- Jul 24, 2023
- 3 min read
“If we claim not to have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, then, since he is trustworthy and just, he will forgive them and purify us from all wrongdoing” (1 Yochanan (1 Jo) 1:8-9). We all stumble in our walk BUT we always get to choose whether to remain fallen or to get back up. Getting back up is a matter of repenting and moving forward with Him. Getting up is choosing to deny self, take up His cross, and follow obediently. Some people are not easy to love because they fool themselves and others into believing that they don’t fall.
I used to like to think that I had it all figured out. That was probably yesterday or earlier today. I had read the stories of Eve and Peter and Daniel and the like and there was no way I was going to be that foolish. I was never going to make those mistakes. I had this idea that somehow I was going to be above fooling. BUT I’m not. You’re not. We’re not.
There is a pride that lives in most Christians that we are not going to be fooled like those we have read about in scripture. We are not going to be fooled like other folks we know. BUT we are going to be fooled, “ . . . I fear that somehow your minds may be seduced away from simple and pure devotion to the Messiah, just as Havah was deceived by the serpent and his craftiness” (2 Corinthians (2 Co) 11:3). We are going to be deceived.
We are going to fall. And we are going to find ourselves with a choice. We can either admit that we sinned and repent and move forward. Or we can lay in our sin with our shackles. And that is a choice I get to make every day. And I get to make that choice multiple times each day. And it gets burdensome. It wears you down. It beats you down. And it is not something we can handle on our own. And that is why we need God in our walk. And sometimes we forget Him.
Without His strength and grace and mercy and love, I am not going to make it. If this journey was up to my strength alone I could live a life that was filled with struggles I could not overcome. I know because I have lived that life in vain. I lived a rather decent life without Him. BUT I live a meaningful and purposeful life now with Him.
Now, I have someone that can give me all the tools I need to be victorious. I can go to Him in prayer for the strength, the love, the grace, and the mercy I need to make it through the minute, the hour, the day, the week, and the life devoted to Him. I just need to trust Him enough to ask. I may be better at being deceived than some folks BUT I am not above being deceived. Years of studying influence are looking for the traps and snares are helpful BUT they are not immunity. I need Him to rescue me when I do stumble into the foolishness that I so often find. “Therefore, openly acknowledge your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (Ya'akov (Jas) 5:16).
Grace and Shalom to your home.
I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!