Sin is Sin

We have a tendency to label sin to make ourselves feel better; guilty pleasure, bad sin, not so bad sin, I'm not as bad as others, at least I didn't do that.  But in reality sin is sin.  It all separates us from God.  If you are a believer, your sin breaks fellowship with God.  The only difference in sin is the  consequences for the sin.  All sin is the same, but the consequences for cursing verses murder are different.
I want to view sin the way God views it.  I want to live in such a way that others see Jesus in me.  I don't want premeditated sin to rear it's ugly head.  That is were bondage comes into our lives.  Premeditated sin keeps us from hearing God and following his plan for our life's. 
When we live through the power of the Holy Spirit, He convicts us of our sin, so therefore we can repent immediately and our communication isn't broken with our heavenly Father.
In Beth Moore's bible study David, she talks about the consequences of King David's sin with Bathsheba.  Remember Bathsheba became pregnant and David had her husband killed.  When King David and Bathsheba's baby was born, he was sick.  God told David that his baby would die. 
What did David do?  He prayed and fasted.  He wanted his baby to live.  Beth Moore says that God answered David's prayer with a no.  Through this act David sought God and His relationship was restored.  God did forgive Him but he still had consequences.  Not every baby that dies is a consequence of sin.  However, God used this baby's death to bring David closer to Him.
God had mercy on David.  He lifted the curse from King David's marriage to Bathsheba and even gave them a new baby boy named Solomon. 
You see we all mess up and there are different consequences for our actions.  But God is still good and He is merciful.  He can use and will use us if will are willing.  Romans 8:28 says that "God works all things together for good, to those who love him and are called according to his purpose." 
It doesn't mean all things are good, but that God will work them for God.  God can use the bad things that happen to us and yes, even our sin to work for good.  God used King David even after He sinned numerous times.  So King David's sin is not greater than our sin and God restored him and used him.  He can use us also.  Sin is sin and when we realize it hurts God, then can He use it for His glory, no matter what the consequences may be.
We don't want to be like King David and run.  Once forgiven, we need to move forward.  It is really damaging to us and others if we consistently live in our past.  I call this our "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda."  King David was forgiven, but didn't live like a forgiven man nor did he live in the power of the Holy Spirit.  If he would have, He would not have allowed a thing like rap to go unpunished in his own household and he would have restore his relationship with his son, Absalon, a lot sooner.  I think that is why King David fled when Absalson was trying to steal his kingdom.  He probably felt like he had done so much wrong, who was he to lead.  How could he tell someone what is right when he himself didn't do it. 
I think we do this all the time, especially with our kids.  We don't want to tell them no, because we did that when we were kids.  We don't want to be hypocrites.  Because of this,
 we continue to live in the past and think we can't be effective in future.  This is a lie we have believed for too long.  We can be effective and use our past to teach others.  I think that is what God wants.  To use us, all of us, the good, the bad, the ugly to reach others. 
God called David to be King and even though David sinned, he was still King.  Even though we mess up, we are still useful.  God wanted David to act like a King even after his mess up, but instead he ran and hid.  Don't run and hide.  Be the person God called you to be.   Let people know you mess up, but it is God who forgives and restores.  He humble about your mistakes. Once that happens move forward with the task God has given you.

My gifts for Jesus

Do you ever relive events in your life or replay scenarios over and over?  Well I do.  These are my "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda" moments.  I'm sure you know what I mean.  You are all alone and start thinking about an event or situation that happened in your past.  You start thinking "I wish I would've said, or if I get the opportunity I'm going to say.."  This happens to me a bunch.  Sometimes it is over something recent, but more often than not it is over something that happened months or even years ago; things I can't let go. 

Some people have memory boxes in their closets that they pull out and look through to help them remember the good times.  Well the Lord showed me that I have "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda boxes stored in my mind that I take down, open up, and relive events/situations that have happened.

I realize that reliving these events/situations isn't helping me.  I have heard people say before, "Give it to God and let it go."  But I never understand how to do that, until now.  The Lord gave me a mental picture of what it means to “give it to Him and let it go.”  I would love to share it with you.

I put each event/situation in a box and wrapped it up with a pretty bow and labeled it with 2 tags.  One tag said what the event was (a person's name, a job, an action) and the other tag said who it was to, Jesus.  The Lord reveled to me that when you give someone a gift, you can’t take it back.  So once I give these presents to Jesus, to relive them is like taking my gift back.  Wow! What a thought!  So I mentally gave Jesus gifts of my “Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda” moments. 

Recently I was tempted to relive an event that I had already given to Jesus.  Immediately, I pictured the present that I wrapped up and gave to Him.  At that moment I stopped and thanked God that He had this event and I trusted Him to take care of it.  I realize that I cannot change what has happened by thinking about it constantly.  However, I can trust that God will deal with it in His own timing.
As a symbol of what I have done, I am going to wrap gifts and lay them down on the alter at church.  This will help me remember the gifts I gave and help me to know that I can't relive them because I am not going to take a gift away from Jesus.

The opposite of Love isn't what you think.

Growing up I was always told you shouldn't hate someone, you should love everyone. I bet most of you were told the same thing. We all believe that hate is the opposite of Love, but I beg to differ. Before we can know the opposite of love, we need to know what it is.

So what is love? Some say it is a feeling, an emotion that comes and goes. The reason is because our feeling and emotions change all the time.
As believers in Christ, most of us are taught that love isn't just a feeling, but an action. DC Talk said in one of their songs that Love is a Verb. We know from the bible that God is Love. The bible says in John 3:16 that "For God so LOVED the world that He SENT His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  That means God's love was an action. We see that when we read the word sent in this verse. He did something to show His love.

We went to the movies to see Fireproof. Great movie, by the way. In it the father tells his son (Kirk Cameron) that he can't love his wife until He knows what love is. In the scene, Kirk Cameron is looking at a cross.

The greatest act of love is laying your life down for someone, just as Christ laid down His life for us. You see He took the penalty for our sins upon Himself. The penalty for sin was a blood sacrifice. Jesus was our blood sacrifice.

Ok, so now we know what love is by the biblical standards. It is an action, a choice. Recently, a series of events lead me to really think about love and what it means. I was told by someone I've known for a long time that they didn't like me. It was a sock to hear from this person that they didn't think our personalities went together. When questioned about it, they said that they loved me because I was a Sister in Christ and that we had a good relationship because we have never had a cross word. That is how they gauged a good relationship, by never having a cross word. So what had this person done to love me as a sister in Christ, even though they didn't like me? The answer, I don't know. I can't remember a thing that this person did to show love to me. This got me to thinking about a book I had read called Sacred Love. One of the statements in the book stuck out to me and I have never forgotten it. "The opposite of Love isn't hate, it's apathy." Apathy means doing nothing.

If love is a verb, which we have established it is, than apathy (doing nothing), is the opposite.
Matthew 25:40 “The King (Jesus) will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:45 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Hearing someone doesn't like you is never an easy thing to hear, but God is using it to remind me that He didn't just say He loved me. He demonstrated it. This is the example I should follow. Loving someone is more than just saying so, it is an action.



  
Let us remember that what we do speaks louder than what we say. So what have you done to show love for others?

The Truth about "What Goes Around Comes Around."

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:7-9

The saying what goes around comes around is true. Let me first say all sin is sin!! When we do what is displeasing to God we reap the consequences and some consequences are worse than others.

I am reading a book called "David" by Charles Swindoll. He says, "If there is anything we have been duped into believing in our era of erroneous teachings on grace, it is the thinking that if we will simply confess our sins and claim God's forgiveness, than all the consequences of what we have done will be quickly washed away."

You know people say that all the time "What goes around comes around." But we say it to people who have done us wrong, because we want them to go through what they put us through. When something happens to us, do we ever think... now I wonder if I have ever hurt someone that way or did that to someone?? Am I reaping what I have sown??

Am I making sense here?!!

I think of my oldest son, when I read about consequences. He will do something wrong and say I am sorry, but he still has to take a punishment. He needs to understand, even at a young age, that what he does has consequences. If he is kind and good, he gets rewarded, but if he is ugly or bad he gets in trouble. If I never punished him for his behavior, what's to keep him from doing it again. He understands, even now, that if he does something wrong after being told not to do it, he gets punished.

It works!! There are things he used to do and now he doesn't do them. Even at the age of two, he would  tell you "that's a no no." Beth Moore once said that God is into A's. He is not content with C's. So until you understand that some things are "no no's" you will keep getting punished/consequences. Charles Swindoll says that we can accept this physically. Like a broken arm, because we jumped out of a tree. But it is hard for us to accept consequences spiritually.

We think as adults that if we did something wrong and ask for forgives, everything is now better. But that is not always the case.

In the book "David," Charles says "Grace means that God, in forgiving you, does not kill you. Grace means that God in forgiving you, gives you the strength to endure the consequences. Grace frees us so that we can obey our Lord. It does not mean sin's consequences are automatically removed.

The sooner we learn this the better off we will be. We need to get in our heads that our actions good and bad reap consequences. Sometimes when we have something bad happen to us, it could be a result of something we did.

So the truth...NOT EVERYTHING IS POOR, PITIFUL ME!! We need to wake up and realize that we cause a lot of our own problems! And like Charles Swindoll says, once you have been forgiven by God's grace, He will then give you the strength to endure. Remember not to give up in doing what is right, even when it is hard. God into A's not C's.

For God's Glory

Imagine being blind and your father a Potter. Society says that you are blind because of your sin or because of the sin of your parents. Your mother bitter. Your brother that is much older than you, loves you very much and looks after you. Your brother dies saving your life. Everyone, including your own parents, wonder why he died and not you. Because your blind you have had a couple of accidents in your house with your father's pottery. Your told your no good to anyone and cast out to live in the shed behind the house. Not allowed to get food from neighbors or your family. You are told by your mother to go beg for money and then give it to her. But you hope and you dream and you believe. Everyday you listen to scholars teach and talk about God and the bible. You believe that one day Messiah will come.
Now imagine that you are sitting there and you hear voices talking. One of the men is called "Teacher or Rabbi." Someone ask the "Teacher/Rabbi" why was he born blind. You know they are talking about you. The person asks if it was your sin or the sin of your parents. And the Teacher/Rabbi answered, "It is not this man's sin or his parents' sin that made him blind. This man was born blind so that God's power could be shown in him." Then this man reaches down and spits on the ground making mud, and applies to you eyes, and tells you to "Go wash in the pool of Siloam." Well you do what he says and afterward you can see. This Rabbi just gave you sight and told you it was for God's glory. You find out that this is the Messiah, God's son who healed.

You were born blind for Jesus to heal you. You were born blind for God's glory. WOW!

Now, we know a very wonderful couple who have a very special little girl. All children are special, but this one is even more special; if you know what I mean. And God looks down from Heaven and says,
I created you
and knit you together in your mother's womb.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

But you know He just doesn't say that about this special little girl, He says that to all of us. Just like this blind man and just like this little girl, He created you. You are wonderfully made, whether you have special needs or if you don't. God says that He knows the plans He has for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. No matter how many fingers or toes you have, God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created YOU!!

Do you know why He created you?

For His glory! You were not an accident. God knows the number of hairs on your head and He loves you. Healing comes in many ways. For some God gives physical healing, like the blind man and for others it is a healing of the heart. Sometimes the healing of a heart is way more important than physical healing. Our suffering is not in vain. Maybe we are healed on earth or maybe we have to wait until heaven, but no matter what, our lives are for the glory of God.

I heard it said and I believe it.... That God will use whomever and whatever He chooses to bring someone closer to Him. Let God's glory be shown in you no matter what you circumstances