Having just read Jeremiah and then Lamentations , for what must be at least the fiftieth time , I am struck again by the absence of a character from those books . The books , as most of you know , tell the story of the end of the Kingdom of Israel and the sorrow of the prophet Jeremiah as he witnesses this awful event . After many warnings from God , through His prophets , Israel as a nation is finally punished for its continued sinful behaviour . Reading carefully we can see just how sinful Israel have been and just how severely God punishes them . Satan / the devil , whatever you wish to call him is absent from this narrative . God makes it very clear that Israel , a nation of disobedient humans , is being punished for their refusal to have faith in and respect for the Holy One of Israel . Israel acknowledge their sinfulness and don't blame anyone or anything for their sinfulness other than themselves . It seems things were much simpler and more honest in those days . Why aren't we as Christians as simple and honest about our own sinful behaviour anymore ? I don't blame anyone or anything for my own sinfulness . I know what I am . Christ is coming , repent , acknowledge your sinfulness , don't try to blame some kind of malevolent phantom for your own sins . God requires honesty and acknowledgement and confession from us . If we want to get to know God we must first know ourselves , what we are . Sinful flesh in desperate need of forgiveness and reconciliation . Only God can give us that through Christ but we must know ourselves and confess our state and ask for forgiveness . We can't ask for forgiveness for our sins if we are not 100 per cent convinced that we and we alone are responsible for them . Humility is required . Genuine humility only comes from recognising what you are , how low we are and how high above us God is . Christ is coming ! Don't be deceived !
Thanks for this wise counsel, like David, realized that HE had sinned against God with Bathsheba, did not blame it on her, and was repentant and sought the Lord for forgiveness and to be cleansed from HIS own sin. He did not blame the devil or other persons or circumstances.
Sometimes I hear people excuse sinful behavior in themselves or others by saying, "well we are only human" or "it's o.k., it is human nature to do so." And while this is true that our human nature is the reason we sin, it is who we are and therefore due to our own volition that we give into our sinful nature to disobey God. We can glibly pass over our failure to do as God wishes not just by shrugging our shoulders and saying, "aw, I am just being human" (because there is no admission of or remorse for sin in such a statement), we also fail to confess to God that we have sinned. But as believers, we should take sin seriously no matter how "natural" it is to sin. We should acknowledge that even the slightest sin is a huge offense against God that needed the sacrifice of Jesus to remit it.
As we grow in Christ, we become more and more of these "slight" sins and want to tur from them. We come to recognize the sinfulness of some of our character habits and even our thought patterns. We come to understand more and more and ever more deeply how much we need God's justification in our lives and that this is only through Jesus. We come to treasure so sweetly our Lord and what He has done for us. We come to more profound gratitude for being reconciled to God in Christ. We come to desire His ways more and more and become more determined to walk by the power of the holy Spirit to war against our sinful nature and subdue it to overcome sin in our lives on a daily basis. We desire more and more to have a clear conscience before God, knowing that He knows us totally; more that we know ourselves. And we realize that because he has chosen us for salvation and glory, He will complete it all in us.
Yes Jema, this is the Scriptures that your post reminded me of. We are like Paul in the ways we imitate his example and one example he set is an acknowledgement of his sinfulness and need for the salvation of Jesus and the life He alone gives. He directs us to our Savior and the true way to come to Him. He stands for truth and does not desire to follow any slick leader. He here in these chapters shows us his humility by admitting to his own struggles with overcoming sin in every area of his life.
Jema, I will be praying for you in what you have shared about a few areas of your life you are desiring to nix out of your life at this time.
Thanks for being honest about your weakness, as Paul was. And I can admit that I am prone to laziness, too. I also need to do better at listening closely to what others are saying to me in conversation and not speaking too hastily in response. I have a fast mind, and that gets the better of me at times. I want to use this wisely and be a better conversationalist. So you can pray for me about these things.
Amen Jema Amen. I have been a Christian for 57 years and everyday I ask for forgiveness. Everyday I pray that I please Him. That everything be for His honor and glory. I, myself, am ready to go home.
Oh I know how you feel ! I am so ready , every day I pray Thy Kingdom Come . All day every day all I see is death and pain every where . Only God can save us , from our own selves and from each other . Thy Kingdom Come ! Much love in Christ .
What do you believe happened at the death and resurrection of Christ?
WERE your sins COVERED (forgiven) by the blood of Christ?
If not, WHEN are you going to be forgiven?
If they are forgiven why do you keep asking for forgiveness?
God ONLY ask that we walk in the TRUTH of HIS WORKS.
You DIED on the cross of Christ, YOU were raised with Christ, a NEW CREATION; HIS FLESH.
YOUR his body, and he is the HEAD of YOU, his BODY.
1 John 3:9 Whosoever is BORN of GOD (raised as ONE with Christ) cannot commit sin, because HIS SEED remaineth IN HIM: and he CANNOT SIN, because HE is BORN of GOD (raised as ONE with Christ).
Man teaches that Christens sin and need to constantly ask for forgiveness.
Sons of God understand the WORKS of the cross of Christ.
REPENTING of sin (unbelief) means turning from deception to truth.
God bless you too , we are in agreement . I believe that often people who continue to do things that they know are not what God wants from them , sin in other words , they don't really believe in God or the works of Christ . Plenty of times ,we read in the Old Testament , Israel saying things like : where is the God of Israel ? God does not see ! This is unbelief , which leads to sinful behaviour . Belief makes a person want to do the right thing , unbelief makes a person continue to walk in the darkness and not mind that they do so Hebrews Ch 11 V 6 . Recognizing our sinfulness comes from believing in God . You are correct that we must be confident and joyful in this life , knowing , believing and rejoicing in God's forgiveness through Christ but in order to do this I think that we must first recognise our sinfulness . Lately I feel that my behaviour in one or two ways has been slipping a bit and I've been excusing myself because I've been under a bit of stress lately . But I don't want to slip ! I want God to remind me that He expects better of me ! Hebrews Ch 12 V 5-29 . I need , I want to be reminded and corrected . I'm lazy and inclined to live by the sight of my eyes .
Ezekiel 36:27 I WILL put my Spirit IN YOU and CAUSE you to walk in my statutes and keep my judgements and DO THEM.
The WORD says it is God that CAUSES you to SLIP; but, the WORD also says ALL THINGS work together, even the slips we make, for the good of THOSE who love the WORKS of God.
Read and STUDY Isaiah 10.
God runs the lives of every man, but most live in UNBELIEF and deny the WORKS of God.
Thanks for this wise counsel, like David, realized that HE had sinned against God with Bathsheba, did not blame it on her, and was repentant and sought the Lord for forgiveness and to be cleansed from HIS own sin. He did not blame the devil or other persons or circumstances.
Sometimes I hear people excuse sinful behavior in themselves or others by saying, "well we are only human" or "it's o.k., it is human nature to do so." And while this is true that our human nature is the reason we sin, it is who we are and therefore due to our own volition that we give into our sinful nature to disobey God. We can glibly pass over our failure to do as God wishes not just by shrugging our shoulders and saying, "aw, I am just being human" (because there is no admission of or remorse for sin in such a statement), we also fail to confess to God that we have sinned. But as believers, we should take sin seriously no matter how "natural" it is to sin. We should acknowledge that even the slightest sin is a huge offense against God that needed the sacrifice of Jesus to remit it.
As we grow in Christ, we become more and more of these "slight" sins and want to tur from them. We come to recognize the sinfulness of some of our character habits and even our thought patterns. We come to understand more and more and ever more deeply how much we need God's justification in our lives and that this is only through Jesus. We come to treasure so sweetly our Lord and what He has done for us. We come to more profound gratitude for being reconciled to God in Christ. We come to desire His ways more and more and become more determined to walk by the power of the holy Spirit to war against our sinful nature and subdue it to overcome sin in our lives on a daily basis. We desire more and more to have a clear conscience before God, knowing that He knows us totally; more that we know ourselves. And we realize that because he has chosen us for salvation and glory, He will complete it all in us.
Typing too fast and not proofreading. My own fault, classic example of what I am saying.
Jema, I will be praying for you in what you have shared about a few areas of your life you are desiring to nix out of your life at this time.
Thanks for being honest about your weakness, as Paul was. And I can admit that I am prone to laziness, too. I also need to do better at listening closely to what others are saying to me in conversation and not speaking too hastily in response. I have a fast mind, and that gets the better of me at times. I want to use this wisely and be a better conversationalist. So you can pray for me about these things.
Blessings to you, Jema.
From Adam till the present, what is the SIN that separates man from God.
UNBELIEF
Adam didn't believe God's word.
National Israel didn't believe God's word.
Promised Israel today doesn't believe God's Word.
Paul was struggling with this same sin, UNBELIEF.
Romans 11:32 For God HATH concluded THEM ALL (including Paul) in UNBELIEF, that he may have MERCY ON ALL.
Proverbs 16:6 By MERCY and TRUTH iniquity (unbelief) is PURGED.
1 Timothy 1:13 Who (Paul) was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in UNBELIEF.
Romans 11:30 For YE in times past HAVE NOT BELIEVED GOD, yet have now obtained mercy because of their UNBELIEF.
Mark 9:24 .... Lord ....help thou my UNBELIEF .......
Matthew 17:20 ...because of your UNBELIEF .....
Every SIN is CAUSED by UNBELIEF.
God Bless YOU!
God bless you sister, from your sister in Christ.
What do you believe happened at the death and resurrection of Christ?
WERE your sins COVERED (forgiven) by the blood of Christ?
If not, WHEN are you going to be forgiven?
If they are forgiven why do you keep asking for forgiveness?
God ONLY ask that we walk in the TRUTH of HIS WORKS.
You DIED on the cross of Christ, YOU were raised with Christ, a NEW CREATION; HIS FLESH.
YOUR his body, and he is the HEAD of YOU, his BODY.
1 John 3:9 Whosoever is BORN of GOD (raised as ONE with Christ) cannot commit sin, because HIS SEED remaineth IN HIM: and he CANNOT SIN, because HE is BORN of GOD (raised as ONE with Christ).
Man teaches that Christens sin and need to constantly ask for forgiveness.
Sons of God understand the WORKS of the cross of Christ.
REPENTING of sin (unbelief) means turning from deception to truth.
God Bless YOU!
The prophecies in Jeremiah were as much for the PROMISED ISRAEL as was it for national Israel.
National Israel was preached the gospel then, as promised Israel is preached the gospel today.
John came preaching the GOSPEL of the Kingdom of God saying REPENT of your SINS.
They didn't understand THEN, as we don't understand TODAY.
Christ was CRUCIFIED from the foundation of the world, the sins of the FLESH God sees NOT, only the righteousness of Christ.
National Israel had this gospel THEN, as well as promised Israel has it TODAY.
Psalms 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our sins from us.
So what was John message of REPENTANCE of our sins.
UNBELIEF is the ONLY sin that keeps us from the PRESENCE of GOD.
John 16:8 An when HE (Christ) IS COME (the second time as the Spirit of Truth), he (Christ) will reprove the world of SIN.
John 16:9 Of SIN because they BELIEVE NOT ......
You REPENT of the sins of UNBELIEF.
CONFESS your SINS of not understanding God's word.
ASK and you will RECEIVE.
John 9:41 ... If you were BLIND, you would have NO SIN, but because you say I SEE, your SIN (not understanding) remaineth.
You may have to read the WORD fifteen hundred times as LIGHT is shined into DARKNESS: our carnal mind of misunderstanding.
These words are meant for encouragement, not condemnation, we are all being JUDGED by the WORD.
Each of us STAND or FALL by those WORDS.
Look at yourself as GOD sees YOU, a NEW CREATION.
Philippians 2:5 Let this MIND be IN YOU, which was ALSO in Christ Jesus,
Philippians 2:6 Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God.
God Bless YOU!
Ezekiel 36:27 I WILL put my Spirit IN YOU and CAUSE you to walk in my statutes and keep my judgements and DO THEM.
The WORD says it is God that CAUSES you to SLIP; but, the WORD also says ALL THINGS work together, even the slips we make, for the good of THOSE who love the WORKS of God.
Read and STUDY Isaiah 10.
God runs the lives of every man, but most live in UNBELIEF and deny the WORKS of God.
God Bless YOU!
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