One of the things that the enemy used to do, was to keep me blind to what I would to call the "justifiable sin" in my life. At that time in my life, because I was not walking with guidance of the Holy Spirit, it was very easy for him to do this to me. The tactics he uses such as selfishness, ignorance, fear and pride are just some of the ways he accomplishes this. But the saddest part about it is that he does this right under your own nose, with your full cooperation. Let me explain....
A few weeks ago I was praying with a couple, and right before we began to walk through some prayers of forgiveness towards others and towards themselves, God put this message in my heart. At that time I thought it was just for them, but ever since that night God has not stopped burning this message in my heart, and I knew it was supposed to be a blog.
The message was this.....Sin has corrupted this world we live in, and we know from the bible that it started all the way back when man was in the garden and fell to the first sin. We know that satan was the reason sin came into man's life, and we know he has never stopped trying to get us to sin since then. However, the thing that God showed me that day was this......Before you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, sin has one place in your life, and that is to send you to hell. Without asking Jesus into your heart, and allowing the life He gave to cover your sins through God's amazing grace and mercy, hell is exactly where sin will get you. And the last thing the enemy wants you to understand when you are living in a life of sin is God's grace and mercy. He does not want you to know about, come to grips with or accept all that Jesus did for you so that you could have a life free of the trap sin puts you in. However, once you find Jesus and start a relationship with Him, your sins are forgiven, your heart is cleansed. And that sin that could once send you to hell, no longer holds that power over you because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. But sin doesn't just go away, right? So what role does sin play now, because it still does cause damage. The place that sin has in your life now is that it causes distance between you and God. Every time we sin, and we let that sin just sit there without repentance, it causes space between us and God, and it prevents us from walking in the fullness that God has for us. It may have lost it's power to send you to hell because of the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, but it is still causing damage. And that same enemy that did not want you to understand God's grace and mercy, well that same enemy now wants you to fully understand it. In fact, he wants you to understand it so much that you take it for granted. He wants you to fall into a way of thinking that says "oh, if I mess up God's grace will cover that"...and he wants that to become a new pattern in your life. Not to strive to do better, but to know that if you keep messing up, well God's grace and mercy will cover you. But listen.....that is a lie from the enemy. This is not why Jesus died for you, just so you could fall under a new trap of lies from the enemy. God's grace was never intended to be a "fail safe" or a reason to keep "justifiable sin" in your life. God's grace and mercy is there to cover us because God knows we are not always going to get it right. We will mess up sometimes, but those times should not be intentional. His grace is not a crutch to keep the sinful things in your life that you just don't want to let go of. The bible says you are a NEW creation, and that the OLD has passed away, and the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) So let God help you get rid of the old sinful nature once and for all!
The same week that God gave me this message I was reading a devotional. And the author of the devotional gave this example...He said, if I told you that if you would give something up for the next year, then I could guarantee you first place in the Olympics next year. Yes, that's right. Not harder training, just giving something up. Like don't drink soda for the next year, or cut out fast food. If you could do something like that and be guaranteed to go straight to the top and win the Olympics, then wouldn't you do it....then why aren't we living like that for Jesus. If I told you that cutting out this one sinful thing in your life could take you to a whole new level with God, would you do it? We all have something that we could rid our lives of that could and would bring us closer to Him. Not work harder to get closer or used more by Him, but just removal of something that stands between you and Him.
Today I'm asking you to examine your life, and ask God to search your heart...and be ready for Him to reveal things to you. Let Him show you the things that the enemy has convinced you are "ok" to keep around...the justifiable sins that are stopping you from walking in the fullness that God has for you. Don't buy into satan's lies about God's grace and mercy. God's grace brings freedom from the entrapment of sin.....it is not a reason to keep sin around.
God, thank You for Your gift of grace and mercy. Please forgive us for the times we have taken advantage of it, or taken it for granted. Please search the hearts of Your people God and reveal the things that are keeping distance between us and You, and Holy Spirit help us have the strength to lay them down and walk away from them for good...and for God! In Jesus name, Amen
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