Grieving Over Sin

This has been on my mind so much today. What is our (the Christian's) response to be to sin?

Our own sin.
The sin of those close to us.
The sin of our country.
The sin of our leaders.

Sin.

How would God have us deal with it?

Do we turn a blind eye?
Do we go into love-overdrive?
Do we weep before the Lord and beg His mercy?
Do we try to justify it? ( Lord, help us if we do! )

When I gave my life to the Lord, I remember hearing a Bible study teacher say something along the lines of, "Ask God to help you grieve over your sin the way that He does".

I did that. I still do that. And, God changed my mind about sin. He is faithful to expose it in my life, and to make me grieve over it.

I want to have the same opinions of sin that God does. I want to WANT to see it eradicated from my life.
From the lives of those I love.
From my country.
From my leaders.

Last night, our Precept class was studying 1 Corinthians 5. In this passage, Paul is addressing the church at Corinth, and the fact that they are accepting sin in their midst. It's quite important to see from this passage that the person committing the sin is one that professes to be a brother in Christ.

If this were just someone who was visiting the Corinth church, Paul would have handled this completely differently. He says as much toward the end of the passage.

Someone who doesn't have Jesus as their Lord and Savior, per Scripture, is under bondage to sin..sin is their master.

Paul is addressing the church regarding someone in their midst who claims to have Jesus as his Master, yet is living as one in slavery to sin and to satan.

As I was digging through this passage, it gave me great peace. It answered for me some deep questions I have had about a decision my husband and I have made regarding some people in our lives who professes to belong to Jesus, yet live as those who are in bondage to satan.

I don't want to go into the details, I simply want to praise God that His Word is so sufficient.
It really will answer all of our concerns in this life, if only we will spend time studying it.

Hearing from the Apostle Paul in this book also made me think about my country, and about how much sin we tolerate. I realize that I can't change the decisions that other people make, but would the Lord have me sit idly by while it all unfolds?

What does He want from me as I watch people in my country fight for the right to murder the unborn...for the freedom for a man to marry a man, or a woman to marry a woman?

What does the Lord expect from those of us who know and love Him, as our countrymen try to legislate against His Word?

I found my answers in the two passages that we studied last night, in week two of the Precept study, "The Sermon On The Mount".

We were in 1 Corinthians 5, and Ezekiel 9.

Here are the texts for you to study for yourself.

Note who in Ezekiel 9 were spared. Why were they spared?

Why was God sending the executioners into the city...see v.4 and v10.

This passage spoke volumes to me, and gave me much to think and pray about today as I went to the polls.

May we all pray over our nation, and mourn over the sin found herein.

In Him,
Jes


1Cor 5:1
It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife.
1Cor 5:2
You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
1Cor 5:3
For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
1Cor 5:4
In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
1Cor 5:5
{I have decided} to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1Cor 5:6
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump {of dough?}
1Cor 5:7
Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are {in fact} unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
1Cor 5:8
Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1Cor 5:9
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people;
1Cor 5:10
I {did} not at all {mean} with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.
1Cor 5:11
But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one.
1Cor 5:12
For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within {the church?}
1Cor 5:13
But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.

Eze 9:1
Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, "Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand."
Eze 9:2
Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was a certain man clothed in linen with a writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
Eze 9:3
Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case.
Eze 9:4
The LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, {even} through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst."
Eze 9:5
But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.
Eze 9:6
"Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary." So they started with the elders who {were} before the temple.
Eze 9:7
And He said to them, "Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!" Thus they went out and struck down {the people} in the city.
Eze 9:8
As they were striking {the people} and I {alone} was left, I fell on my face and cried out saying, "Alas, Lord GOD! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?"
Eze 9:9
Then He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood and the city is full of perversion; for they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!'
Eze 9:10
"But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads."
Eze 9:11
Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case reported, saying, "I have done just as You have commanded me."

God's Word

Today was not a stellar day for me. I won't bore you with all of the stressers that I was sorting through, but suffice it to say, it was tough.

Sometimes there are days that being a homeschooing mom really stinks. I'm just being honest.

Yes, I love being with my children.
Yes, I love being their teacher.
No, I wouldn't change it for the world....but still there are days that I wish they had a drop in childcare center just for Mommy melt-down days.

My kids were disobedient today....repeatedly.

They're kids..they're going to have days like this. But, today I was so mad I wanted to blow my top!

My daughter is what I affectionately like to call an "artsy-fartsy" girl. She could LIVE IN A PIG STY and think it was the best place ever!

I find myself spending HOURS upon end getting her room all put in order, only to find the contents of said room DUMPED on the floor within a few days!

(I'm sure this is payback for what I put my mom through!)

So, today I told the kids to go into her room and just put all the baby doll clothes into one pile...and then to come and get me, and we'd move to step 2.

Yet, they decided to do what they wanted to instead...PLAY!

They did this more than once, and so I took some toys away from them, because I said that I would if they didn't obey.

But, what I really wanted to do was give them both a good spanking. However, I kept thinking about the verse that says, "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity."
(Ephesians 4:26-27) and I just couldn't spank them. I was so mad that I knew I couldn't spank them in love, for their own discipline and edification, so I chose not to at all.

See..that's the benchmark for me, with discipline...I believe that God's Word makes it clear that it must be done from a correct heart motivation...love.

Today, if I had chosen to spank my kids, it would have been out of total anger, and I know that isn't how it is intended to be administered...so I found another way to discipline.

I'm thankful for God's Word today...as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

I am so thankful that I don't have to lean on my own understanding anymore, but that I can trust the inerrancy of God's Word as the guide for my life.

Man, I wish I had a punching bag, though..because I sure could have used it today! :)

Now, I'm off to sleep....yeah! Tomorra is a'nutha day! (a la Scarlett O'Hara)

I found this picture of Brennan yesterday, on an old disc, and just had to post it. Isn't she precious? How can it be that it feels like this was last week..when it was actually years ago?!

Do you remember, when you were a kid, that it felt like it would take FOREVER to be 18 years old..the age when you were just SURE you'd know everything about everything?!

And yet as an adult, time is quite different, isn't it? When we have our babies, it just seems to FLY by!

This picture brought such sweet memories back for me. Brennan was such a sweet little baby...so gentle and happy. Really, she's still that way...except for the occasional pouty fit. :)

Makes me realize once again that the Bible is really true when it tells us that our lives are but vapors...not only can they be gone in an instant..but even the stages of our childrens' lives seem to disappear before our very eyes, as they mature on to the next season that God has created for them.

Gotta go now...my baby girl is still young enough for me to squeeze a hug out of her, and my son is ALWAYS willing to hug his momma...so I gotta go get some loving! :)

Oh, did you know? The promised Messiah of Israel is risen indeed!

Without His resurrection, there would be no salvation for mankind.

Do you know that?!

Do you know that He appeared to over 500 people after He rose...a testimony to the fact that He did, in fact, rise.

Guess where He is today? Seated at the right hand of the Father.

Guess what He's doing today? Praying ( the Scripture calls is interceding) always for those who are His.
In Scripture, we are called saints. (This means holy ones.)

Do you know Him, and the power of His resurrection?

Do you know that He died to set you free from bondage..the bondage of sin?

Do you know that once you are His, you are no longer a slave to sin?

Do you kow that you are a slave to that which you obey?

If you don't know Him..but want to know more about what I've told you...please post a comment, or e-mail me at azswimmer@msn.com.

I'd love to give you the Scriptures from both the Old and New Testaments, which will show you that Yeshua is truly the Promised Messiah of Israel...but that even if you are a Gentile
(non-Jewish person), you may have a true relationship with God...the great "I AM".

Yes, Yeshua is the promised Messiah of Israel, but He's also the Messiah of the Gentiles...He's the Messiah of all mankind, and He died to give you new life in Him.

I hope that today, as we celebrate His Resurrection, you will seek Him with all of your heart and mind and soul and spirit...knowing that as you seek Him, you will find Him.

God loves you dearly, and He provided His Son as the atonement for your sins.

To lay down His life for you...that's love!

In Him,
Jesica









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Did Jesus have an Old Man?

You may be wondering why this question.

Here's the answer..yesterday in our kids Precept class, we were studying through Romans 6:4.

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

I borrowed from an illustration that Kay Arthur gave in one of her studies, and I drew a cross, a tomb, and a representation of raising from the dead on the board.

The children have already learned that the Word teaches us that our old man (old nature, old sin nature) was crucifed with Christ, and buried with Him.

Yesterday we explored why and how Jesus was raised from the dead..and for what purpose. ( Why don't you observe the verse above, too, and comment on what your answer is.)

Anyway..I asked the kids at one point, "Now, who was crucifed on the cross?".

And one child said, "Jesus".

And another child said, "our old man".

Both correct answers. Yeah team!

But then, one child threw me a curve ball...he said, "Jesus' old man".

WOW!

Well, my answer at the time was to tell the kids that Jesus didn't have an old man. That He was sinless.

Yes, He was sinless. I don't have any question about that.

BUT...the question came later, as I believe the LORD was tugging on my heart to dig deeper...to make sure that I hadn't just given the kids a pat answer because that's what I had been taught.

The whole premise of a Precept Bible study is to learn to "Discover Truth for Yourself" and God showed me that I was just answering out of rote teaching. That I didn't truly KNOW.

Here is the thought line...if Jesus came to earth and took on the form of man, became fully man, and became flesh for us...and then crucified the flesh (ours included) on our behalf...then would he have had an "old man" an "old sin nature" an "old nature?

I thought about the times that He was tempted by Satan.

Scripture makes it clear that He had a choice....and that He chose to walk in obedience to God.

If that is true, and I believe from Scripture that it is, then wouldn't it mean that He had an "old nature" available to Him, but that through the power of the Father and the Holy Spirit, He didn't surrender to it at any point?

That He truly lived by the Spirit and not by the flesh?

Do you see where I'm going with this?

It's one thing to say that Yeshua lived by the Spirit and not by the flesh, but wouldn't realizing that show us that He could have chosen to do otherwise, in His humanity?

Hmmm..lots of good questions for us here.

I'm off to the hospital right now to visit our Grandma Nell...but I'll be digging into this later. I'd love to hear your thoughts..but please, base them in Scripture..for all else is sinking sand.

Would you please pray for our Grandma Nell? She is a precious friend, and after "losing" my parents year before last, she and her husband have filled the painful gap in the hearts of my children, (and ours too!) by allowing us to "adopt" them as their Grandparents.

They have loved our children as though they were their own, and we love them so much!

2 days ago, Jenel fell off of a ladder and landed on the patio of her home. Her husband found her when he came home from work, and at first she was totally non-responsive. He shook her several times, and she came to. At that point, she told him that she couldn't feel her legs.

They took her by ambulance to the hospital, and BLESS GOD, there is no head trauma or back injury!

However, she had to have massive surgery on her foot. She is now fully equipped with lots of pins and plates.

Her recovery will be long. But, we just Praise the Name of the LORD that she wasn't killed or crippled for life.

Thank you, Lord!

She may, however, have to wear orthopedic shoes for the rest of her life, and that might just be the worst part for her. She is a sandal wearing, flip-flop loving lady!

We'll have to figure out how to put rhinestones on orthopedic shoes. :)

Please pray for her, won't you?

And pray for her roommate at the hospital too, please...she's in a lot of hurt, both physically and emotionally. I hope to have an opportunity to share Jesus with her today.

Bye now!

Me

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Revelation

So, up until 2 nights ago, I've never had the courage to study Revelation.

Quite frankly, it just scared me! I remember, before I was a Christian, going with a friend to my 1st Precept study, and it was Revelation part 2, and Kay was teaching on the video...and I was convinced that everyone in that room was about to sprout a second head!

That seems so hilarious to me now!

Especially in light of what the very first few verses of Revelation say: 1:3..."Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near."

To think! I've been afraid of Revelation, when the Bible says that there is blessing for those who read it and for those who hear it, and heed it!

14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
15 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
17 'Because you say, " I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"

Wow! How many people there are who live like verse 17! I say that without judgement...for I was one of them for so many years. I didn't realize that knowing that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and living in light of that truth, are two totally different mentalities.

Women talk with me all the time and say things to the effect of, "I'm saved, but I just struggle like Paul says he did...the things I do, I do not want to do, and the things I don't want to do, I do."

In essence, they take Paul's comments totally out of context, and use them as a scape goat for their choices to abide in sin.

We can't be in both camps...if you're not sure of that truth, then re-read the letter above, to the angel of the church in Laodiciea.

We can't live for the world, and for Christ.

For, Romans 6 makes it clear that we can't have 2 masters.

If you are living in such a way that you are continually running back to a habitual lifestyle of sin, and you want to live for Christ, then I encourage you to go to God in prayer, and repent, and ask Him to show you what it means to make Jesus your LORD and Savior.

In the greek, the word "Lord", means one who has complete disposal of everything".

Is Jesus your Lord?

Or, are you holding on to the world, all the while trying to live for Christ through the power of your flesh?

Sweet friend, when push comes to shove, your flesh will fail you every time.

You cannot train your flesh.

Only through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, through Christ's shed blood on the cross, can you hope to live a life of overcoming, as is spoken of in this chapter.

Don't be deceived. The enemy would love for you to think that all you have to do is believe that Jesus died on the cross, and then that you are free to live however you please.

That is not faith.

That is not belief that is powered by faith in a risen Savior.

In fact, in Romans 5, Paul makes it clear that a belief system like that would be an overt abuse of grace..and that we are never to live like that.

Read Revelation 3:14-22, and ask God to search your heart, and to reveal to you if you are really His, or if you've just believed as the demons do.

To be His, you simply cannot live like the church in Laodicea, saying,"I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing".

Ask Him...even if you need to ask Him to give you the strength to believe...and repent.

To say that you believe in Jesus, yet all the while refusing to repent before Him, is not true salvation.

It's like the pastors who say that they'll never preach about sin or about the blood.

OH MY GOODNESS!

Without the BLOOD of Jesus, and without the admission of sin on our part...without seeing that we fall short of the Glory of God because of the sin in our lives...WHAT DO WE HAVE?

A FALSE GOSPEL! Paul said not to even let someone in the door who was teaching this garbage, yet many churches today have turned to this false gospel.

Please...ask God to show you the value of the blood of Jesus, and the filth of your sin, and through His love to wash your sins away in that precious blood...shed for you!

MMMMM....I can tell that Revelation is going to be rich!

Love and Hugs,

Me

Obeying His Call

It's interesting to me...I heard someone say the other day that they take issue with the concept of obeying God...that the word obedience is tough for them.

I feel so differently about it. Not that I'm perfect, but I sure strive to be more and more obedient to Him as I mature in my walk with God.

To me, obedience is a gift...because it implies that I have a personal enough relationship with God that He makes clear to me the things that He wants from me.

That's a huge gift...that God loves me enough to show me the things in my life that don't honor Him and have to go...and that He gives me a choice as to whether I will obey Him.

I guess it all goes back to who I was before Him. You see, I spent years living for me, and they were empty pain-filled years.

So now, when God speaks to my heart..whether through His Word or through His still soft voice, or through the words of a trusted fellow believer, I want to obey.

He revealed something huge to me the other day...and I have chosen to obey.

I was listening to a tape on leadership by Kay Arthur, my mentor and cherished friend. On it, she was talking about how temptations will come for the believer, but that through Christ, we have all we need to rise above them. She was explaining that when they come we need to go right to God about it, and draw near to Him.

As I was listening, I was thinking about how Shane and I both feel a real call on our hearts to spend the rest of our days teaching people how to study God's Word.

And, I was thinking about this verse in Scripture, from Hebrews:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

So I asked myself, what is the sin that so easily entangles me? Is there one?

I mean, anyone who knows me knows that I'm vigilant about protecting my marriage and my children. I don't spend time with men without my husband present. Even with my pastor, should we meet for some reason, it's done at the library in the middle of the kids play area, with my children right there.

I'm just very careful about situations with the opposite sex. I don't want there to be any chance for entanglement...ever.

There are lots of other things that God has made clear to me through my time as a believer about how He wants me to live. And, I try very hard to obey Him in those.

But still...that day I asked myself...is there anything else? Is there a sin that would easily entangle me?

And you know...there is. God made it clear that day. I know it's not sin for everyone, but I believe that when God reveals an area of our lives that could be used by the enemy to easily entangle us...that for us, is an area that we need to avoid like sin...because it could easily become sin.

For me, it's alcohol. I'm not an alcoholic...I am clear on that. Yet, when I am in a group of people where I feel safe and relaxed, and there is alcohol there, it's too easy for me to drink too much.

What's too much? For me, for a long time, I thought it was 2 drinks.

But now, I think it's any.

It's just not worth it when I think about it compared to the race that has been set before me.

If one drink is going to put me in a position where I could possibly be filled more with drink than I am with the Holy Spirit, then I don't want anything to do with it.

And the truth is, having one just makes having two that much easier for me.

The Lord really showed me that day that He doesn't want me to have anything more to do with it.

Someone asked me, "what about at home..when it's just you and Shane...what about a glass of wine with dinner?".

My answer to that is I'm not really sure...we're so cheap that we don't buy wine to have at home that often. So, drinking a glass of wine at home with my hubby wouldn't be the sin that easily entangles me, anyway.

My best answer to that is, I'm not sure..but God is, and I trust that He'll make it clear...and as He speaks, I will obey.

Funny isn't it, how when your life isn't all about you anymore, the things you once held so tightly to just don't seem to matter in comparison to being a faithful servant to your King?

At least, that's how I see it.