What Is Wrong With A Little Sin?

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘God is just in saving bad people only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.’ CHAMBERS

 

Why does God bother with us?  Why not just start over?  He could do it.  That is a mystery and at the same time a testimony of His great love for us.  Don’t ever think that there is something that you can do that will make the relationship right.  Have you ever heard someone say that about a problem? “What can we do to make this right”  There was some offense .. something was wrong and that person wanted to correct it.  If we ask that question about our broken relationship with God, the answer is “Nothing”.  The problem is so great .. so beyond us .. that there is nothing “we” can do to fix it.  Only Jesus can and He did!

 

After you become a Christian and you sin, you cannot find restoration through merely being sorry that you sinned, but only by pleading the blood of Jesus and repenting. 2 Corinthians 7:10 “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Be careful that you do not think that, as a Christian, your sin does not matter.  Do not become content with what you consider to be an “acceptable” level of sin in your life.  You are the child of a HOLY God … our sin is a desecration of our relationship with the Father.

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Stop Making Excuses .. Embrace The Truth ... And Live

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, “I have sinned.” The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes— a reflex action caused by self-disgust. The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable “goodness.” Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (see Galatians 4:19). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant.’ CHAMBERS

 

“I have made some mistakes.” “I need to try to do better.” “I wish that I had not said or done that.”  Although all of those words may be true .. they are not sufficient.  What they describe is someone who is trying to or wanting to be “good”.  We may feel bad about what we have done, are doing or will do, but, by ourselves, all we can do is try to do better.  We must come to be the point where we acknowledge that we have sinned against God and others.  To live the life that God intended, the life that we are thirsting for …. we can only do by the power of God… not by good intentions or trying harder.

 

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” John 16:7-8.  God has given us His Spirit and His Word to help us live our new life.  When you realize the truth that you have sinned you must seek forgiveness not offer excuses.  Two of the best examples of that best examples of that are King Saul and King David.  When Samuel confronted King Saul over his sin, King Saul made excuses for what he had done.  God took his kingdom and removed his anointing.  When the prophet Nathan confronted King David over his sin, David repented before God.  (Read Psalm 51) God called David a man after God’s own heart.

 

Don’t make excuses for your sin, but turn to God and repent. 1 John 1:9

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Spending Time With Your Father

My Utmost For His Highest

‘Waiting for God to act is fleshly unbelief. It means that I have no faith in Him. I wait for Him to do something in me so I may trust in that. But God won’t do it, because that is not the basis of the God-and-man relationship. Man must go beyond the physical body and feelings in his covenant with God, just as God goes beyond Himself in reaching out with His covenant to man. It is a question of faith in God–a very rare thing. We only have faith in our feelings. I don’t believe God until He puts something tangible in my hand, so that I know I have it. Then I say, “Now I believe.” There is no faith exhibited in that. God says, “Look to Me, and be saved . . .” (Isaiah 45:22).’ CHAMBERS

 

I often quote Hebrews 11:1 – Faith .. the substance of things hoped for .. the evidence of things not see … The way this new life works is we exercise faith in God .. no proof … and then He proves He is faithful … Our tendency is to focus on those things that will bring comfort to us physically or emotionally … they are not “bad” things to pray about, but it is often to the neglect of our nurturing our relationship with God.  We often treat God like He is Dominoes Pizza.  When I want a pizza, I call and they deliver .. how easy is that.  Otherwise I don’t give Dominoes a second thought.  God wants a loving relationship with us.  The Bible says “See what manner of love God has for us .. we are called His children” 1 John 3:1

 

Spend some time with your Abba (Father) today. “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Looking Like Jesus

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘Whether I overcome, thereby producing virtue, depends on the level of moral excellence in my life. But we must fight to be moral. Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired. And spiritually it is also the same. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation . . .” (John 16:33). This means that anything which is not spiritual leads to my downfall. Jesus went on to say, “. . . but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I must learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness. … Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.’ CHAMBERS

 

So what is my life, as a Christian, supposed to be like?  It is supposed to be a reflection of Jesus.  In John 14, Philip asked the Lord to show them the Father.  Jesus responded that if they saw Him, Jesus, they had seen the Father.  Because, Jesus reflected the Father.  In the same way, we should reflect Jesus and when we do that we, too, reflect the Father.  We face opposition to doing that every day.  Battles within and without.  The transformation that Romans 12:1 and 2 Corinthians 5:17 speak of does not happen without effort on our part.  We can overcome, we can be changed.   Do you think that it is impossible?  Have you tried to be like Jesus, but find that you keep coming up short.  …. Does it make sense that God would tell us that we are to live a certain way and then make it impossible to do?  That would be cruel and God is not cruel.  The new life is possible but only by the power of the Spirit and the Word and effort on our part.

 

Don’t be content with just being a good person … satisfied with where you are spiritually .. comfortable with your faults … make your goal that people would say .. “you remind me of Jesus”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Not My Words But His Power

My Utmost For His Highest

 

My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power . . . —1 Corinthians 2:4

 

‘If in preaching the gospel you substitute your knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the gospel, you hinder people from getting to reality. Take care to see while you proclaim your knowledge of the way of salvation, that you yourself are rooted and grounded by faith in God. Never rely on the clearness of your presentation, but as you give your explanation make sure that you are relying on the Holy Spirit. Rely on the certainty of God’s redemptive power, and He will create His own life in people.’ CHAMBERS

 

Living with two natures as we do … it is easy to confuse the natural with the spiritual.  When we speak .. we speak words that are in our mind whether it be about the meal we just ate or about the love of God.  The difference is that when we talk to people about the Lord, God will use those words for His purpose which is to draw people to the saving knowledge in Jesus Christ.  We can’t do that with ‘just’ words, but only by the power of His Spirit.

 

In order for our words to be used by God, our lives must be submitted to the Lord and we must be walking in obedience to His Word.  There is a story in Acts 19 … “Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”

 

My point is that we can say the right things, but if we lack the power of God behind the words and so never see the fruit brought by the working of God’s Spirit.  We, in and of ourselves, cannot save anyone … our responsibility is to go and tell … walking and speaking in the power of the Spirit by faith.  God does the rest.

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Sick is not an Excuse

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, “It could never be God’s will for me to be sick”? If it was God’s will to bruise His own Son (Isaiah 53:10), why shouldn’t He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick.

 

Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that hits you is the pointlessness of the things you have to do.’ CHAMBERS

 

When I gained my coherence after I contracted malaria last month, the thought that occurred to me was “What was the point of that?”  The answer was … it doesn’t matter what happens to you, the call of God does not change.” That was probably the sickest I have ever been .. it was probably the best excuse, if I was looking for one, to stay home and not go back to Haiti.  I figured that if I asked friends and family if they thought it would be OK, many would have said .. “You have done enough, of course it is alright to not go back!”

 

Problem is, God has not released us from this calling .. in spite of sickness .. and frankly, we never entertained or discussed the idea of not returning to Haiti.  Pastor Rick Warren said that “God is more concerned with our character not our comfort.”  If you follow God, He will take you through the furnace.  2 Corinthians chapter 1 says that God is the God of all comfort .. He comforts us in our affliction … (that suggests that you WILL be afflicted) .. so we can minister to others and comfort them with the same comfort we received.  The affliction .. the malaria has a divine purpose … Something to think about …

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Swimming in Salt Water

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (see John 17:16).

 

We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested.’ CHAMBERS

 

So you are saved …. But you still live in the world .. in the culture … in the mess … you are meant to be like the fish in the sea … you are living in salt water but are not affected by the salt. How are you doing with that?  Although Jesus was in the world .. walked, talked and ate with sinners … He was not affected by those around Him.  He did not crave the things of the world, but to do the will of His Father.  ‘For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.’ John 6:38

 

‘…So the disciples were saying to one another, "No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest '? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.…’  John 4:33-35

 

The question we need to ask ourselves is not ‘What would Jesus do?’ Instead ‘What did Jesus do?’

 

‘Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”’ John 14:12-21

 

So you see .. what keeps the ‘salt’ (the influence of the world) out of you as you swim along in this world is Jesus .. not your desire to be good or right before God.  It is Jesus in you … the presence of the Holy Spirit ….. Jesus said the world will not see Him any longer but, instead, will see you – reflecting Him.  So let your light shine .. let it shine .. let it shine.

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)