Sin and the Heart

This may surprise you, but I am a sinner. Yes, I belong to Jesus, He has saved me and redeemed me and continues every day to transform me into His image. He has done so much work in my life where sin is concerned. But like every other human being, I was born with a sinful nature and sinful desires. They may be different from the things that tug at you, but sin is a real and present danger for me.
How do we handle our bent toward sin? The Bible has some great advice for us. Here are a few suggestions:
Recognize sin for what it is and don’t make excuses or exceptions for it. (Psalm 51:3-4)
Keep God’s Word close – in your hands, in your mind, and in your heart. (Psalm 119:11)
Keep God closer. (James 4:7-8)
Keep sin-triggers at a distance. Don’t put yourself in positions you know will pull you into sin – whether places, events, movies, T.V. shows, websites, or even people. Take the way out. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Repent when you do sin. (Acts 3:19).
Pray.
Repeat as often as necessary.
The prayer I find myself returning to again and again is: “Lord, cause me to love you so much that sin has no appeal to me.” I came to that prayer while meditating on Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desire of your heart.” I realized that if God is my delight, then I will desire only Him – and that is a desire He is more than willing to fulfill.
Because it is all a matter of the heart. When the Bible speaks of the heart it is not talking about emotions but of intention. The heart is “the seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, and endeavors.” The heart is under our control. It is affected by what we indulge in – whether sin or righteousness. If God is the delight and desire of my heart, I will take no delight in sin and will instead be repulsed by it.
Yes, I have a long way to go, but this is my heart’s desire. Will it be yours too, Beloved? if you love God with all your heart there is no room in your heart to love sin.

Doctrines of the Faith: The Spirit and the Unbeliever

We’ve considered the work of the Holy Spirit in creation and in the believer, but how does the Holy Spirit work with the unbeliever? The Spirit has one chief responsibility regarding the unregenerate person: conviction. Jesus said, “When [the Spirit of God] comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8-9). The word “convict” means to refute something or someone with a suggestion of shame. And that is the heart of the matter. Shame has become the enemy. But sin is shameful. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin by calling it what it is: something to be ashamed of.

Perhaps now you see the problem. Our culture has made sin something to be proud of, something to celebrate, and something to hold up as the highest goal for humanity. Those who are caught up in sinful lifestyles are told there is nothing to be ashamed of. Any message from the church that even hints at the shame of sin is shot down. Honestly, I would expect that from a world that is under the devil’s control (1 Jn 5:19).

Unfortunately, the church is falling right in step. Many churches are doing away with the conviction of sin. There is no shame. And that is to humanity’s detriment. Paul explained it like this: “Where there is no law there is no transgression” (Rom 4:15). When the church refuses to preach and teach the truth about sin, the world reasons that there is no such thing. Thus, they feel no shame for their actions. Shame is not a weapon, it is an arrow that points sinners to the cross.

One other way the Holy Spirit convicts of sin is through Christians. No, not bashing people over the head with the Bible or pointing self-righteous fingers in their faces. Christians convict unbelievers of sin by living holy lives. The truth is, a faithful Christian doesn’t have to say a word to bring about the Spirit’s conviction. The contrast between light and dark is obvious. Paul said, “God did not call us to be impure, but to live holy lives” (1 Thess 4:7). Lives that stand out. Why do you think the world hates true believers? Why do you think satan is working so hard to make the church look like the world?

The question is, are you and I helping the Spirit’s cause or hurting it? Beloved, what does your life say?

Spiritual Weakness

I am getting to the age where body parts hurt. I’ve been dealing with knee pain for over a year and my hip has decided to join the party. Now my wrist started hurting and typing these words this morning is painful. But I am a a mom and a nana so I refuse to let a few aches slow me down. I will pop a couple of ibuprofen and push through the pain. Pain I can handle. What I didn’t count on was weakness.
The reason my knee hurts is because of arthritis that has worn away the cartilage in my knee joint – the stuff that allows the knee to move freely. Without it, my knee locks up and stops me in my tracks. Carpel tunnel syndrome is affecting my wrist, elbow, and shoulder and those joints don’t function as they should. And now the pain is overpowering the meds. But I’m not trying to give you a rundown of my health issues. There is a point – a spiritual application – to all this.
Yesterday I came across a verse that is still bumping around in my head: “You may be sure your sin will find you out” (Num 32:23). Moses was warning some of the Israelites that if they failed to keep their word, their sin would not go unnoticed. Sin will always catch up with us and I have found that one way it tells on us is with weakness. Sin causes us to become spiritually weak, no matter how well we think we conceal it.
David said, “For when I kept silent [about his sin], my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer” (Ps 32:3-4). Sin saps our strength because it comes between us and God. Isaiah said, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Is 59:2). It is not that God turns His back on His disobedient child, but he turns His face – His favor – from us.
But David knew the answer. “I acknowledged my sin to you . . . and you forgave the guilt of my sin: (Ps 32:5). God turned His face back to David and restored his strength. Beloved, has sin drained you? Run to God in confession and repentance. He will receive and restore you. Remember, “The Joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh 8:10).

Do You Believe God?

Lately, whenever I “thumb through” my Bible the pages tend to fall open at the same spot – Psalm 106, just as they did this morning. As I read, two verses stand out – like a divine highlighter has marked them. I asked the Lord what He is saying and the Spirit said simply, “Believe.” And God’s message becomes crystal clear.
This Psalm is a “Salvation History” a retelling of Israel’s story – but from God’s perspective. The first verse reads:
“They believed His promises and sang His praises” (v. 12).
This is immediately after their rescue from Egypt through the dry bed of the Red Sea. Pharoah and his entire army were wiped out and they were safe at last. Their faith was on the mountaintop. For a moment.
Across the page the other verse sits in silent judgment:
“They did not believe His promise [and] they grumbled” (v. 24).
Do you see the juxtaposition? Do you see what the Spirit was saying? Everything hinges on believing God. Not just believing in God, as my grammar check says, but believing God. When we believe God, our hearts are filled with praise. When we believe God is who He says He is our spiritual eyes are open and we can see Him in His beauty and glory. And we cannot help but praise Him.
But when we do not believe God, our hearts are filled with bitterness and our spiritual eyes are darkened. We can only see our misery and all we want to do is grumble. Jesus said “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt 12:34). If your mouth is full of grumbling, your heart is full of . . . well, I think you can figure that out yourself.
Believe me when I say I’m not pointing fingers or calling anyone out. God sent this word to me first because I’ve seen the condition of my heart lately, and it is not pretty. My belief tank is getting low. So how do I believe God again?
I “take captive every thought and bring [my mind] into submission to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5)
I “renew my mind” by thinking about what is “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy” (Rom 12:2; Phil 4:8).
I “set my mind on what the Spirit desires” which is “life and peace” (Rom 8:5,6).
And I stop grumbling and start praising.
Beloved, do you believe God? Do your words show it? What will you do about it?

Holy Light

“The lamp (light showing the way of truth) of the LORD searches (examines, tracks down) the spirit (breath, life) of a man; it searches out his inmost being (heart, chamber, bedroom, the most intimate part of the heart),” Proverbs 20:27.
When I am searching for something important – keys, wallet, phone – I turn on every available light and look throughout the room. I move things that might be covering up what I’m seeking. I may call for help in my search. I go back to where I’ve already looked, just in case I missed it the first time. I check every corner, hunt through drawers, closets, and shelves, and keep searching with a light in my hand until I find it. The presence of light makes it possible to see what might be hidden. (The older I get the more often I have to go through this routine.)
God has a holy light, a brilliant, powerful light that illumines every corner and crevice of our lives. When we read His Word, He shines that spotlight on you and me, searching our hearts and minds, our thoughts and intentions, our desires and passions, and our actions. At the same time, His Spirit moves everything we use to cover up our sin. He looks far deeper than we even know exists, to the most intimate levels of our being, to the place where He finds the truth about us. His purpose is to locate and root out everything in us that does not meet the perfect standard for His children. This is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11).
I need this holy light of truth to examine my life, to track down everything in me that is not conforming to the image of Christ. I need God to search out every offensive way in me (Psalm 139:24). In the deepest part of my heart, there are passions and desires and fears and selfishness – that need to be crucified to Christ Jesus (Col. 3:5; Gal. 5:24) if I am to truly love Him and be a vessel for His glory. I want to be fully open to the Spirit’s examination. I want Him to freely roam throughout my heart, mind, and body and expose me to the core. That is frightening, but it will release me from the bonds of my flesh and the world. Beloved, will you let the Word and the Spirit do a sanctifying work in you?

Before and After

Some time ago I ran across some old photos of myself. I laid them out in the progression of ages from about 3 to my high school years, watching myself grow taller, with a variety of hairstyles and some very strange fashion sense. I saw something else. Somewhere between 10 and 18, the girl in those photos took on a dark demeanor and I remembered my past – things that had been done to me, and things I did to myself. Glancing up into the mirror on my dresser, I thought about how much I physically looked like the girl in the pictures, but I no longer recognized those dark eyes. I heard a whisper in my heart, “That is because that’s not who you are anymore. Then you were a victim and a rebel. Now you are Mine.”
In Ephesians 5:8, Paul wrote, “You were once darkness . . .” Then he gives the contrast: “. . . but now you are light in the Lord.” He was using words to paint a before and after portrait.
One of Satan’s favorite ploys is to assault us with our past, to tell us that we will always be who we were and there is no point in trying to resist those old familiar sins. “You know deep down, you still want it. You haven’t changed. You are bound to your past. You are bound to your sin.” But if you belong to Jesus Christ, you are free from your past. You are a child of light, purified from all your sins (1 John 1: 7). Where you were once held captive to sin, you are now bound up in God’s love. You have the power to say no to sin.
In Philippians 3:13, Paul gave the secret to walking in our new identity: “One thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on…” We can forget what is behind us because “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Ps 103:12)”
Beloved, I want so much for you to understand that because Jesus Christ has completely removed all your transgressions; you are a new creation in Christ, no longer bound to a painful, sinful past or those dark desires. You have light in your eyes, and God’s love shines on your face. Because you are not who you once were. Now you are His.

The God Who Never Gives Up

Sometimes I find stuff in the Bible that makes me laugh. In Exodus, Moses was on the mountain with the Lord for many days, and the Israelites demanded that Aaron give them “gods.” Aaron gathered their gold earrings and “fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf” (Ex. 32:4). The people bowed down and sacrificed to this golden calf. God, of course, sees this idolatry and tells Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly” (v. 7). God is bent on destroying them. But Moses replied, “Lord, why does your anger burn against your people you brought out of the land of Egypt?” Did you see that? God told Moses, “these are your people – you brought them up out of Egypt,” and Moses replied, “Nuh-uh, these not MY people God, they are YOUR people – YOU brought them here, not me.” That just always makes me snicker. It makes me think of a couple of little kids passing the blame back and forth for a broken toy.
Yet even as this makes me laugh, it also makes me thankful. I am thankful that, because of Jesus Christ, God will never turn away from me, no matter what I do. No matter how many times I get myself into trouble, God will never give up on me. When life gets messy and complicated He will never try to wash His hands of me. Even when I am outright disobedient, though I may face certain consequences, He will never leave me to face them alone.
Somebody reading this today feels like God has turned away. You’ve messed up – again – and believe that God is fed up with you. Or you’ve been in a hard season for so long that you imagine God is weary of you and your issues. Beloved, God has not, nor will He ever leave you nor forsake you (Joshua 1:5). You are never too heavy a burden to Him. He never gets weary of you and your needs. And you will never out-sin His forgiveness. He is a good, loving, patient, faithful Father – even when you are a difficult, sinful, struggling, unfaithful child. In case you have forgotten: God loves you – and that’s a love that never fails, never falters, and never, ever walks away.

Covered in Grace

If I could go to heaven right now, besides seeing Jesus and so many others (that’s a post coming soon), I want to talk with one particular person – the woman caught in adultery and brought before Jesus. Her story is found in John 8:1-11*. Remember that the Pharisees hated Jesus and devised a plot to trap Him (v. 5-6).
When Jesus appeared in the temple courts, the religious leaders brought a woman who had been caught in adultery – but only the woman. They confronted Jesus with the Law of Moses that commanded her to be stoned to death. Then they asked Him, “Now, what do you say?” And Jesus said nothing at first. He stooped down and wrote in the dirt and finally said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him cast the first stone” (v. 7). And no one did. They all slowly walked away. Jesus asked the woman where her accusers were; “Has no one condemned you?” (v. 10). “No one, sir,” she answered. “Then neither do I . . .” he replied.
We have John’s perspective but I want to see this through the woman’s eyes. I have so many questions – starting with what Jesus wrote in the dirt. A Scripture about intentional sin or maybe judging others? Perhaps the names of everyone in the crowd who had slept with her? I suspect that whatever He wrote convicted them as much as what He said. I want to see the compassion she found in His eyes and the gentle conviction in His words to her: “Go now, and leave your life of sin” (v. 11).
And I want to know about her life after that encounter. Surely she took His words to heart and left her life of sin. She must have been a changed woman. Most of all, I want to know how she left all her shame and guilt over her past. How did she live out the rest of her days? I expect she would say something like: “Covered in God’s grace.”
Shame and guilt and regret are the biggest burdens many of us bear. But we don’t have to. God’s grace is sufficient to cover them all. Paul said, “Where sin abounds, grace abounds more” (Rom 5:20). That means you and I can hand that sack of shame over to Jesus. Beloved, you aren’t a pack-mule. You were made for grace.

*Note: I acknowledge that some scholars doubt the authenticity of this passage as it is not found in the earliest manuscripts of John’s gospel. But it was accepted by the most influential early church fathers such as Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine. The church has long held that it records an authentic episode from the life of Christ. And I trust that God has worked throughout the centuries to preserve His Holy, Sacred Word.

Advent 2023: The Spirit of Christmas

Ebenezer Scrooge was the quintessential Christmas grump. The light and fun of the season eluded him – or perhaps it’s more accurate to say he chased it off. He rejected every spark of happiness or celebration of the season and did his best to squash it for others. He was bitter, hard, greedy, and rude. Scrooge had no Christmas Joy. What changed his attitude? When the Spirit of Christmas Future showed him the difference between the grief expressed at the death of Tiny Tim and the indifference at his own passing. Dickens say that when he realized he would die a lonely death and no one would care, Scrooge determined to “honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

In a culture that regards “the holidays” as big business, what does it mean to “honor” Christmas? Is it singing non-offensive festive songs? Is it toy drives and food collections? Or does it mean actually saying the word Christmas – and emphasizing the first six letters? Is it posting “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” on all our social media accounts?

I think, perhaps old Ebenezer got it right. For Scrooge, honoring Christmas meant opening his heart (and his purse strings) to Joy. And it meant sharing that Joy with everyone he met. After his change of heart Dickins said that Scrooge discovered that “everything could yield him pleasure.” He understood that real Joy wasn’t just for a season – it lasted all year long and included everything and everyone around him.

Beloved, does your Joy gets packed away with the Christmas decorations? Then your Joy is in a day on a calendar, not in the One we celebrate. Real Joy is rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Real Joy comes from knowing that your sins are forgiven and you have eternal life in heaven. That is Joy that carries you all through the year and through the ups and downs of life. It has been said that Christians are the only ones who can truly celebrate Christmas because they know the whole story. Christians know that Christmas is one part of the great story of redemption – something “even angels long to look into” (1 Pet 1:12). If Christmas is only a season of Joy, then you need to find the reason for the season and know the Joy of Christ “all the year.”

From Babylon to The Rock

Ever been lost? I never had a good sense of direction – my mom said you could take me in the backyard and spin me around twice and I couldn’t find my way back to the house. She wasn’t wrong. One day I was leaving a church in an unfamiliar area and made a left out of the parking lot when I should have turned right. By the time I realized my mistake I was deeply lost and scared. I sat in my car and cried and prayed and the Lord gave me turn-by-turn instructions until I was back to familiar territory. In my ABCs of gratitude, G always includes my GPS.

There have also been times when I lost my way spiritually; when I forgot (or ignored) God’s Word and took a wrong path or followed the wrong person or chased after my own desires. Sometimes it was an honest misstep. Sometimes it was my own willful defiance. Whatever the reason, by the time I realized I was in a bad place, I didn’t know how to get out. Perhaps that sounds familiar to you. Maybe it’s your current situation. You said “yes” when you should have said “no.” You turned in the wrong direction. You trusted the wrong person. You stamped your feet and said, “I will do what I want!” And now you are stuck in the consequences.

I have a good word for us both. Micah was God’s prophet to both Israel and Judah. He prophesied the fall of both kingdoms under the Lord’s judgment for the people’s rebellion, idolatry, and unfaithfulness. And he also prophesied God’s rescue and restoration for Judah. The Lord said, “You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued. There the Lord will redeem you . . .” (Mic 4:10).

The Bible is one long and beautiful account of God’s redemption. First, He redeems us out of condemnation through the blood of His Son. Then He redeems us out of our own personal Babylons – those places we go when we get lost in sin and indulgence and foolishness. David wrote, “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand” (Ps 40:2). Beloved, wherever you are God will rescue you. It’s what He loves to do. From Babylon to The Rock.