Tag Archives: sinner

Freedom À la Violence 

by

0


“Wherefore, if you see another sin openly or commit a serious crime, do not consider yourself better, for you do not know how long you can remain in good estate. All men are frail, but you must admit that none is more frail than yourself.” Thomas à Kempis 

                          BE SOBER!

There is no one more vile than I. For no one is more adept at destroying the work of God than my selfish nature which lives within me.  


No matter what knowledge I have concerning righteousness, my roommate called selfishness knows nothing, desires nothing, and can produce nothing on his own. At the base of things, he only knows how to play with mud.  


What counsel is there in these things? I see this: be careful not to judge the sinners all around us. For with one touch of the love of God, anyone of them can out strip us with the doings of the Holy Spirit.   Despise the action, but be ready to embrace the actor.  


The one to whom much is forgiven, the same will love much. The one who is released from the deepest and darkest of dungeons will love the open spaces more. He understands captivity, and now embraces freedom with a violence.  


But the one who does not perceive his own wickedness, this one sees no need to praise. Righteous humility eludes him.  


God has raised mighty men from the sewer in the past. Rest assured, he is doing so today.

That Peculiar Brand of Fear

by

0


Sin has its own distinct pleasures.  There’s no reason to lie about it, sin is fun.  Preferring to live in sin is to live a life full of joy and laughter.  It’s kind of like being drunk with abandon instead of alcohol.

But there’s also no reason to lie about the following.  Sin has its own particular brand of fear. 

The one who lives a life of sin fears everything.  He can’t trust God to watch out for him, so whatever is unknown becomes a potentially destructive enemy.  And the volume of unknowns is endless.

The sinner may say he fears nothing.  He may make great bold statements of his ability to cope.  But as Shakespeare wrote, “Me thinks thou dost protest too much”.  The bold proclamations of a sinner, in regard to his fearlessness, are nothing more than a golden blanket covering the thumb sucking child within.

The sinner knows he stands in a very precarious place.  God has promised to rip him apart at the judgment, and the sinner knows it.  By sheer will and deft ignorance the sinner simply puts it out of his mind.

On top of the coming promise of destruction, is a very curious fear.  They call it bad luck.  It’s also called Murphy’s Law. 

The sinner is always looking over his shoulder to see what’s coming to bite him in the butt.  He’s absolutely sure God has it in for him.  In the sinners mind, God is always trying to cause him trouble.  But such thoughts are only a mirror of his own evil heart.

The sinners fear is equal to his pleasure.  All the while he goes about trying to secure his next joy, he worries and frets that he will be assaulted in some peculiar manner.  Perhaps a broken bone, perhaps severe sickness, perhaps he will be caught doing what he should not be doing and end up in jail.

It’s ridiculous the measures people take to avoid thinking about God and the judgment to come.  But even more ridiculous is the ease with which his fearful burden can be lifted.  All it takes is a tiny measure of humility.  But humility isn’t fun, so it’s given no place on the sinners agenda.

God will not despise the humble heart.  And God will teach the humble man how to be fearless. 

Forgiveness from Christ Jesus provides a distinctly different joy.  While apparently the body is cast into sorrow, the forgiven sinners soul is laughing in the language of heaven.  While the sinner’s joy ends when his current preoccupation is taken away, the joy of the forgiven sinner never leaves him.  Little by little that peculiar fearfulness is replaced by a gentle confidence.

Serving God in Christ Jesus is pure and true freedom.  Pursuing sin and joy of the body will always result in slavery to fear.

The forgiveness of Christ Jesus is not just an arbitrary phrase.  When it is received, the soul knows it has been set free.  With forgiveness from God comes peace and hope.  Two things the sinner cannot possibly attain and retain.

By His Grace

Getting There!

by

0


What creature will we become?

It is not given to man to know.

To be like the Angels;

Our appearance to Glow.

Or to be the fulfillment

Of our bodies “below”.

 

Strive to find out,

With all you possess.

Break from tradition of sin.

 

What will you give,

Come that moment unveiled,

That new “body” to win?

 

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:18)

Faith From Death Alone

by

0


A pathetically struggling Christian is hardly any Christian at all.  While he may still be a Christian, by a margin only God himself can know, his testimony is exceedingly small, if alive at all.

What can he say if he decides to testify?  Will he say, “Jesus saves”, while he dabbles deeply in sin?  What proof does he have that his words are true?  And though a man may believe his words, in three days time no proof will appear.

The hearer may prosper in time, but the testimony of the weakened one will prove to be a block and a wall; a hindrance rather than a help.

I do not say this to shame my weaker brother.  Rather I say this to spur him on.  And I do not say these things without knowledge.  For I lived that fruitless and pathetic life for 20 years or more.

Do you really want to conquer sin?  Do you really want to become profitable for the Holy Lord of life?  Are you willing to confess that being a victim is a very comfortable way to live?  Despite your tears, which only oil your next slide to hell.

The victim rises up toward righteousness then falls back quickly for, “It is too hard.”  So he squanders hours and days filling himself with pleasure.  “I will repent soon and the Lord will take me back.”

Such behavior only produces a kind of faith that raises this one from the dead, over and over and over.  Why do you spend your faith on such a trivial life?  When, if such a faith were applied toward righteousness and obedience, it would conquer the very sin you love so much.

This is what I have found.  This key unlocks the chains of death and folly.  Using my faith to bring Him glory instead of pleasure for me.

There is no excuse for the man who lives swinging precariously between life and death.  For what we practice so we are.  He who practices failure is a failure!  While he who practices righteousness, even to the death, is righteous.

“Salvation belongs to our God and to the lamb!”  Have you read the lyrics to the new song in Revelation?   And have you heard that there is no one righteous but God alone?  Have you read and understood that the Lord Jesus came as the willing proof of God’s desire to save his creation?

Did he come to save us that we may squander our life in pathetic dangling between heaven and hell?  Did he not warn us that those who gamble their eternity in unrighteous, ungodly, unholy, wicked and perverse behavior, will certainly not enter the kingdom of God?

All the while you suffer and struggle, your heavenly Father desires to give you righteousness.  But by the confession of your habits you say he is powerless to save you.  Thus your testimony is worthless.  Your prayers are ineffective and infrequent.  Your faith waxes dead more than alive.  And you have gained no ground worthy of mention.

When you could have so very much, if you simply asked, with earnest and truth filled heart, your hands are thoroughly empty of gifts for the crowned King of glory.

You do not pray for release, you simply pray for a calm in the enticements.  You pray for forgiveness while you secretly plot for your next adventure to wickedness. 

Just how long do you expect the Holy Lord of life to display his patience kindness to you?  Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, your neat little trick of rising from the dead will no longer have any effect.

Pray for wisdom and do not cease.  Pray for understanding and cease your desire to lie to God.  Ask for desire toward righteousness.  Beg him that you may learn to abhor your sins.

Turn from your endless wandering.  Let him open your eyes to see the hideous nature of what you have loved to embrace.

I testify to you that there is such a thing as overcoming sin.  You may say you know that but where is your proof?

Those who humble themselves before God seeking what is absolute and true, and turn from their wicked ways, these find favor with God and receive His righteousness upon them even now! 

To say otherwise makes God out to be a liar.  And it pronounces the victory of Christ as if it is of no effect at all!

Answer yourself for yourself:  who has been the liar and of no effect at all?