MANY people have the habit of killing roaches, one at a time, as they appear in their homes. They will chase a roach, corner it, and stomp on it. The problem is, their success will be short-lived because they have only dealt with the roach that they see. Behind that roach, there is probably a whole family of roaches. Dealing with one roach doesn\u2019t truly address the problem. Unless the roaches hidden in the walls are dealt with, the satisfaction of getting rid of one roach is only a momentary success. In order to deal with the real problem, the Orkin man must be called.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the problem with sin. When a Christian is operating in the flesh, victory over sin is possible, but only for a little while. The symptoms of sin can be handled one at a time but they will keep coming back because there is always more than what we see.<\/p>\n
When we call the Orkin man, he has never asked me to help him. He has never asked for my support. In fact, I have to leave so that he can effectively deal with my problem. When we call on Jesus Christ to come deal with our problems, He is not interested in helping me with my life. He wants to be my life.850<\/p>\n
[Sin, Contamination by]<\/p>\n
Rom. 7:24; Eph. 2:8\u20139<\/p>\n
SOMETIMES, dealing with sin is not a pleasant experience. It can often be downright painful.<\/p>\n
If you have an upset stomach, there are a few things you can do to try to feel better. Maybe you will lie down and hope that the feeling will pass. Maybe you can eat some gentle foods in hopes that will settle your stomach. Sometimes you may go to the nearest drugstore to purchase some medicine you think may help you. If that medicine doesn\u2019t help you, you may go back to the drugstore and pick up two or three more bottles of medicine that may be a bit stronger. But after all this, if your efforts don\u2019t work, if the over-the-counter solution is not working, you will make the decision to call the doctor. You decide to go to the expert because maybe something deeper is wrong.<\/p>\n
So you go to the doctor and tell him your symptoms. The doctor may decide to put you through a battery of tests. He could take blood, or do an X-ray. In order to look into your system with specialized equipment, he may even make you drink stuff that tastes even worse than all the medicine you used before from the drugstore.<\/p>\n
All of these tests may leave you feeling more miserable than before you came to see your doctor. With all the poking, prodding, and pressing, you may feel worse now than before. Why would the doctor make things worse? Simple: he\u2019s looking for something deeper.<\/p>\n
When the doctor gets the tests back and tells you that you have an ulcer, you will be glad you went to see him for help. Why? Because there is no way you could have known about this problem on your own. Because of his tests, which make things worse for a while, you are able to discover the root of your problem.851<\/p>\n
[Trials, Benefits of; Trials, Endurance during]<\/p>\n
Rom. 5:3\u20135; James 1:2\u20134<\/p>\n
ONE of my home responsibilities is emptying the trash (yes, I still empty the trash). On Tuesdays and Fridays, my task is to make sure that the trash is in the trash can. I tend to delay emptying the trash until the trash absolutely has to be emptied. I receive help in delaying my task because I own a trash compactor. At the push of a button I can press accumulated trash down and keep from having to take it out.<\/p>\n
What a lot of us do in our lives is accumulate trash. We just keep packing it down. We don\u2019t get rid of it. We just continue to mash it down, creating room for more of the same and allow the accumulation to control the smell of the atmosphere.852<\/p>\n
[Flesh, Walking in; Sin, Confession of]<\/p>\n
Prov. 28:13; 1 John 1:9<\/p>\n
WE HAVE lights in our cars today that let us know when something is not right with our engine. There are lights for checking the engine, checking the coolant system, and checking the tires.<\/p>\n
One time, my check coolant system light was on and had been on for four months! I wished that light wouldn\u2019t come on. I didn\u2019t want that light to come on. It irritated me when it came on. But that light still kept coming on. It was trying to tell me that I had a problem and it was going to keep blinking until I took it to the manufacturer to check the car out.<\/p>\n
Now, if I wouldn\u2019t have ever taken that car to be checked out, eventually I\u2019d have a much bigger problem on my hands. The light was there to give me a warning that would drive me to the manufacturer.<\/p>\n
The Bible is shining and throwing up various caution signals and lights. It shows us where we sin and where we offend God. If we don\u2019t go to the Maker and allow Him to address the issues in our life, we are going to end up with much bigger problems on our hands in years to come.853<\/p>\n
[Bible, Guidance of; Conscience; Holy Spirit, Guidance]<\/p>\n
2 Chron. 19:10; Rom. 2:14\u201315<\/p>\n
FOCUSING on your sin to get rid of your sin is like a person on a diet focusing on a Pizza Hut menu so that they can learn better what they need to avoid. It\u2019s counterproductive. If you know you need to stay away from pizza, Pizza Hut menus are not what you study. It will only make you hungrier for things you\u2019re trying to get rid of.854<\/p>\n
[Temptation]<\/p>\n
Heb. 12:2; James 1:13\u201315<\/p>\n
ONE of the worst medical tests you can take is a colonoscopy. It is one of the worst tests known to man. It\u2019s not so much the test; it\u2019s the stuff you have to drink to get ready for the test. It\u2019s the nastiest stuff I\u2019ve ever tasted in my life. Recently, someone thought it would be smart to give it a flavor. So, now it\u2019s flavored AND nasty.<\/p>\n
But there is a reason they have you drink this stuff. It is designed to help the doctor keep you healthy. The nasty stuff cleans out the colon, so that the doctor can see clearly when he looks into the body for any signs of cancer or polyps. That nasty stuff helps him to do his job. When you have to undergo this procedure, you have to drink the nasty stuff so that he can do his best to make sure that you are in good health.<\/p>\n
If we don\u2019t take the time to cleanse from sin, the risks of the polyps and cancer of sin and the consequences of sin only loom larger. When you mourn over your sin for a while, it is not a pleasant experience. Sometimes it is downright nasty. It\u2019s all good, though. God\u2019s ultimate desire is our spiritual health. We must do what is necessary, deal with our sin, so that we can stay in good spiritual health.855<\/p>\n
Matt. 5:3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANY people have the habit of killing roaches, one at a time, as they appear in their homes. They will chase a roach, corner it, and stomp on it. The problem is, their success will be short-lived because they have only dealt with the roach that they see. Behind that roach, there is probably a … Continue reading “SIN,
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