Sin kills

Ezekiel 18: 4b "...The soul who sins is the one who will die." The bible is very clear on sin. The bible is very clear that we as Christians have to live a life "free of sin". That means that we must refrain from those things that cause us to sin. It's not ROCKET SCIENCE! Why do we make it harder to live a Christian life than it really is? The bible tells me to "give no place to the devil" so this should be a reminder that if I go to a place where there is going to be drinking, smoking, sexual inticements, etc... then I am giving place for the devil to put something into my spirit that causes me to sin. I don't think that we can go to night clubs, sports bars, creek parties, etc... with a S on our shirt and think that we are exempt from being tempted of the devil. The bible is clear that we must live a holy life before the Lord and in the process of living holy we have to make right choices on where we should go and what we do.

We as Christians can't expect God's blessings and gifts to be manifest in our lives if we are continualy giving place to the enemy and living with sin in our lives. We can't be blessed beyond measure with sin in our lives. We can't please God with sin in our lives! I have come to hate sin because it robs us from receiving what is rightfully ours, from receiving the promises of God!

The good news - we have an advocate with the Father!!!! We have a Heavenly Father that is forgiving and that loves us! I'm amazed at how God can forgive us our sins and pick us up and put us back on the right track. It is up to us to stay on the right track and not go back to our old ways. Sin kills - Jesus gives life!

Stones vs Pebbles

"...If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." John 8:7

These are awesome, strict words from Jesus to the Pharisees that brought before him an adulterous woman. The scripture says that they made her stand before the group of people that Jesus was teaching and they made accusations, no, they had actually caught her in the act of adultery, and by Moses' law, they said, she is to be stoned. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: wonder why they didn't bring the other MAN involved? All along this was to try to trip Jesus up in his teachings. I like the manner in which Jesus addressed the Pharisees and the woman. The bible says that Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger (v 6), then spoke the words that you see at the beginning of this paragraph. Jesus is not a man that would put himself above anyone else and degrade them. He proved this on the cross of calvary!

As you go on and read "the rest of the story" you find that there was no one that could throw a stone in the direction of this adulterous woman because of the sin that was prevalent in their own lives. After everyone had left Jesus and the woman alone, Jesus looked at the woman and asked her where the ones that had condemned her went? Jesus said to her "I don't condemn you either" and told her to go and leave her life of sin. Jesus saved this woman from being stoned by showing the others that they had "sins - stones, if you will" in their own lives.

How many of us have "stones" in our lives and we often just try to shrug them off to be "pebbles". If you stack enough pebbles on the ground they will become a great mound of stones. Jesus came to clear those pebbles away and to give us victory over our sins. When we see someone fall to temptation and seem to be living a life of treachery, we are not to bring them before the crowds to stand them up and be stoned, we are to do what Jesus did and show them compassion and love. Afterall, the bible talks about removing the plank in our eyes before we can worry about the toothpick in someone else's.

Let's be on guard everyday to remove the "peebles" in our lives through prayer, reading the Word, and walking in the presence of God. I for one don't want to have a stone wall built up between me and God! Be blessed today and if you need to do some "excavating"in your life, Jesus is writing in the sand for you!