Undercover Sinner

UCSinnerThe world we live in has created a generation of people who always have their defenses up. For our generation it’s become a survival mechanism. We have identity thieves, terrorists, human trafficking, and very real demonic forces that are out to destroy us and our family. And that enemy will use any means necessary to bring us down.

But, when it comes to our Heavenly Father defenses are both not needed and a complete waste. First because He sees us for who we really are, and second, there is no hiding anything from God…PERIOD! Our attempts to hide, mask, or shield ourselves is an insult to the One who created us and knows us inside out.

Like armchair quarterbacks, we sit back with a critical eye on the likes of Adam and Eve, Achan, Ananias and Sapphira, and even King David, and think how naive they must have been to think they could conceal their sin from God.

Yes, they were all feeble attempts at covering up their sin, but really in addition to hiding for fear of punishment, weren’t they responding out of shame as well?

Adam and Eve’s eyes had been opened by the fruit they wrongfully ate and they tried to cover up with fig leaves they haphazardly sewed together to hide the shame of their nakedness.

Certainly, God was angered by their sin, but His first question was, “Who told you, you were naked?” Then, God asked about the fruit. God bemoans the loss of openness before He does the actual sin of eating the fruit.

Why? Because God wants openness, honesty, and purity when it comes to His relationship with you.

No pretense. No shame. No guilt. No fear.

Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

Does any of this sound like God wants us to shy away from His Holy Presence? In fact, when do we need God the most? When we have sinned and fallen short; When we have messed up; when we are feeling suffocated by shame.

Satan knows, just like he did back in the Garden, if he can create a wedge or a wall between us and God, our relationship with God is vulnerable and will severely suffer.

The WORST thing we can do when we sin is try to hide it, cover it up, and allow it to be a constant source of guilt and shame for us and inhibit the flow of God’s Love in our lives.

Pure and simple – God wants a relationship with His Children and has traveled galaxies to make that a reality in our lives.

In fact, God has given us all an opportunity to be open and honest with Him.

1 John 1:8 – 10 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

God has no tolerance for people that try to cover up their sin. He takes it very seriously because it is sin that separates us from Divine Communion with Him.

Friend, sin is a disease that destroys the most valuable commodity we have in eternity, our soul. It will destroy the greatest relationship we could ever have here or in eternity, our relationship with our Creator. Sin destroys relationships both with each other, and with God.

The biggest source of hatred for God against sin isn’t the fact that we’ve sinned, it’s what we do when we do sin, and what sin does to us when it tightens its grip. 

God’s strolling through your life even now looking for Divine Communion with you. Will He find you? Or, will you be hiding in shame, tucked behind the tree, haphazardly wrapped up in fig leaves, cowering in shame because you’re naked, alone, and afraid?

Yes, God’s angry with the sin, but not for the reason you think He is. He’s angered by your loss of innocence; your loss of openness, honesty, and purity. He’s angered that sin has robbed you of the greatest relationship you’ll ever know – His relationship with you.

Today, ask yourself the question, are things as open as they used to be between you and God, or have fig leaves and fruit trees stood in the way of God have complete access to your heart, and you having complete access to His Love, Grace, and Mercy?

  • Don’t try and cover up your sin.
  • Don’t try and avoid what you’ve done.
  • Don’t try and defend what you’ve done.
  • Don’t simply be ashamed of what you’ve done.
  • Don’t live a life of guilt and separation from the One who loves you the most.

Take it all to God today. Enter boldly before His throne.

  • Confess
  • Repent
  • Release
  • Accept forgiveness
  • Never do it again!

Move toward the open and loving arms of a merciful and compassion Savior.

“Serminutes” – Sermon in a Minute.  One Minute Inspirational Sermonettes, Devotionals, and Sermon Ideas for Busy Christians, Pastors, Teachers, and Bible Students!  Visit our ABOUT PAGE  for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you.  ~ RD Mangold

Sequence of Temptation

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.  13There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 14Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. (Passage Link – I Cor. 10:12-14)

In the plush green Garden of Eden, God commanded Adam not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Evidently Eve was told not to even “touch” the fruit (See Gen. 3:2-4) or she would die.

Understand the sequence of Eve’s Temptation…

 

  • TEMPTING
  • TOUCHING
  • TASTING
  • SHAME
  • SEPARATION

This sequence reveals the pitfalls of unbridled passion, obsession and fantasizing. Rationalizing there’s no harm in just “thinking” about a wicked act, couldn’t be farther from the truth. One element inevitably will lead to the next. When in the throes of temptation is not the optimal time to set your limit, rather, make up your mind now, while it is sound, without the influence of a power or passion that will so overtake you, that it is too great for even the purest resolve.

The decline is rapid and sure, like a wave crashing into the shore whose undercurrents will draw you deeper and farther than you ever wanted to go. Succumbing to depraved desire for something or someone, or surrendering to an insatiable habit or elicit addiction challenges our true devotion to God which paves the way to idolatry and we’re instructed to “flee from idolatry!”

God will faithfully provide the “way of escape,” but it will be you that must follow the escape plan; the path is clearly marked, but it’s you who must walk it! (Passage Link – Psalm 119:104-106)

“Serminutes” – Sermon in a Minute.  One Minute Spiritual Sermonettes and Sermon Ideas  for Busy Christians, Pastors, Teachers, and Bible Students!  Visit our ABOUT PAGE  for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you.  Rev. RD Mangold

Who Was Tempting Who?

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Matthew 4:1

Ironically, the devil can’t resist a good temptation nor can he resist spreading lies. He started in Eden and he hasn’t stopped since. He relished the idea of bringing God’s first created humans to their demise. Satan salivated at the idea of making God’s perfect and upright servant Job curse God. Then Lucifer lasciviously set his sights on Jesus Christ!

The devil attacking when he believed Christ was at His weakest, soon found himself face to face with the conqueror of all conquerors; the King of all Kings; the Lord of all Lords! With each temptation Christ stealthily wielded the Sword of the Spirit defeating the devil on each front – lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life!

The devil is the very embodiment of evil, wickedness, and pride – He was just prideful enough to think he even stood a chance of bringing the likes of Jesus Christ to his knees. It was the devil’s own foolish pride that tempted him into tempting Jesus! It’s almost as if God, knowing the devil couldn’t resist the temptation of tempting Jesus, allowed it to happen to crush Satan one more time! Knowing this fact, one could argue…who was tempting who?

“Serminutes” – Sermon in a Minute. A one minute spiritual pick-me-up for busy Christians!  Visit this POST for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you. Rodger Mangold

God Cannot Lie

 “Let God be true, but every man a liar…” Romans 3:4

Humanity’s first ever encounter with Satan was laden with insidious deceit. He twisted the truth just enough to convince Eve to take that fateful bite. Satan called God a liar then, and hasn’t stopped spreading his despicable delusions since. When will the people of God stand up and bear witness? GOD CANNOT LIE! God’s Word is absolute, infallible, eternal, and forever settled outlasting both Heaven and Earth! God has magnified His Word “above all” His Name. [Ps. 138:2]

Just by virtue of who God is, He is incapable of lying. The Creative Omniscient Power of God is so vast, the moment He spoke what could defy human logic or the laws of physics, it would cease to NOT be true. So incredible is His power, the moment the words leave God’s lips, it becomes TRUTH! Jesus said it best, “With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” [Matt. 19:26]

In the words of God Himself, “So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”  [Isa. 55:11]

“Serminutes” – Sermon in a Minute. A one minute spiritual pick-me-up for busy Christians!  Visit this POST for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you. Rodger Mangold

Immobilizing Effects of Guilt

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8

For Adam and Eve, hearing God’s voice meant a visit with the Creator. Each encounter with God brought another blessing; a new tree from which to eat, a new flower upon which to gaze, a new creation for which to praise Him. But this time God’s presence brought fear. Guilt and shame reared their ugly heads. Adam and Eve knew death was the punishment for disobedience. Like children, they ran and hid prolonging their impending doom.

Guilt leaves us feeling unworthy of a relationship with our Creator. Guilt, a close cousin to Fear, immobilizes us like a deer in the headlights. But God’s perfect love casts out all fear. He desires to reconcile with humanity. Don’t turn a deaf ear to the overtures of Grace. Don’t spurn the love of your Heavenly Father. Don’t ignore His outstretched hand. Doing so means an outcome we all dread – eternal separation from the very one who died to save us!

“Serminutes” – Sermon in a Minute. A one minute spiritual pick-me-up for busy Christians!  Visit this POST for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you. Rodger Mangold

The Answer is IN You

We keep looking for the answers to come from outside us, but God promised Eve that her “seed” would deliver her!  What God births FROM US is the thing that will deliver us!  “OUT OF YOUR BELLY shall flow RIVERS of living water!

Eve believed God’s Word SO much when she bore a son, She said, I’ve gotten a “man” from God.  Her faith was that this child was her Promise!  Every time she birthed a son she had the hope this could be the One who would destroy the thing destroying her…Her “seed”…Whatever God speaks into you…His Word CANNOT FAIL, IT WILL COME TO PASS!

 ~ From T.D. Jakes’ sermon, The Blood Speaks

From Guest Author Rev. James Willoughby is an Evangelist and Bible Teacher, as well as a published author. His teaching ministry, Focal Points carries him into many different venues. Emphasizing…discipleship training, small group development, structures and strategies for leadership, and ministry mentoring for young men and women. His evangelistic ministry has been blessed of God with great anointing, and powerful demonstration of the Spirit in healings and miracles as he ministers the Word of Faith. View all posts by jswilloughby →

“Serminutes” – Sermon in a Minute. A one minute spiritual pick-me-up for busy Christians!  Visit this POST for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you. Rodger Mangold

Where God Dwells

God has always desired to commune with His Creation. “Where are you?” God called to a missing Adam in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8). God inhabits the praises of his people (Ps. 22:3). God is with the humble in spirit (Isa. 57:15). He is close to those with broken heart (Ps. 34:18). Now we have gone from God dwelling around us, near us, or even by our sides, to “Christ in us, the hope of glory (Co. 1:27)!

“Serminutes” – Sermon in a Minute. A one minute spiritual pick-me-up for busy Christians!  Visit this POST for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you.