Posts Tagged ‘ sin ’

Who was I to think that I could oppose God?

March 26, 2010
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Who was I to think that I could oppose God? Acts 11:17

There is an apocryphal story about a village warrior in a cannibal village in a remote South Pacific Island. He came down with a stomach ailment and went to the local witch doctor for help. After the good doctor had given him a careful check-up he diagnosed the malady: “You are just fed up with people.”

People that are different from us are sometimes rejected. Peter was an apostle of Jesus, specially chosen to be the chief spokesman on the beginning day of the church. He had spent 3 ½ years with our Lord and could have been a learner at His feet.

Yet, there was one important truth that Peter had failed to learn: God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. (Acts 10:34, 35) It took a series of miracles to convince this beloved apostle to look at people through the eyes of Jesus.

Don’t be surprised that after 2,000 years we still have an “eye problem”. Seeing others as God sees them is no easy task. We see what they wear, drive and do. We see where they live and with whom they chum. We make our judgment on the bases of outward appearances.

It is difficult to look deeper into the hearts of people we see each day. It is no easy task to look at people through the eyes of God. But we must do it. We may not do it as well as God but we can move in His direction. After all, only God can look down on people. James

Falling from God’s Image

February 11, 2010
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For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

If we have oozed out of some slime millions of years ago and have reached the present state of being a humanoid, who are we and of what value? How do we place a value on us humans? Is it because of the chemical makeup of our physical natures? Do we arrive at great value because we can think about things and plan ahead? Are we valuable because we are ahead of others animals in our evolutionary process?

Any evolutionary theory of how man came to be winds up being degrading to humans. If all we are is more advanced animals, where is the super value we put on humans. Why not just bury the death and shoot the wounded in Haiti and let other animals take their place?

You must understand that humans are of immense value. Not because they have evolved more than other animals but because there is a God in heaven who has put his mark on his creation and man is the climax of his creation. He who created Adam from the dust and Eve from his rib breathed into them the breath of life and man became living beings in his image.

Man has fallen – oh how he has fallen – but he remains in the image of God. He is valued because he is created by God. We don’t just ignore the suffering in Haiti because they are men and women, boys and girls created in the image of God. Being special creatures of God makes them valuable.

Man has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, But no matter how far man falls he still retains the glory of God. God thought so much of His creation that he sent his son to make us right again. How valuable is that?

Pride and Shame

December 3, 2009
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Pride goes before destruction, A haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

“Pride is the root of all evil,” so some have declared. Pride led Adam and Eve to make bad decisions. Pride led the people of Babel to choose the wrong direction. Pride has been the detrimental cause of many a fall.

Pride puffs up the chest. Pride seeks to be the center of attraction. Pride wants to be the focus of every gathering and the source of all attention. In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. (Psalm 10:4) When pride comes, then comes disgrace. (Proverbs 11:2)

This verse leads to another problem with pride. There is a kindred emotion to pride that can so devastate you that recovery can become impossible. Once you have flexed your muscle of pride you can fall into the emotion of shame. When pride begins its destruction, shame follows closely behind.

Shame will cause you to hide from God. Adam and Eve felt the need to hide in the Garden and could have lived in shame for the rest of their lives. God was not willing to let them live in their shame and he came to them with a new way for living that included moving from the Garden.

When the fall occurs because of pride you have the tendency to avoid. The erring husband avoids going home. The worker avoids going to work. The offender avoids facing the questions from his constituents. The Christian might even avoid the only help that is available to him. He will avoid the church.

I have found that church people are the most forgiving of all the people in our world. We are taught to say “But there for the grace of God, go I.” We understand that we are forgiven to forgive.

When pride seeks to destroy don’t let shame keep you down. When a haughty spirit causes you to fall, let Jesus help you up.

How a Prodigal Comes Home

June 20, 2009
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When he came to his senses, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Luke 15

The road back to the Father’s house is long and hard.  It is filled with doubt and despair.  It depresses and decomposes.  It works on every part of the human creation.

Physical, spiritual and emotional reconditioning requires one to address each area.  When one leaves the Father’s house and goes into a far country. He is “aching for a breaking”.  He may not end up feeding hogs but the pigpen will await.  Living away from the Father’s house is not that easy.  Some can drift for years and not reach the bottom. The time will come when all must face the ordeal of the Father’s house.  What will is be then?

Rejuvenating one’s spiritual life involves at least these two things: 1) returning to God’s primary desire for my life, 2) listening for God.  The prodigal remembered the father and listened for him.  He followed that still small voice all the way from the pigpen to the Father’s house.

Sin can black out the Fathers’ will in our lives. Many can live with little or no attention to their true spiritual nature.  The soul can be starving to death and the rest of the human creation seems to work okay.  However, nothing will totally satisfy until we find our connection with the Father.

The man who knows his sins is greater than one who raises a dead man by his prayer. He who sighs and grieves within himself for an hour is greater than the one who teaches the entire universe.  He who follows Christ, alone and contrite, is greater than one who enjoys the favor of crowds in churches. - St. Isaac the Syrian

Small Things: Big Results

September 20, 2008
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Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? I Corinthians 5:6

Yeast is a silent and unseen ingredient that shows its presence by what it does. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” (Matthew 13:33)

According to USA Today (4/9/97) scientist now say that the Titanic was sunk by a series of small slits not a giant gash.  The 900 foot cruise ship sunk in 1912 on its first voyage. It was traveling from England to New York. Fifteen hundred people died in the worst maritime disaster of the time.

The theory at the time was that the ship hit an underwater iceberg that opened a huge gash in the liner and sunk her quickly.  An international team of divers and scientists using sound waves to probe the wreckage, buried in the mud under two-and- one-half miles of water discovered the damage was surprisingly small. Instead of a huge gash, they found six relatively small slits that had done the damage.

Small damage, invisible to most, can sink large ships, destroy hundreds of lives.  Not only can small damage sink large ships, they can also sink our lives. Small incessant sin can grow to huge proportions in ones’ life or in a church or community. Before you know it is everywhere. Get rid of the old yeast (I Corinthians 5:7)

Don’t let a small sin grow to large proportion and sink you good ship!

“What some people mistake for high cost of living is really the cost of high living.” Doug Larson

Yes and No

July 17, 2008
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It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions. Titus 2:12

This is the age when people want us to build character: “Character Counts.” We want our children to learn good character traits and be able to apply them at the opportune time. There is little question that bringing character into play in our world would be a move in the fight direction.

The D.A.R.E. programs attempt to teach our children to “just say ‘no’”  They are talking about tobacco, alcohol and drugs. Again this is a supper idea.

Learning to say “no” may not be that difficult if we could learn to say “yes” to the right things.  Learning to set priorities is a must if we and our children are ever to make a success out of living.  Saying yes to the right things doesn’t leave as much room to necessitate saying a lot of “nos.”

In a most unusual way the grace of God teaches us to say “no” to the things that lead away from God and “Yes” to the things that lead to God.  By doing this we can overcome the worldly passions and streets of desire that drown men in perdition.  Losing priorities can make us go after thins that end in destructive lives and dead in streets. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. (I Timothy 6:9)

When we say “yes” to the important things we will say “no” to the less important things that clamor for our attention.  We are always saying “no” to something.  We must learn to say “yes” to the better things of life and the “nos” will come easier.

Having trouble saying “yes” to the more important things in life?  It might be time for you to let the Lord come in and make a difference in your day.

What Next? Relationships!

June 16, 2008
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This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. Genesis 2:23

Some things are still surprising. You can be fired for referring to the Bible in a class-oom. A display of the Ten Commandments will be  reason  for governors  to be dismissed from office. Same-sex marriages are the talk of the day. What next?

Well, it has happened  in France. A woman has been married  to  the Eiffel Tower.

Now for those who are unfamiliar with the tower in Paris, France, it is a beautiful structure that you can enter and from the top see Paris in its beauty. Now this: Erika La Tour Eiffel, 37, a former soldier who lives in San Francisco, has been in  love with objects before. Her  first infatuation was with Lance, a bow that helped her to become a world-class archer. She is fond of the Berlin Wall and she claims to have a physical relationship with a piece of fence she keeps in her bedroom.

But it is the Eiffel Tower she has pledged to love, honor and obey in an intimate ceremony attended by a handful of friends. She has changed her name legally to reflect the bond.

Because of  the direction our world  is going, nothing will make sense in the coming years, or maybe, men will come to their  senses. Marrying objects, animals, more  than one wife/husband will  be  the  order  of  the  day  as  evil men  and  seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (II Timothy 3:13)
 
Homosexuality has been around our sin-stained world for a long time and it will be around as long as mankind lives in its sinful state. When men and women exchange natural relations for unnatural there is a penalty for their perversion. (Romans 1:26-27)

There will be surprises in our world of tomorrow. When churches are considered the bad people and the gangs are considered  the good people. It may be closer  than we  think. 

Have you read the news lately?

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

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