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Sin and Pain and Death and Grace Thoughts

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I am wondering whether we would be a better people if sin was somehow linked to physical pain?

Now you may think I am going a bit weird but this is what I am pondering at the moment.  I know that our sin sometimes does lead to physical pain to ourselves and to others but how about the Lord makes it so that each time we sin we have pain. Maybe we would sin less or maybe it would help us to be more aware of our sins.  Maybe it would bring a level playing field where others who lie and cheat to gain a worldly advantage would cease their sin compelled to do so by their pain.

Isn’t the present system a little faulty where our penalty comes years and years later only when we die and are judged?

Doesn’t this allow us to feel like we can get away with things because there is no instant consequences?

There is a problem, isn’t there?  We don’t get what we deserve straight away?   There is no instant penalty or judgement so therefore we think we can get away with things.  Isn’t this a little faulty?  Wouldn’t it be better to have some sort of instant measure  or penalty for sin.  You know, you tell a lie and zappo! you get pain in your left leg or you murder someone or you commit adultery and zappo! you get pain all over your body.

Hmmm, how are we going to work out a fair system to administer the different levels of pain for the different sins?  Should there even be different levels of pain?

Wait a minute!  Have I completely lost my marbles!

Wouldn’t a fair system for each sin that we commit be death?  Absolutely!  The Bible confirms that the wages of sin is death.  So if we received what we deserved immediately we would never live because the just penalty for our sin would be death.  We would live for 2 seconds (probably less) and then die.

Wait a minute, again!  Our sins have caused physical pain!

Jesus bore our sins on the cross and he accepted and endured tremendous physical pain on our behalf.  Our sins caused His pain, and death, and separation from His Father.

So… our sins have and do cause pain – in the body of Jesus!  And our life on this earth, what is it? – it is a time of grace.

Our life – it is all a time of grace!

It is a time of grace for each one of us to discover how wide and how deep and how high is the love of the Father for each one of us.  Our lives are a time of grace for each one of us to discover Jesus and the grace and the forgiveness of the cross.  Don’t waste a single moment.

If we received what we deserved we would never live at all.

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Party, Party, Party! – Living from One Buzz to the Next

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

What is your drug of choice?

A Christian blog seems, kind of, not the place to be talking about such things – doesn’t it?  Let me put this another way, how do you medicate your soul?  What do you do to sooth the pain of your loneliness, rejection, disconnectedness, inadequacy, inner longing for love, anxiety, suffering?

It seems, especially younger people, try to go from one temporary high to the next.  Whether your drug or choice is illegal, or whether it is alcohol or sex, or continuous partying, or spending, or however else you get your hit, it is a focussing on yourself to make you feel better.

The Bible is very wise about such things.  First off, it says we all have a knowledge of God built into our hearts it’s just that some of us choose to ignore that knowledge because we are in rebellion against Him – God cramps our style.

Secondly, the Bible says that we will never truly be happy unless we die to ourselves.  That is, we take the focus off ourselves and we serve God and serve others.

Thirdly, God can give us what is missing in our lives.  This world cannot ever satisfy the inner longings of our beings.  Only God can make us whole.  Only God can fill us with an inexpressible joy and completeness in our souls.

The invitation is always there.  God is a very gracious God.  He does not force us to come to Him.  He has made a way for us to come to Him and that is through His son Jesus.  Jesus bore the wrath and judgement of God for our sins on the cross.  If you are willing, God can open your eyes, right now, to this truth.

Repent, turn away from your sins, accept Jesus into your heart, be born again, and start living for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Your soul will never be thirsty again.

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This World’s ‘Magic Spell’

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , on June 24, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Have we been led astray by this world’s

‘Magic Spell’?

Revelation 18:1-24
18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. 3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:

“Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. 6 Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. 7 Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.’ 8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
9 “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
“‘Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!’
11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
14 “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ 15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16 and cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! 17 In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’
“Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ 19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin! 20 Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.'”
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
“With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. 22 The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters,will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s great men.

By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.

24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints,and of all who have been killed on the earth.” NIV

Some Scriptures about the World

Do not love the world!

1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world . If anyone loves the world , the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world . 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. NIV

We do not belong to this world!

John 15:19
If you belonged to the world , it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world , but I have chosen you out of the world . NIV

John 17:14
14 They are not of the world , even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world , I have sent them into the world . 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. NIV

John 18:36
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world . If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.“ NIV

Hebrews 11:13
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. NIV

Worldly Ways!

1 Corinthians 3:19a
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. NIV

Ephesians 2:1-3
2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. NIV

Colossians 2:8-10
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. NIV

Romans 12:1-2
12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world , but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will. NIV

Jesus doesn’t give as the world gives!

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. NIV

1 Corinthians 2:12
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. NIV

Turning back to the world!

2 Peter 2:20-22
20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS VOMIT,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” NIV

Friendship with the world!

James 4:1-10
4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us ENVIES INTENSELY? NIV

Overcoming the world!

John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” NIV

1 John 5:1-5
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 FOR EVERYONE BORN OF GOD OVERCOMES THE WORLD . This is the victory that has overcome the world , even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world ? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. NIV

2 Corinthians 10:2-5
2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world . 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. NIV

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Lot and his Family – Final Part (I think)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , on May 9, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Don’t Look Back!

I have a heap more to say about Lot and his family but there is the chance that I could get ‘blogged’ down 🙂 . I think it’s time to move on but… There is one last verse the Lord has been speaking to me about in Genesis 19 and that is verse 26:

Genesis 19:26
26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

“But Lot’s wife LOOKED BACK” Have you ever seen one of those romantic moments in a movie where the women (or the man) is walking away from the their partner or friend and they have LOOKED BACK with fondness. Well, this is what came to mind when I read this verse. I know there are issues with disobedience here with Lot’s wife but I reckon, at least for myself, there is a Spiritual message here.

Lot and his family were being saved by God’s grace out of a place of GREAT SIN. Can you now see the significance? We are saved and being saved by the grace of God out of a place of GREAT SIN. It’s very important that we do not look back or revisit on our old sinful life with any fondness. What happens when you look back when you are traveling forwards? You stumble! Satan always has, and always will, whisper in our ear and say “LOOK BACK, you’re missing out on something. God hasn’t got your best interests in mind”

In fact, you notice, Lot and his family were RUNNING from that place of GREAT SIN to the place sanctuary and salvation. Likewise, let us RUN towards our place of sanctuary and salvation, ie: to our Heavenly Father , with all haste. Not looking back, but looking forward towards the One who saves.

Hebrews 12:1-2
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus , the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. NIV

Father, you alone are the One who saves! Thank you for your Son Jesus through whom I have sanctuary and salvation. Help me run towards you and never look back again, in Jesus name, Amen

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Lot and his Family – Part 3 (M Rating)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , on May 8, 2008| Leave a Comment »

In part 3 I will be looking at the remaining verses in Genesis Chapter 19 ie: verses 14-38. However, what has been continually running through the back of my mind is verse 8 (that I haven’t commented on yet) where Lot says to the crowd of men: Genesis 19:8 “Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” So let’s read the remainder of chapter 19 with that in the back of our minds and see if there is anything else FAULTY with Lot and his family.

Genesis 19:14-38
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it — it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah — from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities — and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father.”
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I lay with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today. NIV

So, in the rest of this passage, did you notice anything else FAULTY with Lot and his family? Of course, verses 32 to 36 starting off with “Let’s get our father to drink wine and then lie with him”. The daughters aim was to “preserve their family line” but there means was terribly FAULTY! Just like with Lot in verse 8, his aim was to protect the angels but HIS means was terribly FAULTY!

Now, you have to ask yourself, this is the righteous family that God saved from Sodom and Gomorrah, what’s going on here??? Well, I believe, in both cases, that Lot and his family didn’t get away unscathed in their living in Sodom and Gomorrah. In both cases there was honourable intentions but their application was terribly tainted by the culture.

OK, so here is what the Lord is saying to me in these verses. God saved me out of this sinful world. How have I been tainted by the culture? Like Lot and his family, do I not really notice my sinful ways because I am so entrenched in the culture and numbed by the culture? Are my ways actually very offensive to Him and I don’t even realise it? Am I salt and light in this world or do I have great big blind patches and I am actually wearing this sinful and FAULTY culture?

Lord, search me and remove the things that are unclean within me. Give me eyes to see the stuff that is FAULTY within me so that I can repent and truely be righteous and holy in your sight and salt and light to the world, in Jesus name, Amen.

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Lot and his Family – Part 2 (M Rating)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , on May 3, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? continued…

THE OUTCRY!

In Genesis 19:13 the angels said:
“The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.” NIV

In Genesis 18:20 the Lord said:
“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous NIV

The OUTCRY from whom?

Well, first let’s look at what sort of an outcry it is and then maybe we can deduce who. Looking at Genesis 19:13 & Genesis 18:20 there was a GREAT outcry AGAINST the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Who would be GREATLY AGAINST the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?

Earlier in Genesis chapter 4 there was a similar outcry in a different setting. Cain had just killed his brother Abel and the Lord had heard the outcry. In Genesis 4:10 the LORD said to Cain, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. NIV Abel’s blood was crying out or OUTCRYING from the ground. In both Genesis 4 and Genesis 18 & 19 there was a righteous OUTCRYING. In Genesis 4 the righteous OUTCRYING was from the blood of Abel.

2 Peter 2:7-8 gives us another clue as to who was OUTCRYING against Sodom and Gomorrah. In 2 Peter 2:7-8 the Bible says: 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— NIV. From this, I believe, in Genesis 18 & 19, the GREAT OUTCRYING AGAINST Sodom and Gomorrah was from Lot.

Thought:
How different is the culture of Lot’s day to the culture of our day? Are we ‘tormented in our righteous souls by the lawless deeds of men’ or have we been seduced into embracing parts of this present culture? In other words, can we see through this present culture that we live in, or have we accepted a compromised life and sin and/or complacency and/or apathy has crept in? These questions aren’t pointing the finger. I can see a numbing of my soul and spirit to the sin of this world. I want to explore this further in Part 3.

(to be continued)

Blessings

Steve

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Lot and his Family Part 1 (M Rating)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , on May 2, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The Lord has had me thinking and praying about Genesis 19 for a number of weeks now. Do you ever spend an extended period of time on just one passage? – I’d highly recommend it! Anyways, here’s some of the passage. I’ve rated this M for Mature audiences…

Genesis 19
19:1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom — both young and old — surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot , “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. And they said, “This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

Quick Thoughts:

v5) WHY do these men want to have sex with the angels?

v8 ) So, having sex with his daughters isn’t a wicked thing??? What’s going on here!

v9) I thought this verse was interesting, particularly the words ‘he wants to play the judge’ . Isn’t this the typical response from someone that is confronted with their sin!

10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot , “Do you have anyone else here — sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”

Further Thoughts:

So WHY do these men want to have sex with the angels? It’s fairly obvious, but let’s explore it a little. I believe these men wanted to have sex with the angels because SIN IS CORRUPTING. Sin is not satisfied with corrupting individuals, there is an insatiable need for sin to corrupt others. These men wanted to corrupt and defile the angels. Remember Adam and Eve or Eve and Adam: Genesis 3:6b she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. NIV Sin insatiably defiles! If someone is living in sin they corrupt and defile themselves and their sinful position will want to corrupt and defile others. WATCH OUT! If there is someone living in sin around you they are going to want to drag you into their sin as well!

Here’s a side issue, why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Why didn’t he have a bit more mercy? Well, read Genesis 18. Clearly God was open to be merciful. But here’s the problem, let’s go to Romans 1:24-28:
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. NIV

The key verse here is verse 28 ‘He gave them over to a depraved mind’. This is very serious. A person can get themselves so deliberately entwined with sin that God gives them over to a depraved mind – ie: their hearing God and their hearing their conscience is Spiritually dead!

This post is getting a little long, stick around for part 2.

Blessings

Steve

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