- In James 1:8, it says that a "double-minded" person is "unstable in all he does."
- God does not demand a certain level of maturity, intellectual ability or recognition from our peers before He pours His Spirit into our lives. What He requires is our total, unswerving commitment to Him.
- It is not abilities that impress God, but availability.
- Putting Jesus first in our lives has to be worked out on a daily basis, not only during Sundays in church. It has to be lived out in the face of constant pressure to conform to the spirit of this world.
- Jesus wants to give us the strength to withstand this pressure so that we can live our lives to love and please Him.
- We are unable to serve two masters. It is either living for Him or living for ourselves.
- Christians can be free from the power of sin! But there is a price to pay.
- Jesus says, "whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple" in Luke 14:33.
- Christians must pause and count the cost of putting God first in their lives. If we are not ready to make that total commitment, then we need to admit to ourselves that we will never enter into and enjoy victorious Christian living.
- Great nineteenth-century American evangelist Charles Finney actually refuses people who begs to him to pray for their salvation, as he tells them to reconsider and fully weigh the seriousness of their conversion.
- In order to grasp a better understanding of sin, we need to examine what sin is not. Sin is not simply disobeying an arbitrary set of rules.
- Some leaders believe that the way to make people holy is to load them down with a long list of do's and don'ts. However, this only produces guilt and condemnation when we are unable to live up to them all.
- Temptation to sin is not sin, but we often think it is. Satan loves us to believe we've sinned when in fact we have only been tempted.
- If we have nagging feelings of guilt, then we need to ask God to reveal these things to us. He is commited to helping us lead victorious lives and will show us our sins if we ask Him to.
- When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin it will be clear what we have done wrong.
- The purpose of guilt is to show us that we have done wrong and to bring us to Jesus.
- Paul tells us to resist the devil and his temptations, and he will flee from us. It is when we entertain temptation and allow it to grow in our minds that sin is produced.
- If we are tempted and are actively resisting it, then we are not sinning. It is when we welcome it, entertain it and give into it that we have entered into sin.
- Sin is not a product of our environment, and not beyond our control.
- The Bible promises that with every temptation the Lord will make a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). Our challenge is not ot focus on the sin or the tempter, but on the way of escape.
- We are to take responsiblity for our own thoughts and actions. God will hold those who sin responsible for their sin and will allow no excuses for sin.
- Being emotionally hurt by someone is not a sin. However, we must be aware that emotional wounds can easily become an occastion to sin.
- When somebody hurts us deeply, we can either respond in hatred and bitterness or ask God to fill us with His love and not allow the bitterness and an unclean spirit to develop in our hearts.
- Jesus told us to bless those who curse us. If we do not consciously make this effort and invite the Holy Spirit into the situation, then the wrong done to us will produce a harvest of sin in our lives.
- We often focus on outward sins. But Jesus contended that people who plot sin but do not carry it out are as guilty as if they had commited the act.
- God holds us accountable for the intent of our hearts in a way that stands in stark contrast to the world's thinking.
- Sin is a deliberate violation, either by thought or action, of what we know to be right and true in our heart and conscience.
- Sin is breaking God's moral laws. It is giving in to temptation when, at the root of our being, we know it is wrong.
- Sin is rebellion against God, for by willingly committing the sin we are telling God that we know it is wrong, but we still want it.
- Every person is sinful in nature. The important point is that we accept responsiblity for our sinfulness and not blame it on others.
- God has provided a wonderful means of reconciliation and forgiveness, His son Jesus Christ. This is not to say that we will be free from the enticement of sin, but it provides us with the means of winning the struggle with sin and entering into the victorious Christian life.
Indeed we serve a God that purposefully overlooks our talents, our giftings and our skills, no matter how mundane or impressive they are. Rather, He seeks the commitment, the verve and the passion that we bring to His table as an offering of sacrifice. We serve a God that desires for us to be His living testimonies. People that will put all else aside for His Purpose. Men and women who deny themselves the luxuries of the world and offer their lives on this earth as living sacrifices, ready to be broken and moulded by the Potter. People who willingly undergo the process of refining fire instead of enjoying life in lush green meadows. Basically, people who have taken the stand to live by and for God and Him alone, and are paying the earthly price of their choice by sacrificing comfort, personal desires and personal goals in life for the ultimate prize, eternity in Heaven.
Are you ready to make that sacrifice?
I know I am. Though I may fail at times, I am working on being a better Christian every day.
God bless.
4Christ,
†darrenshakers
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