Tag Archives: confessing sin

Say Your Name

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Genesis 32

I love that, and am convicted by the fact that, before God would bless Jacob He made him say his name – DECEIVER. Jacob had lived his life as a deceiver. God wanted him to own up to it.

Sometimes I think we make it too easy for people we want to lead to the Lord, and perhaps we lead them into a false Christianity without meaning to. We tell them Jesus died to pay for our sins, that if we confess that we are sinners in need of the Savior, “He is faithful and just to forgive our sins…”

That’s all true. Hallelujah!

But is acknowledging our “sins” the same as owning up to them? We aren’t all adulterers, but some people are. We aren’t all liars, but some people do lie. We aren’t all thieves, but there are some who take things that don’t belong to them. We aren’t all narcissistic, but some people look at the world through a very self-centered lens.

If I simply have to ask God to forgive my sins, I don’t have to look inside my heart. I don’t have to confront the specific things I have done to anger and offend Him. I don’t have to look at the areas where I disobey and reject Him. It’s much easier to acknowledge that I, along with every other human being, have fallen short of God’s demands.

Which makes me recognize the fact that God didn’t ask Jacob to state his gender or his membership in the human race. He said: What is your name?

So what name is God asking you to declare? Cheat? Arrogant? Homosexual? Gossip? Angry? Unforgiving? Deceiver? You all know that list of names is long. You won’t identify as all of them. You will identify as some.

After Jacob identified himself as a deceiver, God changed his name to Israel, “You have struggled with God and with man and have prevailed.” (28b) He went from one who lied and cheated to get what he wanted, to someone who struggled between the evil within him and the God who wanted better for him – and Israel won! He later confessed that he was amazed that He had seen God face to face, and God spared him.

I challenge us all to take an honest inventory of our hearts’ condition. Hear God asking us to say our name so that He can change it into something God-honoring and beautiful.

Transformed Lives, Communities, and Nations

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Haggai

Are you tired? Does it seem that, while you are busy serving God, you just don’t see fruit? You get involved in various programs offered to the community through your church, but the pews are no more filled than they were before you started the outreach programs. You build a playground and have special events for the neighborhood children. The children come. But you only see their parents as they drive through the pickup line.

Your efforts seem like those God speaks about in Haggai 1:6.

Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

It might seem the more you do, the less are the returns. Why?

You looked for much, and behold it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors. (1:9-11)

God is talking to the people about rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. But, as always, I believe we miss so much of what God wants to say to us when we read His Word as a history lesson. What do these verses mean to us today? Most of us aren’t in the middle of building projects in our churches. But we are in the middle of building the temple which is the Church.

I heard a short clip from Voddie Baucham this morning. I really don’t know that much about the man, but what he said spoke to me when I read Haggai this morning. He shared that he was raised by a single mom in Los Angeles in what he describes as a gang and drug infested environment, in an environment many people would label “oppressed.”

But he said his greatest need was met, not when someone delivered him from human oppression, but when someone shared the Gospel with him and he was “delivered from the oppression of sin.”

I think what God is saying through Haggai is what Voddie Baucham was expressing in this video. If we are merely concerned with poor children, gang and drug infested environments, hungry families, and homelessness, we are only filling bags with holes in them. Baucham said that the Gospel transforms individual lives, who then transform families, communities, and nations.

It’s the Gospel that transforms lives. I’m not saying we should chuck all our outreach programs. But if the Gospel of Jesus isn’t first and foremost in our efforts, we are going to work tirelessly and have nothing to show for it.

And maybe most importantly, if we are doing the outreach programs, children programs, community Bible studies, whatever, and we have not dealt with sin in our own temple, our own hearts, then we are expecting to produce crops during a drought. The truth is, you can’t expect God’s blessings if you aren’t right with Him.

So it comes down to sin. It’s not a hungry belly, but a hungry heart. It’s not homelessness, but hearts without a home. It’s about making sure our hearts are pure, not just our intentions.

If you are tired of serving God and not seeing things happen, maybe you need to get on your knees and ask God to reveal sin that needs confessing. Maybe you need to get in front of your church and encourage the same for each individual. Because like Baucham says, and like the Bible proclaims:

The Gospel transforms lives. And transformed lives transforms families, communities, and nations.

Guard Your Steps

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Ecclesiastes 5

Guard your steps when you go into the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifices of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. (5:1)

Verses like these make me question the popular notion that we should be inviting unsaved people to church. Do we cause them to do evil without their knowledge? Worship is reserved for God’s children, according to Scripture, isn’t it?

But his verse is also a warning to believers. I’m not sure Christians are generally reminded to prepare to meet God in worship. Oh, we’re told to sing, smile, and clap. “Give God a hand.” But I’m pretty sure the Bible declares those things the sacrifices of fools when coming from unrepentant hearts. And Scripture is clear that God does not accept worship from unrepentant hearts, no matter how loud we sing.

So the next time you have the privilege of gathering together with other believers to worship God, guard your steps. Instead of catching up with your friends, take time to sit quietly and allow God to speak to you about your heart’s condition. Confess sin. Surrender to Him. Offer your worship of Him from a cleansed and pure heart. We need to be reminded that if we don’t, according to Scripture, we are doing evil. I’m pretty sure none of us want to offer Him the sacrifices of fools.

He not only deserves our worship, He demands we worship Him according to His rules. I’m just suggesting we guard our steps when we go into His house.

Where Do We Draw The Line?

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1 Samuel13-15

Where does God draw the line on obedience? Saul wiped out the Amalekites like God had told him to. But he took King Agag alive, and brought the best livestock back to Israel as plunder, both of which were acts of disobedience. Later, he would tell Samuel he only did that so they’d have animals to sacrifice to God. (sounds spiritual). But if you read these chapters today you’ll see God was not having it. He had drawn the line on obedience, and Saul ignored it.

Where does God draw the line on our obedience? I was with some Christian women the other day when joking came very nearly blasphemy. The use of Jesus’ name was thrown around, kind of on the order of “Jesus take the wheel” when I’m doing something I shouldn’t be doing. Where does God draw the line around, “Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain?” (Exodus 20:7) Do Christians who say, “Oh my God,” when surprised, or “Lordy, Lordy,” in conversation, cross the line God has drawn around obedience?

I recently heard someone say, “I’m a Christian, but I cuss.” Where is the line around, “let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth” (Exodus 4:29), and “out of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34)?

What about the Christian who says, “I might think bad thoughts, but I’d never act on them?” Didn’t Jesus make it clear that sin isn’t just something you do, but those thoughts are sin, too? (Matthew 5:27-28).

And where does God draw the line around, “the wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23)? Can people who live with unrepented sin call themselves Christians? (1 John 1:10, James 2:18)

I’m just thinking out loud here. But shouldn’t someone who loves Jesus be grieved by sin, and turn from it immediately instead of growing comfortable in it? If God draws the line around obedience – around holiness – shouldn’t that be the line we draw, too?

A New Identity

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Genesis 31-34

Why did the angel ask Jacob his name before blessing him? He was an angel so I imagine he knew who he’d been wrestling with all night. I believe there is a lesson in the question.

Fast forward a few thousand years. Jesus is in the middle of His short ministry as a human on Earth. He healed thousands. He forgave sins.

Take Bartimaeus for example. He was obviously blind, yet Jesus asked him to state his request. To the paralytic at the pool Jesus asked, “Do you want to get well?” When a woman touched the hem of his garment, Jesus demanded she identify herself.

Do you see the pattern? Very often in Scripture, we see Jesus requiring people to state their need. Say the words. We see the necessity of confession. It’s not so God is informed of our need. It’s so we know exactly what we need, admit it, and go to the only one who can meet it.

Here in Genesis we see Jacob wrestling with God. Who hasn’t, right? We know what is right, but we want to have our own way instead. A battle ensues. It’s a tug-of-war until we do what? Admit our sin and allow God to change our wants to His.

In my experience – and in Jacob’s – God won’t bless until I confess. When the angel asked Jacob his name, he had to reply: “I’m the deceiver, the holder of the heel, the supplanter.” That’s what his name meant. And we know Jacob had lived up to his name.

Jacob had to admit who he had been before God could give him a new name: Israel. According to the Abarim Publications, Israel means “He retains God,” or “God is upright.” Jacob’s new name reflected God. His new identity honored God.

Jacob received a new beginning, as do all of us who confess our sins and allow God to forgive us and give us new life. Jacob had lived for himself and had committed sins to fulfill his own desires. God was giving him a chance to turn that all around, to live for God and make choices that fulfilled God’s desires for him. That’s awesome!

May that be true in all of us. Some people think they are Christians because they go to church and live good lives. That’s not true. Being a Christian involves a change of heart, saying the words, admitting guilt. And receiving God’s amazing grace.

If God has laid a finger on any sin, if you (or I) are wrestling with that sin, hear God ask “What is your name? What do you want me to do for you?” Then confess. Repent. Be forgiven, and receive a new beginning!

Sleep Like A Baby

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Judges 9

I play pickle ball with a dear friend who can put a wicked spin on the ball. Whenever I am playing on the opposite side of the net, and find myself swinging at the wind because the ball has taken a nasty bounce, I sometimes jokingly ask her, “How do you sleep at night?”

I find myself asking the same question of me after reading what Jotham said to the Jews in Judges 9. In a sense he told them, if they had acted honorably, if they had done the right thing, then he wished them joy. If they had not acted in good faith, Jotham called for fiery destruction of them.

I’ve had nights when I would lay awake, filled with regret or shame or guilt. I know what it’s like to feel the fiery hand of God’s anger at 2 AM. There were times I couldn’t – or didn’t want to pray, and I continued to toss and turn throughout those long nights.

But there were also nights when I confessed my sin, truly repented, and experienced the joy of the Lord – and a good night’s sleep.

We’ve all probably marveled at how infants can fall asleep so easily, and stay asleep so soundly. They have nothing to regret or feel guilty about. The sleep of a baby is generally peaceful and sweet, especially when that infant falls asleep in your arms, right?

I feel God asking me how honorably I’ve conducted myself in light of His holiness. Have my actions, thoughts, and words pleased or angered Him? Some days, I have to confess, it’s a wonder I am able to sleep at all.

As I go through my day today, I pray that I will act honorably toward God, that I will bring Him joy by my obedience. If I do, I’ll have no regrets. If I do, I just might crawl into bed tonight and into His arms, and sleep like a baby.

It’s Not Enough

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Genesis 9

It’s not enough to confess your sins. Simply saying, “I’m guilty,” doesn’t always indicate repentance. Pharaoh said, “This time I have sinned. ” Yet his actions proved his confession didn’t translate into a changed life.

Have you prayed what we refer to as “the Sinners’ Prayer?” I hope so. But don’t believe for a minute saying the words guarantees God’s forgiveness. You must be born again. You must repent of the sins you confess, which means to turn from them, stop doing them, flee them. If saying those words doesn’t come from a changed heart – you are not saved.

We are wrong to guarantee heaven to someone who prays the prayer. You and I can’t guarantee heaven for anyone because we can’t know anyone’s heart but our own. Only God can do that.

Pharaoh confessed his sin but was not saved. His heart was unchanged. I pray the same isn’t true for you.

(Jeremiah 46-49) Doing The Lord’s Business

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God’s not a fool. And we are foolish if we think He is. We might go to church, teach a Sunday School class, visit the sick, give generously. But if we have not confessed sin, if we do those things with any other motive than to be obedient to our King, God says this to us:

The one who does the Lord’s business deceitfully is cursed. The one who withholds his sword from bloodshed is cursed. (48:10)

Bloodshed? Surely not!

Actually, Jeremiah was speaking of war, of destroying God’s flesh and blood enemies. But thankfully, after the cross, we are not told to kill anyone! We’re told to love our enemies.

Yet what Jeremiah said can and does apply to us. We need to destroy sin in our lives, cut it out, without mercy. Satan is the enemy that applies here. And we cannot withhold bloodshed against him by ignoring sin in our lives.

We can do all the right things and be first in line to volunteer for a ministry. But if we haven’t dealt with our sin at the foot of the cross, we do God’s business deceitfully. And we are cursed.

Jesus Himself addressed this in Matthew 7:21-23:

Not every who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?” Then I will announce to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!“

The lesson for us here in Jeremiah and in Jesus’ own word in Matthew is: Deal with the enemy of your soul first by confessing your sin and accepting God’s grace through Jesus’ blood…

THEN get busy doing the Lord’s business! For His sake and His glory!

(2 Chronicles 32-34) Pray For Revival. But Be Warned.

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What is a revival? Is it an evangelistic effort to present the Gospel so unsaved people find the Savior? That has become the accepted definition in the Christian realm. But in the true sense of the word, isn’t it more a re-awakening? Doesn’t it mean that something dead is brought back to life? Isn’t it more of a transformation from “what is” to “what is better?”

We see a revival here in the life of King Josiah and Judah. The king was already a believer, a follower of God busy doing great things in the name of the Lord. But something happened to Josiah when he read the Scriptures for himself.

He was convicted of sin. He woke up to the truth. He was revived, energized, and began to serve God with a new determination. The result of his personal revival was that it spread throughout Judah so that the nation began serving God anew, too.

I think we need to be praying for revival in our world. But it’s the Church that needs revived. It’s a dead, weak, ineffective Church made up of dead, weak, ineffective believers who need a wake-up call.

Of course unsaved people need Jesus. Of course the world’s problems would be solved if people loved and served God according to His Word. But that won’t happen until a revival happens in the pews first.

Let’s pray for revival. But be warned. When you do, you’re praying that your relationship with the Savior will be revived first, that you will confess and repent of sin in your own life, that you would boldly throw off the chains of this world and stand apart in the truth of Scripture.

Yes, Christian. I am praying for your revival and mine. I’m just warning you.

(I Samuel 1-2) The Bargaining Prayer

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It sounds like Hannah is making a bargain with God. If you… then I will…

Is that what are witnessing here? I wonder.

I remember when wearing seatbelts when driving became a law. I, like many, took awhile to get into the habit of buckling up. One morning, as I was heading to work, I was involved in a minor accident. The police were called. And I, who had not been wearing my seatbelt prayed, “God, if you’ll help me not get a ticket for breaking the seatbelt law, I promise I will never drive again without buckling up first.”

Turns out I didn’t get a ticket. And I began fastening my seatbelt every time I drove after that.

Did God accept my deal? Did He accept Hannah’s? We both got what we wanted.

A famous Bible teacher tells of her “salvation experience” by saying that as a divorced mom, she had a driving need to be with a man. Men. She confessed she lived a very sinful lifestyle that made her miserable. She said she didn’t know much about God, but at her lowest point she prayed something like, “God, I give you men, I give you my sons. Do what you will. Just give me peace.” Then she goes on to say at that moment she received the “Prince of Peace.”

Friend, that is NOT salvation, I don’t care who claims it to be. You don’t bargain with God. You don’t trade your sons for peace. Show me in Scripture where that prayer has anything to do with being saved. Scripture tells us peace comes when we humble ourselves, repent of sin, and receive what Jesus died to give us. Not promising to never sleep around again just so you can feel peaceful.

I believe there is a lot we can learn from Hannah. She was evidently a devout believer, a true worshiper of God. The prayer we see her praying was deep, and intimate with the God she loved. And her will, her wants and needs aligned with what God wanted for her.

What I see here is that she wasn’t bargaining with God as much as she was agreeing with Him. My seatbelt prayer, and the prayer of the teacher I sited above weren’t that. We were trying to trade something we had for something we wanted God to do.

Do you want God’s blessing? Then get to know Him. First of all humble yourself, confess that you are a sinner, and repent of sin. Accept the grace of God that is available when you believe the fact that Jesus lived, died on the cross, and rose again so that you can be forgiven. Accept His forgiveness.

Read the Bible. Pray. Worship Him in spirit and truth. Get to know His heart. Set your desires aside and seek His desires for you. Then when you receive the desires of your heart, you’ll realize those were His desires for you all along.

I don’t believe the fact I didn’t get a ticket, or the fact that Hannah got pregnant are signs that we can bargain with God to get what we want. Rather, I believe God blessed us both because of our relationship with Him.

Please don’t bother praying a bargaining prayer. If you need God to do something for you, go to Him on His terms. You have nothing He needs or wants except YOU.