Cherished Yet Despised

Cherished Yet Despised Sins.

Do you have any cherished yet despised sins?  Cherished because you cling to them and hold them dear to yourself refusing to give them up but at the same time you hate that you cherish them. You despise that you cherish any sin at all. We war against the sin in our lives. We feel shame, regret, and heartache over the sins that plague us.  And our Savior tells us this...

Mar 9:43  And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched

So tell me, just how important is it that we in recognizing the cherished yet despised sin in our lives, give them up? Strive, resisting unto blood to give up these sins, isn't this what we are called to do? Confess to one another. Pray for one another. These are the things we need to do. And if we simply cannot seem to 'cut off' the sin in order to live for our Savior, we'd better NEVER EVER stop striving to do so!

Do NOT become complacent with cherished yet despised sin.  Do NOT let the cherished yet despised sin become accepted to the point you no longer strive against it.  When we become complacent with our sins arguing that it's pointless to strive, we are in grave danger. When we tell ourselves that 'God understands' and then simply embrace the sin, we LIE to ourselves!

Sin SEPARATES us from God, so when we accept sin we are accepting the separation and we will NOT be forced to be with God.

Satan wants us to call evil good, to call our sins good, to make excuses for our sins. Satan absolutely does NOT want us to 'cut it off' in any way!  Satan doesn't want us to be serious about sin. Satan would do away with the fact sin even exists if it gains him the single destruction of one person.  How many millions and millions, possibly billions of people does Satan have deceived?

Remember Sodom and Gomorrah and how desperately Abraham tried to get God to spare those cities? But in the end they couldn't be spared because--

Gen 18:20  And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous

Isa_3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

Jer_23:14  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

2Pe_2:6  And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly

And now read this---

Jud 1:1  Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

Jud 1:2  Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

Jud 1:3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jud 1:5  I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

Jud 1:6  And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Jud 1:7  Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Jud 1:8  Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Jud 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Jud 1:10  But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

Jud 1:11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Jud 1:12  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Jud 1:13  Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Jud 1:14  And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

Jud 1:15  To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Jud 1:16  These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

Jud 1:17  But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Jud 1:18  How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

Jud 1:19  These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

Jud 1:20  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Jud 1:22  And of some have compassion, making a difference:

Jud 1:23  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Jud 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

Jud 1:25  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Are you walking after your own ungodly lusts?  Are you sensual, not spiritual?  Are your cherished yet despised sins fulfilled because you are tempted and drawn away by lusting after those sins?

We cannot forget these words of our Savior--

Luk 17:26  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

Luk 17:27  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

Luk 17:28  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

Luk 17:29  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

Luk 17:30  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

We MUST remember this--

Heb 3:13  But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Sin is deceitful! Sin WILL harden us! We live in the days where sin is accepted without any qualms.  We live in the days where sin is celebrated.  We live in the days when it is wrong to even call sin- sin.

Jesus proved that many of those caught up tight in sins embrace were angry that He dare rebuke them and their sin- because their hearts were so hardened they couldn't even see sin for what it was anymore least of all in their own lives. We MUST NOT allow this to happen to us!  We must strive against SIN! We have to NOT let sin deceive us!

2Co_13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.

By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, through the power of the Holy Spirit may we strive against all the sin in our lives, never giving place to it, never calling it good, never accepting it in our lives but forever and always seeking true repentance, forgiveness and overcoming through our LORD.

Amen.

Christ Suffered - Christians Will Suffer

Misconception- that Christians are supposed to be upbeat and happy at all times, and if they're not, there is something wrong with them.

How can anyone believe this when our Savior Himself cried and suffered throughout His ministry.

To pipe up and say that He only ever cried for others and suffered for others and not Himself leads us right up to the end chapter of His life here on earth. He asked for the cup to be taken from Him, and then on that cross as the life ebbed from Him, He cried out to God the Father asking Him why He had forsaken Him.

Mat_27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Who says those words, who cries out such words without being in despair, without being in agony of spirit?  Jesus was HUMAN! We humans caught up in this world of sin as we cling to the promises of our Savior as Jesus was clinging to the same promises through His Father, are in a battle that will try us to the utmost! It won't always be pleasant! Sometimes it will be downright awful!

There is a reason our Savior tells us to worry about ONE day at a time.

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Truth.

It's enough to deal with each day's evils as it comes.

We can't sugarcoat things either. It is the evil in our lives that causes our problems. Evil.  It's not something to be taken lightly, but something to be recognized. When we belittle life's problems as being minor inconveniences and not true evil, then we are really giving the devil what he desire-  for us to call evil good.  How much of the little cherished sins in our lives do we call good by excusing them as not being really sin, you know, the big sins?

Ask yourself this question- Can Jesus walk with you throughout your entire day? Is there ANYTHING you'd change if He were your companion in the Flesh? Stop and think about it seriously.  And if you're tempted to say you'd change nothing right off the bat, filling yourself with pride saying He can like me the way I am or not, it's His problem, then maybe, just maybe you need to stop and pray before taking the time to truly review.

I'm not saying we can be totally perfect, but it's NOT up to us to do anything but have a willingness to be perfect for Christ. The willingness must be there!

Mat 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

We have HOPE of being purified, when we RECOGNIZE our sins we MUST repent and seek forgiveness. Our repenting means striving against the sin.

Luk_13:24  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Striving against sin.

Please, Father help us strive against sin. By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, bless us, keep us, love us, help us!

Amen.

Don't resist the Holy Spirit!

Act 7:51  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Resisting the Holy Spirit.

Do you resist the Holy Spirit?   Do you feel Spirit led to do something and then not do it? Do feel the leading of the Holy Spirit and turn your back on it?  Is your conscience pricked about things and you override your conscience? The Holy Spirit will lead us into truth but there can be NO forcefulness in that leading.  If we're waiting to have the will of God forced on us so we have no choice but to follow that will, then we are NOT truly looking to follow God at all.  We need to willingly submit to our Savior through the Holy Spirit, and live our lives in that submission.   That submission knowingly, intelligently follows Christ.

We can resist the Holy Spirit.

We can fight against the Holy Spirit and that will only succeed in pulling us away from our Savior.

Satan however, will lead us to believe that we're fine, when the truth is, we KNOW, we really KNOW that as we resist the Lord's truth, as we resist the Holy Spirit's guidance, we're putting our walk with Christ in grave jeopardy.  There is no ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED!

There is repentance, there is forgiveness, there is hope, there is mercy and grace, and submission. 

This is truth-

Gen_6:3  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man…

We have to stop resisting, and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit!

Please, Father, please help us be Spirit led! We don't want to resist the Holy Spirit, we want to be YOURS wholly! Please, bless us, keep us, save us!

Through the LOVE of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

Amen. 

Jesus wants us to have the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is given to us by the Heaven Father.

We can ASK for the HOLY SPIRIT.

Luk 11:13  ... shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him

God, our Heavenly Father, is more willing to GIVE us the Holy Spirit, than we are to give gifts to our own children and you know as a rule how easy it is for us to desire to give gifts to our children.

Luk 11:13  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Jesus WANTS us to have the Holy Spirit!

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Jesus spoke of the SPIRIT and us RECEIVING the SPIRIT.

Remember this--

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

WE CANNOT truly comprehend our Savior without the Holy Spirit.  We are born again into a NEW life, a SPIRITUAL LIFE by the Holy Spirit that our Heavenly Father will give to us if we ask! And we will SEE the kingdom of God.

A spiritual life. RECOGNIZE your spiritual life! ACKNOWLEDGE your spiritual life.  Our spiritual life is REAL, as real as the Holy Spirit who is given to us. 

Please, Heavenly Father, please give us the Holy Spirit. Daily give us the Spirit so we have all our spiritual needs filled for YOUR GLORY!  Forgive us, Lord, bless us, love us!

All in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Amen.

Neither give place to the devil

Eph 4:27  Neither give place to the devil.

Eph 4:28  Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Eph 4:29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Eph 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Eph 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Eph 4:32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Grieve NOT the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit SEALS us for redemption.

We do NOT want to GRIEVE the Holy Spirit.

We are NOT to purposefully allow the devil in our lives in any way. If we KNOW there is a way for the devil to use us, to work in us, to get to us in any way and we have the ability to stop this- we HAVE to stop it! There are so many evil tricks the devil uses on us to catch us unaware and lead us into sin. When the ways aren't so subtle and we can clearly see His evil, we need to do all in our ability to keep from falling to his ways! We can't give place to the devil, we can't welcome the evil in our lives. We can't encourage the evil in our lives. We need to repent of the evil, we need to seek forgiveness for it, not embrace it.

If you steal- steal no more.

If you speak evil, if you speak in ways that aren't conducive towards others seeing Christ in you and thereby be exposed to the grace of our Savior.

We have to PUT AWAY from us ALL bitterness, ALL wrath, ALL anger, ALL clamor, ALL evil speaking, ALL malice.

Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, malice- how often we use these very things in our day to day lives in ways Satan would tell us are fine, are normal, are perfectly acceptable because after all we are only human.  Satan LIES!

We need to BE kind, BE tenderhearted, BE forgiving of one another.   These are the traits we need to encourage!  If we are NOT being tenderhearted, if we are not being forgiving, ie we are not being kind…. We need to really take a look at ourselves and our walk with Christ.

Please, Lord, please bless us! Help us, Lord, help us be filled with the Holy Spirit and all that entails!  We don't want to do the things of the devil, we want to do the things of YOU. Help us! Save us! Let us live in YOU!

All by Your GRACE, Your LOVE!

In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Spiritual Singing

Eph 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Eph 5:19  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Eph 5:20  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Eph 5:21  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

People fill themselves with wine to excess for what purpose? I suppose the truth is they do it for many reasons. Getting drunk isn't a good thing, losing control of yourself, your mind, your sharp reflexes etc  is not something God would advocate.  Being filled rather with the Spirit, than wine- and when we are filled with the Spirit we speak in -

PSALMS

HYMNS

SPIRITUAL SONGS

MELODYS IN OUR HEARTS all to the LORD.

GIVING THANKS.

SUBMITTING OURSELVES TO ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having read that, do we live it?

?? 

Should we?

It's God's word!

Maybe, just maybe, if we sang more to our Lord our spiritual life would be much better. We want to be filled with the Spirit, so maybe we need to SING to the LORD as often as we possibly can. It's worth trying isn't it? Seriously! What's the worst that singing constantly could do? I'm not telling anyone to sing to annoy others, but we can truly even sing in our hearts if we cannot do so aloud. The point is, singing is uplifting! It truly is. Singing brings forth memories, it creates memories, it has passion in it.  Our hearts are touched by songs. I'm sure there is a favorite or several favorite songs you have, or have had during your life. Why are they your favorite? They do something to you inwardly. When we sing in hymns, in spiritual songs, in psalms, and melodies we are truly feeding our spirit. The Holy Spirit will guide us in this, I know He will. This is God advocated and more than a suggestion, but a true guidance.  Do we WANT to be filled with the Spirit? We do. To be filled we need to listen to our LORD'S advice! Let us SING!

Please, Father, please help us be filled with the SPIRIT. Help us sing songs to YOU for YOUR glory, Lord, Your Glory!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

Amen!

How we need to walk...

Walk not as others walk- in the vanity of their mind.

Eph 4:17  This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind

Vanity of their mind. This says  much about how so many people choose to live. They believe in their own minds, their own ideas, their own beliefs and allow their vanity to rule them. The belief they have the superior mind ignites that vanity. Their ideas are considerably more lofty than others. The idea that others could truly have better minds than theirs is preposterous. Vanity of the mind truly keeps people from God, because they are not willing to believe there is any one, God included, as wonderful at they are.

Eph 4:18  Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart

Their understanding is DARKENED.  Their ability to understand is cut short by their own vanity. They are alienated, the are cut off from the life of God because of their choice to be ignorant of God. Their hearts are BLIND, their vanity cutting their spiritual sight off!

Eph 4:19  Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Past feeling, past being able to live as God intended, as God would have us live through the Spirit.  They've chosen lasciviousness- to fulfil their lustful desires, their selfish cravings and to do so with all uncleanness and greediness! Those who choose NOT to walk after God choose a life of self-serving, and even in their seeming selfless pursuits the inward pride and refusal to believe in their Creator spoils all that pretense of selflessness. They believe their power to be selfless comes solely from themselves, not at all from God. They vainly believe they are too superior to believe in God, and their good works, their selfless acts are proof enough God doesn't have to exist because they can do good, selfless acts without Him. Their selflessness is poisoned and they can't even comprehend this. 

This isn't ME making all this up! This isn't ME degrading others specifically pointing fingers.  This is GOD, this is God's word telling us - Walk not as others walk- in the vanity of their mind. And we cannot concern ourselves with who those others are individually, but rather we have to WALK OUR OWN WALK, careful NOT to walk the walk of vanity in our minds but the WALK of the SPIRIT. We can't concern ourselves with walking the walk of the world.

Eph 4:20  But ye have not so learned Christ;

Eph 4:21  If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

Eph 4:22  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts

We have to put OFF our old selves which walked with the world and if we are NOT putting off the old world we are NOT God's, but deceived. If we are seeking constantly to fulfill our selfish lusts in what ever form they take, if fulfilling those lusts takes precedence in our lives we are walking right along with the world in the vanity of our minds. God sees through any disguise we try to put on, He looks right to our hearts. We need to put off the old unregenerate self, the person we were before accepting Christ- or re-accepting Christ, before we truly desire to live for the LORD and not self. That old self is corrupted by lusts and will constantly seek to reemerge. We must...

Eph 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

We must be RENEWED in the SPIRIT of our minds!  This is a clear statement of fact that we must engage our higher power of thinking, acknowledging our need of renewal .  WE must constantly be renewed just as we 'die daily' we are 'born again, renewed' daily.  This is a daily conscious thought to live through the Spirit. We must...

Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

We must PUT ON the NEW MAN- created in the righteousness and holiness of GOD!

Eph 4:25  Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

PUT AWAY LYING! Speak TRUTH!

Eph 4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath

BE angry - WITHOUT SIN!  Not letting the day end on any wrath we might have.

*******  More on this tomorrow by the grace of  our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!!!

All through HIS love!

Amen.