The Sinner’s Sin

The Sinner’s Sin

We inherited a nature of sin; we had no choice in the matter. When you think about it this is not fair. We have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. We were once there and could be still dealing with sinful habits and that is the main reason we should not point the finger at any person who habitually sins. Remember that we are slaves to who we healed our members to (Romans 6:16).

Through the sacrifice of one man we can be save by faith in Jesus (Romans 5:12-17). When you think of it this is not fair either but thank God He had us on His mind when Jesus was crucified. Jesus paid a hefty price for us all. He died for His enemies because we did not know any better and that is His Grace extended towards us. We need to extend that grace today to sinners. Jesus came to fulfill the law and to give everyone access to the kingdom of God through faith. If someone did not tell us about Jesus and what He made available for us we would not have walked out of our old lifestyles.

Recently I asked a question to several people “What is Grace and what does it mean to you?’’ One person’s response reads “Grace to me is the overflowing blessings God gives to us when we do not deserve it. He continues to give me grace I know I’ll always receive it with joy for my sorrows, hope for tomorrow and strength for everything I do and go through. He will always be there with me”. So I ask the person a follow up question: “Is it difficult to extend that Grace to others?” The response was: “If you are focused on Jesus and not the person or circumstance that surrounds them or our yourself, after all we have the Holy Spirit to help us. Remain obedient & submissive to Him,” Another question could be “Why some Christians have a difficult time receiving or believing the Grace God has given us?

As a believer we are told that the just/righteous shall live by faith, walk by faith and not by sight, and renew our mind. So there is a common theme which I believe deals with something not perceived by our natural senses but with our spirit. When a person is saved only their spirit is transformed. We would love it if our occupation, social status, habits, relationships, appearance etc. changed but no. The part of us that cannot be seen with our natural eyes, that is what was instantly reborn and received the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, faithfulness, long suffering, goodness (Galation5:22).

So we need to understand who we are and what we are capable of doing so we can be effective in our daily lives. We should be witnessing to the unsaved. Things that the church (Christians) does should be centered on winning the lost for Christ and living a life of example (Ephesians 1:18-20). We will not be perfect and we will miss the make (sin) sometimes but do not let that makes you feel disqualified as a believer. Dr. Creflo Dollar asked it well in his series Righteousness vs. the Law. “When you were in the prison of sin (unsaved) did you do good deeds, did that take you out of the prison of sin? and in the prison of righteousness you sinned did that disqualify you from the prison of righteousness?” asked Dr. Dollar.

Frowning or points the finger or been disgusted with sinners’ actions is almost like having a baby and not expecting to change their diapers. We have to be compassionate, loving and extend grace to the unsaved. Remember there is amazing Grace which is renewed every day. God’s plan is still the same and will be done through willing vessels who are ready to blow God up in their lives. Remember you were once a sinner and someone minister the love of God to you the sacrifice of Jesus (Romans 2:1). Be bold, courageous and loving in the harvest field because Jesus said in (Matthew 4:19 NIV) “come follow me and I will send you to fish for people”. This is an invitation that many people will not accept, unfortunately. There is an abundance to be harvested but the word says in (Matthew 9:38) “the workers are few”. Be counted in the number of committed workers who will share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many believers are comfortable sharing with other believers but the sinner needs to hear about how God has transformed you and He can do the same for them if they will repent, confess Jesus as Lord of their lives and get baptize (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God is in love with Us

God is Love (1 John 4:8 & 16) and there is nothing we can do for God to love us anymore our less. He is one constant Love, never changing. His love is not based on our earthly merits, works or rituals. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. We may experience a period(s) of broken fellowship due to not accepting salvation, of operating in fear but during that time Gods love is still there. The Cross has a purpose and that purpose is salvation(Romans 5:8). Salvation is nothing missing; nothing broken; saving from harm; destruction; difficulty; failure; loosen from bondage of sin through Jesus, to name a few. Many things are embedded in this one act of love and we may live our entire lives without using many of the benefits of the cross.  

 I am guilty of allowing my experience with others and the way I handle my relationships to dictate my expectation from God. God is not like man and when I confine my expectation from God to the reasoning of my mind and past experiences then I am limiting my level of manifestation of God’s love in my life. I believe that part of the reason the body of Christ has not seen the level of signs and wonders in operation is due to our lack of understanding of God’s love for us. The bible says that if we, evil man (natural parents) knows how to give good gifts to our children, how much more does my heavenly father knows how to give good gifts to His children (Matt 7:11). Many people may take this as an insult when the bible refers to us as evil (born again) and heathen (unsaved) but God says the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9) meaning we are not perfect and He is the only person good. When I think of my children and the things I want to provide for them, things I want to protect them from and the lifestyle and want to live before them then I compare that to my limited understanding of God’s love and find there is no comparison. God’s love cannot be fully understood by the natural mind and should not be compared to our natural love for each other because at some point we all have disappointed each other even thought it may not be intentional but God’s love never fails.

No man can boost about salvation because it is free and available for ALL. If you have been saved a day after your first birthday or when you were in your forties, God loves you the same. I struggle at times to remember how much God really loves me. Things he has done is for His sake and not mind (Psalm 103 8:17) Sin cannot stand before God and it does hurt Him to see His creation go astray because of sin and the ignorance of His grace, love and forgiveness. When we get more and more revelation of God’s love we will start shedding scales of sin and when we understand that been saved is God’s plan to make us who we really are before Adam sinned: to rule and have dominion over all things, then our words and expectations will experience change.

God loves us and he wants and deserve our best love. He is the only one who should get our worship, praise and devotion. If you have not allowed Jesus to be Lord of your life it is not too late. His return is not known and based on His character He operates suddenly so your time is now. Get to know God more intimately and allow His love to manifest in your life. Read Romans 8:35-39, Ephesians 2:4-5 & 3:16-21

By Dean Brown

Live11 Radio

Victory

Recently I felt discouraged and all the messages, meditations, reading and words of encouragement I could hear where: Be courageous, Everything is going to be alright, You serve the God who sent His son to conquer the prince of this world (satan) (Romans 8:3-11), The rest of your life is the best of your life etc.

I went through the weekend seeking to get clear instructions from God and can I tell you that it seems like satan had other plans for me. I felt drained, powerless, defeated and heading to hopelessness. I quickly examined my actions and realized I was not speaking God’s word and taking authority over the thoughts in my mind (2 Corinthians 10:5). The mind is a battlefield and this was what satan was trying to get control. The mind is a battlefield and the devil playground if you will allow him to. This is why guarding the heart, mouth and eye gates are so important.

Realizing where I was mentally and spiritually, I started declaring something’s in my life according to God’s word and immediately sending the devil a warning that he has no strongholds in my life, Glory to God! I became excited about my situation because I know that it is temporal and subject to change. Later that night I felt in my heart the need to let go, let loose and allow God to bring His word to past. Throughout the process I was not enjoying life enough and allowing God to put things in place without my help, God does not need my help; He needs me to agree and trust Him. I was trying to learn where or when my input was necessary which comes with experience. See I am a child of God and He has started a good work in me and He will finish it (Philippians 1:6). That’s His job not mine. The fear I had and still have at times is not doing what God wanted me to do which is not a bad thing but like anything else there is a healthy dose and there is overdose.  Can you tell which side I was on? God does not want us to live in fear of anything and He never gave us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power and love and a sound mind (2Timothy1:7).

Situations will always come with various magnitudes and the bigger the magnitude of the situation will determine the amount of pressure you need to apply to your faith in God and this is the area where faith grows and character is developed. How a situation is handled now will give an idea of personal growth the next time you are faced with the same or similar decision. When temptation, test or trials presents themselves know first of all that God is not the tempter but satan is, but also know that this is an opportunity for growth and if you are not ready now or you did not handle things the best way don’t be too harsh on yourself because God is not mad at you but His love and power will allow you to be a conquer and victor the next time you are in that position or even if you are in that situation you can come out with a testimony that will set someone else free. For me, I have learned not to take challenges so personally because I would start casting blame and not realize the opportunities. As a father, I am able to navigate through these challenges, learn lessons, become stronger in my walk with God and become more able to pass wisdom on to my children. My wife and I have declared that our children’s lives will not reflect the hardships we had and we will be able to give them wisdom (natural and spiritual) our parents could not give to us.

By Dean Brown.
Live11Radio.com

Church Clicks?

In a conversation with someone the term church click came up. I do believe that this is part of many church groups but I don’t believe that this is as surface driven as clicks in the world. Note, I am not saying that there may not be clicks as we know it but for the majority this is not true.

Many people in church groups will be drawn to others with similar likenesses to theirs and this is true in any group, culture and society. Often we use this term in a negative context when in all essence it is really not. The fact of the matter is that there will always be a person or a small number of people that any person will hold close. I think it is unfair to expect a Christian to be very close to every member that attends the same church as him/her. There has to be a balance if we are going to walk this life successfully and wiser than the devil. Jesus did not need anyone to help Him perform any miracles; He did not need anyone to walk with Him as He ministered. He had a multitude of followers, 12 that He chose and 3 that He let into His inner court. If we are to live like Christ then we have to follow His examples. The point is that we need others to pour into us and for us to pour into; this is why we have this common phrase “Iron sharpens Iron” Proverbs 27:17.

Ask yourself this question, “Am I sharpening or am I been sharpened”? There is nothing wrong with having a group of saints in your corner and you in theirs. Once you’re not bringing down the lives of others saints, gossip, back bite etc. Doing things to make hell stand at attention by encouraging others to grow; declaring Gods word in each other’s lives; working together to unload hell, then I believe you are in good shape.  Don’t allow others to discourage you form having a small group. The enemy is cleaver in how he tries to create discord and I guarantee it will come in the form of a person. This person can be an unbeliever or another saint but again if your small group is Christ centered you have nothing to worry about.

By: Dean Brown