Don’t sin

 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭2‬

What is your attitude toward sin? I have often made the excuse for sin before I even do the deed. “Nobody’s perfect!” “Jesus is the only one that can be sinless!” This sounds reasonable and is even likely true, but what if there is more? 

Jesus Himself told us, “Be perfect therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect!”(Matt. 5:48) So, if Jesus gives us a command, who are we to try anything different? Shouldn’t we be aiming for perfection? Did you know that Jesus was 100% man, but also 100% God? Most believers understand this! But do you know that you are the same? We are born 100% man and into a life of sin, but we are born again and receive 100% God on the inside of us! Unless you don’t believe the Holy Spirit actually lives inside you! 

So what does that mean? How can I be like Jesus? By the Grace of God! God Loves us and so He sent His Son Jesus to die in our place! That is already done! And you know what that means? We are co-heirs with Christ and children of God! There is no getting around it! That is what scriptures tell us! Then to take it a step further, Christ says, “You will do even greater things than me!” (John 14:12) 

How can I do greater things than Christ?!?! I am but a lowly sinner! With that attitude I will never be who God who God has called me! I am righteous! I am a child of God! I am a saint! I am no longer a slave to sin, but a slave to righteousness! 

So it starts in our mind! Paul tells us in Romans 12 that we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind! Here’s an interesting concept. All that you need to be an Overcomer in life has already been given to you! You just don’t see it yet! God, give us vision to see what You have already done!!! 

So now, back to the verse at hand. “I am writing these things so that you do not sin!” John is telling us not to sin! He is implying that there is an option to not sin! How can he say that? Because He understood! He knew what Christ had done! In fact, we can see from His gospel that he didn’t even see himself as John anymore! He had such a revelation of how Christ saw him that he referred to himself as “the one whom Jesus Loves!” That is quite a place to be! 

So as John writes here, we are told we are not to sin! Now there is always a way out, because we do have Jesus advocating for us. But He has made it possible to live a sin free life! 

Again, this is a mentality thing! Maybe I will never be sin free. And likely that is true, but I should have a goal to obey everything that Christ has told me! And when He says to be perfect I should not make excuses before I even try to fulfill the command! If I always aim for being a sinner, I will always struggle with it. But, if I aim for Jesus, I at least can get as close as possible before I leave this earth! And when I do leave, I know I will be made perfect in Him! So, let’s try for obedience, and aim for a sin free life! And know that Jesus is still with us anytime we mess up! 

Joy, Prayer, Thanks

 “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬-‭18‬

This passage has always been near and dear to my heart. For years I would pray to God for His will in my life, then I would read this passage and totally miss it! These three simple verses pack so much in them, that if we apply them, it will change our life! Not maybe, it will! Let’s talk through it for a bit. 

“Rejoice Always” or “Be Joyful Always!” This is where we need to talk about the difference between joy and happiness. So often today I hear the excuse, “I just wanted to be happy!” Or even “I deserve to be happy!” We confuse joy and happiness and they are not always interchangeable. It is like saying Love is an emotion and not a choice - but that is a topic for another day. 

Happiness is an emotion that we feel when everything is going ‘great’. It is based on circumstances. Joy is based on something so much greater! The Bible reminds us that the Joy of the Lord is our strength! What does that mean? There is more to Joy than being happy! Joy comes with contentment. And contentment results from an understanding that what we have is from God, and we can be satisfied with that in whatever situation we are in. No matter the circumstance! Joy can bring happiness, but it is not based on it. We are told to have joy when we face trials! How can we do that? By finding ourselves in God! Then, when circumstances suck, we know we have One greater than the circumstance with us! We have a place secured in heaven! I can find Joy in that and it will give me strength through whatever comes my way! 

Next is prayer! Prayer is such a powerful concept if we truly understand it. What would you say if I told you I had a special phone that was a direct line to the president? First, you’d probably say I was lying and you’d be right, because I don’t know him. But if I did actually have that direct line it would mean I would have the ability to call on the leader of the nation in my personal life. 

Well, we have a direct line to the One who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them! And we take it for granted! That is what prayer is! We don’t appreciate the power of that direct line! Why not? Because we don’t understand the personal connection we have with God! God is awesome and powerful and just! But He is also Loving and merciful and gracious! He is the God of the universe, but He is also our Loving Father! 

Now, if your friend became president would you just call him for favors? No, you would call him because he was your friend. But you would also respect him because he is the president after all. My conversation would probably be something like, “Dude, can’t believe you are the president! That’s awesome! You’re like the most powerful man in the US!”

Too often we start our prayers with telling God what He should do for us! That is not how it should be! We should be coming before Him in awe and reverence! Amazed at who He is and what He has done! But then also as a friend and Father, cause He is all those things! And how often are we to talk to Him? All the time!!  The line is always open and His ear is always turned to hear your voice! Such an amazing concept! The God of the universe wants to hear from me! 

Alright, the last part of this is the thankfulness aspect. This is so important! I won’t say more important, but it is the piece that is going to help us accomplish the other two! How many times do you complain? Don’t answer that, cause if you are anything like me, the answer is too many to count! We, as human beings, are complainers. I complained earlier today, over and over again. We do need to be able to vent out frustrations, that is different, but we always need to bring it back to a place of thankfulness. 

Let’s take a look at what thankfulness does in our lives. Let’s make this fun and say someone punched me in the face and then took off. Ouch!! That hurt! I can’t believe they did that! Who was that and how am I going to find them! I need to punch them back! They deserve it! My face still hurts! 

Now I have just written a paragraph about the problem I was facing and it seems so big! My whole focus was on that issue and it was all that consumed my mind! Now the problem is huge and I can’t see past it, because it took all my attention! 

Now, if I got punched in the face and then that person took off I could also go a different route. Ouch, that hurt! I’m sure glad he didn’t have a bat. Maybe it was an accident. I wonder what he was going through that got him to this point. Look at all the other people here that didn’t punch me in the face. Could have been worse. I know I’ll be fine. 

Now, that is me being a little silly, but I want to illustrate a point. When we focus on the issue it becomes all we can see. But if we step back and look at the full picture, we see that there is so much more going on. 

We all have stories. There is always something negative going on in our lives. But we also have so many positives. What we focus on determines our outlook on life and how we view our world. So thankfulness is an important piece in living in Joy and talking to God. 

And bottom line, if you don’t know the specific plan God has for you, you can obey these verses and know that you are in God's will! Be joyful! Pray all the time! And Be thankful in all circumstances! 

Legacy

“The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭10‬:‭7‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

When I read this verse it got me thinking about legacy. What do I mean by legacy? I am talking about the long-lasting impact of a person’s life. We all make an impact in life. What kind of impact are you making? 

I ask myself this question often. How do I affect the people around me? Not that I want to live life based on what others think, but because I want to leave a lasting impression that leads people to Jesus. I say this, not to sound cliche, but because this is how everyone who professes to live for Christ should be! 

When I think about the impression that Christ left on people it was not always positive. There were people who wanted to kill Him! He Loved the unlovable and confronted the self-righteous! He left some people wanting more and others were angry! But everything He did was for the glory of God! And the Legacy He left was one that impacted the whole world! He provided salvation to us all! And our legacy should point to His!!

As I read the verse above it reminds me of how many people are forgotten. They live a life here on earth and then pass on and no one cares to remember them! This verse says their memory will rot! That’s harsh! There are people in my life whose memory brings distaste to my mouth! 

Then there are people who I remember and they bring joy! They made an impression that pointed me to Jesus! 

My grandfather was one such man! He was always supportive and positive! Anything I needed grandpa Wright would support! When I wanted to learn about how a bookstore was run, he took me to the local one to interview the owner. And that was after a long day of work. 

Another man that made an impact on me and passed too soon was John Schlautman. He was a man that would always be at church with a smile! He would be in the rain offering an umbrella to others while he was getting soaked. He was the true picture of a servant! 

Linnea Zednik was another person that had this kind of impact. This is a lady who showed Love and acceptance to me, when all I did was disrespect her. She had no idea where my life had been or why I was the way I was and she Loved me anyway. 

Another person that impacted me was my Grandpa-in-law Rudy! He was such a gentle and caring man that always accepted me! And on his deathbed reminded me that he was proud of who I was and how I Loved his granddaughter. 

And here’s the thing about these people. They have all passed on from this earth, but their legacy is still here. They passed on a piece of themselves to everyone they touched. Everyone they Loved and impacted now carries a piece of them too! And it continues to pass on to those we touch and impact. So, even as their name may someday be forgotten, the Love they passed on continues to flow, because it is a Love that they received from the Heavenly Father! 

This is the kind of man I want to be as well! As I live in righteousness I know I will impact others! And the righteousness I walk in is not anything I earned, but that I was freely given! A gift from God because of the blood that was shed on the cross! And so I can have faith in this verse and know that the memory of me will be a blessed one, but not of me, only Christ in me! 

Teachable

“Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭9‬:‭9‬

Have you ever been in a place where you think you know everything about something? Maybe you have put in the work and become what some may call an expert. So how could anyone teach you anything about that? Especially someone who is less trained than you are? 

When you have put in the work on something it is nice to get the recognition. To have someone come along and affirm the work you have done. To remind you of how knowledgeable you are on the subject. But never get to a place where you think you are above learning. 

When we look at Jesus' life and ministry we see how He confronted the religious leaders of the day. The Pharisees and Sadducees had gotten to a place where they were above learning. Especially not from the common folk. There was no way an unschooled person could teach them about God! Jesus put them in their place. He compared them to those they wouldn’t even eat with. He reprimanded them on multiple occasions. 

So what am I trying to say here? Never think you are above teaching. A know-it-all shows their arrogance. One who listens and learns shows their wisdom. Which place do you want to be? 

This verse tells us that wisdom goes beyond knowledge, reminding us that we will never know everything. We can always be taught. I have taught in various places. I teach my children as often as they will listen, but I have also been taught by my children. 

Experience is a good teacher, but so are the young and inexperienced! We don’t always know where the next lesson will come from, but we will only see it if we are open to it. Be open, listen and learn. You will never know everything. And the moment you think you can’t be taught is when you start showing yourself stupid. I’m

Rejoice!

“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭9

Take a moment and read through the passage again and make sure you get it! The recurring theme that jumped out to me as I read this is Rejoice! And not just rejoice, but Greatly Rejoice! Add a greatly before and it emphasizes it even more. Are you rejoicing? “I have nothing to rejoice about,” you might say. It’s true, sometimes it feels like we don’t, but let's take a look at this verse a little close. 

It is easy to come into a situation and say, “you don’t know what I am going through.” “If you were in my place you wouldn’t be rejoicing either.” That is selfishness. We get that attitude when we are focusing on ourselves and not looking beyond those things. This verse captures all of that. It talks about being distressed by various trials. That includes everything that we may be going through. And it tells us to rejoice anyway! So why do we rejoice! 

We rejoice because what Christ has done is so much bigger than what we are facing! We are facing a small trial, but Christ has taken all of them! Our trials will test our faith, but if our faith is real then, though tested through fire, it will come out in Praise, Glory and Honor! Not by why we have done, but at the revelation of what Jesus did!!

So what did Jesus do? Jesus saved our souls! He already did the work! He already took our punishment! And when we receive Him by faith we can hold onto the truth that our souls are saved! And this is why we rejoice! Because our life is not about what we are going through, but it is a testament of what Christ has done! 

So then the question comes. Do you know Jesus? Do you understand that you need Him? Is the Holy Spirit tugging at your heart right now, telling you that there is more to this life than yourself? When you accept Christ in your life it does not mean that your problems will go away. What it does mean is that you will have a place in heaven when this life is over! You will be welcomed into God's family as a child! It means you have hope and faith in what Christ has done for you! And you have hope for a better future! 

If you are in a place to accept Him in your life, then I encourage you to take that next step! Open your heart to God and let Him know that you are ready! That you want to surrender your life to Him and accept His gift of salvation! Then reach out to me or someone else that knows Christ and let them know. Jesus says, “If you confess me before people I will confess you before my Father in heaven!” So let someone know! The walk of faith is not meant to be a lonely one. You are now part of the family of God and we are walking this walk together! We want to rejoice with you! 

You know what you didn’t do!

“Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭17

When you hear the word sin, what do you think of? We have all struggled with sin in our lives. But what exactly is sin? It is easy to label all the bad stuff as sin. We look at the Ten Commandments and see things like murder, theft, immorality, covetousness, and things like that. But does that cover all of what sin is? 

Jesus reminds us that two things cover everything in the law and the prophets, Love God and Love your neighbor as yourself. So does that mean anything that does not fall into these two things is sin? 

Then we see James jump in and tell us that “if you know the good you ought to do and do not do it, that is sin!” Have you ever had a moment where you felt the urge to do something or help someone and you passed on because you had somewhere to be? I have. And now as I read this I am convicted as I knew the good I was supposed to do, but did not do it! 

Jesus tells us the story of the Good Samaritan to give us a picture of this. I have a story that is similar that I want to share to illustrate this point and how it can make an impact. 

This story takes place in 1995 on Mother’s Day. There is a woman with two young boys, 13 and 10. They have had a rough time in life. The mother is working hard to provide and not seeming to be able to get ahead. Raising two boys by herself and feeling discouraged in life. That morning is like many others. It’s a Sunday and they spend the morning in church. 

After church they make a spur of the moment decision to visit Grandma, who lives about an hour and a half from their small town. About a third of the way through the trip, a tire blows out on the car. Fighting to maintain control the woman carefully pulls to the side of the highway. Since they were in the fast lane, they ended up on the shoulder by the median of the highway. 

A quick search of the car reveals the spare, but no equipment to change the tire. Maybe a mile from the nearest exit the mother and two boys start the journey to find help or a phone. This on top of everything else starts a mental spiral with questions of “why!!” 

Only a few steps down the highway someone pulls up to the median from the other side of the freeway to assess the situation. When he discovers that the only thing missing is a jack and wrench he advises to head back to the car. He then takes the next exit to circle around and change the tire. 

What could have been a huge ordeal only sets this small family back about 45 minutes because of the kindness of a stranger. Because it resolved so quickly they proceeded to make the surprise visit to see grandma. 

On that trip there was peace and a decision made to make a move to be closer to family. This mother finally started to see a light in her almost hopeless situation. Then a week later she goes to sleep and never wakes up again. Because of the decisions made on this trip those two boys chose to go live with their grandmother. A place where they would learn to seek and serve God for their lives. 

The course of these boys' lives was  changed by the thankless act of a stranger. A man they would never see again. A man who was looking for a reward and would likely never know or understand the impact that he had. 

Now I’m not saying that you should stop and help everyone. There are times that it may not be the right choice. But what if you do stop? What if you help? What impact might you have if you know the good you ought to do and you do it! 

I’ve heard it said, “Be the change that you want to see!” Now there’s a concept. Instead of complaining, take action! Do something. Take a stand! Be different! Start where you are at - instead of walking past that piece of trash and saying people shouldn’t litter, pick it up and throw it away. Instead of complaining about people being unfriendly, you make the change and be friendly. 

Bottom line, you know what you should do, because it is tugging at you! It is that thing that keeps bugging you about other people. It’s that area that you see needs to change. Get up and take action! Do what you know you need too! 

Forgiveness

 “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets.”

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭9‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

Forgiveness. Here is a topic that is easy to say that we need to do, but hard to actually do it. Have you ever been wronged by someone? Has anyone ever hurt you or took advantage of you? If you are breathing the answer is YES! We all know the pain. When you experience this, how easy is it to forgive? How do you Love when someone is purposefully doing something to hurt you? 

Have you ever held on to the hurt and pain and not forgiven someone who has wronged you? This is called unforgiveness. Did you know that unforgiveness hurts you more than it hurts the other person? We have the audacity to hold a grudge saying, “I can’t believe they would do that! Wel, I am not going to let it happen again!” And so we hold onto that unforgiveness and the seed of bitterness takes root in our lives. 

Now I want to flip the script to look at this from the other side. How many of you wronged someone? Have you ever done something that you knew would hurt another? Many times this is done in the name of, “I deserve this, so it doesn’t matter if it hurts someone else” or “I want to be happy!” Most people will even defend your position and agree that you should be happy, even at the expense of others. 

Now, don’t take this too far and think I am saying that we should try to make everyone happy. We will never please everyone. I am talking more about the hurts and betrayal we cause to others in the name of our happiness.

So, on one side we defend ourselves and our decisions, but then we hold onto the offense when someone does it to us. Talk about a double standard. And we have all been here. We all try to hold others to a standard higher than ourselves. Because when it is against us they are just being mean, but when it is us we justify it. 

Ok, ok, so what is my point? I’m getting there. The verse above reminds us that we have all rebelled and disobeyed God. We have all wronged Him. Each of us has a part in sending Jesus to the cross. We have sinned and wronged Jesus and others in our lives. There comes a time when we have to stop making excuses for our wrong doing and take responsibility and say, “I am guilty! I need forgiveness!” 

And God forgives us! He lets us off the hook for the stupid stuff that we have done. You remember when Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, it is the sick. I have not come for the righteous, but the sinners!” The truth is, there is no one righteous, no, not one! So what was Jesus saying? Did He not come for everyone? How were some already righteous? They weren’t! They were self righteous! They thought they could make it into heaven by their rituals and actions. In their minds they did not need a savior! It is easy to find ourselves in that place! “I am mostly good,” you might say. “At least I am not like that person.”  

We are sealing our own fate when we do not see our need for Jesus! But when we come to the place of realizing that it is only by the grace of God that we are free from our sins, we understand the importance of forgiveness! “To God belongs Forgiveness and Compassion!” 

Without receiving forgiveness we will never know the importance of extending it! Understanding how much we need it will make it easier to pass on! Jesus actually tells us to forgive so that we can be forgiven! This is more about us understanding the need for forgiveness. If we are holding unforgiveness that means we don’t understand that we too need forgiveness and so then will not receive it! 

To continue on, I know this is a challenge. I have to search my heart everyday for wrongs I am holding onto. Sometimes I realize that I pulled back forgiveness that I have already extended. I think this is why Jesus yeah h us to pray, “forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us!” Because it is a daily choice. We will be wronged everyday. Sometimes the pain lasts for a long time. But we can still choose to forgive. And continue to choose to forgive. 

Sometimes we will have to forgive people we have never met. How do I do that? Now that’s a good question! But Jesus did it! In the midst of being ridiculed and killed He said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do!” So He is our example! He set the standard! We have a responsibility to extend the same forgiveness that was given to us!