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Posts Tagged ‘sin’

READ THE LABEL

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on March 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

After a minister had spoken strongly against sin one morning, one of his members said, “We don’t want you to talk so plainly about sin, Because if our children hear you mention it, they will more easily become sinners. call it a mistake, if you will, but do not speak so bluntly about sin.”

The minister went to his medicine shelf and brought back a bottle of strychnine marked “Poison.” He said, “I understand what you want me to do. You want me to change the label. Suppose I take this ‘Poison’ off the bottle and put on a label like ‘Peppermint Candy.’ Can’t you see the problem? The milder you make the label, the more dangerous the poison’s presence.”

Romans 6:32 For the wages of sin is death, But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Michael & Alison Smitherman
The Singing NetSurfers
I will sing to my Lord as long as I live, I will sing
praise to my God while I have my being.

We must not shy away from using truthful words about evil and sin. Like poison, they are to be identified and warned against in the clearest of terms. However, we must not make sin and evil the focus of our lives or our self-perception. We are to be children of God overcoming and avoiding our weaknesses. We are not to see ourselves as evil beings who only do good to avoid punishment or damnation.

Sin, in its truest sense is the illusion of separation from God, and it is very poisonous. Yet the antidote to sin is communion with God. That means love, peace, joy and hope are to fill our existence. Focusing on negative emotions and thoughts such as fear (accept in the sense of reverence and awe), self -recrimination, judgement, scorn, condemnation of self or others is not healthy, not should it be our point of focus.

Label sin, yes. Live love, yes.

Focused on love,

Z gardener

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O Lord, Make Me Pure

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on March 18, 2015| 1 Comment »

 
St. Augustine was one of the greatest theologians who ever lived. But before he surrendered his heart and his life to Christ, he was a wicked young man, and his besetting sin was lust.
 
When he was first convicted of his sin, Augustine prayed, “O Lord, make me pure–but not yet.” Only when he prayed, “Now, Lord, now. Do it now, Lord,” was he forgiven and cleansed.
 
Augustine was converted to Christ, and God made him pure. Sixteen hundred years ago Augustine started following Jesus, and he changed the direction of Christianity as he called on people to rediscover the Scriptures and focus on Christ.
 
What besetting sin do you struggle with? Sin is often, if not always, the perversion of something good. In the midst of all our sinning, though, God is willing to forgive us, change us, and give us a new power to overcome that sin.
 
Are you praying “Make me pure–but not yet”? Maybe today is the day to say “Do it now, Lord. Now.”
 
1 John 1:9      If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
 
 
Michael & Alison Smitherman
The Singing NetSurfers
I will sing to my Lord as long as I live, I will sing
praise to my God while I have my being.
How many things do we need to be purified of, yet do not want to or feel we cannot give them up? The longer we delay our purification, the worse the need becomes to be cleansed. Whatever it is we fear to face, or dread releasing for our own good will be abundantly replaced with good if we let it go. If we cling to it, we will fall further into that from which we need to turn away. And, the more pain and suffering it will cause.
 
So today, let us ask God to purify us now, give us that which we need and free us from that yoke to which we are shackled. And fill us with the peace, strength, courage and will to be as God would have us be; his children in the garden he created.
 
Today is the day,
 
Z gardener

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On The Primacy Of Spiritual Sin

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on October 9, 2014| 1 Comment »

If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and back-biting, the pleasures of power, of hatred.

For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither.
Mere Christianity. Copyright © 1952, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Copyright renewed © 1980, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. A Year With C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works. Copyright © 2003 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
It seems to this writer, that spiritual sin not only corrupts the practitioner, but also all those at whom it is directed or who are exposed to it. While the sins of the flesh seems to inflict most of its harm on the practitioner. Neither is good.
Rather than parsing the differences, let us commit to eliminating both. That commitment, followed through upon and made the foundation of our lives will lift us above both types of vices and will bring us to the place that God intended us to be. It will also ensure that when we fall to vice, we will be lifted up and made better for the experience when accept the truth, we repent and turn back to God.
Turning away,
Z gardener

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