Category Archives: Sin

April 6 – Safe Places

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Judges 19-21

Where do you turn when you feel lost, or afraid, or overwhelmed by the circumstances of life? I hope you all can answer that question by saying you go directly to God in prayer.

But I’m talking in addition to that. When you get up off your knees, where do you go to feel safe? Who in your life represents that safe place we all need from time to time?

Judges 19 tells of a Jewish man traveling with his wife and servant. It was getting late in the day, and they were close to a town of non-Jewish people. The man decided to travel a bit further because he did not want to stay with foreigners. They went, instead, to Gibeah, a town of the tribe of Benjamin.

First of all, the travelers were ignored by their fellow Jews. No one offered to take them in until an old guy showed up and invited them into his home. Read the account for yourself. It’s horrible what happened.

Shouldn’t we be able to feel the safest with our families? Shouldn’t we be welcomed and cared for by those related to us? And shouldn’t the same be said for our churches?

This story made me think of those who have been hurt or betrayed by people in their homes, or in their churches. We probably all know someone who tells of mistreatment at the hands of those who they trusted to care for them. Maybe you have experienced that pain yourself.

If you describe your home as a Christian home, is it the one place on earth your children feel the most welcome, the safest, the best loved? Even when discipline is required?

Is your church fellowship warm and caring and forgiving? Or is there gossip and jealousy and pride running rampant? Do your members have reason to trust and support each other?

If there is hurt going on, don’t just stand by and let it happen. That makes you just as guilty as the one inflicting harm. Let’s put our homes and churches in order and set them as the standard for which everyone else strives.

Our Christian homes and our churches need to be the safest, most caring and loving places in the lives of our fellow Christians. And making that a reality is something you can do.

Dear God, I pray for all of us today as we take a look at our homes and our church fellowships. Convict those of us who are guilty of holding grudges, or having a mean temper, or who gossip, or are jealous… I pray that you will help us to repent, to speak up against mistreatment of our brothers and sisters, and to demand that our homes and churches be the safest place for a Christian to be. May You be glorified as we love one another like You love us.

April 4 -Revenge

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Judges 13-15

Samson is an interesting character. From the moment he was conceived his mother didn’t drink alcohol. His parents raised him to be set apart for God’s work. Samson acted differently, and looked different from everybody else.

God used Samson in amazing ways. He killed a lion with his bare hands, a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. Yet he had terrible taste in women, seemed to have no common sense, and made revenge a driving force in his life.

When the men of Judah came to him and asked him why on earth he would burn the Philistine crops, Samson answered like a two year old. “They started it.”

Is revenge a right? When someone wrongs you, are you entitled to payback? Doesn’t the Bible say something about an eye for an eye?

I used to tell kids in my school that revenge is like a game of tennis. Someone serves the ball into your court by being mean to you, so you hit the ball back to them by doing something back at them. Does the game of tennis stop after both players hit the ball just once?

Well, it might when I’m playing. But that’s not the point.

When the ball is hit into the player’s court, he or she does everything possible to hit it back into the opponent’s court. The game stops only when someone quits hitting the ball.

Does getting revenge ever solve the problem? Does it ever even the score? Or does it make the problem grow? Read these chapters in Judges and see how living for revenge worked for Samson.

What does Jesus say? Love your enemies. Do good to those who harm you. Paul tells us to overcome evil with good.

I wonder how Samson’s story would have ended if he had learned that lesson.

I wonder how your story will end.

April 3- Do What Seems Best

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Judges 10-12

The children of Israel once again worshiped idols, the false gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and the Philistines. It seemed like the right thing to do. After all, their neighbors were doing it.

So God let them be enslaved by the Philistines. For eighteen years the Israelites were mistreated at the hands of their captors. Then, when they finally cried out to God for help, God told them to cry to the gods they had chosen. Maybe those wooden images would deliver them.

But then the Jews said something that hit home here in the 21st Century. “We have sinned. Do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day.” (10:15)

The other day I told you what Kay Arthur had to say about God’s judgment on the US. God cannot NOT punish our disobedience. And it will come because God’s people have rejected Him in favor of wealth, health, tolerance, and acceptance of sin. God is going to judge this nation because too many pastors are not preaching the Truth according to Scripture. He’s going to judge this nation because the rest of us have accepted it.

We’ve been living according to what we think is best, what makes people comfortable and feel good about themselves. We go to church for a worship experience, and come away unchanged and unrepentant. How is that working out?

I would like to rally Christians to revival. To say to God what Israel did so long ago:

We have sinned, God. Do to this nation what you deem right and good. Deliver us as you seem best. Forgive us. And may Your children be found faithful through it all.

April 2 – Blessings That Lead To Sin

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Judges 8&9

What do you do with the blessings that God gives you? Can you pay your bills? Are you healthy, have a family, someone you consider a good friend, a roof over your head and enough to eat?

More than that, are you walking with the Lord? Have you accepted His grace and do you enjoy His Presence, His love, His joy, and peace?

What do you do with it all?

Gideon received 1700 shekels of gold from the spoils taken from victories at a war. God had defeated Gideon’s enemies in a miraculous fashion. And what did Gideon do with the gold?

Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. (Judges 8:27)

Did Gideon use what God had given him for the glory of God? No. And it led to sin.

I don’t know most of you reading this blog. But I know for a fact you have been blessed by God. Oh, you might be struggling right now. But that doesn’t mean God is not blessing you every day, too.

I think God would have us take inventory today. Count your blessings. Name them one by one.

Then ask yourself if you are using what He’s given you for God’s glory. Or are you using those blessings in self-serving ways? Are you squandering the blessings God is pouring out on you by not recognizing them, or by abusing them in some way?

Beware, dear one. What you do with God’s blessings is between you and Him. Just know that if you aren’t careful, those very blessings could lead to sin.

March 31 – It’s Not About Them

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Judges 3-5

There is a running theme throughout Scripture. God blesses obedience and punishes disobedience. God turns His back on those who reject Him. But He is faithful to save those who call on Him.

There are examples of this here in these chapters in Judges. Israel sinned, God punished, Israel repented, God saved. Israel sinned, God punished, Israel repented, God saved…

I attend a Precepts Bible study. Each week we watch a video of Kay Arthur’s lectures. And we are presently studying the Old Testament Kings. (talk about more examples of consequences for disobedience and blessings for obedience)

Kay said something on the video we watched this week that came to mind as I read these chapters in Judges today. The video was taped about ten years ago. But she could have given this lecture yesterday, as relevant as it was in light of what is in the news these days.

She asks a question: Is God going to punish the United States because we have turned from Him? Then she said:

He has to.

His holiness demands it.

Here’s what I know about God. He is the same today as He was in the time of the Judges and Old Testament Kings. He does not ignore disobedience. He disciplines those He loves.

But God has also said that if His people – we who are called by His name – will “humble themselves and pray and seek (His) face and turn from their wicked ways, then (God) will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chron 7:14)

So, it’s not that America needs to turn back to God. God is talking to HIS PEOPLE. Christians. He’s talking to you and me.

If CHRISTIANS humble themselves, turn from the evil in our own lives, if WE seek His face, then He will heal our land. God’s punishment on the United States won’t be because there are unbelievers in the White House.

God’s punishment on the United States will come because we Christians are not obeying God. What is happening to America isn’t on unbelievers. It’s on us.

It’s time for a revival in our churches among believers who have been living with sin. What are you going to do about it?

Holy God, I am convicted as I realize what is happening in our country and our world is a direct result of my own disobedience. It’s easy to blame “them.” It’s not so easy to point that finger at me. Forgive me. Cleanse me. Help me to stand for the Truth You have laid out in Scripture. May I not take my eyes off You. May my desires be only Yours. May Your people, we Christians, humble ourselves and call on You out of pure hearts. And may You heal our land as we submit to You.

March 30 – Living With The Enemy

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Judges 1-2

Israel didn’t drive out the enemy like God had told them to do. Yes, it would have involved force, it wouldn’t be easy. But, like Judah who didn’t drive the enemy out of the valley because they had “iron chariots,” the Israelites chose to live among the enemy. Clearly not what God had wanted for them. (besides, what is an iron chariot next to God?)

God had promised them He would go before them in battle. God had promised them victory. Either Israel was too lazy, or they didn’t really believe God when He told them living with the enemy would cause them to sin.

So, the Jews lived among idol worshipers. And the result? The Bible tells us that their children were “another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.” (2:10)

Oh, their kids knew about Baal. But they didn’t know God.

I have lived six decades. In my lifetime I have seen the decline of morality and the reverence and fear of a Holy God. I have seen worship turn into entertainment, and the Truth replaced by a lie.

God is speaking to me today. I am a part of the decline of Christianity. Have I cleared out my own Promised Land like God has commanded me? Have I eliminated sin from my life, or do I live with a hint of jealousy? Do I watch that one ungodly TV show? Do I take God’s name in vain on occasion? Am I too busy to read God’s Word and pray, replacing my worship of Him with busyness?

Do I love this world a bit too much? Have I grown numb concerning sin, accepting sin or tolerating it?

God would have me clear out the land. He has said that living with the enemy can only turn out badly for me… and for the dear ones who come after me.

God, reveal those areas in my life where I have allowed Satan to exist. I don’t want anything to do with him. I don’t want his influence to have any hold on me. I want to be free from the bondage that results by allowing sin to exist in me. You died to free me. Forgive me for squandering that. I don’t want to live with the enemy. I want my life to be just You and me.

March 27 – How long?

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Joshua 16-18

God had given the land to the Jews. All they had to do was take it. Some tribes went right in and cleaned out the cities in order to occupy what God had given them.

Other tribes held back. Joshua asked them: How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your Fathers, has given you?” (18:3)

It’s Easter Sunday morning. Jesus is alive! His death on the cross bought our salvation. He was buried to carry our sins all the way to hell, separated from the Father.

But He rose again, and offers us new life. Eternal life. A life free of guilt and hopelessness. He did that for me. He did that for you.

Some people have accepted God’s provision. We’ve repented of sin and allowed Jesus to be our Savior, the very thing He was born to be.

Others stand there looking at the gift, like the Jews in Joshua 18 stood looking at the land. But they just haven’t taken that step toward accepting what Jesus bought for them, what He freely offers to them with open arms.

God is saying to you, “How long will you put off taking possession of what is already yours? How long will you refuse what Jesus died to give you?”

Dearest Jesus, we celebrate You today. We sing about the fact that you defeated death itself by dying, then living again. That tomb is empty. We praise You. We worship You. I pray for any reading this blog who are still standing there with that precious gift in front of them. May they reach out and accept what you have already paid for. May they repent of sin this minute, and allow You to forgive them, that which you are so eager to do. May each of us know the blessed reality of having the risen Savior walking with us today.

March 25 – A Rest From War

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Joshua 9-11

These chapters tell of Israel’s taking of the Promised Land. It involved wars, and fire, and hangings, and destruction. Then in 11:23 we see that finally the land had rest from war. But it hadn’t been easy. And it didn’t happen over night.

11:18 says, “Joshua waged war a long time with all the kings.” God had promised the land. But the land needed some serious cleansing. They had to purge the evil before the Jews could live there.

My spiritual Promised Land is mine for the taking, too. It’s there God promises to never leave or forsake me, to live in my heart, to bless and keep me. But, just as with the Jews, there is some purging I must do.

I need to repent of sin, flee youthful lusts, love God with all my heart and soul, cleanse my hands and purify my heart, fight the good fight, put on the whole armor of God. And, just like with the Jews, God is going to fight for me.

God will help me rid my life of sin that so easily entangles me. When I allow God to come in and stand with me against our enemy, there is victory. Then I, too, can live in this world resting from the spiritual war Satan has declared on my soul.

With God I can be more than a conqueror. With God I can know the peace and rest that comes from abiding in Him, living in the Promised Land.

March 24 – When The Walls Fall Down

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Joshua 5-8

I remember when I was in college, someone tried to convince me of the scientific principle behind the collapse of the walls around Jericho. It went something like this:

The Jewish parade around the city once a day for six days began to weaken the foundation of the wall because of the vibration of their footsteps on the ground. Then, when the people marched around the city seven times in one day, and shouted, and blew the trumpets, the already weakened foundation was unable to handle all that vibration. And the walls came tumbling down.

Whatever.

What I see in this story is a loving God who gave the people of Jericho multiple chances to repent. They had heard about Israel’s God, the miracles that accompanied the Jews on their travels from Egypt, including the parting of the Jordan River only days before.

They could have bowed their knees and accepted God. They could have been saved. Rahab and her family believed, and they were saved. But the rest of the city didn’t bow. And they were the ones who paid the price.

God, maybe like a child blowing out a birthday candle, blew on those walls and they fell. Yes, He used the children of Israel to get the attention of the people within the city. But it was God who caused the walls to crash to the ground.

God tries to get our attention every minute of every day. He doesn’t exact punishment on us the first time we sin. He is slow to anger. He is patient and kind. He is not willing that any of us should die in our sin.

So he continues to use people and circumstances and nature and guilt and peace and war and health and sickness… to draw us to Himself. It’s not until we take our last breath that His attempts to win our souls stop, until the walls we thought would protect us come tumbling down.

So, Christian, keep praying for that loved one who still resists the Lord. Keep circling, keep reaching out. I mean, Rahab was a prostitute and she was saved. God is not done with your loved one no matter how far you think they’ve fallen. Neither should you be.

And if you are one who is still inside those walls of Jericho, surrender. Those walls can’t withstand the wrath of God. Get out while you can and run to the God who loves you and gave Himself for you.

On which side of the walls will you be when they finally fall down? You have only this lifetime to make that decision. And it’s the most important decision you’ll ever make. It’s the only decision that will matter in eternity.

March 23 – Friday Night Lights and Monday Morning Grind

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Joshua 1-4

I’m a band geek. I not only played clarinet in high school and college, I became a band director and spent fourteen years of my career helping kids to love making music, too.

One of my favorite memories is of high school football games and half-time shows. Every Friday, I would make sure my white bucks were polished, I’d fluff my plume, put on my blue and gold uniform, and tie my tie. I’d put that hat on my head, fasten my reed to the mouthpiece, then get in a straight line with my fellow band members.

We’d snap to attention at the director’s command. Then the whistle would blow and the drummers would pound out that cadence. We’d march, left, right, left, right, our arms snapping up on the first beat of every measure. Heads high, knees up, backs straight, we’d make our way toward the field, lights glaring and making the night come alive. Fans cheered with excitement. We were on the brink of something amazing.

I don’t care how many Friday nights I went through that routine, every time my heart would start pumping, my adrenaline would kick up a notch. My whole body would tingle with anticipation. I just new, every Friday night, something good was about to happen – and I was a part of it!

The Israelites were standing by the Jordan River. They could see the Promised Land from there. I think I can imagine their excitement.

I was struck by what Joshua said to the people in 3:5. “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

And, if you read these chapters in Joshua, you know God did do a mighty wonder when He stopped the Jordan River from flowing so the Jews could cross into the land that had been promised them so long ago, on dry land!

God is asking me today if I approach my days like that. Do I anticipate that God is going to do wonders in my life every day? Do I take time to prepare myself for His blessings by praying, by reading His Word, by confessing sin? Do I fellowship with my amazing God before I take my first steps into my day?

Sometimes our days become a grind. Our routines anything but exciting. The cares of the day, the challenges of life are like weights on our shoulders. The Jews knew they were heading toward war when they crossed the Jordan. But I don’t think that stopped them from preparing themselves to witness God’s wonders even in their struggle. If we focus on the weight of our troubles, we can miss the blessings God showers on us every day.

I want to start my days in anticipation. God is doing a great work and I have the privilege of being a part of it. I might be facing some wars, some hardships, some grief. But I also walk with the God of miracles. That makes my heart pump, and my adrenaline kick up a notch.

“Consecrate yourself, Connie,” God seems to be saying. “You don’t want to miss what I have in store for you today!”