"For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all his paths."
Proverbs 5:21
I remember watching a movie with my cousins when I was younger ~ it was a great movie, and we were really into it. That is, until one of the characters said a swear word and one of my cousins got up and shut the TV off!! I was shocked and asked, "WHY?!?!?" Their reply obviously had an impact on me since that was probably at least 30 years ago. They said, "Mom & Dad trust us to only watch movies we would be comfortable watching if they were watching with us. They don't swear, and don't want us to, and we'd be embarrassed by that language if they were here with us. So, we shut it off."
I don't do this very well on my own, but I am challenged as a Mother to live that kind of moral life not only in front of my children, friends and "people," but in my alone times, too. Although God isn't some Holy Judge watching us and just waiting to ZAP us when we mess up, He truly does go with us wherever we go. How would you feel looking back on your last few days through His eyes? Remember ~ He is just, but He also loves you more than you can ever imagine. Confess and move on...only better.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
James 1: 15
"Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
James 1:15
Being a Mom, I resonate with the word picture of this verse. Having gone through the process of "thinking about conception" and then conception itself...the growth process leading to birth, and realizing that we all face the ultimate end: death. There is a vivid message here.
Affairs don't happen because a spouse (husband -OR- wife) looked at someone else and thought they looked cute. No, it happens when someone looks, lingers, thinks and contemplates how that person looked (or treated them so nicely, or seems so Godly a spouse, or was so much neater than..., etc, etc, etc). Over time the thoughts begin to settle in and become comfortable, and before you know it the sin has become full-blown and there's nothing ahead, it seems, but a slippery slope.
There are two things to remember, then:
1) Guard your heart, for out of it flows the well-spring of life. Don't let those thoughts take root ~ surrender the desire and the feeling to Christ. A companion to this is that God does not tempt us...but He does give us the strength (HIS strength) to walk away when we simply say, "HELP!"
2)There is no sin so great God can't redeem it. Confess and repent to God your sin. Then take hold of James 1:9 that says we can ask for wisdom when we don't know what to do...then look for His leading in what to do from there.
Sidenote: I am not so naive to think that sin always looks ugly. Sometimes we've become so comfortable with it that we really don't want to stop thinking about it or doing it. It is in those times that you can ask God to make it ugly to you....ask HIM, the One who created you, to change your mind about it. He is faithful, and He will, in the words of an acquaintance, "catch your conscience." If you still don't want to...see it through to the end in your mind's eye. Sin is never worth the end result.
James 1:15
Being a Mom, I resonate with the word picture of this verse. Having gone through the process of "thinking about conception" and then conception itself...the growth process leading to birth, and realizing that we all face the ultimate end: death. There is a vivid message here.
Affairs don't happen because a spouse (husband -OR- wife) looked at someone else and thought they looked cute. No, it happens when someone looks, lingers, thinks and contemplates how that person looked (or treated them so nicely, or seems so Godly a spouse, or was so much neater than..., etc, etc, etc). Over time the thoughts begin to settle in and become comfortable, and before you know it the sin has become full-blown and there's nothing ahead, it seems, but a slippery slope.
There are two things to remember, then:
1) Guard your heart, for out of it flows the well-spring of life. Don't let those thoughts take root ~ surrender the desire and the feeling to Christ. A companion to this is that God does not tempt us...but He does give us the strength (HIS strength) to walk away when we simply say, "HELP!"
2)There is no sin so great God can't redeem it. Confess and repent to God your sin. Then take hold of James 1:9 that says we can ask for wisdom when we don't know what to do...then look for His leading in what to do from there.
Sidenote: I am not so naive to think that sin always looks ugly. Sometimes we've become so comfortable with it that we really don't want to stop thinking about it or doing it. It is in those times that you can ask God to make it ugly to you....ask HIM, the One who created you, to change your mind about it. He is faithful, and He will, in the words of an acquaintance, "catch your conscience." If you still don't want to...see it through to the end in your mind's eye. Sin is never worth the end result.
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