PSALM 139:23-24 7/27/21*

^“Search me, God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any hurtful way in me …”

Have you ever let shame stop you from praying that prayer?  Have you ever been afraid to ask God to Search your heart? …You might as well - He has already seen it. (Psalm 7)

Every selfish thought, every hypocrisy. Your pride, your lust, your perversions…The dark things you don’t even admit to yourself…He already knows.

But there is something YOU need to know…He has seen it all and He loves you. 

Regardless of what immorality turns up when your heart is examined…. God loves you; and proved it by dying for you while you were still rejecting Him.

Because God has seen it all…because He has faced it all - so can you. You don’t have to hide anything anymore – because it has all been viewed, paid for, and redeemed. 

Pray the prayer. Ask God to search your heart…and be ready to deal with whatever He finds…No more hiding. There is no sin that He cannot release you from, and there is nothing He can’t forgive…Face the hidden failings that you have been ashamed to confess and allow Him to restore your freedom.  

When you hide sin in the dark, it grows …Drag it out in the light of God’s grace and watch it disintegrate.

There is freedom in transparency - and there is bondage in hiding. It has been said that “we can endure all kinds of pain, but it is shame that eats men whole”. Confess it, knowing that nothing can separate you from His love. (Romans 8)

Cling to Christ and lay your sins at the cross - God has promised to make those sins as far from you, as the east is from the west, they are no longer part of your story. You don’t have to put up a façade. He knows all and loves you.

No more deception. Your value is based on His love not your past… Now you can walk in integrity and tell others about His grace offering the same forgiveness and freedom that has been given to you.

“An exciting and inspiring future awaits you beyond the noise in your mind, beyond the guilt, doubt, fear, shame, insecurity and heaviness of the past you carry around.”- Debbie Ford

Romans 15:14 7/20/2021*

 “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.”

Admonishment is defined as a firm warning or reprimand.

When is the last time someone admonished you? .... How did you respond?  The bible is clear that as Christians we are called to do this for each other.

It is hard to admonish because we don’t like confrontation.  And it is hard to be admonished because we present ourselves as perfect.

Most people want “friends” who praise them and revere them…but seldom do we want to be corrected or reprimanded.

In other words, we want fans, not friends. 

If a fan sees a destructive flaw in my life, they will look the other way…If a friend sees one, he will call me on it.  

The bible tells us to love one another, be at peace with one another, be devoted to one another and those things are pleasant and provide fellowship …But it also says to admonish one another…and while not always pleasant, it is valuable because it improves and protects us.

I am thankful for people in my life who are willing to correct me…I seldom enjoy it, but it forces me to look in the mirror and it makes me better.

Having a friend that cares enough to admonish is like having a knowledgeable coach in the press box. It provides a vantage point that you cannot see for yourself. And if there is someone you trust in the press box, you will make better decisions on the field.

The key to being a successful “admonisher” is your motivation… If you correct me because you want to elevate yourself by pulling me down - your admonishment will be useless…but if you admonish me because you love me and want what is best for me…your words can be life changing. 

We all need friends who love us enough to be uncomfortable. That is the difference in an acquaintance and a brother.

Determine to have that in your life. Love your brother enough to tell him what he needs to hear – And love your brother enough to listen when he tells you what you need to hear.

“If you don’t love your friend more than you love your friendship then you don’t have either one.”

– Anonymous

1 Peter 5:12-14 7/13/2021*

“With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love.”

This letter was addressed to "resident aliens" scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. It was from “She who is in Babylon” which was the church in Rome. It calls for unity that crosses cultural, race, and community boundaries.

Peter’s instructions to greet each other with a kiss may be discouraged while practicing social distancing - but the concept is to be enthusiastic and loving when we see each other. Not just cordial, but really cherishing each other.

His refusal to allow unwarranted division is illustrated with his support of both Mark and Silas …These two were the counterparts to Paul and Barnabas after their argument regarding the mission team. Their spat was one of the first “church quarrels”, and it shows Peter’s refusal to pick sides and divide the body of Christ…This stubborn unity is noticeably missing in the church today.

We divide into opposing camps over the smallest issues. So much so that we are viewed as petty and insignificant, instead of powerful messengers of God, and when we stand against actual sin - it is seen as just one more negative in our confrontational organization.

We need action to change this perception…Peter does not say to march for unity…He says to love each other at a granular level. Stop bickering about the lack of love and spread some yourself. Mother Teresa said, “If you want to change the world go home and love your family.”

Don’t preach about it - model it. You cannot legislate love, but you can demonstrate it. We are God’s children, stop pointing and start hugging. Speak the hard truth – but speak it in love.

To clean up a garbage dump you don’t have a discussion about it - you start picking up trash. Examine your heart and remove any rubbish that has separated you from your brother. Love each other tenaciously and change the world one heart at a time...starting with yours.

“Love one another. We don't need more instructions; we need more examples.”

Bob Goff

Romans 6:1-2 7/6/2021*

 "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?"  

Humans can be slippery…We can rationalize anything. We are chameleons, taking on the colors of our environment…Behaving one way on Sunday, and another way during the week. Although the law is clearly laid out before us - we find a way to profess righteousness without living it.

The problem with that is there is no end to it… 

Sin is never satisfied, perversion is never appeased, selfishness never has enough, anger never subsides…it is a slippery slope with no base - sending us into spiritual free fall. 

That was never God’s plan…as a Christian I cannot biblically rationalize continually living in sin…Nor can I ignore it.  Lack of confession keeps me from acknowledging sin…Lack of repentance keeps me in it… Confession is not so God knows ….it is so I know…and it must lead to remorse and repentance.

Paul asks, should we just get our “fire insurance” and keep living unchanged by the Cross? And His answer is unwavering … Bewildered by the thought, he ask how can we live in sin if we died to it? 

If your conversion did not produce change, you missed something. The entire purpose of the cross was to pay for your righteousness and break the chains that held you in sin…those are the reasons for the greatest sacrifice ever given.

It is easy to find preachers who will say what I want to hear…but if I justify my sinfulness, if I don’t fight against temptation…then I am ignorant of a fundamental biblical truth … Our old sinful life died on the cross with Jesus… “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

So, decide… There should be fruit in your life and that fruit shows itself in continued transformation…Hate sin and fight to be a man of God – or do not.  But don’t fool yourself by talking one way and walking another. Jesus didn’t die to make you comfortable in your sin…He died and rose again to free you from it.

“The religion of both Old and New Testaments is marked by fervent outspoken testimonies against evil. To speak smooth things in such a case may be sentimentalism, but it is not Christianity.” 

- Charles Spurgeon