I can only speak for myself, but
my life is a lot like that moment, I intently focus my eye on the goal; Christ.
But in the background the noise of opposition roars throughout the world,
louder and louder making it more difficult to keep my eyes focused on God. Peer
pressure and temptations surround me, I think this is why find scriptures that
instruct us to put on the armor of God.
Ephesians 6:11-17
Holman
Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
11 Put on the full armor of God so that
you can stand against the tactics[a] of the Devil. 12 For our
battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavens. 13 This is why you must take up
the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and
having prepared everything, to take your stand. 14 Stand,
therefore,
with
truth like a belt around your waist,
righteousness like armor on your chest,
15 and your feet sandaled with readiness
for the gospel of peace.[b]
16 In every situation take the shield of faith,
and with it you will be able to extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit,
which is God’s word.
righteousness like armor on your chest,
15 and your feet sandaled with readiness
for the gospel of peace.[b]
16 In every situation take the shield of faith,
and with it you will be able to extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit,
which is God’s word.
This scripture details how we are
to live each day. Sin is prevalent throughout our lives; my life is no
exception! I continue to fall victim to sin more often than I would like to
admit. In my own human weakness I falter and I fall, and each time I do I get
back up and try to focus not on my failures, instead I chose to focus on what I
can do to build my armor and stand strong the next time the wind blows.
There are several things weighing
on my heat and I have been writing about, waiting for God to give me the green
light. Tonight, He has chosen to use something very personal to me, tonight I feel
God stirring to me to share with you something that took place in my life very
recently. Everything has a purpose and it’s my prayer that by sharing this
experience with you that someone will hear what they've needed to hear, even
if just one heart is transformed my personal
vulnerability will not go in vain, and
no matter the outcome I am confident that in confessing my sins I am doing as
the Lord commands. Perhaps just confessing my own short comings is His purpose for
putting these words on my heart.
I stand here tonight with a confession within the last two weeks I chose
to intentionally commit a sin. I want to clarify the significance of the
previous statement; every day I sin, but on this day I made the conscious
decision to commit a sin simply because it was what I wanted, I chose to
gain an instant pleasure knowing it was heartbreaking to God. The guilt I have
carried knowing that I chose to sin and I chose to hurt God has been intense
and hopefully has had a powerful enough effect on my heart that I will never
make that type of decision again!
I won’t deny the truth that I sin
on a regular basis, I am human and scripture teaches us that we all fall short,
this is the reason we need Jesus Christ!
Romans 3:23
Holman
Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the[a] glory of God.
Just take a look around, it’s
easy to see an increase in this disconnected way of thinking, people; yes even
Christians, have begun to find justification for the small sins in their every
day lives. My confession is that I intentionally committed a sin, I made a conscious
decision knowing what I was doing was wrong!
What started as a simple thought,
found in my heart some fertile soil and it began to take root. Instead of tending
the soil of my heart, like I knew I should have by taking it to the cross, I
allowed it to keep growing and to eventually play out in my life and I chose to
commit an intentional sin. In all honestly I can’t deny that I knew full well that if I honestly
took this seed and placed it at the foot of the cross and allowed Jesus to have it, then I wasn't going to get to dabble in this little but of “
harmless fun”. It’s undeniable that sin can be fun, especially in the moment,
but when we count the costs we see the path of devastation and destruction that
it leaves behind. So I allowed myself to remain deceitful and the rest is
history.
After I had committed my offense I was still
elated in the thrill of the moment, I called a friend and began to tell her
about the all “fun” I had. Sensing that I had not yet come off of my high, she
gently tried to nudge me back down out of the clouds. At that point I still had
myself so convinced that this was not really sin and was not dishonoring to God,
I just knew He would be okay with the idea of me having a little “fun”. Gracious
in her approach she didn't just come out and slap me upside the head (although I
definitely deserved it) instead she allowed me to keep talking and describing the
events that had played out. Looking back I see that the more I talked, the more
I found myself trying to justify the event, not to her but necessarily but to
myself. I love how God can get into your own heart and discipline you in a deep
way. Personal conviction is a powerful discipline tool that God uses in my
life!
Initially convinced I was over thinking
things, I tried to ignore Gods voice in my heart. It was the voice of
conviction. I kept it at bay for a few
days and I allowed myself to justify my indulgences over and over again in my
mind, but in my heart I knew the truth. Looking back in hind sights view I see
how that small seed progressed and took root and began to grow. My realization
came fairly quickly, and my heart is heavy knowing that I chose to disobey my
Heavenly Father, that I made the decision to break His heart all so I could
experience a moment of pleasure. If you’re like me you are probably intensely searching
for any clues in what you have read, trying to find some indication of what the
sin I committed was. Try as you may you won’t find what you’re looking for, not
because I am trying to hide it or save face by not revealing the sin in detail.
You won’t find the details because you may miss the real message! If you take
anything away from what you’ve read please let it be this; in my own human
selfishness I chose to sin, I chose to break God’s heart and to disobey Him.
Not only have I hurt God but I hurt myself and unfortunately another individual
as well. This way of living is not acceptable to the standards of God, the
church, or to my own personal standards.
But wait! There’s more! Here’s
where the good news comes in, like a prince on a white horse ready to rescue me
from my shortcomings! God loves me so much that He sent His son Jesus to this
earth, to be nailed to a cross and to die so that I can be forgiven for my sin!
Take a minute and read that last sentence again.
God
loves YOU so much that He sent His son Jesus to this earth, to be nailed to a
cross and to die so that YOU can be forgiven for YOUR sin!
I don’t know about you, but that
just blows my mind! Think about it; the God of the universe loves little tiny rebellious
me (you) so much that He sacrificed His son for my (your) transgressions.
Please don’t misunderstand, there will be a day when we all will stand before
the mighty and just God and we will be held accountable for the decisions we have
made, but because of the blood of Christ, those intentional decisions have not condemned
us to eternal damnation in hell. That is unless you have not made the decision
to accept the free gift of salvation, in that case as you’ll see in the
scripture below you do not have this eternal confidence, but rest assured all
that is required is a willing and open heart and you too can be covered by the
blood of Christ, set free from your sins and past transgressions and given the
greatest gift of all: salvation!
Romans 8
Holman
Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
8 Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus,[a] 2 because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you[b] free from the law of sin and of death. 3 What the law could not do since it was limited[c] by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours under sin’s domain,[d] and as a sin offering, 4 in order that the law’s requirement would be accomplished in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live[e] according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those who live[f] according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since[g] the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead[h] because of sin, but the Spirit[i] is life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through[j] His Spirit who lives in you.
My prayer for my readers:
“Father I pray that your presence be so profound over those
reading this! I ask that you bring a peace unlike anything ever felt before and
cover any feelings of regret from our transgressions and replace them with the
hope that can only be found through a relationship with you, allow them to feel
the beauty that is shown through Your mercy and Your grace! Father thank You
for sending Your Son and for trading His
righteousness for our transgressions through His selfless death on the cross as
undeserving as we are to receive such a magnificent gift! Father I pray for
those who have not yet found You, who have not accepted Jesus and whose sins
have not been covered by His blood, I pray that You reveal Yourself to them so
that they too can experience your forgiveness, which unlike anything in world.
Thank you for Your love, for Your redemption, for Your sacrifice, help me to
continue on the narrow path and give me the wisdom to take action when I begin
to stray. In the name of Your Holy Lamb Jesus I pray, Amen”