Unfaithfulness To God
By Not Turning From Our Sins And Living In God's Truth

Why do we sin? Why, when given our freedom and salvation, do we continue in our old ways as though nothing has changed? There are many good ways to stay out of sin, for example: Someone once said to remember all the compliments you receive and to forget the insults, and there is a lot to be learned from this; this one phrase can be used to turn even the worst of situations around so that only good can come of it, there is no reason to dwell on the past, to hold a grudge against someone for something said, unless it is against your God, there is no need for harbored hate for something someone did either to you or someone you know, the Lord only commanded you to love people, not like them, as you know some people don't even like themselves.

Even the apostle Paul speaks of how he will let nothing that has happened to him in the past get in the way of that which he desires most.

From reading this you should see that holding these petty issues will only throw you off course, away from your goal, Christ Jesus and the kingdom of heaven. Aside from fleeting and momentary satisfaction, what good does it really do you to hold on to these things? You become bitter, unhappy and hateful. More importantly, you become utterly useless to God, you start to become angry when good things happen to these people when your life seems to be going down the toilet, within yourself through your hate you murder them over and over again in the spirit. Even this, to God who judges not only the deed but the attitude of heart, to Him even this is the same as the real thing. Do you see how far into sin you can get by not forgiving and forgetting the insults and things done to you?

Do the people you surround yourself with make you the butt of every joke, do they hound you at every slip up, and do they make you miserable every time you see them? Do you hang around them because of where they can get you in life; do you have to hide your faith from them to avoid more ridicule? Or do they encourage you, do they let you know when you are in sin rather than let you go on your merry little way to hell? Do they share in your beliefs and can you openly fellowship with them, knowing that it is God who gets you where HE wants you to be, not where the standards of man tell you that you are meant to be? People who will remind you of what is at stake if you allow yourself to fall into one of the enemy's traps. Let me tell you what God has to say about that:

God is warning you not to fellowship with unbelievers. He encourages you to share the gospel with them, to teach them of God's love, but you are not to live amongst them. If you run with the dogs you're going to get fleas!

You must ask the reason why somebody would sin after being saved and understanding God's love? Why they would keep sin in their life after they have given their life to Christ? Their life is no longer their own and they have kept something back when they have no right to. Why they sin is because they have not given that part of their life to God, they love the sin more than they love God! You are in grave danger of losing your salvation when you withhold any part of yourself from Christ; you are denying Him true freedom to rule supremely in your life. God cannot abide where there is sin, it is through Christ that these habits of the flesh are broken; through our willingness to subject ourselves completely to Christ and to allow Him to mold us into all that He has intended us to become.

There is a difference between the sins that you fall into through lack of good sound judgment that comes from Christ. When we turn our ears to hear the wrong voice, this sin, immediately confessed and repented of, is put behind us. Please make no mistake, sin is sin, it will still send you to hell, but there is a difference. The other type of sin is the habitual sin that you do every day because it gets you what you want and it gives you a bit of a rush when you commit it, you enjoy it. This is the sin that sickens the heart of God; He cannot and will not share you with sin of any kind. You will know you have truly given up that sin when it is repulsive to you; it brings you to tears when you realize that it was keeping you from the fullness of God. Then you will know that you have given that part of your life over to God and then you will not need to do it any more. Then and only then are you truly free indeed.

To get a complete understanding of just how serious it is to withhold anything from God that is rightly His, please turn in your Bibles to the story of Ananias and Sapphira in the book of ACTS 4:32 - 5:11. Now they withheld something that was theirs in the first place, but rather than admit that they were keeping some back for themselves, they lied, to man and God. If they had told the truth, they probably would have lived, but their refusal to be truthful killed them and sent them both to hell. They had a right to the money, but they fell in sin and lied because of greed and desire. In the same instance, God gave you a freewill so that, if you so choose, you would freely love Him in return for the love He has for you. He did not want minions who loved Him because that was how they were programmed to behave, He wants your genuine love, so much so that He sent his Son to die for you. He did this so that if you chose to, you would GIVE your life to Him as completely as He gave his Son for you, holding nothing back. Your salvation is complete and secure in Him if you give your life to Him, because He held nothing back. Doesn't he deserve the same from you, as an ACCEPTABLE sacrifice/ offering as His word says, acceptable, not exceptional?

Without Christ we are nothing but empty vessels that serve no purpose because we serve no-one but ourselves and fulfilling the lusts of our own flesh. ROMANS 12:1 - 2. The Lord instructs us to die to our flesh, to deny it the sinful cravings that it requires to remain in control. Your flesh or the person you were before you gave yourself to Christ can only serve one master and that is Satan; it is by denying him and all he has to offer, accepting all that comes from Christ and conforming to His plan lain out before you through His word and by following His precepts, that you will reclaim your life for Christ, snatching it from the bloodstained hands of the devil.

Do you now see where your sin is taking you, how it is robbing you of the glory of becoming holy and pleasing to God?

Let me show you one more thing, how sin actually disguises itself when you start to become more aware of it, how sneaky it is and how much you need to be aware of how it manipulates and twists things, particularly the blessings of Christ, through the misuse of spiritual gifts and physical blessings the Lord graciously bestows upon you.

Through the misuse of gifts, you see the faults and failings of others and say piously, "Ahh, there but for the grace of God go I." God doesn't care about the fact that you are not in that particular sin, you went after the speck in someone else's eye rather than taking the plank out of your own. In other words, you're so busy digging up the sin of others that you have neglected to deal with your own through confession and repentance. The misuse of gifts is the difference between being a person who is giving and merciful as the Spirit directs, and being a doormat, being an intercessor in prayer and not praying when the Spirit presses upon you to pray. The list goes on and on and it is all because we do not listen to what God is telling us to do: deal with the sin in your life, give and be merciful in times of need but not be taken advantage of, pray when the Lord tells you to: it may be someone in a distant country is held at gunpoint for proclaiming the gospel and could really use a good prayer or cry to God right about now, all these things we miss and fall into sin over because we are back in our flesh.

Through the misuse of blessings sin can run rampant. I will use this example, let's say the Lord gives you the motorcycle you have always wanted and have patiently waited for, believing that if the Lord so desires, He will let you have it. Now the day has come and here it is. You get on your bike and take it for a little spin, you also take it above the speed limit, seeing police coming in the other direction, you slow down, when they pass you by without incident, you then proceed to actually thank God for not getting caught.

Do you realize how ludicrous what you just did is? God has no part with sin, literally spitting in His face you just sinned with one of His blessings, and now you have the audacity to actually thank Him for not getting caught, as if God covers up sin. God is the one who sets out to EXPOSE sin! EPHESIANS 5:8 - 21, nothing is hidden from Him, not now and certainly not at the judgment seat and you thank Him for not getting caught! Praise God and repent for your foolishness, that would be the smart thing to do! Thank Him for His forgiveness, but don't you dare thank Him for covering it up!

Do you see just how a blessing from God can be abused and used for sin? Do you see how Satan will come before God about you and say "Hey God, you know that son of yours. You also know about that bike he's always wanted. I will guarantee you that if you give him that bike he's going to break the law on it and sin, AND, I guarantee you this also, if you allow him to do it without getting caught by the police -and you give him a near miss, he will do it again and again to see just how many times he can get away with it! Let's see if he will be obedient to you or if what I have to offer is just too good to resist." And, you know what? God will allow it to happen. God does not tempt you, he only provides you with opportunities to show your obedience and faithfulness to allow you to grow and become a mature Christian. How you handle these opportunities is up to you and what your priorities are, God and a holy lifestyle, or Satan and all the pleasures of the flesh this world can offer.

The Bible says love covers a multitude of sins 1 PETER 4:7-11. God loved you so much He sent his Son to die for you brutally. Scripture says that you could not tell if He was a man or a beast when they had finished whipping and beating Him. God loves you, but He will not tolerate sin, God's love consists of His grace, He gives us the ability to confess our sins one to another and being able to repent of them to Him. Yes that's right, you have to confess not just to God but to man as well JAMES 5:16, so that you do not hide them to protect your image, it is to humble yourself before man and God. If Jesus can be beaten and hung absolutely naked, no diaper, before a multitude that you might have eternal life and willingly suffer that shame and degradation, then you can certainly confess in the open the sin which He died to save you from!

Do not be embarrassed for you are not the only one who has ever committed that particular sin, though the devil would have you believe otherwise, for there is nothing new under the sun ECCLESIASTES 1:9. Then you have to repent to God for them, and then through His mercy you are forgiven, a clean slate, able to go on and not go back, your sins forgotten by God. God forgives and forgets your sin in the hopes that you will not go back to them like a dog to its vomit. Please keep this in mind and give to God what is rightfully His, your life is better off in His hands, His rewards are greater than anything the devil could ever promise you, and His love more consuming and fulfilling than anything else you could ever imagine, like a fire from within.

In the very words of the apostle Paul, nothing compares to the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord, which can be found in PHILIPPIANS 3:7-9.

I pray your eyes have been opened to the peril of withholding from God what is rightfully His and how the wages of sin is death. Pay heed to all that the Lord instructs you to do, submit yourselves, then, unto God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you, resist your flesh and abhor sin, it will not be easy, but perseverance will see you through with faith in Christ Jesus.

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