Category Archives: Sin

Christianity, Inspiration, Salvation, Sin

Are You a Slave to Sin?

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As Christians, we must live according to what God commands us to do in His word. Even after becoming saved, we will still have imperfections on this earth. But what happens when you are living in sin every day? Are you seeking God to help you break that bad habit? Are you going to church every Sunday to just go through the motions? Do you want to go by your desires or God’s will for your life? We often make decisions quicker than we should and this often leads us to troubled times.

 

Maybe you know you are in sin, but it almost seems like it is just a part of your normal routine. John 8:34 says, “ Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”. Notice this verse says ‘a slave of sin’. Jesus is not referring to a physical slavery, but one who practices sin habitually. Sinning inhabit is a spiritual bondage to sin, and we know that sin is of evil, not righteousness.

 

We have a choice to make, we can either be children of God, or children of the devil. You cannot be both at the same time. 1 John  3:8-10 says, “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”

 

How do we become children of God? First, you need to be born again, if you want to go to heaven after your time on earth. Jesus said in John 3:5-6, ““Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”. Notice Jesus mentions being born of both water and Spirit. He is not referring to actual water but the need for cleansing, renewal, or spiritual cleansing. This cleansing is also mentioned in Ezekiel 36:25-27, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

 

John 3:15 says, “that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”. What happens if you aren’t born again and don’t believe in the one and only Son of God Jesus Christ?  Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”. If you are living in sin and are not born again, then your paycheck will be spiritual death. However, if you believe in the Son of God, then you receive everlasting life. We might be undeserving of everlasting life but God loves us, and He sent His only son to die for our sins. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”. The opposite of everlasting eternity in hell, which is the paycheck for living a sinful life and for not believing in Jesus Christ. Matthew 10:28 says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”. Furthermore Revelation 21:8 says, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”. Also Jude 1:7 says, “Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”.

 

I could go much more on with the topic of sin. However, the key lesson to take away is to make your heart right. Ask Jesus into your heart today and to forgive you of your sins. Claim that you will give him your best. Make him your Lord, the King of your Heart today. Once you do this read the Word of God every day. Live as much of a sin-free life as possible, and when you make a mistake admit it to God in prayer and seek forgiveness and guidance on improving. By reading the Word of God daily you can transform your mind. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”.

 

My next blog post will be an in-depth look of Revelation 21:8.

Christianity, Healing, Inspiration, Salvation, Sin, Wisdom

What You Tolerate, Will Dominate

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What is it that you tolerate in your life? Do you tolerate bondage, depression, sickness, pain, or even poor circumstances? These are all things that are of our world, but are they of God? No, they are not of God. God made this world for us to enjoy our time on, to have a purpose and mission, however, this is a dark world full of sin. If we continue living lives by our flesh, we will be dominated. If we live our lives by Spirit we will have eternal life.

 

In John 3:3 Jesus said: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”. Further, in this same chapter, Jesus explains what born again means, along with differentiating flesh and Spirit. In reading verse six, Jesus said: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”. If you jump down to verse sixteen, Jesus said, “ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”. So by being born again which makes us new of Spirit we have eternal life, through the one and only Son of God.

 

So in being born again, how are we to live our lives? Are we to live according to our flesh?  No, Paul said in Romans 8:12, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.”. Okay, you cannot live by flesh, so how must you live? If you read the next verse it says, “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”.So we are to live by our Spirit, our Spirit brings us closer to God in our personal relationship with him by being born again. By living in Spirit, God protects us because we are his children. This is supported in the next verse Paul wrote (Romans 8:14), “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”.

 

So how about if you are already born again and have a strong relationship with God, and down the road, you get struck by a horrible disease for which there is no cure, and you can only manage the symptoms for the rest of your life, what do you do? You might begin to question God, become depressed, and turn away from God. Sickness is not what God intended for anyone. There is no sickness or pain in heaven. But we live in a world of darkness, so we will encounter times of trouble in our lives. This is when we have to put our faith in God’s Word into action. If God’s Word promised us something, then we need to be steadfast, ask for it and believe we will receive it according to his will.

 

If you are dealing with an illness remember Isaiah 53:5, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes, we are healed.”. Notice it uses ‘we are healed’. Not we might be, but we are healed. Having faith for healing is like planting a seed, you plant it and water it and make sure it can get sunlight where you plant it. Do you take your seed out of the ground and check on it? No, no farmer would do that. It is the same thing with faith, we often are led by how the flesh feels with our natural five senses, we forget we need to act in Spirit with our faith. James 2:17 says, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”.

 

We will encounter many challenges on earth even if we are born again. Remember Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”. Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper,”. So we will encounter weapons, but according to God’s will, they will not prosper. We might go through a hard time, such as a disease, job loss, or bad circumstance but, we must remember God’s will for us in His Word and live our life to it. We must pray to expect with faith according to His Word. By going through trials in life, if we act in faith according to His will we will come out stronger in the end.

 

2 Corinthians 11:20 says, “You put up with it when someone enslaves you, takes everything you have, takes advantage of you, takes control of everything, and slaps you in the face.”. This talks about when one is the slave of another, but if you put this into perspective this is the same when you are a slave unto your sickness or poor circumstances. Should you tolerate your sickness? No, it is God’s will to heal you. Should you tolerate your poor circumstances? No, God has plans for you, not against you. This is a concept other preach on and is true, what you tolerate, dominates you. If you tolerate a sickness, instead of applying the healing scriptures of the Word to your life, it will dominate you. If you tolerate poor circumstances, instead of applying God’s Word regarding his plans for you, your poor circumstances will dominate you. We might have to change course at times to get on track with God during these times, but we should not tolerate times of trouble, we should turn to God and overtake the situation with our faith.  Even in the darkness of the world, remember Deuteronomy 31:6, “ Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”.

 

Christianity, Inspiration, Salvation, Sin

Forgiving Others

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As followers of Christ, we must know and apply the word forgiveness every day of our lives. We all should know that our sins are forgiven by our savior Jesus Christ. By knowing him as your personal savior your sins become forgiven and you are made new in Spirit, as written in John 3. We all can be forgiven by the blood of Jesus, Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”. This is confirmed in Colossians 1:14, “in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”. God loves everyone even the sinner, this is why he sent his only son to die for us, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”. If you read further to the next two verses, “ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”. By God sending his son to Earth to die for our sins and to heal us of our infirmities this confirms God’s love for us. Looking at 1 John 4:9 it says, “In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.”.

So we know that God’s Word says Jesus was sent to die for our sins so that we can be forgiven. But what about when others do us wrong? What about when someone cheats you, lies to you, or just plain out hurts you? Whether this is done intentionally to us or not, God’s Word provides us with very clear instructions on handling this. Luke 6:37 says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”. Further, Matthews 6:14-15 says, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins might find it difficult to forgive others when they wrong us.”. God commands us that we forgive others who do us wrong.

If we cannot forgive others then how can God forgive us? Holding a grudge against someone else doesn’t accomplish anything, it is not what God wants us to do either. Job 5:2 says, “For anger slays the foolish man, And jealousy kills the simple.”. Also, Proverbs 20:22 says “Do not say, “I will repay evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.”. We must remember that God will deal with those who do us harm for it is written. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”. Additionally Romans 12:17-21 says, “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.”.

By looking at God’s Word we know that he commands us to forgive others and not to seek revenge. When you are dealing with someone that is giving you a hard time or just being annoying to you it can be difficult to forgive them. But by forgiving them and treating them kindly you show them God’s love by example. We must remember that God didn’t just send his son Jesus to die for your sins, but the sins of those who have harmed you and annoy you. By living your life as an example you can show them God’s love and will give an opportunity for them to know Jesus as their savior.