"Guilty Without Guilt"

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8

I want to talk about guilt this morning. In the English language the word guilt is a noun and a verb. The word guilt used as a noun means that it's a fact that you have committed some offense, some wrong doing or violated some law. Guilt as a verb deals with the feeling of remorse over some wrong that you have done. For example, the feeling of guilt may come as a result of cheating on your spouse. You betrayed the love that they gave you by giving yourself to someone else. It may come because you said something hurtful or harmful and now you wish you could take those words back because of the pain they inflicted. Parents often feel guilty because they did not spend time with their children while they were growing up. Some suffer with guilt because they committed a crime against another person through theft, murder, abuse, etc.

The guilt we feel is because we are in fact truly guilty of doing what we are feeling guilty about. It is not because we are innocent. I want to encourage you that if you are dealing with guilt today over something you did that you have repented of and received forgiveness from, the Lord wants to deliver you from it.

Look at the life of the Apostle Paul. He was guilty of persecuting the church. His occupation was to seek out those who were living for Christ and have them imprisoned or put to death. Then one day he had an encounter with the Lord on the Damascus Road and his life was forever changed. Instead of persecuting the church, he became part of it and preached the same gospel that he had tried to destroy. Although Paul was guilty of all the things we just said, he did not live in guilt over them. Had he, he would have never been able to preach the saving, healing, delivering message of Jesus. The guilt would have stopped him every time he opened his mouth. The point I want to make from the life of Paul is that while he was guilty, he did not live in guilt. And you don't have to either. The Lord wants to deliver you from the guilt of what you have done and give you healing and forgiveness. Did Paul still endure some things because of his guilty act? Yes. But he did not endure the struggle of wresting with those guilty feelings- he had peace, his guilt was gone.

Are you wresting with guilt? Are you guilty of doing the thing that you are having remorse over but you can't get past the guilt of it? The same healing that was available for Paul is available for you. The same peace that the Lord gave to him He wants to give to you. He wants to deliver you from the guilt.

The enemy wants to keep you bound in guilt so that he can stop you from fulfilling God's purpose and accomplishing God's plan for your life. He wants to keep you feeling guilty so that you will not pursue a relationship with the Lord.

This morning, take your guilt to God. Ask for His forgiveness, then let Him take the guilt away and give you peace.

Have a great day. You may be guilty, but the Lord wants to deliver you from the guilt.

For further reading:
Romans 8:1
1 John 1:9
Acts 9:1-26

"What Happens In Church"

"He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation'." Mark 16:15

You've heard the motto on commercials that says, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas".  Others have decided to adopt the same motto, such as, "What happens at grandma's, stays at grandma's", or "What happens at home, stays at home"... etc. 

I am concerned that the church has adopted that same motto, or mentality-- "What happens in church, stays in the church".  In other words, what the Lord does for us while we are in church, our worship, our encouragement, our faith strengthened, our strength renewed, the miracles that take place, the praise that is offered up, we tend to leave behind when we leave the church building.  This is not God's plan.  He doesn't intend for His church to leave what He does for them when they gather together locked up inside the church walls until we gather for the next service.  He wants us to take it outside the walls with us.  He wants us to take it into the highways and byways, into the work place, into the grocery store, to the school campuses, into our community.  It was never suppose to "stay in the church".  The great commission that we were given was for us to go into all the world and preach the gospel-- share the good news, share our praise, share our faith with others, especially the lost.  

What happens in church isn't just for the church.  It is to equip the church and strengthen the church to be the church outside the walls and to let others know about the love, salvation and grace of God that comes through Jesus Christ.  

Are you leaving what the Lord did at church for you behind you when church is over?  Are you letting it stay in church until next service time?  Or are you taking it with you wherever you go?

Have a great day.  What happens in church is not suppose to stay in church, it is supposed to be shared with others.    

"Evidence"

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:35

If you say you are a Christian, how much evidence is there in your life to back it up? It is one thing to say you are something and it is another thing to actually be what you say you are. When my first granddaughter was little, she would come to me from time to time with her hands in the air saying, "I am a bear.. growl!". Another day she would be on her hands and knees on the floor saying she was a horse. Of course, she was not a bear, she was not a horse, or anything else she pretended to be. Just because she said she was something didn't make it so.

Just because we say we are Christians doesn't make it so either. There has to be some evidence in our lives to back it up. And sometimes the things that we think are "evidence" are not. My granddaughter thought that just because she growled like a bear, showed me her teeth and made a fierce face, I will believe that she was one. Some people think that just because they do some "Christian things" that this is enough evidence to prove that they are a Christian.

The true evidence is internal evidence, not external. It is who you are on the inside, not just what you do on the outside. You may do some good deeds that look like what a Christian does, but that doesn't mean that you actually are one. Just because my granddaughter imitated a bear didn't make her one- that was not enough evidence to prove she was one.

The real evidence that we are a Christian comes from within- out of the heart. It is not something you can imitate, it is something that is either there or it isn't, and it is something that only God's Holy Spirit can put in and produce in you. Is the evidence that you are a Christian just your words professing that you are one, or is the evidence a Christ-like heart being manifested in your life.

Have a great day. What is the evidence in your life that gives proof to your profession that you are a Christian?

For further reading:
Matthew 7:20; 15:19
Galatians 5:22,23
Titus 1:16

"Road of Departure"

"For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God." Psalm 18:21

Not only was the verse above the testimony of the Psalmist, it's the key to not departing from the Lord. Sadly, some have departed from the Lord going back to their old ways- Paul even addressed this in his letters to the churches. "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:" (Philippians 3:18) He also gave a warning that in the last days some would depart from the faith. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." (1 Timothy 4:1)

So what is this key? How do we keep from departing from the Lord? How do we continue to stay close to Him? By "keeping the ways of the Lord". His "ways" literally means- to go in His direction and follow His path. We do this through keeping His commandments and submitting to His will.

You can't obey and disobey the Lord's commandments at the same time. You can't keep His ways and your own ways at the same time. You can't follow His will and your own will both at once. His will will always take you in a different direction than the will of your own flesh. So you will either have to go in one direction or the other. Physically speaking, I can't go to the left and right at the same time. When I get in my car and start driving, I can't go north and south at the same time. I either have to drive in the direction of north or south, but not both. It's the same in dealing with our spiritual life. We can't do both- we can't go in God's direction and our own at the same time.

If you feel yourself getting further away from the Lord it is because you are not keeping His ways- you are going in another direction and that direction, since it is not His direction, is leading you away from Him. The solution is to repent, turn around, then start following His direction. You will find that when you do, you will be getting closer to Him and off the road of departure from Him.

Have a great day. Following the Lord's direction will keep us from departing from Him.

For further reading:
Proverbs 4:4; 3:1; 7:2; 5:7

"Equipped With Strength"

"It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect." Psalm 18:32

Stop saying you are weak! Stop saying that you can't do it- that you are just too weak and don't have the strength! "Let the weak say, I am strong; strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." (Joel 3:10; Ephesians 6:10) Yes, in and of yourself you are weak and can do nothing, but as a born again child of God you are no longer too weak to do any task that He sets before you. You are no longer too weak to stand before the enemy. Why? Because He "girdeth" you with strength. (Translated- He equips you with strength.) He equips you with the strength that you need to "run through a troop", to "stand and face your Goliath"; to "preach the gospel", to "lay aside every weight of sin that would beset you". This means that you can now do "all things through Christ which strengthens you".

We have been equipped with everything we need to live victoriously- including strength. The strength that He has equipped us with is His very own strength. It is the same strength that was in Jesus when He stood against the devil's temptations in the wilderness; when He went about doing good; when He was daily confronted by His accusers; when He humbled Himself in Gethsemane and surrendered to the will of the Father. It is the same strength that caused Him to endure the shame and the pain in order to pay the price for our sins on the cross.

We do not have to cave in to weakness because not only is His strength available to us, it is part of what He has equipped us with in order to live the life that He has called us to live. Do we have moments when we feel weak? Yes, we do. But in those times we can't give into the weakness and just stop or give up. We have to look to the One who "infuses" us with His strength and get our strength renewed. "I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]." (Philippians 4:13- Amplified Bible) And when we go to Him for renewed strength, He promises us that we will receive it. "For my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

If this describes you this morning, you do not have to be weak, the Lord has equipped you with His strength. And you won't be weak if you will "put on" the strength that He has equipped you with.

Have a great day. We have been equipped with the Lord's strength so we aren't weaklings.

For further reading:
Psalm 18:29; 39; 138:3
Hebrews 12:1
2 Timothy 4:17