Secret Sins

“He who covers his sins will not prosper,
      But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy”.                  Prov. 28:13 NKJV      

People can block the power of God in their lives because of secret sins.

We are accountable for our sins.  Our relationship with Christ can become separated and fellowship is broken when we chose to live with secret sins.

Many times after we commit our sins, we then try to justify them, excuse them and rationalize them.   We feel we must defend ourselves by blaming others or convincing ourselves that “it’s really not that bad.”  However hiding the sin is worse.

Sin that comes between man and God is bad but the worst part is when we try to hide it.

For the most part, the “Achan” ….one who hides their sins, puts up a good front. They do all the right things, they try to convince everyone they are good, upright, honest Christians and that they are servants of God and givers.

“Achan’s” sin is not in public and not in the house of God, but it is hidden in his/her home.    

They live under the cloud of denial and deception that there is nothing wrong with their life because they attend church, worship and give money in the offering.

Sadly, it is not so much in public but in private that our lives dishonor God.

God is just, merciful and loves you!  But God must judge and punish unconfessed and unrepented sins. He is willing to forgive when we confess our sins.

Remember failure, defeat and the wrath of God does not come upon us because we have sinned, it is because we covered our sins.  We do NOT hate them!   We do NOT weep over our sins.   We do NOT take God’s Word to heart and allow our hearts to be broken. We choose to continue living with secret sins because we want to be in control.

Repentance means dying to our flesh and totally surrendering to Jesus Christ.

People do not go to hell simply because they are sinners. They go because they will not repent of their sins.   It is a choice and God will not infringe upon our free will.

I John 1:9  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Are you willing to diligently search your heart’s desires?

Are you willing to examine all the things you do, think and love in order to find the “Achan” in your life?

Are you a Pharisee, doing the outward deeds of Christianity to be seen by men?

Hidden Sins Part V

“..you are not yet spiritual. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves that you are not spiritual and that you are acting like the people of this world”.        I Cor. 3:3  CEV

Physical sickness and trouble is often a sign of God’s displeasure for our sins.    In I Cor. 11:27-32 there were many who died and others who were sick and weak as a result of God’s judgment on their sins.   Though they were Christians they were not prospering and it was because their sins were hidden and unconfessed.

James 5:16 tells us to “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

Other Scriptures also indicate that sickness is often the natural result of sin.   Prosperity can be hindered by hidden and unconfessed sin.

Revival is hindered when the power of God is blocked by hidden sins.

Unconfessed sin in the hearts and lives of God’s people ….sin in the churches….sin in the preachers….sin in the elders......sin in the congregation will stop the flow of God’s power and presence.

If hearts are not being broken and lives are not being changed, then sin is the reason.

Far too many people and churches have covered their sins and consequently there is no change and no growth.

There are times God demands action instead of words!

“So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God”.     Matt. 5:23-24   GNT

Hidden Sins Part IV

“He who covers his sins will not prosper,
      But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy”.  Prov. 28:13 NKJV

Sin that is unconfessed, sin that is excused, sin that is unlamented, sin that is ‘justified’, sin without any self-judgment is certain to bring the wrath of a holy and righteous God!   You will never get away with hidden sins.

There is a terrible curse of God on hidden sins.   One of the most extraordinary examples of the fact that God cannot abide hidden sins is found in Joshua chapter seven.

One man had sinned and that sin marred the fellowship between God and His people.  One sin completely stopped the flow of His power.

The sin of Achan brought defeat and ruin to Israel.   (Josh. 7:2-5)

This proves that sin will bring a curse upon our lives, our families, our churches and nation.   Sin causes separation from God! That separation opens the door for Satan to enter in.  He will use deception to hold you in denial, to continue living under the false pretense of being in God’s presence.

The Word clearly states Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (II Cor. 11:14)

Hidden sins bring failure, shame and disgrace.

   “…it is no wonder. Even Satan tries to make himself look like an angel of light.  So why does it seem strange for Satan's servants to pretend to do what is right? Someday they will get exactly what they deserve”.   II Cor. 11:14-15  CEV

Hidden Sins Part III

“You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you”.   Prov. 28:13  GNT

Our “will” is the power by which the mind makes choices and then acts to carry them out.   At first a person engages in some forbidden pleasure because they want to, but if they keep going back to it, they soon find that they have no strength to resist it.  They have no will power to resist and a battle between right and wrong engulfs.

Once a thought or act becomes a habit, it is a short step to a necessity.  The old adage is true: “Sow an act and reap a habit; sow a habit and reap a character; sow a character and reap a destiny”.

You will reap with you sow…….good or bad fruit.     People can look at your life and see the type of fruit you are producing: good or rotten fruit.   They will be able to see how much or lack of Jesus reigns in your heart.   There will be evidence of change: good or bad.  They will see Christ emerging or no growth…...a stale…..decaying life.    Your life will be just like it was last week, last month, last year …..No change!

Hidden sins will prevent growth in Christ; consequently there will be no change: just an increase in deception, lies and denial.

A person harboring hidden sins learns how to play the “game” of Christianity by the greatest teacher himself, Satan.

   

“I wish my head were a well of water,
      and my eyes a fountain of tears,
   so that I could cry day and night
      for my people who have been killed.
 I wish I had a place to stay in the desert
      where I could get away from my people.
   They are all unfaithful,
      a mob of traitors.
  They are always ready to tell lies;
      dishonesty instead of truth rules the land.

   The Lord says, “My people do one evil thing after another
      and do not acknowledge me as their God.

  Everyone must be on guard against their friends,
      and no one can trust their relatives;
   for all relatives are as deceitful as Jacob,
      and everyone slanders their friends.

 They all mislead their friends,
      and no one tells the truth;
   they have taught their tongues to lie
      and will not give up their sinning.

   They do one violent thing after another,
      and one deceitful act follows another.

   The Lord says that his people reject him”.  Jer. 9:1-6  GNT

Hidden Sins Part II

“You can't whitewash your sins and get by with it;
   you find mercy by admitting and leaving them”.    Prov.  28:13  Message Bible

Jesus warns His disciples to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”   He explains to them “that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees”.  (Matt. 16:6-12)

The OT and NT both use leaven as a symbol of sin because of what it does to bread dough.  Once yeast enters the dough, it immediately begins to spread by breaking down in reaction to the dough’s sugars and produces a gas that puffs the bread up.

Like leaven, when sin enters a person’s life, it begins to corrupt and puff them up with vanity.  A person enslaved by habitual sin will have a difficult time growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus because of sin’s corrupting influences.  Sin defiles and can permanently destroy our relationship with God and each other.

Happy Mother’s Day

Mom,

To me you are the best!

Your laughter can fill my heart,

In such a special way,

You are al the many little things

That make each day an inspiration.

A Mothers love is unselfish,

For she sees with her heart

And not her mind.

To me you are a hope and faith

That seems to know no end.

You are an understanding friend and encourager.

You are a helping hand when troubles come my way.

A Mother’s love cannot be bought,

It is priceless and free!

It gives more than it takes.

A Mother’s love remains forever!

You’re everything that I could wish for…..

Thank you, Mom for all the sacrifices you made for me!

I thank God for giving me you..….as my Mom!

I Love You Mom!

Happy Mother’s Day!

False Teachers/Show-Christians

“I pray that God will greatly bless you with kindness, peace, and love!

My dear friends, I was doing my best to write to you about the salvation we share in common, when I felt the need of writing at once to encourage you to fight on for the faith which once and for all God has given to his people.

For some godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us, persons who distort the message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and who reject Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. Long ago the Scriptures predicted the condemnation they have received.

For even though you know all this, I want to remind you of how the Lord once rescued the people of Israel from Egypt, but afterward destroyed those who did not believe. Remember the angels who did not stay within the limits of their proper authority, but abandoned their own dwelling place: they are bound with eternal chains in the darkness below, where God is keeping them for that great Day on which they will be condemned.

Remember Sodom and Gomorrah, and the nearby towns, whose people acted as those angels did and indulged in sexual immorality and perversion: they suffer the punishment of eternal fire as a plain warning to all.

 In the same way also, these people have visions which make them sin against their own bodies; they despise God's authority and insult the glorious beings above.         

But these people attack with insults anything they do not understand; and those things that they know by instinct, like wild animals, [they] are the very things that destroy them.   How terrible for them!

They have followed Cain's example and have made the same mistake that Balaam did by caring only for money. They have also rebelled against God, just as Korah did.  Because of all this, they will be destroyed.

These people are filthy minded, and by their shameful and selfish actions they spoil the meals you eat together.

 They take care only of themselves.

They are like clouds carried along by the wind, but bringing no rain. They are like trees that bear no fruit, even in autumn, trees that have been pulled up by the roots and are completely dead.

They are like wild waves of the sea, with their shameful deeds showing up like foam. They are like wandering stars, for whom God has reserved a place forever in the deepest darkness.

It was Enoch, the seventh direct descendant from Adam, who long ago prophesied this about them:
         “The Lord will come with many thousands of his holy angels to bring judgment on all, to condemn them all for the godless deeds they have performed and for all the terrible words that godless sinners have spoken against him”!

 These people grumble, complain, blame others and live by their own selfish desires. They brag about themselves and flatter others to get their own way.

 But remember, my friends, what you were told in the past by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

They said to you, when the last days come, people will appear who will make fun of you, people who follow their own godless desires.  These are the people who cause divisions, who are controlled by their natural desires, who do not have the Spirit.

But you, my friends, keep on building yourselves up on your most sacred faith.  Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and keep yourselves in the love of God, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy to give you eternal life

 Offer praise to God our Savior because of our Lord Jesus Christ! Only God can keep you from falling and make you pure and joyful in his glorious presence. Before time began and now and forevermore, God is worthy of glory, honor, power, and authority. Amen”.

Jude     (CEV/GNT)