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Sunday, April 24, 2016

IF WE SAY WE HAVE NO SIN.....


The two gentleman on the porch were dismissed almost before they were acknowledged.

Even as the words left my mouth my heart already knew they were harsh and wrong, yet they flew past my tongue and out of my lips before I could bite them back.

They say confession is good for the soul; I think it only does a good work in our hearts when accompanied by authentic repentance for what brought you to the need to confess.  So swift was the sorrow for my behavior, so convicted was my heart, so repentant that after all this time, all these years all these encounters, all the confessions, this could still be an incident that brought down my Saturday morning to such a low!

How easily excuses could be made and accepted by everyone around me.  But I knew that no excuse would ever be acceptable to the Only One Who Mattered.

I am an Ambassador for Christ and this Saturday morning I brought shame to His Name.

I was busy, that was true.  They were interrupting me in my own personal space, my home, that was true.  But I am called to be instant in season and out of season. (2 Timothy 4:2)

How much more impressive this mornings story would be if I could report that two Jehovah's Witnesses rang my doorbell Saturday morning and I greeted them heartily, friendly and shared Gods truth fully and productively.

This blog is always about PRACTICAL APPLICATION of Gods Word to our lives.  Today I share the practical truth of 1 John 1:8 applied in my life.  "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."

1.  I was bought with a price and my life is not my own.  For this reason I do not have the "right" to choose when, where or how I will preach the words of life.  I must always be ready, willing and able to give an answer for the hope that is in me in a manner that honors the One I represent.

2.  For those who call Jesus our LORD, He is the authority and not we ourselves. It is in our obedience to His commands that we show that He is Lord.  Disobeying His command is sin.

3.  We absolutely want to respond properly to sin in our own lives so our hearts do not become hard or our consciences seared to truth.  1 John 1:9  "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The daily walk of a true Believer is not a skip around the park with a permissive parent who expects nothings of us and indulges our every whim.

It is a deliberate walk of obedience to the absolute Authority of the Lord Jesus.

We stumble, we fall, we snap in frustrated impatience at those who desperately need to hear the truth the most.  We confess, we repent and ask forgiveness that we might walk another day and get it right.

A godly sorrow is a very good thing that brings us ever closer to the place of true submission to the HEAD which is Christ.  It is not quick, it is not easy, but it is our only right response to the sin nature that rears its ugly head to trip us up so easily.

We mustn't ever be ashamed that we have sinned but rather let us be thankful that our hearts are not hardened to sin and forgiveness will result in new strength and growth in our daily walk with our Lord.

I am surely grateful that His mercies are new every morning!


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