Tag: sin

Scripture for Tuesday, June 21 (6/21)

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The scripture for today, June 21, is Romans 6:21ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

PAUL COVER-KINDLE-“What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Sometimes we do things we are ashamed of, and decide God would be too ashamed of us to accept us as his child. But God can get rid of the shame, for he can forgive so completely that it is as though we never did those things.

Some people bristle from the phrase “slaves to God” or even slavery at all. But we’re all slaves to something ~ a big car, high position, beauty, a hobby, chasing after the opposite gender, reading, eating, music, sports, etc.

From the beginning of time, sin has always resulted in death. Death means “separation” , and in the case of sin, it means separation from God. God allowed us in Old Testament times to kill a perfect animal in our place, but we had to keep doing it throughout life. Then Jesus came as our perfect Lamb of God, and allowed himself to be killed in our place.

The wages were paid through Jesus; so by believing this is true and following Jesus, we are no longer in debt.

Scripture for Tuesday, June 14 (6/14)

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The scripture for today, June 14, is Numbers 6:14 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW OF DEATH-Cover“There he is to present his offerings to the Lord…a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering…. “

A lot of people don’t understand what Jesus dying on a cross has to do with going to heaven. Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death.” In Old Testament times, God allowed people to kill a perfect animal in their place whenever they sinned. But they had to keep doing it over and over because it is impossible for us to be perfect.

Finally, Jesus came to earth as a human, and John the Baptist called him the Lamb of God (John 1:29). Jesus was perfect; that is, he never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). Then he took the wages of sin and died as the perfect Lamb of God in our place ~ both physically (separation from people on earth) and spiritually (separation from God). He even went a step further and miraculously came back to life!

Then God said, If you’ll believe and imitate Jesus, I will forgive your sins and consider you perfect too (Romans 6). Then I’ll bring you back to life in heaven. How amazing!
And, by the way, since he came back to life on Sunday, that’s what makes Sunday so special. It’s an I’m-sorry-you-had-to-die-for-my-sins Day, and a Gratitude Day.

Scripture for Wednesday, May 25 (5/25)

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The scripture for today, May 25, is Galatians 5:25f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

HS-COVER-KINDLE-GOLD“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

When someone is better than us in doing something, do we pick fights with them as punishment, or spread gossip about them in order to get others to quit respecting them?
Perhaps we don’t do this all the time. But what about times when there is something we feel we are really good at, but another person not as talented gets the honor?

That’s when it’s hard to “keep in step with the Spirit.”

Whenever we envy someone, deep down we consider that person our enemy. Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45a).

To many, loving our enemy is the most difficult command in the Bible. Perhaps one way to love our “enemy” is to realize that Jesus loved his enemies. Every time we sin, we become one of his enemies. But Jesus keeps right on loving us, even when we don’t want to stop doing whatever we shouldn’t.

Jesus demonstrates the love of the Son of God. And here he says, if we love our enemies, we are demonstrating what the sons of God do. And that is far more important than honor that goes to those we envy. Leaving behind conceit makes it much easier to love everyone.

Scripture for Saturday, May 21 (5/21)

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The scripture for today, May 21, is 2nd Corinthians 5:21 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW OF DEATH-Cover“God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

A lot of people do not understand what Jesus’ death has to do with going to heaven. The key is in Romans 3:23 that says “The wages of sin is death.” When Adam and Eve sinned, immediately their souls died, and the bodies gradually died. It’s been happening to everyone since then.

But, during Old Testament times, God allowed people to make a perfect animal take their penalty, shed its blood and die in their place when they sinned.

This was only a temporary fix, however. Hebrews says the blood of animals cannot truly take away (take the substitute punishment for) sins; they are remembered again every year (Hebrews 10:3-4).

Finally, John the Baptist announced Jesus was “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). In order to forever stop all the sacrificial substitute dying, God prepared his own perfect Lamb ~ Jesus, who never sinned. For 33 years,

God’s Word took human form in Jesus and became one of us. Then he had to shed his blood and die in our place. In so doing, he took the sin penalty forever.

Jesus did two things impossible for us to do: Live a perfect life without sin, and come back to life after he died ~ both physically and spiritually. Why? So we could do another thing that is impossible for us to do on our own: Enter heaven, the home of the perfect.

God invites us to his heaven if we will just follow Jesus. We don’t even have to be perfect ~ just forgiven. Jesus was perfect for us. What amazing love.

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The scripture for today, April 9, is 1st John 4:9f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

We human do not have the will to live perfect lives. We give in to sin. We can never get it right. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. In the Old Testament era, God let people kill an animal in their place whenever they sinned, but it had to be done over and over. Then God put a stop to that by sending his Son to us for awhile with a body, so his Son’s body could be killed (paying our wages) in our place.

Finally, God invited mankind to “live through him” ~ that is, become Christians. How do we become alive through Jesus? Of course we know about believing Jesus was the Son of God and repenting of our sins. Also Romans 6:4 says when we are baptized, we begin to live a new life, we are born again.

But it does not stop there. We must try the best we can to live as Jesus lived, speak as Jesus spoke, love as Jesus loved. We are not saved by good works because we are still sinners, but we do demonstrate our salvation through the love of God by good works (James 2). With Jesus living in us, we are his mouth, his hands, his feet. It is then that we offer our own bodies as daily sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

This is love.

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The scripture for today, April 4, is Psalm 4:4 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 5-FLOOD GATES-Cover-Print“In your anger do not sin.”

This seems like an impossibility. After all, when people get angry, don’t they lash out at other people? And yell and call them names? And show their temper? Maybe even throw a few things? After all, that’s the only way to get across to the other person that you are really angry.

Not so. If a child, for instance, does what s/he was just told not to do, we became angry. Angry at the dangerous consequence of their action. Angry at not doing something to make that child a better person.

We can choose to lash out at the child wildly so that our emotions mask our words. Or we can choose to talk calmly and explain the dangers that child was put in because of that action, or the missed opportunities. We can even punish a child without losing our temper. We can calmly but firmly tell them what their punishment is.

It is the same way with adults. If we lose our temper and shoot daggers with our eyes and rant and rave, all these things distract people from our words. Aren’t our words of explanation more important than the emotionalism and yelling? If we were hurt, just say so. If they hurt themselves, just say so. 

While we’re at it, not all words help. Name calling does not help. Name calling is done when we choose not to explain how we feel. Name calling locks the other person in and sets them up for future failures between us and them. Losing our temper during anger gets us off the issue and into sin. 

Let us try to remain calm and then explain the problem in tones that the person who has angered us can truly listen to and learn from. If we have trouble doing this, practice when we’re alone. It will come to us in the right way. It will teach us to remain calm when we’re are angry. When we are angry, we must not sin.

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The scripture for today, March 27, is Proverbs 3:27f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Cover-KINDLE“Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow’ ~ when you now have it with you.”

Christians generally are good people. They stay out of trouble at work and in the neighborhood. They obey the laws. They don’t use profanity, they don’t lie, they don’t cheat, they don’t steal, they don’t commit adultery, they don’t murder.

These are things Christians don’t do ~ sins of commission. But what about things Christians do not do? Too busy to stop and look around you for someone needing help? Too busy to drive someone to the doctor, or watch a child when a parent is sick, or fix a meal when a family is bereaved, or send a card for someone’s birthday, or call someone who is lonely? Too shy to say something to someone in distress? Too afraid to bring up heaven and hell to a lost one? These are sins! Sins of omission and they are just as serious.

Today, look around you. Who needs you? Not your neighbor, or a relative, or someone else at work, or one of the other members of your congregation, but you? When do they need you? Not tomorrow or next month or next year, but today?

Get out of your comfort zone. Quit committing sins

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The scripture for today, February 24, is 1st Peter 2:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW OF DEATH-Cover“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

Many people do not understand what Jesus dying on the cross has to do with us going to heaven. Here it is. God is perfect, so cannot dwell with imperfection. God is complete love and goodness, so cannot dwell with hatred and bad.

Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. So all through the Old Testament era, whenever we sinned, God allowed us to kill/sacrifice a perfect animal in our place. This, however, was a temporary fix.

Eventually God sent his own Son to come to earth and live in a human body and be tempted in every way that we are (see Hebrews 4:15). Jesus resisted all temptations, and lived his entire life sinless. He was perfect. Then as the perfect Lamb of God (John 1:29), Jesus was the final sacrifice. He died in our place. He took the punishment for our sins. On the cross, he died spiritually (forsaken by God) and physically (blood was shed).

Then God basically told the world, “I will consider you perfect too; all you have to do is believe in and follow my Son.” It is explained further in Romans 6:3-4. Just as Jesus died bearing our sins, we die to our sinful nature ~ the part of us that sins and doesn’t care. Then just as Jesus was buried in his tomb, we are buried in the watery tomb of baptism. And finally, just as Jesus rose up out of his tomb the Savior, we rise up out of our watery tomb the saved ~ born again to a new life.

Indeed, by Jesus’ wounds we can be healed. We fall at his feet and say, “I am a sinner and so unworthy. Thank you.”

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The scripture for today, February 18, is Hebrews 2:18 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 6-PROMISE KEEPER-Cover-Createspace“Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Do you find yourself caught up in some kind of sin over and over? Is the temptation always there? Do you commit the sin and then curse yourself for your weakness in giving in to the temptation? Do you see no way out?

A lot of people never think of Jesus ever being tempted. He was too good. But he had a human body and was tempted in every way that we are (Hebrews 4:15).

Try to imagine Jesus with your particular haunting temptation and imagine how you think he would have resisted it. Jesus used to get angry at temptation, which of course is caused by Satan. In other words, he got angry at Satan. One time when tempted, he declared, “Get behind me, Satan!”

Temptation is not the same thing as sin. Temptation is when we want to commit a sin, but haven’t decided yet to do it. Jesus faced Satan (temptation) head on. Once when he went through over a month of harsh temptation alone in the wilderness, Satan gave him all the reasons he should do certain things and made them look so good and reasonable; then Jesus gave all the reasons he should not do those things.

Hebrews 4:15 says, “We do not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are ~ yet was without sin.”

Jesus stood up to Satan. Jesus was a spiritual warrior.

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The scripture for today, February 17, is 1st John 2:17 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-COVER-KINDLE“The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.“

The previous verse in the KJV says there are three basic types of sins: Lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and pride of life. The lust of the flesh is feel-good things that we are willing to do anything to get, even if it is wrong. Lust of the eye is things and possessions that we are willing to do anything to get, even if it is wrong. The pride of life is power, prestige, a well-known name that we are willing to do anything to get, even if it is wrong.

But once we get what we crave ~ what we lust for ~ we end up just wanting a little more, and then a little more. We are never satisfied. All these things ~ the fleshly, the material, the power ~ are temporary.

Only one thing can ever give us what we truly crave ~ doing the gentle will of God. He is our Creator and he knows what will make us happy. Then we can have all we ever craved ~ forever.