Tag: sin

Returning to God

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

There is a lot of talk these days about a coming revival and the hope that it will bring to a spiritually starved America. However, as in the days of Hosea, I don’t see revival on the horizon. Instead, I see God’s justice which leads to His judgment. We as a nation have turned our backs on God, angrily declaring that we can take care of ourselves and don’t need Him any longer. Of course, those of us who are believers in His grace and mercy and love know that we need Him in our lives daily. But the verse that stood out to me as I read Hosea this morning does much to explain the spiritual condition of our nation.

When what you are doing is so awful that you don’t want to even acknowledge it as sin, then you are not prone to turn to God, but rather away from Him. When the House passed a bill yesterday to establish same-sex marriage as legal in all the states, where was the outrage against their actions? I do believe that interracial marriage is sanctified, but I also believe that same-sex marriage is a sin. Our lawmakers want to “normalize” this sinful act and force us to accept it. They cannot acknowledge God as Lord and justify such an action. The spirit of prostitution that Hosea refers to seems to me to be rampant in the U.S. today, I’m sad to say. The lawmakers have sold themselves to the highest bidder, otherwise known as lobbyists. The voters have sold themselves to the lawmakers who promise them more freedom at the cost of their future legacy for their children. I’m saddened by the state of our nation, but I am not surprised. We got on this slippery slope decades ago and the ride is carrying us faster and faster to the promise of hell, not Heaven.

Am I totally distraught about this whole mess that our nation is in? No, because I have read the end of the Book and we win! It’s just the part of the book in which we are now that I’m not liking because I want God to come swiftly with judgment, but I also want Him to continue His mercy and grace for just a while longer so more can come to know Him. I trust that His way and timing are perfect, and as I see this nation slide farther into sin and debauchery, I cannot help but think that God is just, waiting and saying to His people that a time will come when every knee will bow to His sovereignty.

I hope that you have a blessed day, but remember to pray for our leaders. There are some (perhaps only a few) who are trying to stand strong in the face of great evil and they need our prayerful support.

Procrasti-cleaning

On By vickleaIn Scripture7 Comments

The title of this blog is not my creation, but I saw it online and thought it applied to me and my thoughts today. Of course, you know that every day is a new day with God, a chance to start over with a clean slate, forgiven and experiencing His compassion and love. There are even Scripture verses about this very thing, which naturally were in my devotional this morning.

Note that it is all on God that we are not totally destroyed by our own sinfulness. His compassion is new every single day, and I don’t know about you, but I need it daily!

Now about that title word. It could certainly apply to my house. I am the world’s worst housekeeper, especially since the children moved away and no one really comes to visit us out here in the boondocks. My husband is a hoarder, making the task more challenging, so mostly, I just look at the dust and clutter and think that I will get to it tomorrow. That’s procrasti-cleaning of my house.

More importantly, it also applies to the spiritual home of the Holy Spirit, the part deep inside me that I have to keep clean so that He feels welcome and respected. I cannot procrasti-clean my heart because the scum and filth build up and make it almost impossible to get the stains out. I have to clean daily, daily going before the throne of God and asking Him for His grace, mercy and forgiveness. More than daily actually. I find myself speaking to God constantly each time I fail Him, in the little things and in big ways, too. Once, as a new Christian, I thought it was a case of not being struck by lightning or keeling over dead instantly due to my overwhelming sins. Then, I realized that God is patient with me and will lovingly wait until I am truly repentant and will come to Him with a deep longing to restore the break in our relationship. I may still be struck with lightning or suddenly die, but my aim is to always be in a right relationship with my Heavenly Father so that whatever happens, I’m ready for Him and He’s ready and eager to welcome me home. Thus, no procrasti-cleaning of this temple that belongs to the Lord. My earthly home may be a wreck, but my temple that the Lord is building within me is as clean as a prayer and the sacrifice of Jesus can make it. White as snow and washed in His blood! I’m so grateful for God’s attitude towards me of pure love, compassion and faithfulness. Aren’t you?

May you go forth today with a clean temple and a right relationship with God and man. God bless you today and every day with new fervor for Him and His mission that He left us to do.

God Has a Plan

On By vickleaIn Scripture6 Comments

These days, it’s hard to pick up a newspaper or turn on the news for only a few minutes without getting discouraged. There is so much evil in the world that it seems to be overflowing with it. Now that war has begun in Europe, it seems that the vile things that man does to other men is indescribable. Nevertheless, in my devotional this morning, God spoke clearly to me that He is in control and He has a plan.

Have you ever started your day with your hours all planned out? It’s a long “to do” list and you proudly check off things as you accomplish them. Then, there are the days that you have the list, you have the plan, but you don’t get to check off anything because you are just trying to make it through the day. Have you ever thought about the fact that God, the Sovereign Lord, does not have those kinds of days in which He gets discouraged and nothing seems to go right? He makes the plan and carries it out. In fact, He makes the plan before the plan needs to be made.

A case in point is Jesus. There was a whole system of sacrifice established in the Old Testament and described in great detail in the Book of Leviticus. A lamb without blemish. Blood on the altar. Take away the sins. All the columns were checked. But it wasn’t enough. Even before the foundation of the earth, God had a plan to save mankind from our sinful natures, once and for all. His plan was Jesus! Before I knew that Jesus died for me, God had already provided Him as my Savior.

I like the part in this verse that says I was still a sinner. God didn’t wait for me to get my act together and complete a “to do” list of things to accomplish before I could be saved. His plan was Jesus…already made. Done! Finished!

Now, back to the scenario of war in Europe. This verse is my prayer for the brave Ukrainian people. But it is also my prayer for anyone facing a formidable enemy. Instead of thinking about the power of the enemy, consider the power of our God who is beside you and who already has a plan. When Elisha’s servant was downhearted in II Kings 6 because he saw how great the enemy was, Elisha prayed for God to open his servant’s eyes. The prayer was answered and the servant saw a host of angels prepared to fight the battle. We don’t always know what God’s plan is, but we can rest in the absolute certainty that He has one, and it’s good.

I have read this verse many times because waiting is just not something I’m very good at. But today is the first time that I paid close attention to the middle part of the verse. It says to be brave and courageous. We are not supposed to cower away from the world and events that cause us fear. Instead, we are to bravely wait for the Lord, knowing with all of our being that He has a plan. And it’s a good one!

Andrew Murray was a pastor and author, most known for his missions work and establishing churches in South Africa. I saved this quotation from one of my devotionals last year and when I read it again today, I knew that it would be useful for my current blog. We limit God because we put Him into a box of humanity, thinking that He can only do so much because that is what we can do. God, however, cannot be fenced in. He is everywhere, all-powerful and capable of doing anything. So, today, as you pray over your to-do list or pray for the people in Ukraine, be bold in your prayers. Be brave! Know that God is hearing and will answer them. Perhaps His timing is different than ours would be. Most likely, that is true. That’s because God is always on time, He knows the best time to answer, and He has always and will always be there for us. Why? Because He loves us and He has a plan. And it’s a good one!

God bless you as you go through your day and may God show you part of His plan for you and encourage you today with that knowledge.

Judgment Begins in the House of the Lord

On By vickleaIn church, Scripture9 Comments

Our Bible study group is reading a book entitled THRIVING IN BABYLON by Larry Osborne. It’s an enlightening book about God’s judgment and how innocent Daniel was taken to Babylon, not because of his own sin, but because of the sins of his nation. God had called on Israel to repent, repeatedly, in fact, but to no avail. So, God, being the just God that He is, allowed consequences including the Babylonian captivity. Harsh? Yes, but sometimes harsh is the only thing that gets our attention.

In pondering the sins of our nation and how God has called us to repent and the fact that it has not happened on a large scale ( or some would say, at all), I have to say that our nation is ripe for God’s judgment. God has been gracious and merciful with the United States for centuries, but He will not wait forever for repentance. Repentance is change, turning away from sin, not just crying because you’re sorry you were caught. Thus, I believe that the things that are happening in our nation today, with godless leadership who have few morals and no real moral compass, are a direct result of the lack of repentance in our nation.

As Christians, we are appalled at the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ agenda and all of the sin that goes with it. But, are we equally appalled when a young couple comes to church and unashamedly admit that they are living together? God calls that sin, too, but we have come to accept a lot of things as just a change in the culture instead of the sin that it is. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that the couple should not be allowed to come to church. What I am saying is that the fact that they are living in sin should be addressed and they should be told that the only clear path to God is repentance, which might mean they separate or even get married. In today’s culture, that is not at all popular. The current belief system is that you need to “try out” living together before you get married and make that commitment. I’m okay with that if you can show me one place in God’s Word that He says living together is okay. Are we equally appalled at those who steal from their employers by turning in false expense reports? Or those who walk away from a long-term marriage because they have “found someone else”? I think you get the idea.

There are many sins in today’s culture, even in the churches that we attend, and God will not be mocked. He consistently points out the sin and we consistently make excuses. My favorite excuse is, “But, God, what I am doing is not as bad as so-and-so and their sin.” Hmm. God may already be dealing with that other person, but if He is dealing with you and your sin right now, that is enough for you to deal with.

Judgment begins in God’s house, not with the pagans. After all, they are already on Satan’s side, so although God’s love reaches out to them, He is very concerned about the sins that we, the ones called by His Name, have allowed to creep into our own lives. We cry out to God because there are millions of babies killed by abortion. We cry out to God when the President of our nation supports abortion and rant about how godless that is. But, do we not see that our own attitudes towards the sanctity of life have led to this debacle? The silence of the Christian community is deafening. How many judge the one getting an abortion instead of reaching out a hand to offer assistance and counseling?

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am not surprised at the mess that our nation finds itself in. The church is a microcosm of the nation and the church itself needs to repent. Go back to the last thing God told you to do and do it, no matter how hard it is or how humbling. Then, do the next thing, Then, the next thing. The United States may not be carried off in captivity to Babylon (a wicked nation that is used as an example of evil in the Bible), but we may be more like Babylon ourselves than we are willing to admit.

A Big Mess of Our Own Making

On By vickleaIn Scripture8 Comments

The United States is in a big mess, not that we didn’t make the mess, just an observation that it exists. Of course, we made the mess, so we might as well own it. For years, we have rested on our laurels, knowing that we are the best, the most powerful, the peacekeeper of the world. And then, things started to change. First, with a President who wanted to put America first. Now, we have a President who wants to put America last. Neither attitude is right. The correct attitude is to clean up America and put her at the feet of Jesus, submissive to the will of God.

“And Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he was king for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And he did what was correct in the eyes of the Lord, and he walked in the ways of David his father and did not turn either to the right or left. And in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a young boy, he began to seek out the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem from high places, Asherah poles, idols, and carved and cast images. So they tore down the altars for the Baals, and he cut down the incense altars that were above them and smashed the Asherah poles and carved and cast images. And he crushed them to dust and scattered them before the graves of those who sacrificed to them. In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around, he broke down the altars, beat Asherah poles and the images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭34:1-4, 6-7‬ ‭MEV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/1171/2ch.34.1-7.MEV

An eight-year old ruler of Israel was wiser than any of our 500 + Congressmen, our President and our Supreme Court. He recognized that the way back to prosperity and peace was by cleaning out the sin and the idols and following only God. My prayer for our nation is that we turn back to God.

It broke my heart yesterday when I saw what was happening in Afghanistan. No, I do not think that we could or should stay there forever, but whenever a vacancy is allowed to happen, evil has a tendency to sweep in and take over. That is what is happening in Afghanistan. Evil is reigning there, and we are powerless to stop it. The plan to leave the country in the hands of their own military failed because they were not ready. Do you leave your three year old to cook dinner after showing her how it is done? And when she gets burned or destroys the house, do you then say, “I thought you were ready for this responsibility. I guess I was wrong” and then walk away? How sad that this is exactly what the U.S.A. did to Afghanistan!

My prayer today:

Have a blessed and safe day. Please keep the Afghanis in your prayers.

We All Need the Lord

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song10 Comments

Our world these days seems to be spiraling downward quickly into the abyss of sin. We wring out hands and look up, expecting that Jesus will return soon to save us from this crazy mess. But what if He doesn’t come back, today or tomorrow or even imminently and we are stuck with people who seem to have turned their backs on God and on us, His namesakes? We are representing Christ on earth, so who is to say that those who are devouring each other because of their own unbelief will leave us alone? That is a lot to ponder today and I’m up early to think about it. No, I didn’t arise earlier than usual eager to head off to my recliner and my Bible. I got up early because I was gasping for breath. It started as a little wheeze, progressed to a lot of coughing and wheezing and ended when I got out of bed, using my inhaler and came into the den to sit in my chair. Every breath is a struggle sometimes when you are asthmatic and this was one of those days. I never know when I may have a problem breathing. It has been months, and then this morning, without warning or any triggers that I am aware of, I awakened with my throat closing and wheezing breaths coming from my shallow breaths. It’s scary sometimes, but it isn’t as scary as thinking about the fact that our world as we have known it is ending and we are faced with ungodliness everywhere we turn.

I belong to various online book groups since reading is a favorite pastime of mine. But they are changing to accept the current cultural norms, norms that do not pass the standards set by God. Just about every book that I pick up these days has a character who is gay or just discovering their propensity to be gay. I try not to judge the author too harshly but when I am reviewing, I cannot help but be influenced by the fact that many authors seem to be delving into political correctness because their only goal is to sell books. For the first time ever, I received a book from an author, an autographed copy no less, and threw it in the trash. I wouldn’t dare pass on garbage like that to a friend or relative, so the book went where it deserved to be before being published, into the garbage. The only really safe books to read these days come from Christian publishers like Revell. The same is true of television shows. It is much more satisfying to watch old shows from decades ago than the new fodder that glorifies self-gratification and sin. Turning off the TV has become more common in our household than watching it. My husband, an avid sports fan, has been disgusted with the recent lack of patriotism displayed by major sports teams and athletes at the Olympics. I am one of those who was actually happy that the U.S. women’s soccer team lost to Sweden. After all, it couldn’t happen to a more arrogant and self-serving bunch of women who claim to represent our nation. Like the former football star Herschel Walker, I want to know why they are even in the Olympics representing the U.S. if they don’t love our nation. I also wonder if they have tried to live in another nation that does not offer the freedoms that we do. China and North Korea come to mind. Does anyone really believe that the athletes from these countries would be allowed to display the antics that the American athletes proudly boast about (without ending up in a prison somewhere, that is)? Thus my husband who used to watch all the baseball and football games possible is watching golf and hockey, the sports in which the athletes act as though it’s a privilege to play and don’t “take a knee” or disrespect our nation and the sacrifices of those who gave them their freedoms.

So, entertainment these days is a big old bust. What are we to do? We are to stand and wait for the salvation of our God. If we are under the illusion that the world has never been this bad before, then we have forgotten the history of other great empires like Rome. God has a tendency to humble those who stand proudly before Him and mock His name and His laws. The Roman Empire fell, much to the surprise of all of the jubilant party-goers who thought life was one big party and the only rules were those they made for themselves. God established the rules for living a holy life long ago when He gave Moses the Ten Commandments; Jesus came and died for each of us so that we can stand holy before the Lord. But we cannot fool ourselves into believing that no matter what we do, we are our own little gods. Same sex marriage, that’s okay and even encouraged. Drugs are legal. Living with your boyfriend or girlfriend is accepted. I just completed forms for a new doctor and one of the questions is marital status, including “living with a partner or significant other.” And don’t get me started on what bad examples some churches or pastors are being with their acceptance of the whole gay/transgender agenda! My prayer is that all of these people, including pastors, church boards, authors, television producers, news reporters, everyone who has bought into the great lie of Satan that sin will not kill you, will come to the knowledge of the power and sacrifice of Christ before it is too late for them.

What do I do in the meantime? I worship. I pray. I wait. I found a song on YouTube this morning that I have not sung in a long time and hope that it encourages you as it encourages me. Jesus has not changed. His charge to the church He left behind to continue His work has not changed. The task may seem harder, with more people turning against God daily, but Jesus didn’t say it would be easy to follow Him. He said to follow and that the way would be narrow. We have to navigate our way through a morass of people attempting to divert our attention from what is truth. Calling a lie the truth does not make it one. God’s Word is truth and He does not compromise His stand on things like homosexuality or any other kind of ungodly behavior. We just have to recognize our need for our Savior daily in order to make it through to the end of the race.

I Need Thee by Randy Owen and The Isaacs

Blessings, my friends, for good day and encounters with Godly people who believe and walk in the truth of God’s Word!