Do your kids know your testimony, not just the parts you use to point out why they’re ungrateful or what would have happened to you if you had talked like that to your parents? Many of us would probably say, “no.”
Perhaps, we should remember that the Bible shows us the people in its pages, even those greatly used by God, with all their warts, sins, and shortcomings. It, also, shows us the consequences they faced as a result. Their stories serve as warnings to us and, ultimately, point us to the grace of God.
Those of us who are parents often pray our children will avoid the mistakes we’ve made and not suffer the same consequences. But do we share our testimonies with them? When we humbly share what God has done in our lives, it can open the door to real conversation.
But there are a couple of cautions in doing so. One is a wisdom issue and the other can cause all our talk and warnings to backfire.
Are “little white lies” really little? Though they sometimes seem harmless, even necessary, what if God dealt with little white lies, in the same way this Sunday as He did with Ananias and Sapphira? Would you and I still be left standing?
Why did God deal so decisively, some might say harshly, with Ananias and Sapphira? Why would He care so much about a little white lie? What has changed today, if anything? And could this be a reason for the lack of power in our lives, our churches, and the spiritual condition of those who call themselves Christians? These are important questions, ones we shouldn’t brush aside.
The Disciples still didn’t get it! While Jesus was preparing Himself for the reality of the cross they were squabbling about their future positions in the kingdom, bragging about how they would never let Him down, and sleeping when He asked them to pray. I wonder how many times they looked back on those moments and believed they had failed God.
How about you? Do you ever feel like you have failed God? Maybe you promised to never again fall into some old sin habit. Instead, you found yourself arguing with your husband, yelling at your kids, missing your quiet time, and giving up in discouragement. If so, you’re not alone.
Are you playing around with some sinful thought or thinking about something from your past that you shouldn’t? Sin is not something to be played with. In our pride, we think we can handle it and it won’t get a hold on us. But sin has invisible hooks that can drag us down and take us places we never intended to go.
And sin doesn’t just hurt us personally. It always affects others, especially those closest to us. Today we’ll see the effects of polygamy and a lack of parental and priestly discipline. But we’ll also see the faithfulness of God in the life of one godly woman.
The effects of rejecting God’s authority and its resulting spiritual darkness are not pretty. As one sin leads to another, the results are sad, costly, and damaging. The book of Judges ends with some truly bizarre examples.
But as bizarre as those true stories are, in reality, they could be taken from today’s headlines. Our news is full of murder, even mass murder, sexual immorality, sex trafficking, abortion rights, and demands that we give approval to every sinful lifestyle. I’m not sure where the bottom of it all will be, but just as He did in Noah’s day and just as He did with the Israelites, God will one day say … enough! In the meantime, what should we be doing?
Our perception, the filter through which we “see” everything has a tremendous effect on our lives. I often tell people in counseling that we are affected much more by what we think about what happens to us than what actually happens to us. So how do you view the events of your life? What is your filter? Are you looking through the lens of Scripture or through the world’s lens? Are you seeing through the sovereignty of God or through a self-focused lens?
As I said last week, keeping clutter under control seems to be a battle I’m constantly fighting. And most of us would agree that clutter can quickly make us feel overwhelmed and disorganized. But could there be spiritual clutter in our lives that creates a whole host of problems? Could it lead to a sense of hopelessness and lethargy and could it hinder our relationships with God?
While I’m sure it’s not an exhaustive list, I suggested eight things that I see as spiritual clutter. Today I’m going to talk about ways to rid yourself of that clutter.
Keeping clutter under control seems to be a battle I’m constantly fighting and sometimes losing. As a friend of my husband’s once said, an open surface just seems to invite you to put something on it. It’s easy to set things on the nearest convenient space thinking we’ll deal with them later. Unfortunately, clutter can quickly make us feel overwhelmed and disorganized. In fact, organizational experts will tell you that the minute or two it takes to put things in their proper place can save you a lot of time and energy later. But what about spiritual clutter? Could spiritual clutter lead to a sense of hopelessness and lethargy in our spiritual lives? Worse yet, could it be hindering our relationships with God?
LIVING BETWEEN THE ALREADY & THE NOT YET – Part 3 Several weeks ago I started this series, “Living Between the Already and the Not Yet.” “The already” is who we are in Christ and have been since the day that...
