You need to quit flirting with the idea that God winks at sin.
—Damon Thompson
The only sin today is to call sin, sin.
—Tim Dilena
From the Inside Out
Psalm 55:10
“It’s walls are patrolled day and night against invaders, but the real danger is wickedness inside the city.”
When I read this verse I felt like the Lord gave me so much more out of it than David just talking about his enemies attacking him.
Everyday as Christians we are on guard as to what is going on in the world and spirit so we are not tempted, lied to, or tricked by the enemy. We keep on watch and we choose not go certain places, say certain things, watch certain shows etc. Yet where the true danger is, isn’t the pull of the world, but rather the wickedness right within our very own hearts. Our own fleshly desire that grows deep down in our hearts is where the true hazard is.
What is trying to attack the city on the outside is menial because the walls can withstand it, but the true trouble and ultimate demise is what happens within the walls of the city. It’s easier to break something and watch it crumble from the inside out. In this instance the city is our very own hearts.
Proverbs 3:27 says, “For as a man thinks in his heart, so he is.” In other words, the things you don’t even say but think is what/who you are. Those are your TRUE colors; what comes from inside of you. And the thing most dangerous and destructive to you is that heart right inside of your own body.
Don’t fool yourself in continuing you are being obedient to Christ because you didn’t go and tell tell somebody they are a jerk, or talk behind their back…..maybe you didn’t say it out loud but did you think those thoughts? How does that make your heart any holier than someone who does say the things they are truly thinking/feeling. If anything you are just a coward now. The point is not that you say or don’t say, do or don’t do something. The point is that the thought is already there in your heart and head, and according to Christ if we even think it, we have already committed the sin in our hearts (Matthew 5:28). That is why it is so important to do what the Lord tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 which says, “ take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
All in all, I’m not writing this to condemn anyone. Instead I want to help open your eyes like the Lord has opened mine. Instead of placing the blame on everything around me, I’m looking within my own walls into my heart and fighting against my own flesh to serve the Lord has humbly and as holy as possible. I want protect the city/heart from things that try to make me stumble on the outside and my own flesh and wickedness on the inside.
Week 2 Day 5 (Wineskins)
Genesis 26:17-27:46
Matthew 9:1-17
Psalm 10:16-18
Proverbs 3:9-10
Matthew 9:17
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old wineskins would burst from the pressure spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is preserved in new wine skins so that both are preserved.”
As I was reading today, I felt like the Lord was showing me something very clearly as I read this verse. It may not seem like anything important, but the principal can apply to our lives as Christians.
When we take the first step to follow Christ we become a new creation as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” When we accept Christ into our lives, he wipes out everything, and remakes us as a beautiful new creation, much like a new wineskin.
However some of us may look new on the outside, fitting the description as new, yet we choose to fill up our insides with everything old. We fill it up with our old sins that we try to get away with, hurt from our past, condemnation from sins we have committed, anger, strife, guilt, doubt and the list could go on and on. So we have now accepted this amazing gift the Lord has given us of this new wineskin, yet we choose to junk up the inside with everything from our past that didn’t work then and won’t work now. We have seen a change on the surface, on the outside, but our own actions still fill us up with filth on the inside.
Just as an old wineskin will burst and leak out and ruin the new wine because it can’t handle the pressure, a heart change won’t last unless their is a new lifestyle to go along with it and vise versa. You won’t stand long allowing old sins into your new lifestyle in Christ. We can’t preserve our new life if we are putting old habits into it, and we can’t put new habits into the same old lifestyle….it won’t work, it won’t last. Until both your inside and outside focus is on Christ, you will crumble under the pressure.
I am asking God today to make me like a new wineskin, and fill me with new wine. Cleanse me from the inside out and help me to preserve my heart for you. Help me not to fill your new creation with old sins that you have already forgiven and forgotten, and help me not to dwell on the condemnation that has stemmed from them. Help me to live as your servant pure and holy from the inside out. I love you and thank you for your patience and grace with me.
Week 1 Day 3
Genesis 5:1-7:24
Matthew 3:7-4:11
Psalm 3:1-8
Proverbs 1:10-19
Matthew 3:8
“Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God”.
I can’t tell you how deep this cut me. I feel like “just get it together Charity.”
Week 1 Day 2
Genesis 3:1-4:26
Matthew 2:13-3:6
Psalm 2:1-12
Proverbs 1:7-9
Genesis 4:7
“Sin is crouching at the door eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
Sin is always waiting biting at the chance to make its way into your life but in Christ we have authority over it. We have a choice everyday what master we will serve. Tell me that’s not awesome!!!
New Year: New Plan
I’ve never been one for new year resolutions because frankly they never stick, but I’m excited for a new year and what God has to bring. There are definitely some things I want to accomplish, and some of them I will be sharing on here.
This year I decided I want to read through the Bible entirely and I am excited to have started it today. If anyone would like to join in on my reading plan and read the same thing as I do everyday, let me know. I will most likely be posting what I read that day, and I’ll most likely have something to say about it. haha (of course)
This year I also want to make fasting something more important and present in my spiritual life. My pastor said something very interesting about fasting that really struck me when he said, “Everyday we are faced with challenges where we have to choose our flesh or our spirit, and let’s be honest, a lot of the time our spirit submits to our flesh (sin). Fasting however teaches our flesh to submit to our spirit.” This year I want to make it a point to start fasting and pressing into God on a whole new level. I want to grow in my prayer life and my devotion time with the Lord.
Only those who are truly aware of their sin can truly cherish grace.
—C.J. Mahaney
Subject Content vs Heart Content
I feel like so many of us as Christians want to set a good example for the world in the way we live our lives, yet we are the first ones to start rationalizing why we should be able to do what we want when we know it’s wrong. Sometimes we may not even feel convicted or truly know the dangers of letting it into our lives and hearts yet we choose to remain blinded by our own sin.
I’ll admit it, up until about 5 months ago, I was watching a show called The Inbetweeners that I thought was hilarious. I knew the content of the show was completely filthy, but I told myself it was okay to watch because I just thought it was funny, and it wasn’t like I would ever talk like that. I did the same thing with music. I rationalized listening to music with filthy content because “I liked the beat” or didn’t really listen to the words. I found myself saying things that I shouldn’t be saying just to get a laugh or rationalizing something I wanted to do because it’s not something I would “do all the time”.
This is dangerous territory and God tells us in Luke 16:10 “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” How do you expect the Lord to use you and be a true witness to the world, if you are willing to rationalize your own sin and let it make a home in your heart?
Most of the time I feel convicted when I know I’m doing something wrong, but there are also those times that I think every other Christian has where it seems like the answer isn’t black or white, but rather falls in a “gray” area. You aren’t sure if it’s right or wrong. I struggled with this sort of thing when it came to music. For example: I wasn’t listening to Candy Shop by 50 Cent but I also wasn’t listening to Our God by Chris Tomlin. I was just listening to the bands I liked that sang about love, and life and what not. Was it wrong of me to be listening to something that wasn’t directly about Christ?
In this instance I personally think this could be both 100% fine and 100% wrong. I’m not as legalistic to say that a Christian can’t listen to any other type of music except praise and worship but I’m also not as loose to say a Christian can listen to pretty much whatever they want. If I want to listen to a “love” song but it stirs up desire and lust within my heart, I probably shouldn’t be listening to it. On the other hand if I’m listening to just a fun summer song that talks about enjoying friends, I don’t really see anything wrong with that. l think content alone should dictate whether or not we let something in, and I think what our sinful nature makes something, even if the content is innocent should dictate what we let in.
If you aren’t so sure where the line is, or what exactly is acceptable and pleasing in the Lords eyes, then question and ask God, “is this something I should be spending my/your time on God? Is this glorifying to you or lifting you up in any way?” If you’re still struggling after that, this should help:
Don’t watch it if Jesus died for it.
Don’t listen to it if Jesus died for it.
Don’t say it if Jesus died for it.
Don’t do it if Jesus died for it.
Pretty simple.
Colossians 3:1-4
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Bad Fruit. Bad Taste.
You can have a beautiful tree in a garden with gorgeous delicious fruit, but one rotten piece of fruit can ruin the entire tree. That rotten fruit will begin to decay, smell terrible, and begin to infect the rest of your healthy fruit.
How does this differ from sins in our lives? ……It doesn’t.
Don’t fool yourself for one more second. You cannot continue to feed that rotten fruit in your heart/life and not expect it to contaminate the rest of your life. It’s odor alone will start to stain the walls of your heart and sleep there until you take the time and much effort to clean it out. The easiest way to prevent it from settling in deep to your heart is by getting rid of it the minute it starts to rot.
This is the same for the sin in our lives. Instead of letting sin harbor a home in your heart, get rid of it at the first sign of rot or decay. It’s much easier to get rid of something at first sign of decay than it is to let something linger around and completely go bad. When you get rid of something quickly before it really starts to rot, you can usually pick it up in one piece, throw it away, and it’s done with. When you procrastinate and let something sit for a while it usually becomes a mess. Not only is it harder to throw away because it has now become soft and hard to pick up in one piece, but you now have to deal with the odor it leaves once its thrown away. The smell lingers and attracts bugs. It doesn’t disappear, it’s strong and it’s hard to get rid of.
The sins we let linger in our lives are like a rotting piece of fruit. Not only are they harder to clean up, but they leave a lasting effect or an “after taste”. Not only do you have to clean up this sin, but now you have all the stuff it has left behind to clean up and deal with.
Bottom line is stated in Hebrews 12:1 “Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.” Don’t start to accept those “little sins” in your life, or tell yourself you will change tomorrow. Repent, ask the Lord for help now, and start to change. Don’t let sin linger and don’t let it grow and make permanent room in your life. Your life as a Christian is too important and too valuable to let sin have rest in you heart.
Luke 6:43
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
