Monthly Archives: August 2019

My Sin

Posted on by

Luke 11:42 (NASB)
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

I really am a Pharisee and I hate it. It is so much easier to see the sin in others rather than to see the sin within. It is especially easier to focus on sins for which I have not been burdened. I should simply focus on my sin, repent of the many that I live with, and just love other people. That is exactly what Jesus asks us to do. He said, love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus didn’t say love only neighbors that don’t have sins that offend you.

The Bible is very clear about what offends God. It is troubling that many today believe that sins declared in the Bible are really not sin. Take my sin of pride. In the world we are taught that self pride is actually good. Yet it generates a self love that pushes out love for others, especially those that we don’t like for some reason or another. And pride even pushes love for God out of first place.

It is sad to see when a sin to God is celebrated as a virtue. This “virtue” then even creates a belief that no one can really love them unless others accept that it is not sinful behavior at all. Wrongly accepting sins as acceptable is a trap that many Christians have fallen into today.

When I sin by not loving others, I only confirm in their minds that I am a hypocrite. And they are right. I have sinned before Holy God and must repent, turn away from those thoughts and follow Jesus.

If I focus on repenting of my sin and loving others, there will be no time left to think about their sin at all. Let alone being offended by that sin. I only need to follow the One that made my salvation possible.

Father, I pray for humility and for a genuine love for others. Strip pride from me. Do not allow me to follow the world and begin believing that some sins are really not sin at all. Keep my eyes on Jesus and my heart in love with Him. I pray this in His name. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

The Beauty of Opposites

Posted on by

Psalm 23:4 (NASB)
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Psalm 18:28 (NASB)
28 For You light my lamp; The Lord my God illumines my darkness.

John 8:12 (NASB)
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

God, in His infinite wisdom created a universe that contains a spectrum of opposing experiences, so that we could sense and understand the differences. For without a valley, we could not see the mountain; without sorrow, we could not feel love; without silence, we could not hear music; without the bitter, we would not taste the sweet; without the sense of pain, we could not feel a tender touch.

The 23rd psalm is probably the most well known passage in scripture. The fourth verse talks about walking through a valley and the word death is the one word we focus on. Yet, it is not the valley of death, rather it is the valley of the shadow of death. And shadows cannot exist without light. The comfort of walking through a valley is that He is walking with us. His light illumines our way. Jesus is the light of the world, whether we are on a mountain or in the deepest valley. Praise God for the beauty of opposites.

Heavenly Father, I confess that I do not like the valleys of life. I’d rather be on the mountain top. I’d rather feel the tender touch rather than the pain. We live in a broken world, but because of the sacrifice of Your Son, we do not walk it alone. Thank You for Jesus, the light of the world that shines on us each day. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,