Dee2rites Blog

Tag: Sin

  • Getting Past Our Past

    “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 (New King James Version)

    “Me teach a Bible study? I can’t do that. I’m not worthy. Lord, You know my past. You know the sins I was involved in. I’m not suitable to lead a Bible study.”
    “Daughter, did you repent and ask Me to forgive you? And did you turn away from those sins?”
    “Well, yes. I did. And it no longer has a place in my life.”
    “Do you believe I’ve forgiven you? Cleansed you?”
    “Yes, You promised in Your Word that if I confessed my sin You would forgive me and cleanse me of all unrighteousness.”
    “Do you believe you are now righteousness?”
    “Uh, I’m not so sure about that. I don’t always feel righteous.”
    “Daughter, do you know what I see when I look at you? I see the Blood of my Son Jesus. I see My righteousness which I have given you in place of your unrighteousness. I see you as worthy because I have made you worthy.”
    “Yes, Father. I believe You have given me Your righteousness. Thank You Father for forgiving me not only of my past, but also for not believing Your righteousness has been given to me. Thank You Father for forgiving me, healing me, and giving me a new life in You. And I will do any task You ask me to do. Even leading a Bible study when I don’t feel worthy. Because I know in You I am worthy.”

    Have you ever had a conversation like that? Knowing that God has called you to do something, yet not feeling like you’re worthy of the call?
    Too many times as Christians we allow fear, doubt, or shame over our past keep us from fulfilling a call from God. We allow the enemy to come in and condemn us for things God has already forgiven and cleansed us of. When satan brings these thoughts, that is not the time to turn from God; that would be falling into satan’s trap to lure us back into sin. Rather that is the time when we need most to run to God, to go to the Word and meditate on the fact that we have been made the righteousness of God.

    “God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (New International Version)

    Some may say, ‘but I was already a Christian when I sinned. I knew better but I did it anyway. How can I be the righteousness of God?’ The same way we’re saved to start with – by faith, believing the Word of God, by believing God can and will do what He said He would do.
    1 John 2:1 was written to Christians. “My little children, I write you these things so that you may not violate God’s law and sin. But if anyone should sin, we have an Advocate (One Who will intercede for us) with the Father–[it is] Jesus Christ [the all] righteous [upright, just, Who conforms to the Father’s will in every purpose, thought, and action].” (The Amplified Bible) We have an Advocate – One who pleads our case before the Father and makes sure we’re forgiven.

    God instructed me once to major on righteousness because when we become more aware and understand that we are the righteousness of God, sin begins to lose its hold on us. And the more we know of righteousness, the less it has control over us. We have to lose, give up, get rid of and deny its right that old religious idea “we’re just poor ol’ sinners saved by grace and can’t help ourselves but to sin”. As long as we hold on to that attitude, we’ll continue to be subject to sin.

    It’s time to move on. Time to get past our past. The Apostle Paul said that he was forgetting his past – the position he’d attained as a devout Jew, his persecution of the Christians, all of it, and was moving on with Jesus toward the goal of being like Him. (See Philippians 3:13, 14)

    We can’t change our past, neither the past before or since we received Jesus as Savior. But we can change our present. We can learn to walk in the righteousness Jesus has provided for us. We can grow into it. Like a child grows into a suit of clothes or a pair of shoes that are too big, we can grow into the image of Jesus Christ.

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

  • When You Get It Wrong – Again

    “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.” Romans 7:18, 19 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)


    Do you ever wonder why you did something you said you’d never do again? Or failed to do something you promised yourself you would do? That’s me all the time. I swear I’ll get up early and walk, but then stay in bed too long, or start doing something else and forget about it. I promise myself I won’t get upset over trivial things, but catch myself getting irritated or angry over minor issues. Sometimes it’s not just little failures we suffer, but real sin catches us unaware and before we know it we’re right back in the midst of it, again.

    The Apostle Paul certainly knew about it. Even he felt there was nothing good in himself. Wow! You mean the man who wrote most of the New Testament struggled with sin? Yes, even Paul. There was only One who never sinned, Jesus,  and even He faced temptation.  (Read Matthew 4:1-11.)

    One of the many things I love about the Bible, it shows us that the men and women God used in the past were just like us. They sometimes got things wrong over and over, yet God was able to pick them up, clean them up and use them. Just like He picks us up, cleans us up, and desires to use us today.

    Gideon questioned God, not once, but three times. But God still used him to deliver Israel. (Read Chapter 6, 7 and 8 of Judges.)

    David was an adulterer and a murderer. But because he desired to be made clean and repented, God was able to call him a man after His own heart.

    Moses lost his temper and disobeyed God, but the Bible says, “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend”. (Exodus 33:11a)

    Jonah was angry at God because He didn’t destroy the city of Nineveh after the people repented when Jonah preached to them. And remember it took a whale to get him there. Think about that. He finally obeys God, goes to preach in one of the most wicked cities of the era, the entire city repents, including the King, and Jonah is angry because God did not destroy them. How many preachers can say they went to a city and the entire city, including the Mayor got saved? Not that many.

    Peter denied Jesus three times. But after the resurrection Jesus gave Peter three opportunities to reaffirm his love for him. “Lord, You know I love You” and Jesus replied “Feed My sheep.”


    The Apostle Paul says “O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death? O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” Romans 7:24, 25 (Amplified Bible) In other words, it is through Jesus Christ we can overcome and we can be free from sin.

    When we do fail, praise God, He’s made the way for our restoration. The very next verse says God will not condemn us, but He will set us free. “THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.” Romans 8:1, 2 (Amplified Bible)
    Matthew Henry says in his Concise Commentary on the Bible, “Believers may be chastened of the Lord, but will not be condemned with the world. By their union with Christ through faith, they are thus secured.”

    So, the next time you know you’ve gotten something wrong, the next time you feel unworthy of God, or doubt your usefulness to Him, remember you are not alone. We’re all there one time or another, and some of us on a regular basis. And God knew your weaknesses when He called you, but He chose you anyway. Pick yourself up, repent, and start over.

    “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ to you all,
    Dee