All posts by 5Q

What Is Sin Anyhow?

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“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”1

Some sins are easy to see—such as stealing, cursing, violence, drunkenness, abuse, adultery, lying, cheating, and so on. These are all obvious.

These are sins of commission. But there are also sins of omission. As James pointed out, if we know to do good and don’t do it, that’s sinning too.

There are also subtle sins, sins that are often hidden. These could be called sins of the spirit such as greed, jealousy, envy, pride, self-righteousness, lust, bitterness, resentment, hostility, manipulative and/or impure motives, and the desire to control others, and so on.

Even more subtle, and perhaps the most common sin of all and practiced by so many, is the sin of denial. It is lying to one’s self—which is as big a sin as lying to anyone else. Denial is being out of touch with reality. It can be a silent killer. It is being emotionally and spiritually asleep, and we don’t become aware of it unless we wake up. It usually takes a crisis of some kind to wake us from this dangerous sleep. We deny our true feelings, we deny our motives, we deny many of our sins, we rationalize our behavior and end up believing the lies we tell ourselves. In other words, we hide from the truth. And the more in denial we are (that is, dishonest with ourselves), the more we will distort all other truth, including God’s truth, to make it match our misguided perception of reality.

It is a dangerous and self-destructive way to live.

Sin is a cancer of the soul. The reason God is so opposed to it is because it hurts and ultimately destroys those whom God loves—us! Unconfessed and unforgiven it will separate us for all eternity from a holy and loving God.

But thank God there is a remedy. It is found in the saving gospel message of Jesus Christ. You can read all about it in No. 2 below.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to be real with myself, with you, and with at least one or two safe, non-judgmental friends. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 4:17 (NIV).

2. “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

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Do You Want to Be Made Whole?

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“Him [Jesus Christ] we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect [complete, mature] in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”1

When Jesus spoke to the man at the pool of Bethesda who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years, he said to him, “Do you want to be made whole [or made well]?”2

Obviously he did—his was an active faith—because Jesus healed him immediately. The key word here is “want.” To illustrate this point I often ask people in classes I teach how many want to weigh less than they do? There are always hands raised, so I then ask, “Well why don’t you?” Not all, but many of us could weigh much less if we actually wanted to by doing something about it. Many people, who say they want to weigh less, but don’t do anything about it, merely wish to weigh less. And a “wish” is never a “want” until I do something about it.

For years I kept physically fit by hiking in the mountains near where I used to live, and by riding my mountain bike several times a week up and down steep hills where I currently live. A couple of years back I hurt my leg which forced me to stop riding my bike. Consequently, I put on a few extra pounds. So how am I wanting to lose those extra pounds? By going to the local gym three times a week and maintaining a reasonable diet. Do I enjoy going to the gym? Not really, but I know that I need to if I am going to meet my goal to weigh less. Fortunately, I’m already half-way to meeting my goal.

The fact is that Jesus never asked anyone, “Do you wish to be made whole or do you wish to get well?” If we are going to be made whole or made well, we have to genuinely want it by doing what we need to do in order to see it happen. For instance, if I want God to heal me of a sickness that is caused by an unresolved resentment, it is imperative that I forgive the person who I feel has hurt me, in order to clear the way for my healing. And if, in any way, I am living out of harmony with God’s will, I need to clean up my act if I want to be made whole/well.

As today’s Scripture points out, God’s goal for each of us is not just physical well-being but also that we are made “perfect [complete, mature] in Christ Jesus.” The ideal model is to become like Jesus who “grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.”3 That is, he grew intellectually, physically, and relationally (that is, emotionally).

The reality is that only to the degree that we are made whole will our lifestyle, our actions, our behavior, our attitudes, our motives, and our relationships be wholesome. This is available for all who truly want it, and do their part in helping to make it happen.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your Word that teaches principles for wholesome and healthy living. Please give me a love for learning what your Word teaches, and help me to live in harmony with all its life-principles. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus name, amen.”

1. Colossians 1:28-29 (NKJV).

2. John 5:6 (KJV).

3. Luke 2:52 (NKJV).

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Remembering

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“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”1

Ron Clarke of Tasmania tells the following story about the devastating Irish famine (1845-1849) that wiped out a million people some 150 years ago when many thousands left Ireland for the New World, or Australia and New Zealand searching for a new life.

“One of these was a penniless boy who hid as a stowaway on an immigrant ship bound for America. In the mid-Atlantic the ship began to sink, but there was enough time to get everybody into life-boats. Deep down in the bowels of the ship the boy wondered why the ship had stopped and as he emerged from his hiding place there was no-one around. He came up on deck just as the captain was about to step into the last seat of the last life-boat. In the highest tradition of the sea, the captain stepped back and put the boy in his place, and as the life-boat was pushed off, he said to the lad: ‘Never forget what has been done for you.’

“As the life-boat pulled away, the lad could see the captain standing on the deck, and that vision never left him. He became a successful businessman in the New World, and when people asked him about the secret of his achievement, he always told the story of the captain giving his life for him, and how he was urged to never forget what had been done for him. ‘Whenever I get discouraged and feel negatively about myself,’ he said, ‘I recall the vision of what has been done for me, and it gives me new courage to keep on keeping on to be worthy of such a price.’”2

To sacrifice one’s own life for that of another is without doubt the supreme sacrifice. But that is exactly what Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Creator of the universe, did for you and me when he left the ivory palaces of Heaven, laying aside his external robes of deity, and came to earth as a man to pay the just penalty for your sins and mine through his death by crucifixion on the insufferably cruel Roman cross. As today’s Scripture reminds us: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”1

May we never forget the overwhelming sacrifice that Jesus paid for you and me! And because Christ gave his life to die in our place, with God’s help, may we give our life to live for him always in all ways.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for dying in my place on the cross at Calvary to pay the just penalty for all my sins, so that I can be freely forgiven and receive your gift of eternal life in your Heaven? Help me always to live a life that is well-pleasing and honoring to you. And help me to be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch, and grant that they, seeing Jesus in me, will want you to be in their life too. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: If you have never thanked God for dying for you and received his gift of forgiveness you can do that today. For help read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” online at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

1. Romans 5:6-8 (NKJV).

2. Ron Clarke, w4w2@bigpond.com.

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Show me. Don’t Tell Me.

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“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”1

“There’s a wonderful scene near the end of the movie ‘My Fair Lady’ in which Eliza Doolittle sings words that God must also sing. She says, ‘Words! Words! Words! I’m so sick of words…. If you’re in love, Show me!’”2

The reality is that words have power. However, if personal and are spoken only from the head and not the heart, they are meaningless. Or if they are used to impress, flatter, manipulate, or don’t mean a thing to the one who speaks them, they can be worse than useless.

It’s the same with our Christian witness. If we say we are a believer in Jesus Christ and don’t act accordingly, what does it mean? It means nothing.

I recall seeing a poster on the wall of the office where I attended college. It read:

The living truth is what I long to see,

I cannot live on what used to be,

So close your Bible and show me how

The Christ you talk about is living now.

As Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”3

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be a man/woman of my word in that I always do what I say I will do, and always live so my actions, which speak so much louder than my words, will always bring glory to you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 1:22 (NKJV).

2. Richard Drake, “Authorized Personnel” (sermon) .

3. Matthew 5:16 (NKJV).

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What You See Is …

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“Why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?”1

You may have read about the young couple who moved into a new neighborhood and, the next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging washed clothes on the clothesline. “That laundry is not very clean,” she said, “she doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.”

Her husband looked on, but remained silent. However, every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About a month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice, clean wash on the line and said to her husband: “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her how.”

The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

And so it is with life: what we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look. The reality is that we see things not the way they are, but the way we are. Furthermore, to the degree that we are in denial, we will see only what we want to see; will hear only what we want to hear; will expose ourselves only to what we want to be exposed to, and will twist what we see to make it match our distorted perception of reality. Only the truth—brutal self-honesty—will set us free from this self-deception.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please confront me with the truth about me so that I will see myself exactly the way you see me. Please reveal to me any log in my eye that causes me to have distorted vision. Help me to become like Jesus—real and authentic. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 7:3-4 (NLT).

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Seize the Day

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“A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.”1

“Motivational speaker Danny Cox tells about a ‘Broom Hilda’ cartoon in which her naive, innocent little friend Irwin puts on a long-tailed formal tuxedo jacket, picks up a conductor’s baton and walks into the woods alone.

“Irwin steps up on a fallen tree trunk and begins to wave his arms as if to conduct. There are no musicians, only rocks, trees and flowers. Soon, musical notes pour from the rocks, trees and flowers and fill the panel.

“Finally, Irwin turns and confidently says to the reader, ‘It’s all in there; you just have to work at getting it out.’”2

Michelangelo, the great artist, said, “I saw the angel in the marble and chiseled until I set it free.” That, my friend, is what God wants to do for you and me. Every one of us has gifts, abilities, and talents that God wants us to see, develop, and use in some way (large or small) for the betterment of others and the enrichment of mankind. Remember that God has a place for you and what you have to offer—no matter how small or large your giftedness may be—in his work in your world. There are no exceptions to this rule!

As Irwin said, “It’s all in there. You just have to work at getting it out.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for the gifts, abilities and talents you have given to me. Please help me to identify these, develop them and use them for serving you by helping others and therein help make my world a better place in which to live. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 12:7 (NLT).

2. Seize the Day by Danny Cox and John Hoover, Career Press, Hawthorne, N.J., 1994, p. 81.

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What is Real Love?

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“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”1

A Daily Encounter reader asks, “What is real love? It seems to me that some people who don’t claim to be Christians are more loving and non-judgmental than some Christians I know.”

Dear Sharon (name changed), unfortunately, just because someone claims to be a Christian doesn’t mean that they are a real or an emotionally mature person. It is also true that some non-Christians are more loving and non-judgmental than some Christians because they are more emotionally mature. However, it is important not to determine what love is by human standards but by God’s standards.

The best definition of real love is found in the Bible in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13. It probably would be wise for all of us, including myself, to memorize this entire chapter so it becomes a vital part of our inner belief system. This would definitely help us to act in a loving manner.

As God’s Word says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”2

Thus real love is unconditional; that is, it is love without strings attached. It doesn’t have hidden motives for loving someone. When one gives love it is always gratifying if that love is returned, but real love loves regardless of the response of the other. It always has the other’s best interest at heart—and this sometimes calls for tough love.

The Apostle Paul also noted in this masterpiece on love, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”3 In other words, real love is the fruit, perhaps the highest fruit, of both emotional and spiritual maturity. So to grow in love we need to keep growing in both emotional and spiritual maturity.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to keep growing in spiritual and emotional maturity so that my life will always—in all circumstances—reflect the heart of a truly loving person and therein bring glory to your name. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV).

2. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV).

3. 1 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV).

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Bonding

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“Don’t be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’”1

The first connection every child has is with mother. It starts in the womb and as the newborn child is in his or her mother’s arms (and especially on her breasts) that connection or bonding is reinforced. Unfortunately, the child who doesn’t have healthy bonding in those early years is being programmed for life-long problems unless he goes through recovery. If the child feels no bonding at all, he can die.

Connection and bonding in loving relationships are essential for our entire lifetime. We cannot live healthily without this kind of relationships. As counselors tell us, we cannot not be bonded. Thus, if we are not bonded in healthy ways to healthy people, we will be bonded in unhealthy ways. For example, some people stay in very unhealthy and toxic relationships for fear of being isolated and not connected to someone. Others, if not bonded to people, may be bonded to their work, gambling, drugs, alcohol, sex, or material possessions and so on.

Healthy bonding needs to be a priority of every individual and should be available in every family and every church. If you can’t find it where you are, look for a healthy church where you can get connected in an open, honest, support group. Or find it with some open, non-judgmental healthy friends. If necessary, find it in a recovery or twelve-step group. Healthy bonding and connection to healthy people is essential for healthy, wholesome, and meaningful living.

As the Bible reminds us, the company we keep affects our life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to find at least one safe soul-brother/sister with whom I can be totally open and honest, connected, and bonded in a healthy way, and in so doing help me to stay connected and bonded to you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV).

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Good News for Jerks

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“Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”1

I’m sure you’ve heard or read about the book authored by Thomas Harris, I’m OK–You’re Ok, that was published some years ago. A humorist adapted it to say, “I’m not okay–and you’re not okay–but that’s okay.” I read an even funnier suggestion not so long ago where an author said he would like to write a book and title it, I’m a Jerk–You’re a Jerk (although he used a much stronger word than jerk).

This wasn’t intended to put people down, but to realize that it is such a liberating experience when we admit what we are, because only then are we free to change.

The reality is that everybody at times feels insecure and not okay. And it’s okay to feel this way. Once we admit it, then we don’t have to quit living and pretending as if we don’t feel that way. It’s called being authentic.

It starts with courageous honesty and admitting who and what we are. On one occasion in a support group I was leading after a comment I made to a lady she retorted, “Innes, you are a j with an erk.” So I replied, “You’re correct. Sometimes I am a jerk.” That’s a fact. If I get defensive and deny it, I will never improve, but if I admit this and all my faults, which, by the way is vital for self-acceptance, I am then free to grow and improve.

When we are truly honest with ourselves and learn to love and accept ourselves as we are, warts and all—the way God loves and accepts us—we gain a much healthier sense of self-love and self-acceptance. Realizing however, that while God loves and accepts us as we are, he loves us too much to leave us as we are. His goal is that we not only become followers of Jesus but that we grow to become whole and mature in every area of life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see myself as you see me—warts and all—and learn to love and accept myself as you love and accept me so that I am free to grow and become more and more like Christ in every area of my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 4:15-16 (NLT).

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Perspective

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“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”1

An American visitor in England was driving with a British friend who made a remark about the windscreen of his car needing to be cleaned.

“You mean the windshield, don’t you?” said the American.

“No. Over here, we call it the windscreen,” the Englishman said.

“Then you are wrong,” the American corrected, “because we invented the automobile and we call it a windshield.”

“That is quite true,” countered the Englishman, “but don’t forget who invented the language.”

All of us see things through the lenses shaped and colored by our background. That is, from our perspective. If we would only realize this, many of us wouldn’t be as dogmatic as we sometimes are.

In conflict situations or where there is a difference of opinion we need to say, “This is the way I see it,” and then ask the other person, “And how do you see it?” Not always, but often the truth is somewhere between the two. Remember, too, it is a very insecure person who is dogmatic, never wrong in his own eyes, and consistently has a neurotic need to be right.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to remember that I always see things from my perspective and that others see things from their perspective. Help me always to be willing to look at and genuinely consider others’ point of view, and be ready to see and accept the truth regardless of my personal opinion. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 12:10 (NLT).

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