Posts

Showing posts with the label Sin

This Lying Believer Got WORD from GOD!

Image
Image from Mysticurious. We've been long taught that sinners cannot have access to God in any way because sin blocks our path to him. And it's bible truth actually. Sin separates from God. Even if you pray a thousand times, God won't hear you. And he can't use you in ministry either. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. [Isaiah 59] But this prophet got away with all that [1 Kings 13]. He told a lie and still got Word from God and was even used by Him. To make matters worse, he caused the ill-timed death of a righteous man of God. Instead of him getting punished, God punished the young prophet who risked his life to obey God even if it meant possible death in the hands of a corrupted king, Jeroboam. It shatters our theology, our understanding of sin and it's ill effects on us. He was an old prophet from Bethel which was then in rebellion against God because of King Jero

How Jesus Really Saw Sinners, Religious Leaders and the Rich

Image
Image from 123RF. Let's not see it with the eyes of the Pharisees and law teachers. It reeks of toleration. They thought Christ mingled with sinners to assure them of God's love even if they continued enjoying sin. And that's how a lot of people see it today. But then, on the other hand, there are church people who shun the company of sinners altogether and would have nothing to do with them. So we have two extremes---those who teach that God tolerates sin and those who are repulsed by sinners. Oh, there's a third extreme---those who don't give a damn. Jesus didn't just fellowship with sinners. He sought to "call" them [Mark 2.17]. We already know this, but often we still miss the point. We see it as the Pharisees and religious leaders did---that Jesus simply enjoyed sinners and he was a bad example because we aren't supposed to be seen with them. I've seen churches put in active ministry or position people wallowing in sin beca

Jehu Overkill: What Made Him Do It?

Image
Jehu king of Israel obeyed the Word the Lord had spoken against the house of Ahab, said to be the worst king of Israel when Jehu was yet the king's chariot driver. Ahab's marriage to Jezebel had linked Israel to Baal worship and led to the downfall of Ahab. Jehu was anointed to eliminate everything of Ahab. But not the Jehu overkill. God told Jehu to finish off Ahab's family to wipe out Baal worship in Israel. Elisha the prophet had sent a young prophet to anoint Jehu king and "destroy the house of Ahab" [2Kings 9]. He also killed all the Baal prophets of Jezebel and demolished the temple of Baal, reducing it to a mere toilet. But Jehu went further and killed even the associates and friends of Ahab. It was a disobedience. "However, Jehu did not carefully keep the law of God, Israel's God, heartily--he didn't repent from Jeroboam's sin, which the latter made the whole of Israel to commit," [10.31]. Years later God punished the house of J

In Him is No Sin

Image
In him is no sin. Wow! I love to hear the sound of that. I love to meditate it till it becomes me, till I and my fleshly desires melt away and that Word starts living my life. I want to do it daily, each moment, by God's enabling grace. The doctrine of holiness has been taught and preached for centuries, but its real power has never been fully realized. All we have seen through church holiness history is a faint idea of what it can do for us. Church people themselves have always downplayed the real power of genuine holiness. Some years ago, we saw some holiness preachers, teachers, and theologians tried a measure of holy living in Christ. But they never went beyond. They never did it as radical as my Jesus did it. They still reserved a little something for the flesh, adding to their doctrines some room for sin, in case the believer got carried away again by sin unnoticed. They placed somewhere in their teachings some justifications for sin, saying God understands that we are

When Lust Turns to Rape

Two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, were into prostitution since their youth in Egypt, says God. Later on, Oholah, the older, was forcibly "stripped naked" (or raped) and killed by her Assyrian lovers and took her sons away. However, her sister, Oholibiah, did worse. She carried on with her prostitution with the Assyrians and Babylonians, but later "turned away in disgust of them," like how raped victims would feel. This discussion is vital for being God's flesh on earth. When God talked of this to Ezekiel in chapter 23, he was actually talking about Israel and Judah, the sisters. God was talking of his "chosen" people. They were prostitutes who learned the trade in Egypt and carried it on to their nationhood. They fondly recalled their lust days in Egypt as they committed sexual immorality with the Assyrians and Babylonians. Sin is that dirty in God eyes, particularly idolatry. It's an evil sexual act. You have an idol in your heart, God se

Obadia: Pride Deadens Discernment

Ransacked! If you have been successful (more so materially), you gain friends. People befriend you. You become Mr or Ms Popular. And the tickling accolades that overfeed the ego deaden your senses. Pride deadens discernment. Moreover, it weakens God's flesh on you. Success that breeds a spirit of pride is like a magnet that attracts betrayal. People befriend you for ulterior motives. It's dog-eat-dog out there, people using each other for mundane glory. You give them your hand and they gobble up your arm. The worse part is that, you'd never suspect it. Pride has this curse. Because of her success, Edom was able to form alliances with other nations. Acceptance into alliances, even today, can make you wallow in pride, because only the successful are recognized and permitted entry into them. While she was rich the alliance was secure. While she was able to offer things and grant demands to her allies, the going was great. Later, however, her "friends"

Obadiah: From Up There, I'll Bring You Down

Edom was "up there." Success is God's will. There was nothing wrong with Edomites living on high mountain tops, secure in their rock cleft dwellings. In fact, Esau (from whom Edom was derived) had the first-born blessing. He was a son of Isaac, who was a son of Abraham. He was lined up for blessings until he despised his position and sold it to Jacob. From "up there" God brought him down. He lost his first born rights to Jacob. Often, success can make us despise our position in God. Being a successful hunter and getting Isaac's favor, he thought he was so secure. What harm would losing your first-born rights do if you're already dad's favorite? And Jacob? He's nothing but a house cook, a mama's boy, a home boy. He'd never amount to anything. When you despise your inheritance in favor of success, you also begin to despise your brother. A lot of believers can sacrifice God in favor of mundane favors. Do they succeed? Oh yes, more tha

Obadiah: Who Can Bring Me Down?

Image
Perfection Comes from Failures Edom was enjoying the height of pride, until one day he mused: "Who has the power to bring me down to the ground?" Success has the tendency to deceive. It's better to face failures upon failures if it makes you meek and wise. Perfection comes from failures. As you fail and learn you become perfect in Christ. Perfection is not how the world views it, as Edom had once viewed it. Perfection is not an achievement (you can never make it happen); it's an endowment of grace that ever-increases in glory. That's genuine perfection.  Remember, grace is NEVER a license to excuse sin--or even a vehicle to sin less. Grace is power to kick out sin and wickedness from our lives daily [Titus 2.11-12]. The wicked uses grace for a license to sin [Jude verse 4]. Success can easily blur our eyes and make us short-sighted about our life walk. We see only the success at hand, not the subtle attacks of the enemy in the vainglory of succ

Obadiah: Pride of the Heart Deceives

Image
Pride in the heart is worse than pride in the mind. Heart pride may even appear meek and lowly but the superiority complex is there deep within. Pride in the mind may be noisy and talkative, but it's often shallow and reversible.  Heart pride is deadly. It is deep seated. It's a stubborn stumbling block. It's something like a pastor who is all-out for his church denomination, vowing to die for it. Does this sound familiar?  "I will die a ________ (name of denomination). These are hopeless conservative and dogmatic ideologues. No different or better from rabid communists or capitalists. They're intellectually unhealthy to be with. Well, it's different if you're unwaveringly proud of Jesus Christ, His Kingdom, and His Word. In this case, you should be rabid to the extreme, though people of man's mind will fear and avoid you. And they are among people most deceived. "Your heart pride has deceived you, you who live in caves on high mountain

Micah: Though I Fall, I Will Rise

Image
You fall first before you rise.  Because we're humans, this has become a sort of SOP--a standard operating procedure. We first fall into pride and self centeredness and rebellion, then God disciplines or punishes us, then we stand up again, if we repent and surrender to God.  Once we become born again, the same SOP happens. We join a church, be active there, fall into pride and self-centerdness and rebellion (all while "serving God" in church), then God disciplines us. If we repent and surrender totally to Him, we rise up again to quit our "church" ministry and do His will alone. If not, we regret our fall and say sorry to God, then continue in our rebellion while "serving" God.  "Therefore, I have begun to destroy you due to your sins," [Micah 6.13]. This is followed by a series of hard work "for God" without real fruit that remains. You eat but remain hungry, store up but remain empty, plant but not harvest, press

Micah: God’s People—God’s Enemy

Image
Micah warned God’s people about God’s plan. We often think pleasantly about God’s plan. We claim to desire it so badly. But if we do things contrary to His ways, God’s plan will work against us. In fact, God plans destruction, not LIFE, once we go against His ways. “My Word does good to those whose ways are upright, right?” (Micah 2.7). God’s ways alone in Scripture are upright. All others, like denominationalism, are against His ways. Jesus desires all true believers to be completely united. How complete? As the Father and Son are one (Jn.17). Denominationalism works contrary to this. Their Own Power When God’s people work contrary to His ways, they become God’s enemies. “Lately, my people have risen up like an enemy,” (Micah 2.8) Why? Because they plan evil and carry it out in their own power (Micah 2.1). It happens automatically—you use your own ways, you use your own power. Human effort is zero in the spiritual realms. Everything has to be done in the power of th

Micah: Statutes of Omri and Practices of Ahab

Image
From Youtube It began with the statutes of Omri (Micah 6.16). Omri was a follower of the evil ways of Jeroboam (1Kings16). He laid down the statutes (or doctrines) and Ahab his son applied and developed them. These were all against what God wanted. Omri’s statutes were simple: they were based on wicked and corrupt ways as King Jeroboam did them. How did Jeroboam do them? Simply by doing God’s will in man’s ways. He disobeyed the prophet Ahijah who told him to do everything in God’s ways alone: “If you do everything I command you and walk in my ways and do whatever is correct in my eyes...I will build you a dynasty...” (1Kings11). Jeroboam grabbed God's will of kingship but did it in greed. Man's ways are nothing but greed, no matter how they try to make it look religious or spiritual or "Christian." Jeroboam tried to make it all look good but sharp prophets saw nothing in it but idolatry. But because of his greed and appetite for corrupt power, he did eve

Insights into The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

Image
The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is often associated with the spiritual gifts. Or, with a miracle wrongly attributed to the devil, as in the case of Matthew 12. But this sin covers more than spiritual gifts or miracles. It's really about life and character. Being God's flesh. In 1 Samuel, we find Eli and his two sons charged with a sin that could never be forgiven. There's only one sin in the bible that can never be forgiven--the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. And it's a sin only believers can commit. Non-believers can only speak against the Son of Man--and this is forgivable. But only believers can commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 12, the bible teachers and Pharisees, not pagans, blasphemed the Spirit of God.  In Samuel, Eli and his sons messed up their lives and testimonies as they "served" God. People saw how they belittled worship and did sexual immorality right at the sacred place. This is a great sin to God. It's pure blasp