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!

Expectations

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...

Have you ever wondered what God wants of you? 

God asks us to:
walk humbly before Him;
recognizing that we are not able to be holy, perfect, clean, righteous on our own, God provided a way for us to humbly receive ability to be clothed in Christ the Redeemers Righteousness

God asks us to:
love mercy;
thinking about all the mercy that has been poured into us should make it very simple to give away as much as possible, but God didn't even say "give mercy" or "be merciful".  He just said Love Mercy, for yourself and for others.  He knows that what you love will be manifest in your life

God asks us to:
do justly;
and since we are not capable of complete objectivity and balanced justice, we are NOT to judge, but do justly - according to what is morally right or fair - and that is ONLY Gods department, so we have the added understanding that vengeance is the Lords!

In essence, God has given us a framework to work within, in order to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  He made each of us individual, unique and special.  He isn't looking for cloned Christians, all looking, speaking and acting the same.  He is looking for His particular, peculiar children to be witnesses OF Jesus His Son, each in our own unique way.

This isn't a comprehensive, all inclusive or exhaustive study.
I've read Oswald.
I've devoured Tozer.
C.S. Lewis
Jonathan Edwards
and many, many, many other authors who know a lot more than I ever will.

and I've read the Bible.  Over and over and over again for the last 49 of my 55 years.  My understanding has grown with each reading.  My life has changed dramatically over time as I've gained new understanding, insight and wisdom.

One of the main things I've discovered is that God is sovereign.  We, the created beings, cannot put Him in a neat package of our making without losing all that He is!

• He is INFINITELY CREATIVE
• He is BEYOND OUR COMPREHENSION
• He is THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY

Until the day we see Him face to face, the best we can hope for is to imitate Him in some manner so others will see how great HE IS.  Everyone relates differently, so He created many different ways for His greatness to be seen, heard, experienced and understood.  He set a frame.  Boundaries if you will.  

Within those boundaries, there are no limitations except those we set up ourselves, denying ourselves the fullness of all HE IS.

Scripture to consider: (New King James Version)

Micah 6:8

Psalm 139

Ephesians 1 and 2

Philippians 2:12

Acts 1

I Corinthians 13:12

REPOSTING THIS IN HONOR OF MY MOTHERS 80TH BIRTHDAY:

Forgiving my mother was the greatest gift I have ever received.

Not just imagined slights, words misunderstood or minor infractions every parent commits.  I had real, serious emotional and physical injury inflicted.  Mental, physical and sexual abuse.  Neglect.  Spiritual abuse. 

The day I forgave her every single bit without regret, without holding back, I also received forgiveness.  I forgave myself for the little child who didn’t know better.  I forgave myself the pain and hurt I’d inflicted on myself over the years as a result.  I forgave myself for the thick, horrible walls I’d built trying to protect myself, which had only isolated me from much of the world, and kept me from relationships that might have been, if I’d been emotionally healthier.

I forgave myself for the parenting mistakes I made, the tense manner in which I raised my children and the fear I’d held onto that stole so much of my young adulthood.

One day, there came the right time to tell my mother that she was forgiven.

What happened next was nothing short of miraculously amazing. 

All those years I’d let unforgiveness fester, thinking SHE didn’t deserve it, or that I couldn’t forgive until she asked forgiveness.  The day I told her I had completely forgiven her (a good number of years ago now) is the day she actually asked me to forgive her.  It’s the day she owned every rotten horrid thing that had occurred and tearfully asked me to forgive her.  She had a little trouble believing I had already forgiven her years before.  But since I already had, fully and without reservation years ago, that was the day true healing took place.  

Not slowly.  Not over time.  Immediate.  God healed me as completely as I’d forgiven Mom.  

Mom and I began to build a loving relationship from that very moment.  In a few very short years, it became the strong mother daughter relationship I’d always longed for.

Pastor Marie and her mother.  This year, the whole family will come together to celebrate Moms 80th birthday!
Mom was born again and saved 15 years ago, and most of the immediate family has accepted Christ

God healed me.  God healed her.  And God healed us.

You think whatever was done to you, whatever slight was perpetrated against you just can’t be forgiven.

I’m telling you it’ll be the most awesome gift you will ever receive; to forgive others, and really, truly give it over to the Lord.  Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay.  You know the forgiveness is true and complete the day you ask God to forgive that person or persons, and withhold vengeance from them.

It will be the most freeing day of your life!