Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “sin

Sin and Pain

What happens when people are in chaos? What happens when people are in pain? One time I hurt my lower back very badly. I was lying there in the bed crying and groaning because I was in such tremendous pain. Emotional pain as well as physical pain can cause great agony in someone’s life. In Rom.8:19,22 the Bible talks about the earth groaning, creation groaning because creation is suffering from the pain of sin. In sin is that which is outside the order of God. When God gave us the Ten Commandments, He didn’t give us the Ten Commandments so He could be a mean old Father. Some people see Him just yelling “Thou shall not do this. Thou shall not do that. Thou shalt sit still and do nothing”. That’s not why God gave us the Ten Commandments. Why do you think God said, “Thou shall not commit adultery”? There would be no sexual disease if there were no adultery or fornication. Marriages and whole families would not be destroyed. If we stay inside God’s order, if we stay inside the safe boundaries that God sets there is righteousness, peace and joy. When we get outside of the lines and the boundaries, there is pain.


Repentance, Release and Change

Kathy — Repentance ushers in release and change for everyone. One reason we holding headavoid it is shame locks us down. The fact that we need to think differently and change feels like an indictment against our self-image or even worse, against our Christianity. That’s the deception of shame in action. The truth is that repentance brings healthy changes and change is part of the process of maturing and overcoming.  2Co.7:10, TPT — “God designed us to feel remorse over sin in order to produce repentance that leads to victory. This leaves us with no regrets. But the sorrow of the world works death.”


Righteousness Exalts, Sin Disgraces

Commandments.jpgCould it be that terrorists may not be afraid of our nation because our nation has not kept the commandments of the Lord God and walked in His ways? When the peoples of the earth see that we are called by the name of the LORD, they will fear us. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. Just quoting the Bible: Deut.28:9-10; Prov.14:34. 


Don’t Disengage From God’s Best

leaving trackThe definition of “sin” in Thayer’s Lexicon is “to be without a share in; to miss the mark”. But a good look at Jn.3:16, beyond the mere King James English, would show us what an all-wise, beneficent God has done and why He has done it. Inspired by Simon Purvis’ teaching on this verse I offer this take on it:  “For God so loved His created order of people and things that He gave His only Begotten Son, so people might receive His loving government, so that He might bring them back into His order, to preserve their life as it was originally meant to be before they gave themselves over to a lifestyle of disorder.” (Jn.3:16, my paraphrase) Considering Thayer’s definition and the context of Jn.3:16 this might be helpful in understanding what sin is:  to live a lifestyle of decision-making and acts that disengage us from God’s very best, that would take us to the fulfillment which shows His purpose for us by what is lived out in our life.
(This is the fifth excerpt from Marty’s article “Don’t Stop Short” which was published in SEEC Magazine. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Previous excerpts may be read by scrolling down this page.)


Stopping Short – Missing The Mark

Religion tends to view “sin” as acts that are really nasty or really noxiously rebellious or destructive to others, while readily justifying and excusing arrow targetourselves from stopping short of the fullness of the purpose and plan of God for our individual lives. An individual stopping short of the Lord’s design for his/her life does not bring forth the glory of God, as intended, in that person’s lifestyle in their lifetime. Accepting Jesus as Savior just to get the heaven-or-hell issue taken care of does not, altogether, necessarily solve the “stopping short” or “missing the mark” issue. Teachers typically give the definition of “sin” as “missing the mark”. Often, they will use a target and bow and arrow as a very good illustration. But not only is it possible to miss the bullseye by hitting to the right or left of it, it is also possible to “miss the mark” by not pulling back sufficiently on the bowstring to get the arrow to the target, thereby, causing the arrow to fall short. An inadequate or inappropriate attempt will “stop short”.

(This is the fourth excerpt from Marty’s article “Don’t Stop Short” which was published in SEEC Magazine. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Previous excerpts may be read by scrolling down this page.)


2013 Downloads

2013 Downloads by Kathy Gabler

I heard a prophetic word recently that we are at the end of a 36 month siege on the mind and circumstances, and that we are entering a new chapter of two talkingour lives.  That was good news to me and it aligns with some of my meditations for this year.  As I awoke recently, Isaiah1:18, was on my mind. “Come let us reason together,” means let us correct, make right or decide together.  Coming out of a time of a mental siege is an ideal time to hear a call to make changes for the future.  “Though your sins be as scarlet,” says that our shortfalls and missing-the-mark failures are as obvious as a bloody nose, and it is time to confront issues in our lives so the outcomes ahead will be “as white as snow.”  The focus in this scripture is cooperating with God who is at work in us through the process of reasoning together to get us into the next chapter.

“Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isa.1:18)

(This is the first in  a series by Kathy Gabler from her SEEC Magazine article “2013 Downloads”)

Melissa Gabler and the Grace Worship Band

Worship songs from Concerning The Kingdom Conference 2013

“Our Father”

CLICK HERE FOR #1: http://martygabler.podomatic.com/entry/2013-03-21T10_26_44-07_00

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