the Definition of Sin: an offence against God; against His law and ways; an action that is highly reprehensible; estrangement from God, Who is holy;
We define sin by what it is and what it is not. We read in the Scriptures, God's commands, 'Thou shalt not'. Many focus on these but not on the other part, 'Thou shalt'. Rightouesness is being right with God and doing right by God. If we sin or are sinning, then we are not right with God. Holiness is purity, wihtout sin. If we sin or are sinning, then we are not holy. sin and holiness cannot exist in the same plain.
Fruits of the Flesh: found in Galatians 5:19 - 21, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Audltery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, v. 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, v. 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
There are 17 sins defined here as that which proceeds from our flesh. an open choice of doing these things.
Matthew 15:18 - 20, 'But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. v. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: v. 20 these are the things which defile a man:"
Mark 7:20 - 23, 'that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. v. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, v. 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: v. 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."
There are notable differences for us to note here in these two passages of Scripture. Christ is the ONe speaking in both, both verses come from Christ. In Matthew 15, there are 7 sins listed. but in Mark 7, there are 13 mentioned, almost twice as many listed.
Comparison: Both list: Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, blasphemies; the only one not mentioned in of the 7 in Matthew 15 is False Witness, or lying. Although deceit is closely tied to lying.
What does this mean for us? Many of these sins are sins of our past. We came out of this darkness, to enter into Christ Light. We did not know then, but we definitely do now, how offensive these sins are to Him. We realize how much it costs our Lord in dying for our sins, each one of our sins. We confess these sins before Him that we are guilty. We look to Jesus and His nail scars and know that His death was for the shedding of His blood for the removal of our sins. 'What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.'
Yet, we see much of these same sins of the flesh still in the church. Where is the separation? Where is the deliverance? These sins are destroying our families. they are destroying our nation and communities. We know that sin provokes God to anger, to justice. We ask of Him to pardon, to deliver, to cleanse our land. We ask of Him 'in wrath to remember mercy.' When praying for lost souls, you must see that these sins are what holds them, what keeps them from Christ. SAtan uses these things to hold them captive in sin and reject God's invitation.
The flesh is weak, the flesh is sinful. The battle is over the heart that chooses to either sin or flee from it. Salvation is not just confessing the sin of having done these things, but also, repentance to be done with these things. Only the power of God can such a thing. The will power, or the 'mind made up', or a resolve is not suffecient for salvation. ONly by abiding in Christ, dying daily on the cross sets the soul free and keeps them free.
Since the church is still practicing these evils. It is still a part of their lives, then we must conclude that the flesh has not died, but still very much alive. There will be no victory, till death of the flesh, and resurrected in His resurrection power to set the captives free. The Lord alone is able to break the chains that Satan has placed on the life to hold them in their sin of habit, routine, ignorance, fleshly desire
Self - Sins: a part of this understanding about sin is found in our flesh; Paul said, 'There is no good thing in my flesh'; David said, 'In my mothers womb I was conceived in sin'. Our ability to life a life of self is in direct conflict with God. The message of our salvation is found in dying to self, in order to allow God to live in us. No death to self, no life in Christ.
Sins of self to recognize and confess are the following: Ravenhill, 'self-seeking, self-glory, self-interest, self-pity, self-righteousness, self-importance, self-promotion, self-satisfaction'.
Here again in the 'self-sins' we see the battle over souls. It is self vs. Christ. We must understand the base knowledge of this truth that Satan would keep us from it. We see people confess their selfish sins today, but they do not announce that Christ is Lord of their life. They want a Savior but not a Lord. In such cases, if they confess their selfish sins, but do not relinquish Lordship to Him, then self is still lord of their life. They will never be delivered nor set free. 'The truth shall set you free'. This truth is what is missing from many an evangelistic encounter. No death to self, then self still rules; self must die and Christ must be placed as Lord of our life or no life at all.
You answer this question to resolve this issue: Who rules my life? Who rules my decisions, habits, chocies? Do you seek the Lord for direction, answers, help? Or do you look to your own self (a self made man, as our world loves to call it), or to other people for deliverance and help? The answer to these questions tells you, who or Who is lord or Lord of your life.
The rule of thumb here in listening to people is what pronouns they use about their life. A lot of 'I's, 'Me's and 'Myself' reveal a selfish intent. Healthy prnouns are always pointing to God - He, Him, You, O Lord are proper Christian references.
Dispositional sins - the sins of our emotions; Too often people today give place to the way they feel as given permission to sin. 'I got up on the wrong side of the bed'; 'I'm having a bad day'; or even, sickness as that allows us to sin in anger, hostility, rage, lusts, or pleasures. None of these things hold merit by Scripture as to allow sin. The overall understanding of any of these sins, including dispositional sins is the horribleness of sin. Oh, how much it has costs us, and how much it will costs us if we play with it or allow it.
A defining of dispositional sins are : sensitiveness, irritabilty, churlishness, faultfinding, peevishness, temper, resentfulness, cruelty, uncharitable attitudes to name a few (Tozer);
the allowing of circumstances or emotions to dictate our reactions, responses and daily activities is completely anti-Christian. Christ is our example. In the midst of His gruel death, He opened not His mouth to rail on them. He brought no sin into His reaction or attitude. A mandate of governing ourselves in all ways, in all times must be a continual closenss to the Spirit. He will guide us and keep us.
Presumptous Sins: the very act of presuming that this act is okay, knowing all along that it is high sin in the sight of a holy God; Psalm 19:13, "Keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression."
Generational Sins: such the high costs of any soul to know that our actions will have a reaction to the next generation; WE are reaping what the previous generation has already sown. 'He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. Het the soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.' The question we have ask and answer is, 'What did the former generation sow? And what am I sowing?' The first question reveals to me what I am reaping now. The second answers what my children and grandchildren shall reap.
This is one of the hardest things I struggle with in Scripture. The uncertainty of it is found in my human understanding. It leads us back to the spiritual paradox of God. We are forgiven, yet sin remains; we are light, yet darkness still comes; God is merciful, yet sin reaps corruption. I simply understand it in light of Isaiah 55, 'My ways are higher than your ways'. But let us examine several portions of Scripture to see this and understand it in light of our present condition and the future of our next generation.
1. Exodus 34:7, 'Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.' Here is the fullness of the paradox mentioned earlier. God grants mercy and forgiveness to those that seek it; but God sends punishment to those that don't. And that punishment of the 'guilty' mentined in this verse, is not just for their actions at the point of committing the sin, it is also bearing the weight of future punishment.
the guilt of the fathers/mothers is not confessed, is not repented of, therefore, it is still remains. They are guilty in the sight of God. The sin maintains its corrisve hold and, since the seed was not removed, nor dug up, it is allowed to grow and flourish to the next ones.
2. II Kings 23:26, 'Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath, wherewith His anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provcation that Manasseh had provoked Him withal.' Josiah is king, two generations removed from Manasseh. HIs father, Amon, had a very short reign, only 2 years. Here is the grandson of Manasseh, the great grandson of Hezekiah. We are talking about 4 generations here. Hezekiah served the Lord, but gave place to a son in his extended 15 years of life. Perhaps he spoiled him, left him undisciplined or not taught to walk in fear of the Lord, whatever the reason, Manasseh began his kingship and brought great sin to the people. He provoked the Lord just as the Israel kings did. And even though, II Chronicles tells us he humbled himself, his son did not learn that lesson and Amon followed after his father's footsteps. The time Josiah comes to be king, the wrath of the LOrd was so fierce against Judah, that there was no remedy. For Josiah did everything the law required; he did it with all his heart. And only by God's mercy, was he allowed to come to his death and not see nor be a part of the evil that God was going to do to Judah. We see 4 generations, 2 good, at the beginning and at the end; 2 evil ones, 1 only be 2 years, but it was not enough to undo the evil of literally one man for 55 years of sin.
What am I sowing for my children? What am I sowing for the future? Am I sowing sin? or am I sowing rightouesness?
Inbred Sins: defined by David McIntyre in the 'Hidden Life of Prayer', 'there is native sinfulness, the body of death.. . When we acknowledge the depravity of our nature we should endeavour to speak according to the measure of our experience. . . we are led into a prfounder understanding of the sinfulness of inbred sin until we lament with Ezra, "O, my God, I am sashamed and blush to lift up my fact to Thee, my God" Ezra 9:6'
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
THE SIN OF ALLOWING THE AMALEKITES
The rise and the fall of King Saul is a needful lesson for us to learn today. All these years in reading my Bible, I would come across the terms of those hard to pronounce, 'ites'. But the ones that I have continaully struggled with is the Amalekites. In coming through I Samuel again in Bible reading, God allowed me to see how much they affected King Saul.
I would like to go through this and make application to our own lives, in the hopes that we would learn from this valuable lesson of the Scriptures for our own personal walk with the Lord. And if don't learn the lesson, then we are doomed to repeat the same plight as King Saul.
Saul's biography in Scripture is largely in I Samuel. We see his beginning and his end all found within 22 chapter's, chapter 9 - 31.
The beginning of Amalek is found coming from Esaus' son, Eliphaz (Gensis 36). Amalek is the grandson of Esau. What do we know about Esau? He sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. He lost his blessing from his father by Jacob and Rebekahs scheming. But why did all this happen? There are two lines always being presented throughout Genesis. From the beginning there is the line of Cain, cursed from the Lord for killing Abel. And there is the line of Seth, the 3rd son of Adam and Eve, of which God brought forth men like Enoch, Lamech and NOah. It seems the devil is always trying to create his own line of evil misfits. But the lineage of Christ is as God sees fit. From this line of Seth comes Noah. From Noah comes Abraham on down to David to Christ.
We have Adam and Eve. The first of God's creation of man and woman. Eve, being tempted by Satan, ate of the fruit of the fruit of the tree that they were not to touch, not to look on, nor eat. An act of disobedience brought sin into the world. And only by God's grace and mercy is any soul preserved to salvation. For the wrath of God abides upon the sinner. God was willing, not to destroy man but redeem man. Thus, He made a way for salvation to be offered unto fallen man for salvation. That plan of redemption is found in the line of Seth. We know of the specific sons of Adam and Eve were Abel, Cain and SEth. Cain slew Abel and brought the Lord's curse on his head. How can he, who is cursed by God, be a blessing? They can't. So God raised up another line by SEth to bring the salvation needed. It is for us to follow the lineage down through the pages of Scripture and see what God blesses and what God curses.
We come to Abraham, the friend of God. HE recevied the promise of the covenant, that his children should be as the stars of the sky and receive the promised land for their inheritance. Ishmael was born first to Abraham, but not as God said it would be. Sarah and Abraham took matters into their own hands and Sarah gave Hagar unto him to raise up seed. And we see Ishamael born. But he was not the promsied covenant child that God spoke to Abraham about. His promised line woudl be in Sarah. And at the age of 100 and Sarah 90, the Lord fulfilled what He promised, and they had Isaac.
Isaac received all the blessings from Abraham as he was established to bring for the covenant line. Isaace marries Rebekah and they have twins. The prophecy given to REbekah was that the younger would be the promsied childre to maintain the covenant. NO doubt, one of the reaons that Rebekah gave counsel to Jacob to decieve Isaac for the blessing. But we have later on in Scripture that verse that should hold us captive, 'Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.' What causes God to hate a man? Because God knows the intents of the heart. He is omnipresent and omniscient in all His ways of knwoing what men have been, what they are and what they will be. God rejected Esau, but chose Jacob for He knew and knows all things.
We know that from the line of Jacob, there is born the twelve tribes. And after 400 years in Egypt they came out as a nation. After their rebellion and 40 years in the wilderness they entered the promised, thus fulfilling again all that God had promised Abraham. Then David, then Solomon, and on the down the line to Christ, completing again the plan of redemption for fallen men that God has always desired, that men may not perish but be redeemed. 'I have no delight in the death of the wicked' saith the Lord.'
But of the line of Esau comes that overall covering, that God hated this man. what does God hate? God hates sin. He hates those that love sin. And, oh what hope is there if God sets Himself against a man? "I will repay him to his face that hates Me". God knows those that will love and obey Him and those that will hate Him and work for Satan. Generational sins is huge in Scripture, and God knows the righteous generation and the unrighteous generation. The descendants of Esau, which is Edom, were not righteous, were not brotherly unto Jacob, but constant wars, and problems between the two. From Esau we read that he had Eliphaz; and Eliphaz had Amalek.
Amalek become a people and we refer to them throughout these verses as the Amalekites. *** Left off 2/14/12 Our next introduction of the Amalekites is found in Exodus 17. As the children of Israel were coming out of Egypt. God told Moses that He would bring them to the mount Sinai and there He would declare His ways to them. And in a few chapters from 17, chapter 20, God gives Moses the 10 commandments. He also begins to instruct them in the law. So on their way to the mount, we have this chapter of two events.
the first event is the beginning of the chapter, verses 1 - 7. They are in the wilderness, water is a precious thing in the wilderness. And as the people thirsted for water, they continued their sinning against the Lord by complaining and murmuring. In verse 3, 'and the people murmured against moses. In verse 4, Moses prays unto the Lord for help and guidance. And in verse 5, God answers by a mighty miracle of drawing water out of the rock by smiting it with his staff.
At the close of verse 8 is the question, 'Is the Lord among us or not?' A very important question seeing that the enemies of the children of Israel were getting ready to attack them in the very next verse. It is a message for us to learn as well. 'Is the Lord among us or not?' And our faith answers, 'if the Lord be for us, then who can be against us?' The Lord's hand is suffecient to protect, deliver, provide, heal, and save. Despite their murmuring, the Lord provide water and would provide deliverance from their enemies. OUr Amalek always comes at the worst possible time to attack. It may catch us by surprise, but not the Lord. The Lord knows all things and is able to deliver us from Amalek as He delivered them.
IN Exodus 17:9, 'Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.' ******Left off 2/15/12
******Added 2/24/12
I Chronicles 18:11, "Them also king David dedicated unto the Lord, with the silver and the gold that he brought from all these nations; from Edom, and from MOab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek."
And after all we have covered about this evil people, we still see them present. AFter the commands from God to remove them, to utterly destroy them, we still them active. David is now king. We have come almost 500 years since the children of Israel had left Egypt. Almost 500 years since they walked in the wilderness and first met these Amalekites. Yet, still they exist and are allowed to be a thorn in the side of Israel. Oh, how devastating is the reality of leaving the Amalekites.
the only good we can mention here, is that the wealth that they had gotten is now taken by David for the building of the temple. All money and wealth is the Lord's. He allows for men and nations to use it and have it. He gives and He can take it away. So David conquered these nations and took away from them their wealth to supply for the building of the temple. They were a conquered people under David. It is not like they were a huge military to threaten Israel. But they was a sore that plagued them generation after generation. Why? Because they did not obey the word of the Lord in destroying them.
We too, shall reap a sore in our constant daily life, if we do not utterly destroy Amalekites out of our lives. We cannot afford to let it remain. We cannot be disobedient to the Lord in dying to 'all' self. If we allow anything of this life to remain, Satan will use it against us, just like the Amalekites. It make bring a profit to our life, much like this with David, but is it worth 100's of years of turmoil, aggravation, sin? I cannot see where under any case it would be okay. Utterly destroy lest it be your next generations foe.
Thus, it is when the children of Israel were commanded to remove and annhilate all the 'ites' they did not do it. And because they did not obey, it was to become a continaul affliction in their lives and the generations to follow. In Deuteronomy 25:17, Moses tells the chidlren of Israel not to forget what the Amalekites did to them in coming out of Egypt. In verse 19, they are commanded to 'that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.' This they did not do. That is about as clear a message as you can get. Utterly destroy and consume them. Leave nothing to remain. The reason why? If you leave it, it will return later on.
We are commanded as children of God, Christians, to die to self, to take up your cross and obey the Lord in all things. Sin is to have no part of us. 'You will not continue in sin.' 'Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly FAther is perfect.'
I would like to go through this and make application to our own lives, in the hopes that we would learn from this valuable lesson of the Scriptures for our own personal walk with the Lord. And if don't learn the lesson, then we are doomed to repeat the same plight as King Saul.
Saul's biography in Scripture is largely in I Samuel. We see his beginning and his end all found within 22 chapter's, chapter 9 - 31.
The beginning of Amalek is found coming from Esaus' son, Eliphaz (Gensis 36). Amalek is the grandson of Esau. What do we know about Esau? He sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. He lost his blessing from his father by Jacob and Rebekahs scheming. But why did all this happen? There are two lines always being presented throughout Genesis. From the beginning there is the line of Cain, cursed from the Lord for killing Abel. And there is the line of Seth, the 3rd son of Adam and Eve, of which God brought forth men like Enoch, Lamech and NOah. It seems the devil is always trying to create his own line of evil misfits. But the lineage of Christ is as God sees fit. From this line of Seth comes Noah. From Noah comes Abraham on down to David to Christ.
We have Adam and Eve. The first of God's creation of man and woman. Eve, being tempted by Satan, ate of the fruit of the fruit of the tree that they were not to touch, not to look on, nor eat. An act of disobedience brought sin into the world. And only by God's grace and mercy is any soul preserved to salvation. For the wrath of God abides upon the sinner. God was willing, not to destroy man but redeem man. Thus, He made a way for salvation to be offered unto fallen man for salvation. That plan of redemption is found in the line of Seth. We know of the specific sons of Adam and Eve were Abel, Cain and SEth. Cain slew Abel and brought the Lord's curse on his head. How can he, who is cursed by God, be a blessing? They can't. So God raised up another line by SEth to bring the salvation needed. It is for us to follow the lineage down through the pages of Scripture and see what God blesses and what God curses.
We come to Abraham, the friend of God. HE recevied the promise of the covenant, that his children should be as the stars of the sky and receive the promised land for their inheritance. Ishmael was born first to Abraham, but not as God said it would be. Sarah and Abraham took matters into their own hands and Sarah gave Hagar unto him to raise up seed. And we see Ishamael born. But he was not the promsied covenant child that God spoke to Abraham about. His promised line woudl be in Sarah. And at the age of 100 and Sarah 90, the Lord fulfilled what He promised, and they had Isaac.
Isaac received all the blessings from Abraham as he was established to bring for the covenant line. Isaace marries Rebekah and they have twins. The prophecy given to REbekah was that the younger would be the promsied childre to maintain the covenant. NO doubt, one of the reaons that Rebekah gave counsel to Jacob to decieve Isaac for the blessing. But we have later on in Scripture that verse that should hold us captive, 'Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.' What causes God to hate a man? Because God knows the intents of the heart. He is omnipresent and omniscient in all His ways of knwoing what men have been, what they are and what they will be. God rejected Esau, but chose Jacob for He knew and knows all things.
We know that from the line of Jacob, there is born the twelve tribes. And after 400 years in Egypt they came out as a nation. After their rebellion and 40 years in the wilderness they entered the promised, thus fulfilling again all that God had promised Abraham. Then David, then Solomon, and on the down the line to Christ, completing again the plan of redemption for fallen men that God has always desired, that men may not perish but be redeemed. 'I have no delight in the death of the wicked' saith the Lord.'
But of the line of Esau comes that overall covering, that God hated this man. what does God hate? God hates sin. He hates those that love sin. And, oh what hope is there if God sets Himself against a man? "I will repay him to his face that hates Me". God knows those that will love and obey Him and those that will hate Him and work for Satan. Generational sins is huge in Scripture, and God knows the righteous generation and the unrighteous generation. The descendants of Esau, which is Edom, were not righteous, were not brotherly unto Jacob, but constant wars, and problems between the two. From Esau we read that he had Eliphaz; and Eliphaz had Amalek.
Amalek become a people and we refer to them throughout these verses as the Amalekites. *** Left off 2/14/12 Our next introduction of the Amalekites is found in Exodus 17. As the children of Israel were coming out of Egypt. God told Moses that He would bring them to the mount Sinai and there He would declare His ways to them. And in a few chapters from 17, chapter 20, God gives Moses the 10 commandments. He also begins to instruct them in the law. So on their way to the mount, we have this chapter of two events.
the first event is the beginning of the chapter, verses 1 - 7. They are in the wilderness, water is a precious thing in the wilderness. And as the people thirsted for water, they continued their sinning against the Lord by complaining and murmuring. In verse 3, 'and the people murmured against moses. In verse 4, Moses prays unto the Lord for help and guidance. And in verse 5, God answers by a mighty miracle of drawing water out of the rock by smiting it with his staff.
At the close of verse 8 is the question, 'Is the Lord among us or not?' A very important question seeing that the enemies of the children of Israel were getting ready to attack them in the very next verse. It is a message for us to learn as well. 'Is the Lord among us or not?' And our faith answers, 'if the Lord be for us, then who can be against us?' The Lord's hand is suffecient to protect, deliver, provide, heal, and save. Despite their murmuring, the Lord provide water and would provide deliverance from their enemies. OUr Amalek always comes at the worst possible time to attack. It may catch us by surprise, but not the Lord. The Lord knows all things and is able to deliver us from Amalek as He delivered them.
IN Exodus 17:9, 'Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.' ******Left off 2/15/12
******Added 2/24/12
I Chronicles 18:11, "Them also king David dedicated unto the Lord, with the silver and the gold that he brought from all these nations; from Edom, and from MOab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek."
And after all we have covered about this evil people, we still see them present. AFter the commands from God to remove them, to utterly destroy them, we still them active. David is now king. We have come almost 500 years since the children of Israel had left Egypt. Almost 500 years since they walked in the wilderness and first met these Amalekites. Yet, still they exist and are allowed to be a thorn in the side of Israel. Oh, how devastating is the reality of leaving the Amalekites.
the only good we can mention here, is that the wealth that they had gotten is now taken by David for the building of the temple. All money and wealth is the Lord's. He allows for men and nations to use it and have it. He gives and He can take it away. So David conquered these nations and took away from them their wealth to supply for the building of the temple. They were a conquered people under David. It is not like they were a huge military to threaten Israel. But they was a sore that plagued them generation after generation. Why? Because they did not obey the word of the Lord in destroying them.
We too, shall reap a sore in our constant daily life, if we do not utterly destroy Amalekites out of our lives. We cannot afford to let it remain. We cannot be disobedient to the Lord in dying to 'all' self. If we allow anything of this life to remain, Satan will use it against us, just like the Amalekites. It make bring a profit to our life, much like this with David, but is it worth 100's of years of turmoil, aggravation, sin? I cannot see where under any case it would be okay. Utterly destroy lest it be your next generations foe.
Thus, it is when the children of Israel were commanded to remove and annhilate all the 'ites' they did not do it. And because they did not obey, it was to become a continaul affliction in their lives and the generations to follow. In Deuteronomy 25:17, Moses tells the chidlren of Israel not to forget what the Amalekites did to them in coming out of Egypt. In verse 19, they are commanded to 'that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.' This they did not do. That is about as clear a message as you can get. Utterly destroy and consume them. Leave nothing to remain. The reason why? If you leave it, it will return later on.
We are commanded as children of God, Christians, to die to self, to take up your cross and obey the Lord in all things. Sin is to have no part of us. 'You will not continue in sin.' 'Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly FAther is perfect.'
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Daily Prayer Email for family 2/7/12
Greetings,
So many share of their needs for prayer for their lost family members. This is quite a plight and dilema for the church today. I knew it was bad, but I did not know how bad till I went to Heart Cry for Revival, (I beleive in 2006).
There in that meeting Jim Cymbala came preached the final sermon on Saturday. During that message he told of his own daughters sin and redemption by their Tuesday night prayer meeting. I had not read 'Fresh Wind, Fresh power', in which Jim tells the account there also. But at the invitation he tells this story of his daughter and extends an invitation to any of these 500 pastors, that if they had a wayward, lost son or daughter or grand child to come to the altar and seek God for their salvation.
WOW!! They ran to the altar and filled it clear back into the aisles. Not weeping and crying; but wailing and screaming. Never had I seen anything like that. And then I knew if the pastors homes are like this, then what about the rest of the church.
I fight and wrestle for my childrens souls every day.(I have 8 children) And because I have 8, I have no doubt a higher percentage of opportunity for Satan to get his claws into one of them.
First, there is no need for you to bear this alone. Whether your spouse is saved or not, matters not. Draw other prayer warriors to cover your children's souls and futures.
I have a picture I keep visible to the children. It is the picture of the 'marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven' that is set with cups, plates, silverware and chairs. It extends on out into eternity. I ask and tell the kids as often as I can, make sure not one of you is missing from that table. They are responsible for each other, as well as their mother and I. If a child is going a stray - attitude, some sin, etc. then I call a family meeting and we sit at our dining table and bring the charge against them. They are allowed to answer for themselves, but quickly I point to the picture and warn them that this act of rebellion or sin is the first step away from that eternity with Christ and that table. WE pray, renew and reconcile.
Promises from God holds me that God is the keeper of my children, not me. I am a failure as a husband, a son, a brother, a father, only God can do this. I must pray and do my part of my responbility, but my faith must be in Him alone. You be obedient, but let God do what God wants to do.
What does God want to do? I told you yesterday the verses, 'He would have none to perish'. Do you believe this or not? then hold fast, no matter the person or the circusmtances; God desires for the lost to be saved. Or else He never would have loved us enough to send His Son, our Savior.
HEre are the verses for you to hold fast for your children: (no doubt, there is more, but I use these)
--Isaiah 44:3, 'I will pour My Spirit upn thy seed, and My blessing upon thine off spring.' This is God speaking. And when God say, 'I will', He cannot lie, then He will. Let not unbelief be your downfall.
--Isaiah 49:25, 'I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children' Again, God is speaking and saying, 'I will'. then let God do what He wills.
--II Samuel 23:5, 'although my house be not so with God; yet He hath made with me everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although He make it not to grow.' God had given David His everlasting covenant of always having a king on the throne. God said it, and God did it. Yet, David saw his children that they were not right with God as He was. 'my house be not so with God' there was some problem, some sin. We know the story of David, a horrible home he had. Mainly because he married the wrong women, which he was not to do. But the story of Absalom, the raping of his daughter Tamar, Ammon's self - exaltation and death. All these horrible things, why? because God was absent from their lives.
Satan wants your children, your grandchildren. You must fight for them. Literally you must enter hell, defeat SAtan and his demons to break the hold over them. Only Christ can set the captives free.
Lastly, the hope of my heart through Christ - a devotional from Spurgeon, Mark 9:19, 'Bring him unto Me. . .' bring your sons, bring your daughters, bring your spouses and all your family to His faithful, loving, nail-scarred hands and leave them there. 'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?' Yes, He has and He will.
until,
dan
So many share of their needs for prayer for their lost family members. This is quite a plight and dilema for the church today. I knew it was bad, but I did not know how bad till I went to Heart Cry for Revival, (I beleive in 2006).
There in that meeting Jim Cymbala came preached the final sermon on Saturday. During that message he told of his own daughters sin and redemption by their Tuesday night prayer meeting. I had not read 'Fresh Wind, Fresh power', in which Jim tells the account there also. But at the invitation he tells this story of his daughter and extends an invitation to any of these 500 pastors, that if they had a wayward, lost son or daughter or grand child to come to the altar and seek God for their salvation.
WOW!! They ran to the altar and filled it clear back into the aisles. Not weeping and crying; but wailing and screaming. Never had I seen anything like that. And then I knew if the pastors homes are like this, then what about the rest of the church.
I fight and wrestle for my childrens souls every day.(I have 8 children) And because I have 8, I have no doubt a higher percentage of opportunity for Satan to get his claws into one of them.
First, there is no need for you to bear this alone. Whether your spouse is saved or not, matters not. Draw other prayer warriors to cover your children's souls and futures.
I have a picture I keep visible to the children. It is the picture of the 'marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven' that is set with cups, plates, silverware and chairs. It extends on out into eternity. I ask and tell the kids as often as I can, make sure not one of you is missing from that table. They are responsible for each other, as well as their mother and I. If a child is going a stray - attitude, some sin, etc. then I call a family meeting and we sit at our dining table and bring the charge against them. They are allowed to answer for themselves, but quickly I point to the picture and warn them that this act of rebellion or sin is the first step away from that eternity with Christ and that table. WE pray, renew and reconcile.
Promises from God holds me that God is the keeper of my children, not me. I am a failure as a husband, a son, a brother, a father, only God can do this. I must pray and do my part of my responbility, but my faith must be in Him alone. You be obedient, but let God do what God wants to do.
What does God want to do? I told you yesterday the verses, 'He would have none to perish'. Do you believe this or not? then hold fast, no matter the person or the circusmtances; God desires for the lost to be saved. Or else He never would have loved us enough to send His Son, our Savior.
HEre are the verses for you to hold fast for your children: (no doubt, there is more, but I use these)
--Isaiah 44:3, 'I will pour My Spirit upn thy seed, and My blessing upon thine off spring.' This is God speaking. And when God say, 'I will', He cannot lie, then He will. Let not unbelief be your downfall.
--Isaiah 49:25, 'I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children' Again, God is speaking and saying, 'I will'. then let God do what He wills.
--II Samuel 23:5, 'although my house be not so with God; yet He hath made with me everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although He make it not to grow.' God had given David His everlasting covenant of always having a king on the throne. God said it, and God did it. Yet, David saw his children that they were not right with God as He was. 'my house be not so with God' there was some problem, some sin. We know the story of David, a horrible home he had. Mainly because he married the wrong women, which he was not to do. But the story of Absalom, the raping of his daughter Tamar, Ammon's self - exaltation and death. All these horrible things, why? because God was absent from their lives.
Satan wants your children, your grandchildren. You must fight for them. Literally you must enter hell, defeat SAtan and his demons to break the hold over them. Only Christ can set the captives free.
Lastly, the hope of my heart through Christ - a devotional from Spurgeon, Mark 9:19, 'Bring him unto Me. . .' bring your sons, bring your daughters, bring your spouses and all your family to His faithful, loving, nail-scarred hands and leave them there. 'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?' Yes, He has and He will.
until,
dan
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