of that search for truth.

As I studied the biblical accounts of God interacting with humankind (beginning with Adam), a common thread began to appear. The longer I focused upon God’s Word and character, the clearer my image of Him became. He is, I affirmed, not the wrathful and vengeful antagonist I imagined Him to be. Even in the most volatile, misunderstood, and violent accounts I examined, the perspective I got was that He continued to conduct Himself with grace, mercy, and love. The best example of all was that these same traits were manifested and personified through the advent of His Son, Jesus Christ.

The most comforting thing that I have discovered about the character of God is this: He does not change in His dealings with humankind. He does not base His actions on what we do; rather, His actions and attitudes are based upon His defining characteristic, and that defining characteristic is love. Even when judgment for unrepentant rebellion had been decreed, the offer of forgiveness and restoration was always at the forefront of what He did—and continues to do—in His dealings with a fallen race.

May God use this work as a vehicle to reach those who feel they have done too much wrong for God to make it right. By placing our focus on Him and not on ourselves, we can catch a glimpse of the mercy, forgiveness, and grace that is offered so freely through the redemption Christ accomplished on the cross.

CHAPTER 1

Knowing God

People often have an inaccurate or limited view of the character of God. Some people don’t know Him at all. Some view Him as a sadistic monster with an ego that is out of control. There are those who have been taught religion without being taught how to get to know God Himself. Others feel that they have done so many bad things that God has rejected them. Whatever the reasons, misunderstanding God’s character keeps people from getting to know Him.

Most people believe in a god, but simply believing that there’s a higher power does nothing to bring a person closer to God. Distorted thinking keeps people detached and distant from Him, which is the opposite of what God desires for each and every one of us. It prevents them from getting to know His nature, character, and motivation for doing everything He does.

We need to know God for who He is (as a person) because when you know someone, you begin to understand his or her motivation for doing what he or she does. If you truly know someone, and he or she seems to act out of character, you try to give them the benefit of the doubt. Husbands and wives, family members, close friends—all these relationships allow for a certain amount of latitude when it comes to how we respond to others’ actions. We tend to give them the benefit of the doubt when they do things we don’t understand because we know them. If that’s true of how we respond to other people, then shouldn’t we respond the same way to the Author of the universe?

The opposite of this is true as well. If we don’t really know someone, and he or she does things we don’t understand, then it’s much easier for us to jump to conclusions. That’s why people have an inaccurate or limited view of the character of God. They know about Him, but they don’t really know Him. I used to be one of those people.

For years I struggled with a personal image of God as someone who would never love or accept me. My past is rather—shall I say?—colorful. He is holy while I am unholy. He is righteous while I am unrighteous. He is perfect while I am imperfect. I was the exact opposite of all that He is, and I knew it. I was sure God wanted nothing to do with me because He knew—intimately—everything I had ever thought or said or done. My view of God was based on my faulty understanding of His character, not on the truth of who He is. Not only was I simply mistaken about His character, but I could not have been more wrong!

Even though my past is something to be ashamed of, I have learned that God has done more than I could have imagined to win over my heart and life. The key in changing my distorted perception was found in a constant refocusing of my thoughts, intentions, and imaginations on the Word of God. I had heard all kinds of things about Him, but I didn’t actually know the truth about Him. I didn’t know Him. It’s taken me a long time, but I have begun to realize the truth of God’s character and who He really is. This truth can be found only in His Word, the Bible.

What’s required to really know God and His character? The first thing we need to do is repent of (turn away from) our preconceived ideas of who He is and rely upon the one and only sure source of truth in discovering His character—the Bible. This is essential because while teachers may come and go, and church doctrines can be revised, the Word of God is as unchanging as God Himself.

Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. (Psalm 119:89)

Once we accept the Word of God as truth, we then need to take Him at His word. What the Word states as truth is true, whether we feel it’s true or not. My problem was that I didn’t feel saved, and so I accepted my feelings and emotions as true instead of what the Word of God proclaims. It wasn’t until I persisted in reading His Word that the Holy Spirit gradually opened up my heart and mind to the reality of God’s character and compassion. That same process will yield the same results for anyone who seeks after God.

As we continue to read His Word, the Holy Spirit will constantly renew our minds from what we think is true about God to what is actually true about Him.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1–2)

By persistently reading and studying His Word, the Holy Spirit is able to bring us to light and life. Books on the Bible and Christianity are good (including this one), but simply reading about God is not enough! We need to seek to know Him, not just know about Him. If all you do is just read about Him, you will never get to know Him. Pursuing the Word is to pursue God Himself. If we seek to know God through any other means then we run the risk of simply becoming religious.

This is the reason Jesus was so critical of the Pharisees. They knew about God, but they didn’t know Him.

And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. (John 5:37–40)

They were very religious, but religion itself will not empower you to know God intimately. It takes the combination of God’s Word and His Spirit to reveal the truth of who God is. We need to seek God in His Word as well as rely upon His Spirit to reveal that Word to us.

The combination of God’s Word and His Spirit is the universal process of how we get to know God, as it is written,

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:5–6)

People who focus strictly on what scripture states, without having an intimate relationship with the Author, devolve into becoming religious. Wars, murders, thefts, and all other forms of hideous acts have been perpetrated in the name of religion, even by those claiming to be Christians. The sad reality is that these people know about God without actually knowing Him personally.

The process of reading the Word and listening to the Spirit is crucial