Sin That's Hard to Shake

Becoming a Christian does not instantly solve all life's problems!
The law convicts....
Romans 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."


Battle between the spirit and the flesh....
Romans 7:14-25
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 

15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 

16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 

17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 

18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 

19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 

20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 

22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 

23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 

24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 

25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Battling sin that is hard to shake....
Recognize that spiritual Christians struggle with sin.
Understand your spiritual condition.
Realize that the answer is the Spirit of God.

Recognize that spiritual Christians struggle with sin....
Reasons to have confidence that Paul is speaking as a born-again believer....
He makes reference to both his relationship to God and his relationship to sin.
He speaks only as a Christian could.
He has a desire to do God's will.
Our personal experience resembles Paul's.
Key point of application....
The more I grow in my faith, the more sensitive I'm going to be to sin's attempts to conquer me!

Understand your spiritual condition....
The situation: The "new him: is stuck in the "old flesh".
Our mistake: We often make human attempts to fix the flesh.
The struggle: I don't want to do some of the things I am doing.
Key point application....
One of the keys to spiritual victory in my life is recognizing my utter hopelessness.
The source: Sin!
Sin is a powerful thing! It's a law that governs every aspect of the flesh.
Before your conversion, you were in direct opposition to God. When you came to faith in Christ, a powerful war with sin broke out!

Realize that the answer is the Spirit of God....
No one benefits from the cross apart from receiving the Spirit, and no one receives the Spirit who is not justified by the cross.

Summary....
The Christian life is only possible because sin has been forgiven, guilt has been removed, and God's Spirit was provided.
The Christian life can't be lived in the power of the flesh; it only happens by the strength of the Spirit.
Don't ride the fence between walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh.
Cry deeply and daily for the ongoing ministry of the spirit of God in your life!!

Thanks Dennis for this blessed teaching truth!!!

Have You Found Our Ransom?

Job 33:22-24

22 His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death. 

23 If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him, 

24 and he is merciful to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom

Romans 3:25 

whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins


Love....
1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Ps.49:7-9

7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, 

8 for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, 

9 that he should live on forever and never see the pit.

The cost, death....

Heb.9:15 NIV

15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant

Matt.20:28
even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many


Who can know the depth of Your precious gift? Lord, we praise You for you alone are worthy!! Amen

Hope in the Midst of Evil

The lost have no hope! They face eternity separated from a loving, holy, creator who knows their name and wants a relationship with them but they are blinded by sin! When is the world going to wake up and realize that ignoring God has eternal consequences? Do we have to have some sort of natural disaster for God to get our attention? Do we have to get a terrible illness or maybe someone in our family gets cancer for us to fall on our face before holy God? Does some Satan-filled person have to commit mass murder for us to call on a Redeemer who has always been there? Satan is walking this Earth creating havoc and it will touch my life and yours. Are you ready? Have you trusted in Christ alone for salvation? Is He your rock and refuge? Do you have joy, peace and hope in all situations? Are you sharing that hope with the hurting world around you?
Lord, I pray for the ones who need You today. Let me shine for Your glory! Amen
I am just an ordinary person, a sinner saved by grace! My story is not much in the way of sins that hold a lot of people hostage, no drugs or alcohol addiction. Just plain sin that we hold as no big deal. I have been a liar, a disobedient child to my parents, had a big time foul mouth in my younger years, and many other things too numerous to list, just the things we consider sowing wild oats! Wrong!!  Being young is no excuse! I know that we are no longer under the law but it still convicts our soul of sin in our lives!

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.


Hope....
1Cor.15:19-26

19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 

21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 

23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 

24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 

26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

You must repent....

1John 3:3-9

3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 

5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 

6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 

8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 

9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

Beware....
1Peter 5:8 
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.


Satan allowed to test Job....
Job 1:6-12

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 
7 The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 
8 And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" 
9 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason?

10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 
11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." 
12 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.


Job 1:15-22
15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 

16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 
17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 
18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 
19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 
20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 
21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." 
22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.


Job 2:1-10
1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. 

2 And the LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 
3 And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason." 
4 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 
5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." 
6 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life." 
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 
8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. 
9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." 
10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?"In all this Job did not sin with his lips. 

The World's Hatred of God's Authoritative Word!!!

Well, God's word is clear on sin! It has great consequence!! You are still free, in America, to have an opinion! If it is not popular or if it is popular, you will take the heat from those who disagree and praise from those who agree! I will make this statement about sin, for those who are constantly in sin and think it fun, they are not counting the cost! Sin brings death!! As a Christian, I will speak God's word, in love to those who are perishing. I will have to answer for every unspoken word God puts on my heart to speak to the lost. It is true, the world will hate you when you remind people that unrepentant sin brings eternal death! You notice I said unrepentant sin. Every single soul on this planet has sinned at one time or another. But there is a difference in committing a sin, asking for forgiveness and turning from that sin, as compared to willfully staying in sin! The Bible is God's authoritative word! It is the inspired word from God to Christ followers to use for the answers we need to live life according to God's purpose and will. This book, along with prayer, should be our guide through life until death. Evil man will try to compete with his words but God has all power and authority!! As creator God has ultimate control over your eternity.

Gen.6:5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.


Luke 18:13-14 

13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' 
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."


John 15:18-19 

18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 

19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Ps.36:1-3

1 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. 
2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 
3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good.

I would love to know why so many wicked people ask for tolerance but when the righteous express their freedom in following God's law and sharing the gospel truth with the wicked and perishing, they say we are judging. Eternity is closer than you think wicked man! God will turn you over to a depraved mind and you will be blinded to the truth unless you repent.

James 4:4-8

4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 

5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? 

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Man is evil, God is light. Man chooses to stay in darkness because he is wicked!!! We all share in this sin nature but some have repented by Divine power through Christ! Be convicted of your sin and ask for mercy! Only Christ, through the cross, can offer deliverance!

Romans 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

1Thess.2:4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.


Jude 1:4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ


2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.

This is our eternal hope for the lost....

Jude 1:22-23

22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 

23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Lord, Through Your mercy alone have we salvation! Forgive us and teach us to forgive! Lord, Your salvation is open to all, for none deserve it! Amen

Who Can Know God's Ways?

Who can know God's thoughts or ways? He plainly tells us in His Word that His ways are not our ways! We have to trust Him at all times and be ready for what ever comes our way with the full knowledge that He is sovereign over all things!
Is.58:8-9
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

What do you do when hard times come your way? Do you rest in the knowledge that you are covered by His blood and when you close your eyes in death, you know He is your Redeemer! Sometimes the most happy of times can end in tragedy without any warning! Be ready in Christ!!
I will relate a sad but true story to you. A young lady went to the hospital for the joyful birth of her third child. A child she lovingly held and named but will never get to mother. Later that day, she died from a blood clot! A happy occasion with a tragic end. Be ready for eternity!

What Christ and the Cross mean to the believer....
Rom.10:13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."


Eph.2:1-10
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.


Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit


God is Creator....
Gen.1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Rom.1:18-20 

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.


God is Judge....
Rom.2:2-6

2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 
3 Do you suppose, O man--you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself--that you will escape the judgment of God? 
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 
5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. 
6 He will render to each one according to his works:


God sent Christ, our Savior....
Rom.3:23-24

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

Lord, I pray for us to think only what Christ has done on the Cross! He has given us the greatest gift, let us use that gift for His glory! And I SHOUT His praise! Amen

You Will Not Abandon My Soul

Ps.16:7-11 
7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 
8 I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.


Death...
Today she died! Thirty five years old, perfect health and much life left to live! God ordained her time here before she ever came to be! A car wreck claimed her, no fault of anyone, a driver who lost control on a slick road, God knew! Was she ready for eternity? Did she give thought to her soul's eternal home? Did she seek God? Was she too busy? Hard questions with eternal consequences!

Lord, open hearts to hear Your Words of eternal life. Let us never be too busy to share the gospel, to give a hug or a warm smile to this hurting world. Amen

Ecc.7:2 NIV It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.


Eternal life...
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
Is.55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David
Is.55:6-7 
6 "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near
7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.


God's way...
Is.55:8-11

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 

Share the Word...

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Throne of Grace

Sinful wicked man in need of a Savior! As he goes along his merry way, does he know he is perishing?
Has anyone told him of the hope that is found in Christ? Would he listen? Only God knows the heart! We must, in love, share the gospel!
Ps.1:1-6

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 

2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 

4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 

6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Lord, give us a heart for the lost! Amen


We are His! We belong to Christ! All power and authority has been given to Him!
Ps.2:7-12

7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 

8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 

9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 

10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 

11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 

12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

He will judge all the nations!
Ps.7:8-12

8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. 

9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous-- you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! 

10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 

11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. 

12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow

Grace....

Eph.2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 

9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.