Over the past, well more than 10 years, I have spent much time in learning who God is and who I am. The more I learn the more I am discovering His grace and mercy. Not His laws and judgments. If we look at just two parts of Paul's writings we can see so much. Last week at L!VE, we looked at Galatians. Tonight we will look at Romans 9, 10.
Chapter 9 starts with Paul revealing his heart for his people. He aches for them to see what he sees. This is my same heart ache. He tries to separate the true children of the promise from those who only claim it by birth, but know nothing about God Himself. Then he moves into some seemingly hard discussion about how God chooses to show mercy to some and hardens the hearts of others, and in this I can get so easily caught up. His answers to the questions of how a loving God can do this are summed up in a very quick answer of "Who are you to argue with God?" And it is here that I take pause. Paul knows what Job had to learn. Who are we to question God? When waves of questions consume us, we are to turn our focus on the goodness of God, not the parts we do not understand. And in seeing His goodness, my heart can rest in knowing that He can already see a person's heart. He knows who will believe in Him and who wont, so He is giving my heart rest in letting me see that it is ok if I allow people to choose how they are living, for really I have no say in their lives anyway. I am not to get wrapped up in people's lives and try and direct their heart by directing their actions. It is up to God to see their heart. But I am to be a vessel of mercy. We cannot earn the heart of our God. His love is given. All we need to do is to have faith. That faith is expressed in knowing His heart and His goodness. It is not loved eared, but love given.
When Jason and I were first married I did not love him. I truly was walking down the isle in obedience. I said "I do", not out of a heart in love, but a heart broken. It was never me living as an "obedient" wife that changed my heart, but it was his constant consistency, patience, and care that softened my heart toward his. I was hurt and wounded by so many men. I just saw Jason as another man who was going to hurt me again. I would have never changed my heart toward him if he had demanded me to obey him and to follow his rules. Rules and laws would have only driven me further into defiance. It was his patience and constant caring that finally got to me and after three years of being married, two children later, I finally told him "I think I am falling in love with you."
It was only after this that my actions toward this man started to change. He gave me enough time for my heart to soften toward him. If he had demanded that I "act" in a certain way, I could have played the part, but he would have never had my heart. And it is our heart that our God is after. He is not focused on our ability to follow a rule, but our willingness to give Him our whole heart.
"So if you believe deep in your heart that God raised Jesus from the pit of death and if you voice you allegiance by confessing the truth that 'Jesus is Lord,' then you will be saved! Belief begins in the heart and leads to a life that is right with God..." (Romans 10:9)
I put a question recently on FB, "Has Christianity failed you?" And with this I received many wonderful responses... Wonderful because people were willing to share with me their broken hearts. Stories that made me cry and ask God the big "Why?" I want to share an opening of a very lengthy and very heart felt response from a broken heart.
"I have deep seated intellectual and theological concerns about the Christian faith. As a PhD in Religion, I didn't just read the bible, and I didn't study it from a faith based standpoint, but I studied it form intellectual standpoint, both as a historical document, and as a work of literature."
I printed her response and have carried it with me everywhere I have gone. I often pull it out and read the two and a half pages asking God to show me exactly where her true heart cry is revealed. And this time He showed me just the beginning lines. Just yesterday through the words of a friend I heard the answer to this woman's first lines. In my heart I heard, "If your heart is wanting a spiritual relationship and you look to God through knowledge you will be left wanting."
He wants your heart, first. It is only after a heart given in love that the true knowledge of Him is revealed. It is only after faith is expressed in your heart and out of your mouth that He can begin to change our desires and give us a heart of love. It is only after we see Him through our brokenness that we can begin to accept His mercy. All of our questions of "why" can be summed up in one answer, Worship. It is only in the truly intimate moments of surrendering your whole body, mind and soul to Him in worship that you can feel His embrace and learn to follow Him in His dance through life. Do you want what you want, or do you want His best? Are you willing to have His heart of patience, love, and mercy for others? Or are you going to demand that they obey your laws, but never surrender their whole heart? This is my first response, but it is in my memory that I am reminded how I was loved first. So why then do I constantly place upon others a law that I was never meant to give out. Why do I want to settle for instant "change" instead of a truly love filled heart?!
Showing posts with label Pride. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pride. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Masonry
I love to discover new things about my God. One of the things that I was turned on to several years ago was Ray Vanderlaan, Follow the Rabbi. Mind blowing things that can only be seen when you enter the world, the culture, the people. In one of his teachings he discusses how Jesus probably was no carpenter, but a stone mason. As I listened to him, I could see. I can see this so much easier than I can see a carpenter working with wood. Especially since when you see Israel you don't see forests, but deserts and lots and lots of rock. How often did Jesus refer to wood when he spoke? I can't recall many, if any. Turn that around to rocks. Now that one is all over the bible Old and New Testament. Just passages that refer to cornerstones, there are at least 10. And referring to Jesus as the cornerstone in the NT Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10-11, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, 1 Peter 2:7. Now I could go on and on and I could gather more examples of stones; Mathew 16:18, when Jesus calls Peter the "Rock", 1 Corinthians 10:4 Jesus as the spiritual rock.... Seriously, do we need to proceed! I'll let you look it up yourself ;) Lets get to the issue....
Last night at L!VE I had a friend of ours, Kaine Leonard owner of Rocky Mountain Masonry, come and speak to everyone about masonry and lessons he has learned along the way. He started by telling everyone how in college he was an extreme gravity biker, adrenaline was his rush. He would take his 40lbs bike up to the top of mountains, often using ski lifts to get there, then fly down the mountain at top speeds. What a ride. He then graduated from Western with a geology degree and discovered that working in a cubical was not going to work for him. Masonry was calling him, but his first lesson was Pride. He had a college degree, an extreme biker and now was reduced to a grunt laborer. With this new role he had to force himself to plow through taking each moment by moment task and completing it with integrity as the low man on the totem poll. And this is how his masonry life began. With pride being toppled from the beginning.
A quick summery of other life lessons:
*Take each step moment by moment. You cannot rush through and complete your job. It takes time to do it right.
*Put your blinders on. You cannot look at the enormous job set before you. You start with the rock in hand. Focus on the small task and you will soon look around to discover that you have accomplished more than you realized.
*Rock doesn't care. If you mess up or break a rock, don't loose your cool. It won't help anything, the rock doesn't care that you did it wrong.
*Perfect product/perfect material. You don't have to have lots of tools and a huge supply of rock, what you have is sufficient.
*Work on your knees.... enough said
*Work smarter, not harder. If you go at the rocks before you with all of your strength the entire working day, you will burn out fast. It is about being smart with what you have now.
*Patience- go with the flow. This is not a race to see who can make it down the mountain first. It is about a slow and steady adaptability.
*Sometimes when you do everything right, it still seems not to work. You can't give up. It is about a new day, same job.
*You can be so proud of a job you have done. You think you did it without error, but when you return to that job after learning more, you discover that as you look at your past job, you didn't know as much as you thought you did. You look at the job you did and discover things with a new eye.
*Work from the outside in. You cannot start a task of smoothing a rock from where you want to end. You have to start from the outside, chipping away small pieces to finally achieve the rock you desired from the beginning. You cannot see it and start there. You see it, then work your way in.
So many life lessons in just a short amount of time. As we travel through this life, doing the slow and steady work before us God is teaching us. He is showing us who we really are and teaching us to work better. The most important stone is the cornerstone. This one is vital for any building. "The stone the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone." We get so used to the rush of life. We see the race and want to be the first to cross the finish line. When we learn from our Lord, we see that it is not about fast, but efficient. You cannot rush through. You cannot focus on where you want to end, but you need to have miopia, nearsightedness. Today, work slowly and diligently. Do not get overwhelmed with the big construction sight, but pick up you rock and start chipping away piece by piece. Allow Christ to be your cornerstone and you will have a secure and well built building. Another little note that Kaine added, we laugh a lot on the job. When you are entrenched in the work set before you, you laugh. Enjoy this ride....
Friday, July 8, 2011
Illusions
This past week I went to Texas for a family reunion. Only it was not an ordinary family reunion. It was a reunion of friends. My dad had his hunting buddies my entire childhood. I grew up with their children and they are our extended family. They dubbed their group the WTO, West Texas Outfitters. What a wonderful time to see the people that I knew as a child. I now got to see them with their children and they got to see mine. It was time well spent and many lessons learned for me.
I must confess, before we left for Texas I was a basket case. We were going to spend our time together at the Gaylord Hotel. This hotel is based around its theme of water pleasure. There is a lazy river, water slide, large pool and other accommodations. The thought of having to spend my time in a bathing suit was not my idea of amity. I was excited to see my old friends, but I had seen pictures of them on Facebook and their pictures awakened an insecurity that I had thought was long gone. The insecurity of an illusion that no one can compete with. The illusion of the eye.
Let me explain:
When I was working at the club, I was the illusion. I knew how to work with that illusion and I knew how to play with the thoughts that entered through the eye gate. But after my days at the club were through, I discovered that while I was fulfilling a fantasy, I could not even compete with myself in the illusions that I would portray. My real life, the one that was not seen in the club, could not hold up to the fantasy that others would see. The true me could not compete with the illusion me. So here I was again looking at pictures on FB, illusions, of people. In my insecurity of my motherly body, my mind automatically went in competition of an illusion. Don't get me wrong. These women were stunningly beautiful. They worked out. I don't think I have done a situp in the last 10 years. But that is where the illusion is. It is in convincing yourself that you are in a competition with someone's outward appearance. Who can compete with that? There will always be someone prettier. There will always be someone more desirable physically. The outward appearance is the illusion.
This morning I have been reading in Numbers 22ff, the story of Balaam. In my cometary it says: "His story exposes the deception of maintaining an outward facade of spiritually over a corrupt inward life. Balaam was a man ready t obey God's command as long as he could profit from doing so... Who and what we are will somehow come to the surface, destroying any masks we may have put on to cover up our real selves. Efforts spent on keeping up appearances would be much better spent on finding the answer to sin in our lives. We can avoid Balaam's mistake by facing ourselves and realizing that God is willing to accept us, forgive us, and literally make us over from within.... Lessons from his life; Motives are just as important as actions. Your treasure is where your heart is."
So what had to happen to me? I had to put on a bathing suit, go where I was least secure physically. Go back to the place where I used to draw my security from and face a facade that I thought was no longer an issue in my life. At first I failed the test. I bought the lie, but then I learned my lesson. I cannot put my value in what I look like. I cannot always cover up my most unflattering features and only allow others to see the illusion. I have to face who I am. I have to discover what gives me security and what illusions I am still trying to portray. We all must at sometime go back to where we came from. At some point we must face the facade and discover who we really are. Where are our securities found? Where is our treasure? What is our motive? In each and every situation that we find ourselves in, there is always a lesson to be learned. Sometimes those lessons are lessons that we thought we had conquered long ago.
I must confess, before we left for Texas I was a basket case. We were going to spend our time together at the Gaylord Hotel. This hotel is based around its theme of water pleasure. There is a lazy river, water slide, large pool and other accommodations. The thought of having to spend my time in a bathing suit was not my idea of amity. I was excited to see my old friends, but I had seen pictures of them on Facebook and their pictures awakened an insecurity that I had thought was long gone. The insecurity of an illusion that no one can compete with. The illusion of the eye.
Let me explain:
When I was working at the club, I was the illusion. I knew how to work with that illusion and I knew how to play with the thoughts that entered through the eye gate. But after my days at the club were through, I discovered that while I was fulfilling a fantasy, I could not even compete with myself in the illusions that I would portray. My real life, the one that was not seen in the club, could not hold up to the fantasy that others would see. The true me could not compete with the illusion me. So here I was again looking at pictures on FB, illusions, of people. In my insecurity of my motherly body, my mind automatically went in competition of an illusion. Don't get me wrong. These women were stunningly beautiful. They worked out. I don't think I have done a situp in the last 10 years. But that is where the illusion is. It is in convincing yourself that you are in a competition with someone's outward appearance. Who can compete with that? There will always be someone prettier. There will always be someone more desirable physically. The outward appearance is the illusion.
This morning I have been reading in Numbers 22ff, the story of Balaam. In my cometary it says: "His story exposes the deception of maintaining an outward facade of spiritually over a corrupt inward life. Balaam was a man ready t obey God's command as long as he could profit from doing so... Who and what we are will somehow come to the surface, destroying any masks we may have put on to cover up our real selves. Efforts spent on keeping up appearances would be much better spent on finding the answer to sin in our lives. We can avoid Balaam's mistake by facing ourselves and realizing that God is willing to accept us, forgive us, and literally make us over from within.... Lessons from his life; Motives are just as important as actions. Your treasure is where your heart is."
So what had to happen to me? I had to put on a bathing suit, go where I was least secure physically. Go back to the place where I used to draw my security from and face a facade that I thought was no longer an issue in my life. At first I failed the test. I bought the lie, but then I learned my lesson. I cannot put my value in what I look like. I cannot always cover up my most unflattering features and only allow others to see the illusion. I have to face who I am. I have to discover what gives me security and what illusions I am still trying to portray. We all must at sometime go back to where we came from. At some point we must face the facade and discover who we really are. Where are our securities found? Where is our treasure? What is our motive? In each and every situation that we find ourselves in, there is always a lesson to be learned. Sometimes those lessons are lessons that we thought we had conquered long ago.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Gay Pride
Sometimes, it just drives me crazy when I have a reoccurring theme and I do not want to address it. This one, I do not want to address, but it keeps getting brought up. I don't like talking about it, because people get offended so easily about the subject and defensive on both sides. It is a hot topic and I don't like to discuss it! Most everyone who comments about my blog, sends me an email. For this topic, I would much rather an email than for you to just turn me off and never visit here again. So, if you think I am talking to you specifically just because of a conversation or something you may have mentioned, like I said, this is a reoccurring theme...
1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." I am pulling homosexuality out of these list of sins. I hear people all of the time defending this lifestyle and saying that God made them this way. From what I have seen, I would say that most of the time people lean this direction out of a sexual abuse situation. I do, however, acknowledge that many people struggle more with this than others, but that is how it is with all sins. Even in doing this I am having to pull one sexual sin out of many other sins. Why is it that we get one topic and hold it to a higher standard than others. We grab hold of this sexual sin and excuse it, for people say they are born this way. James 1:12-16, "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
Here is the sin that I really see here. It is not only the choice of choosing a partner of the same sex to have sex with, but it is pride. Ezekiel 16:49, "Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness..." It is not just that someone struggles with this particular sexual sin, it is that they are proud of it. This sin becomes untouchable to God or anyone else. Why do you think that I did not want to address it! It is flaunted around and how dare anyone call this sin out of the rest. It is a title, and in the title we see the true sin lurking under the cover, "Gay Pride". It is a sin not only of the flesh, but of the heart. It is the root of Satan's sin. It is a sin that we all struggle with.
My brother sent me this text the other day when we were talking about homosexuality. "I've also had thoughts of murder, suicide, hatred, rape, etc, etc... wondering what it would be like to experience those things and if I could or would do them. Just because I have had those thoughts placed in my mind, does that mean I am a rapist or murderer and therefore should go ahead and BE that person? Absolutely not! Yet this seems to be the logic of those who are embracing homosexuality..." I have been with girls sexually in my past. Does this mean that I am a lesbian and I should embrace that lifestyle. No, that would be like me saying that it is okay to do anything and there are no rules. There are rules. Jesus never told anyone to just keep doing whatever sin they were in. He called them to repentance. It is about laying aside our sinful desires so we can have a better more fulfilled relationship with Him. it is all about the Creator, not the created. It is all about being more fulfilled in Him. Whatever sin we are holding on to, whether it is gossip, lying, back bitting, slander, hatred, homosexuality, fornication.... whatever it is, the problem is that it is getting in the way of us really seeking God.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20, "You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'—but not everything is good for you. And even though 'I am allowed to do anything,' I must not become a slave to anything. You say, 'Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.' (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies... Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, 'The two are united into one.' But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." It really is not just about a certain sin. It is about your heart toward God...
1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." I am pulling homosexuality out of these list of sins. I hear people all of the time defending this lifestyle and saying that God made them this way. From what I have seen, I would say that most of the time people lean this direction out of a sexual abuse situation. I do, however, acknowledge that many people struggle more with this than others, but that is how it is with all sins. Even in doing this I am having to pull one sexual sin out of many other sins. Why is it that we get one topic and hold it to a higher standard than others. We grab hold of this sexual sin and excuse it, for people say they are born this way. James 1:12-16, "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
Here is the sin that I really see here. It is not only the choice of choosing a partner of the same sex to have sex with, but it is pride. Ezekiel 16:49, "Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness..." It is not just that someone struggles with this particular sexual sin, it is that they are proud of it. This sin becomes untouchable to God or anyone else. Why do you think that I did not want to address it! It is flaunted around and how dare anyone call this sin out of the rest. It is a title, and in the title we see the true sin lurking under the cover, "Gay Pride". It is a sin not only of the flesh, but of the heart. It is the root of Satan's sin. It is a sin that we all struggle with.
My brother sent me this text the other day when we were talking about homosexuality. "I've also had thoughts of murder, suicide, hatred, rape, etc, etc... wondering what it would be like to experience those things and if I could or would do them. Just because I have had those thoughts placed in my mind, does that mean I am a rapist or murderer and therefore should go ahead and BE that person? Absolutely not! Yet this seems to be the logic of those who are embracing homosexuality..." I have been with girls sexually in my past. Does this mean that I am a lesbian and I should embrace that lifestyle. No, that would be like me saying that it is okay to do anything and there are no rules. There are rules. Jesus never told anyone to just keep doing whatever sin they were in. He called them to repentance. It is about laying aside our sinful desires so we can have a better more fulfilled relationship with Him. it is all about the Creator, not the created. It is all about being more fulfilled in Him. Whatever sin we are holding on to, whether it is gossip, lying, back bitting, slander, hatred, homosexuality, fornication.... whatever it is, the problem is that it is getting in the way of us really seeking God.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20, "You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'—but not everything is good for you. And even though 'I am allowed to do anything,' I must not become a slave to anything. You say, 'Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.' (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies... Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, 'The two are united into one.' But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." It really is not just about a certain sin. It is about your heart toward God...
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Sodom and Gomorrah
I have started over in my reading of the bible. This time I am going through and reading the different inserts my bible has about the people and places discussed. Along with reading the inserts, I am also reading the passages around the inserts for my study. I have the New Living, Life Application Study Bible. My reading this morning has been around Genesis 19. The inserts have been about Abraham and Sarah, (The inserts don't always follow the theme of the chapter around them). The insert on Abraham says, "We all know that there are consequences to any action we take. What we do can set into motion a series of events that may continue long after we are gone. Unfortunately, when we are making a decision most of us think only of the immediate consequences. These are often misleading because they are short lived." Sarah's insert says, "There probably isn't anything harder to do than wait...One way we often cope with a long wait is to begin helping God get His plan into action...Another way we cope with a long wait is to gradually conclude that what we're waiting for is never going to happen." Crazy, but this is not where my reading has been. My reading has been about Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 19, is a very disturbing chapter for me. There is nothing about it that is easy. From the men being so sexually wrong that they try and tear down the door to get to the other men, and Lot trying to give the men his virgin daughters instead; to his daughters, later, getting him drunk so their father would sleep with them, the whole thing is just messed up! So, what is the sin of Sodom, some may ask. Its not what you may think. Ezekiel 16:49, "Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen." Every sexual sin, every detestable act of Sodom can be summed up in these three characteristics we all possess; pride, laziness, and gluttony.
Our pride, it helps us with our sin. Everyone of us has it. None of us want to admit it. The consequence is what happens after we have been living in it. Gluttony, our nation is swimming in this one. Laziness, there is always something that we need to be doing, but because we are lazy we would rather, not. Everyone of us, have to answer some day to the consequences of our sin. Too often many consequences are put upon us by someone else's sin. Lot's daughters were victims of their fathers sin, but later they chose to live in his sin and their children paid a high price for generations, afterwards. We all become gluttons in whatever sin we are feeding, and we all can be accused of being lazy, for it is hard work to overcome the addictions we feed. But pride, pride is the one that starts it all. We seem to think that we will be able to live a certain way and not have to face our sin like others. We think that we are different and our pride keeps us from seeing the truth at how truly harmful our acts really are.
Here's the cool part, we serve a God who never takes His vows lightly. He will honor His word, but we have a part in this covenant as well. We have to see ourselves for what we really are. We have to see the truth of our sin, otherwise we will always keep making excuses. Then He can partner with us and help to change our future, and our children's. So when the temptation comes upon you to say, "but my sins are not that bad..." Really? The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were pride, laziness, and gluttony. Be patient as you work with God. Work with Him. Do not take your situation in your own hands, but let Him lead you. Ezekiel 16:61ff, "Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” Look at the truth that is trying to be covered with a lie. Look to the Cross, so that we can learn to live free!
Genesis 19, is a very disturbing chapter for me. There is nothing about it that is easy. From the men being so sexually wrong that they try and tear down the door to get to the other men, and Lot trying to give the men his virgin daughters instead; to his daughters, later, getting him drunk so their father would sleep with them, the whole thing is just messed up! So, what is the sin of Sodom, some may ask. Its not what you may think. Ezekiel 16:49, "Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen." Every sexual sin, every detestable act of Sodom can be summed up in these three characteristics we all possess; pride, laziness, and gluttony.
Our pride, it helps us with our sin. Everyone of us has it. None of us want to admit it. The consequence is what happens after we have been living in it. Gluttony, our nation is swimming in this one. Laziness, there is always something that we need to be doing, but because we are lazy we would rather, not. Everyone of us, have to answer some day to the consequences of our sin. Too often many consequences are put upon us by someone else's sin. Lot's daughters were victims of their fathers sin, but later they chose to live in his sin and their children paid a high price for generations, afterwards. We all become gluttons in whatever sin we are feeding, and we all can be accused of being lazy, for it is hard work to overcome the addictions we feed. But pride, pride is the one that starts it all. We seem to think that we will be able to live a certain way and not have to face our sin like others. We think that we are different and our pride keeps us from seeing the truth at how truly harmful our acts really are.
Here's the cool part, we serve a God who never takes His vows lightly. He will honor His word, but we have a part in this covenant as well. We have to see ourselves for what we really are. We have to see the truth of our sin, otherwise we will always keep making excuses. Then He can partner with us and help to change our future, and our children's. So when the temptation comes upon you to say, "but my sins are not that bad..." Really? The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were pride, laziness, and gluttony. Be patient as you work with God. Work with Him. Do not take your situation in your own hands, but let Him lead you. Ezekiel 16:61ff, "Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” Look at the truth that is trying to be covered with a lie. Look to the Cross, so that we can learn to live free!
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