Sin. Do we ever really consider the consequences of our sin? I know that right in the moment when sin is “crouching at our door” and we are feeling the onslaught of temptation it can be very difficult to consider what is going to happen if we give in. Ought not we do so? That's not really the point that I am trying to make though. In the midst of the moment, with emotions rising and our thinking smoggy, we are always aware of those kinds of things. What I want you think about right now, when you aren't in the moment of temptation, is how sin really does have consequences.
In our culture sin obviously does not really matter. In fact, the question raised would be, “What is sin? Is it really going to matter if I do this thing or not?” The fact of the matter is that God is Lord of all, including us. Being who He is, He can make rules and laws about how things ought to work. He has done that very thing for us. As Christians we ought to desire to walk according to those rules and laws. I am afraid that we too have been tainted by this mindset of not thinking there are consequences for our actions. I look back over my own life and see how my sin has had an effect not only on myself, but on those around me. It keeps us from knowing God and from being able to carry out His will. At the very least, when you sin against God, you are not loving your neighbor. The specifics of that though are sometimes different for other people. Interesting thought though, huh? It along with what James says about having broken just one part of the law we have broken all of it. Sometimes our sin costs us different things such as money, time, marriages, friendships, and all sorts of other things in this world, and it always costs us spiritually. Never is our sin unaccounted for.
God told the Israelites that the sin of the fathers would be counted down to the third and fourth generation. Can you imagine that? Maybe you are feeling the effects of that. That scares me. Sometimes I think that it's ok, as long as I don't get caught, I'm good, but it's not like that. God always knows. He always sees. There is actually some comfort in that though. Being held accountable for our sin is a good thing. It sure does stink though. Nobody likes to get caught doing the wrong thing. Especially when we know that we have been. I wonder if Hollywood knows that. I wonder if I know that. Have you ever taken the time to look over your life and see how your sin has had an impact on those around you? I've screwed with peoples lives so many times with my sin, that I want to know why God still lets me even exist. Sometimes I think it would be better if He just took me out so others don't have to deal with the consequences of my actions. It's bad enough that I have to deal with them, but others do too. It does not seem that fair does it? That is the way it is though. Sin has consequences. Our actions produce reactions. Thankfully in the midst of that sin, confusion, hurt and pain, when conviction comes from God we can rise up off our knees and go to Jesus. In His arms we find comfort.
I say this to you as a warning, but also more so as an encouragement. As Christians we need to understand and live sober minded. We know what sin is. Sometimes we don't count the cost of that sin. I am quite confident that if we took the time to look back and see how our sin has had an effect upon us and those around us we would weep with sorrow and beg God to forgive us and give us the strength to never do the same thing again. Sin...it'll get you every time. Jesus...He'll get sin every time.
Find hope in that.
by Justin Kantonen
originally posted May 2009
Showing posts with label Consequences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Consequences. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
New Found Freedom
“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works.” Romans 2:1-6
Such powerful verses these are and God has used them in recent days to teach me much about myself and to convict me of sin in my own life. Even now as we think of standing before God on judgment day we must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth of whether or not we are as these Scriptures say. Are you as verse one says, one who passes judgment on another while at the same time practicing the same thing? Do you gossip even as you tell others that it is wrong to gossip? Do you lie even though you have told your family that you know it is wrong to lie and get after your younger sibling when they lie to you? Do you look at pornography, never telling a soul, while getting after your friend, who is at least seeking help, to discontinue looking at it? The list could go on and on in regards to what it could be that you are doing in your life and yet at the same time passing judgment on others who are doing the same things. Scripture tells us that those of us who do such things will not escape the judgment of God, but will one day be judged according to our deeds.
Have you, as I have done, taken the kindness of God for granted, not understanding truly what it is to repent. Repentance is not merely lip service to God. Certainly you may agree with God that what you are doing is wrong. You know it is wrong, because you see it as wrong in other peoples’ lives. Repentance though is a complete changing of the mind about what you are doing. Maybe what needs to take place in your life is not so much the understanding that your actions are wrong but that there will be consequences for your actions. God is not a God of lip service. God looks at the heart of a man. If you continue to confess your sin and then go and sin again continually, over and over again, even as you are passing judgment on others God will hold you accountable. God’s kindness ought to lead us to repentance, as the Scripture says. It is in God’s forgiveness and grace that we find the desire to turn from our sin and begin to seek after a life of holiness and honor before God. Understand this though, we all struggle with sin and just because you sin more than once in a certain way or perform the same sin as another after you have passed judgment over their actions does not mean that you need to begin to freak out and start worrying about your relationship with God, simply confess your sin to Him and ask Him for forgiveness and the understanding of how you can completely turn from your sin. It is in the secret hidden sins in our own lives that we most often find ourselves judging others over and those are the ones for which God is going to hold us accountable. As verse six says, God is one day going to render to each one according to His works and if you continue to sin and pass judgment over others for the same sin you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
If God has convicted you of sin in your life today I encourage you to turn to Him, ask forgiveness for your sins, and in your freedom in Christ turn from your sin in repentance, thanking for His kindness towards you. You know, something that I have found interesting as God has convicted me and brought me to repentance is that in this new found freedom God has given me the ability to show love and grace towards those on whom I had previously passed judgment. Neat, huh? Thanks be to God who leads us into triumph!
by Justin Kantonen
originally posted February 2008
Such powerful verses these are and God has used them in recent days to teach me much about myself and to convict me of sin in my own life. Even now as we think of standing before God on judgment day we must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth of whether or not we are as these Scriptures say. Are you as verse one says, one who passes judgment on another while at the same time practicing the same thing? Do you gossip even as you tell others that it is wrong to gossip? Do you lie even though you have told your family that you know it is wrong to lie and get after your younger sibling when they lie to you? Do you look at pornography, never telling a soul, while getting after your friend, who is at least seeking help, to discontinue looking at it? The list could go on and on in regards to what it could be that you are doing in your life and yet at the same time passing judgment on others who are doing the same things. Scripture tells us that those of us who do such things will not escape the judgment of God, but will one day be judged according to our deeds.
Have you, as I have done, taken the kindness of God for granted, not understanding truly what it is to repent. Repentance is not merely lip service to God. Certainly you may agree with God that what you are doing is wrong. You know it is wrong, because you see it as wrong in other peoples’ lives. Repentance though is a complete changing of the mind about what you are doing. Maybe what needs to take place in your life is not so much the understanding that your actions are wrong but that there will be consequences for your actions. God is not a God of lip service. God looks at the heart of a man. If you continue to confess your sin and then go and sin again continually, over and over again, even as you are passing judgment on others God will hold you accountable. God’s kindness ought to lead us to repentance, as the Scripture says. It is in God’s forgiveness and grace that we find the desire to turn from our sin and begin to seek after a life of holiness and honor before God. Understand this though, we all struggle with sin and just because you sin more than once in a certain way or perform the same sin as another after you have passed judgment over their actions does not mean that you need to begin to freak out and start worrying about your relationship with God, simply confess your sin to Him and ask Him for forgiveness and the understanding of how you can completely turn from your sin. It is in the secret hidden sins in our own lives that we most often find ourselves judging others over and those are the ones for which God is going to hold us accountable. As verse six says, God is one day going to render to each one according to His works and if you continue to sin and pass judgment over others for the same sin you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
If God has convicted you of sin in your life today I encourage you to turn to Him, ask forgiveness for your sins, and in your freedom in Christ turn from your sin in repentance, thanking for His kindness towards you. You know, something that I have found interesting as God has convicted me and brought me to repentance is that in this new found freedom God has given me the ability to show love and grace towards those on whom I had previously passed judgment. Neat, huh? Thanks be to God who leads us into triumph!
by Justin Kantonen
originally posted February 2008
Monday, January 18, 2010
Speak Out - God’s Amazing Forgiveness
Have you ever done something so terrible that you didn’t think God or anybody else would ever be able to forgive you? This is some thing I have been struggling with for the past couple of months. God convicted me of some things that I was doing at work that were not right. When I finally realized they were wrong, I stopped doing them, but I really didn’t think of them as sin. God finally made me realize that it was sin and I had to confess these things to Him and to my bosses at work. That was one of the hardest things I have ever done because my confession not only affected me, but also my coworkers. There were consequences for everyone and many changes have been made where I work.
When I first confessed these sins to God, I didn’t think He could ever forgive me. I thought I had to do something to help make up for my sin. I finally realized that I couldn’t do enough good works to make up for them or pay the penalty for my own sins. It was like I was putting myself above God by saying that God couldn’t forgive me. He says in the Bible that all we have to do is come to Him in repentance and He will forgive our sins. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. Some verses that have really come alive for me in all of this are:
Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
transgressions from us.”
Isaiah 38:17 “Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”
Micah 7:19 “He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.”
Colossians 1:21-22 “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”
I now know that God has placed my sins behind His back and remembers them no more. When I start to feel guilty about past sins that I have already confessed to Him and He has forgiven, I have to remember that the guilt comes from Satan because he does not want us to live a victorious life. He would rather see us defeated, but we can have victory in Christ.
A quote my mom found for me when I was dealing with all of this says, “The root of the word integrity is integer, meaning something whole and undivided. Integrity means never having anything to hide. Doing so requires inviting God to search our innermost parts as we commit to living lives of integrity. Because ultimately what matters most is not how well we manage what others think of us, but who we are on the inside.” This is how I now want to live my life. I want people to be able to look at me and see a person of
integrity and not one of someone trying to hide something or trying to please others.
I have found such freedom in God’s forgiveness and I urge any of you who are dealing with un-confessed sin or feelings of un-forgiveness to bring all of that before God. He will forgive you and forget your sins. He will also help you through any of the consequences those sins may have caused. He loves you very much and wants you to live in freedom and victory.
by Melina Kantonen
originally posted April 2008
When I first confessed these sins to God, I didn’t think He could ever forgive me. I thought I had to do something to help make up for my sin. I finally realized that I couldn’t do enough good works to make up for them or pay the penalty for my own sins. It was like I was putting myself above God by saying that God couldn’t forgive me. He says in the Bible that all we have to do is come to Him in repentance and He will forgive our sins. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. Some verses that have really come alive for me in all of this are:
Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
transgressions from us.”
Isaiah 38:17 “Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”
Micah 7:19 “He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.”
Colossians 1:21-22 “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”
I now know that God has placed my sins behind His back and remembers them no more. When I start to feel guilty about past sins that I have already confessed to Him and He has forgiven, I have to remember that the guilt comes from Satan because he does not want us to live a victorious life. He would rather see us defeated, but we can have victory in Christ.
A quote my mom found for me when I was dealing with all of this says, “The root of the word integrity is integer, meaning something whole and undivided. Integrity means never having anything to hide. Doing so requires inviting God to search our innermost parts as we commit to living lives of integrity. Because ultimately what matters most is not how well we manage what others think of us, but who we are on the inside.” This is how I now want to live my life. I want people to be able to look at me and see a person of
integrity and not one of someone trying to hide something or trying to please others.
I have found such freedom in God’s forgiveness and I urge any of you who are dealing with un-confessed sin or feelings of un-forgiveness to bring all of that before God. He will forgive you and forget your sins. He will also help you through any of the consequences those sins may have caused. He loves you very much and wants you to live in freedom and victory.
by Melina Kantonen
originally posted April 2008
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