Part 2 from Deeper Still....A Fresh Word

Thank you Jesus for your patience with me and all you have to show me, teach me, and reveal to me because I am not one to sit still and on some days even work well with you! Well.....on most days I am moving at 100 mph and through this race of daily life I am really trying harder and harder to be still and sit still. It is just so hard some days to wake up with Him on my mind and then not quickly "move on" to the stuff on the to do list. And go hours without Him. Oh, forgive me Lord when I don't give you the time or even the heart that you most deserve.

But, every now and then I'll get an AMAZING lesson or teaching through someone else or simply between me and the Father that is just too wonderful and I must try to articulate well enough for you to get a glimpse into the teaching. I wanted to share with you a very important lesson that I "relearned" recently in Nashville from the wonderful teacher, Kay Arthur....again, thank you Jesus for your patience with me. I really wonder how you don't get completely sick of the same lessons over and over!!

TOPIC: SIN!
Yikes....It's just a booga-boo sometimes to get to the real meat of sin and what happens when we sin. Growing up in the church, my depth perception of sin was mainly the "biggies" like murder, adultery, dishonoring mom and dad, etc. We sure don't set out to commit sin. But, it happens in many ways and on many levels. And it happens every day with all of us. Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck.

Ok, lets think about this in our adult, grown up world. If we don't deal with our sin, it is going to take us farther down a road that we never and I mean never expected. Look at 2 Samuel Ch. 11 where David sleeps with a married woman and she becomes pregnant....YIKES! Well, long story short, David kills the husband. I don't think he thought murder would occur when he slept with a married woman. Yep, that sin took him down a road he never expected. It is never cut and dry....lives get messed up and stuff happens. I think we can all put ourselves in a situation when our sin took us down a road we never wanted to travel.

Ok, did you know that when we sin we willfully despise God?? I can't handle that thought. But, when we put other things, people, and what we do with our time before Him, we are falling short of His perfect standard. Now, we won't ever be perfect on earth, but sin is sin is sin is sin. There are no levels of sins. A sin is a sin. Kay Arthur said something that just struck a nerve with me....she said that we can spend all sorts of time doing all sorts of things but never take the time to go into His Word. Well, that just made me sad. I am 100% guilty of doing just that. Why do we put so many other things before Him?? Isn't He the provider of all??

Ok, When we are tempted to sin, it is never more than He can bear. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that "when we are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." NOTHING is too big for God. And, He does forgive us and love us the same. HALLELUJAH! He can get us out of the mess. But, we need to go to Him and His Word and see what He can tell us.

Ok, Sin will find us out. How true is this. Why do we think we can hide?? It will come out some how, some way. Our precious God knows and really, that is what should grieve our hearts when we sin. Number 32:23 tells us that "you may be sure that your sin will find you out." I don't like that thought either. There is something about knowing on the front end that you will get caught that will almost keep you from doing "it" in the first place. Must keep that perspective.

Ok, last point on sin....Sin will cause the enemy to blaspheme His name. When we sin, it gives Satan a chance to beat us down and out and cause us to believe that our God is not the one we claim to love and honor. Can't you hear the lies he tells us?? "If your God loves you so much and you love Him so much, then why would you go and do a crazy thing like_________________?" That just gives Satan a chance to make us question our belief and love for God. Nope....I will not allow Satan to get into my belief system. My God is faithful and just. His ways are perfect. Now, go away Satan when you start trying to play those games!!

You know what?? When we are weak, we have the most power! That is when we just fall to our knees and say, "Jesus, I need your love now and I need your love BIG!"
We go after Him in our weakness. We must learn to go after Him always, but in our weaknesses....that is where we find our strength in Him.

I don't want us to hang our heads and feel defeated. I want us to realize that in the midst of sin, our God loves us just the same and He treasures us. His heart is broken when we sin, but He loves us the same. We must see sin coming and turn the other direction. We must learn to seek His strength and forgiveness when we sin and let Him heal our hearts. We must let Him do a mighty work within us so that we will truly turn from that sin. Sin is inevitable on planet Earth. I pray daily for the strength and love of Jesus to fill my heart so I might not sin against Him. And when I do, I fall on my knees, seek His face and confess my sin. I praise Him for His patience with me and for His desire to see me walk closer and closer with Him. I love Him dearly and am in awe of what He does for me.

And for those of you who have been praying for Kim in Arkansas.....she is hanging on. I pray daily for her peace and comfort. She is a woman of remarkable faith and I pray that I had an ounce of that faith. Keep praying for Mark and her four children. Blessings to you all and have a wonderful week with God. I'm so thankful for Him. He truly blows me away. We never know what our life holds, so I want to spend all my time, focus, and energy on Him. He has done an amazing work in my life and I won't turn my back on Him now.

Love to you all....