Becoming Conscious of God in Temptation

I opened the Holy Bible and read Psalm 139:23-24 to my kids—Joy and Joe. I explained to them the sinfulness of our heart and the need of God to transform it. My eldest son, Joy, turned the conversation to what he said to his friend. He told his buddy, “Our God is with us at all times. He is with us when we do family prayer; He is with me as I sit on the bench and write.”

Now Joy looked at me, expecting some appreciation for what he did. I commended him for what he said to his friend. Then I also told him, “God is with you even when you get angry; He is with you when you are quarreling with your brother.” When I said this, his faced turned down with a sense of uneasiness. He got the point.

Becoming Conscious of God in Happy and Difficult Times

I see at times that I try to become conscious of God during happy situations. I say, “God is so good to me. He has blessed me. He is with me and guides me always.” And rightly so, for the Scripture says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters” (Ps. 23:2).

Moreover, many times I claim God’s presence with me when I face trials in life. I encourage myself in difficult times, saying, “God is with me. He will set me free. His presence will go with me in darkness. He will never leave me nor forsake me.”

Truly, the Scripture gives so much assurance about God’s presence with me in difficult times. It is written, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Ps. 23:4).

However, what I find strange and puzzling about me is this—I don’t generally view this way or say the same things when it comes to temptations, such as enticing pleasures and provoking pressures.

Becoming Inattentive of God in Temptation

When I shout at my spouse, is not the God who is slow to anger watching me? When I wildly react to my friends or strangers, has not the Lord of patience kept His eye on me? When I subtly lie to others, is not the God of truth looking at me and hearing me?

When I harbor bitterness in my heart, is not the God who examines the heart seeing me? When I entertain immoral thoughts in mind, am I not watched by the Lord who knows all things? When I watch something evil and worthless, am I not still in His holy sight and presence?

This is what I observed about myself—when it comes to sin, I try to forget God or become unaware of His presence. But when it comes to troubles, I try to remember God or become more conscious of His presence. How I play with my sense of God!

Sin blinds me towards God-consciousness and makes me more self-focused—but that’s because I make a choice to become numb to God-consciousness by entertaining sin to take control of my life during temptation.

Becoming Conscious of God in Temptation

The Holy Scripture says:

• Job 34:21-22, "His eyes are on the ways of men; He sees their every step. There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide.”

• Jeremiah 23:24, “Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.

• Hebrews 4:13, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

Dear friends, do we become conscious of God or know that God’s presence is with us when we are enticed by sin or indulge in sin?

I believe, as much as I live with a sense that God is with me, watching and knowing me, when I go through difficult times—if I live with the same sense when it comes to temptations, my life would become more holy and victorious. It is only a matter of choice—either to become conscious of God or ignore being aware of His presence.

The Lord who was with Joseph when he was thrown into prison, He was also with him when he was shut alone in room with Potiphar’s wife. Joseph knew this and he did not find it difficult to overcome the temptation he faced.

Every time I face a temptation, like Joseph, I need to make a decision to become conscious of God and say, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" (Gen. 39:9)

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Surest Way to Ruin One’s Life

Nobody wants to ruin their life. Everyone wants to be happy and safe. Yet, regretfully, there are so many inadvertently ruining their life. Let’s see how.

When the serpent came to the woman, he questioned, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" (Gen. 3:1-3)

Now observe carefully what the serpent said to the woman—"You will not surely die…" (3:4).

God said that the day you touch the fruit of the forbidden tree—you will die, but the devil said—you will not surely die.

How evil and crafty the devil is! Ever since he deceived Adam and Eve in the garden, he is on a continuous mission to entice people to believe his lies. His goal is to delude and destroy people by distorting God’s words by delivering his own version.

When we look at the people’s mindset today, don’t we see how the devil had poisoned their minds by installing notions contrary to God’s word? 

Distortion of God's Truth

Here are some examples of how the devil has been successful in deceiving people:

God’s word reveals Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Jn. 14:6; Acts 4:12). Yet the devil deceived people into thinking that Jesus is not the only way; He is just one of the ways; there are many ways leading to heaven.

God’s word reveals to repent and trust in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins; that if we don’t repent and turn to God, we’ll perish (Acts 2:38; Lu. 13:3,5). Yet the devil misled people into thinking to simply trust Christ for salvation by undermining the aspect of repentance. He enticed them to focus on merely believing in Christ without seriously considering their sins and the necessity to repent.

God’s word reveals not to be deceived, for 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 (1 Cor. 6:9-10). Yet the devil fooled people into thinking that God is love and the loving God doesn’t send people to hell; that people can simply believe in Christ, live the way they want to live and yet inherit the kingdom of God.

God's word reveals that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness; that those who repent, God will forgive the guilt of their sin (1 Jn. 1:9; Ps. 39:5). Yet the devil seduced some people that God will not forgive them, that their repentance is futile and that there is no hope for them, casting them into the misery of self-condemnation and despair. 

God’s word reveals marriage is a lasting relationship and that divorce and remarriage are forbidden, except for adultery; that if believers have to inevitably go for separation, they must remain unmarried (Matt. 5:32; 1 Cor. 7:11). Yet the devil lied to people saying they can go for divorce for many personal reasons and continue to remarry.

God’s word reveals to stay content and not to seek worldly riches which turn the heart from faith and plunge people into many griefs; that we have to stay focused on His kingdom and righteousness (1 Tim. 6:6-10; Matt. 6:33). Yet the devil entrapped people to believe that God wants to make all His people rich and that they have to seek and claim earthly riches and prosperity.

God’s word reveals that to follow Christ we have to deny ourself and take up our cross and follow Him; that we have to give up everything and make Him the Lord of our lives (Lu. 14:26-27, 33). Yet the devil enchanted people into believing that to follow Christ means self-fulfillment, not self-denial; receiving everything, not giving up everything; seeking worldly crowns, not carrying our cross; using Jesus as a means to reach our own ends, not seeing the Lord Jesus as the end of all things.

Believing Truth, Resisting Lies

There are many other truths God’s word reveals about which the devil tempted many people to doubt and resist, luring them to follow their whims and wishful opinions. But we cannot blame him for his deceptions, for we have God's word as a standard whereby to judge all things. We have a choice, either to believe God's truth or the devil's lies.

Just like Eve and Adam who believed the lie of the devil and ruined their bright future, many folks are ruining their lives by believing the lies of the enemy.

The surest way to ruin one’s life is to resist allowing the truth of God’s word to speak as it is and follow one’s own assumptions and lies of the devil.

Remember, the devil’s aim is to entice us to cultivate a casual attitude towards God’s exhortations; he wants us to ignore the holiness of God and the consequences of sin and face inevitable destruction.

Dear friends, let us not be deceived by the lies of the enemy. Let us not permit him to lay poisonous eggs in our mind. Let us not stubbornly cling to our own wishes and notions that do not reflect the truth of God’s word. Let us not entertain the teachings of false teachers whose beliefs are not evidenced by God’s truth. Let us take God’s word seriously. Let us interpret the word of God as it is, believe what it says and live accordingly.

May the Lord who is faithful, strengthen and protect us from the evil one (2 Thess. 3:3).

Related Articles:

• Why Did God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?
  
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What Makes Your Life Inefficient?

 

Mechanic repairing the puncture while behind my two kids playing on the sand.

Today morning, after sharing God’s word with the church, I was in a hurry to attend the memorial service of my relative. When I got on my bike, having my youngest son sit in the front and the eldest one on the back, I realized there was something wrong with the back tire. To my disappointment, the tire went flat because of puncture.

Since there was no repair center nearby, I had to push my bike to some distance. My kids too helped me in pushing the bike. After burning many calories in my body, I was exhausted and so were my kids.

With great difficulty, we finally arrived at the repair center. As I was already late, I requested the mechanic to fix the tire as soon as possible. Thankfully, he promptly attended my problem. He pulled the tube outside the tire, filled it with air and pushed it into the water tub to check from where the air was leaking out.  

Within a moment, I saw bubbles coming out of a very small hole. You know, the hole was so small that it could not be seen with my naked eyes. It was as if it was poked with a needle.

As the mechanic was fixing the puncture, I thought looking at the bike—the bike is strong, the engine is in good condition, the tank is with sufficient fuel, yet this very small hole in the tube had brought this big bike to a halt. How a small hole can create a big problem!

What makes our life inefficient? What causes big problems in life? What ruins the serenity of heart? What wastes our life?

This is what I have generally observed—it is not necessarily big sins that make our life inefficient; it is mostly those small sins that paralyze the efficiency of life.

Many of us see murder, robbery, drunkenness and adultery as big sins. We judge ourselves as nice folks based on not committing these so-called monstrous sins.

But what about sins like temper, bitterness, envy, lustful thoughts, greed, white lies, loose talk, negligence and laziness? The tragedy about these sins is that they are not seriously considered as terribly wicked.

How easily we ignore such sins! How casual our attitude is toward these evils! O, these are the vices that brings the efficiency of life to a halt!

Interestingly, most of the sins about which the Holy Bible speaks are such sins that appear quite little to our perspective. But it is these small sins that ruin the peace in our heart. It is these little vices that spoil our day. It is these minute evils which bring enormous troubles in interpersonal relationships. It is these small sins that make our life weak, inefficient and unproductive for the glory of God.

Let us, therefore, not ignore any sin. May we be even more careful with these little sins which blind our heart to belittle God’s holiness. Let us grieve and repent over such small sins, for the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin (1Jn. 1:7). Let us cry out to God to deliver us from these little vices. Let us discipline ourselves, by God's grace, in not permitting these sins to thrive, making our life inefficient.

Be careful not to let “the little foxes that ruin the vineyards” (Song 2:15).

Related Articles:

• Sin is Sin
  
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Liberation from Pornography

Introductory words: It is no exaggeration to say that we are living in an age of sensuality. Starting from television and movies to mobile phones and Internet, we are constantly bombarded with sexual content, be it partial or explicit. It has now become only a matter of touch on remote control, on enter button or a click on mouse to indulge oneself in sexual immorality.

There are so many folks in our day, including the nice and sincere ones, living a life of bondage to pornography. There are untold people who are secretly addicted to porn. Sadly, they suppose there is no hope of deliverance from this addiction. Thus, the following interview is posted with a hope that such hopeless people will find hope. May be you are one among them and this message is for you.

Note: The following interview was done using open-ended questions. I put it in writing, edited myself and sent it to Prem for his final approval. Also, the actual name of the interviewee has been changed to Prem Raj for the sake of confidentiality.

CSD: Prem, I have learned you have been once an addict to porn and now walk in complete freedom from this bondage. Would you please explain how your addiction to porn began?

PR: I was first introduced to porn through an adult magazine. When I saw it, which actually belonged to my friend, my curiosity aroused and my sensual feelings went wild. Like a hungry dog for bones, I indulged myself in it. That later led me to look out for novels with explicit sexual content. As the days went by, my craving to watch and read such obscene things became intense.

I was desperately searching for porn material, particularly in second-hand book sales, for by now I became familiar with authors who write on this subject matter. I was willing to go to any extreme, pay any cost, just to satisfy my sensual hunger. As I watched and read them, I also got addicted to masturbation and immersed myself in a world of sexual fantasy.

CSD: How did things go further as you went along in life the following years?

PR: After finishing my basic studies, I worked for six months. Despite the fact of being a slave to porn, on the other hand, I had a bit of God’s fear in my heart, wanting to know God’s word and serve Him. So, I got into a Bible college. This training had somehow helped me, yet I did not completely give up watching porn. Regretfully, even while studying in a Bible college, I was watching erotic stuff once in a while and masturbating.

Incidentally, in all these years of addiction, none knew my secret struggle and addiction to porn. I was a pious guy before others. I did think of sharing it with someone, but I couldn’t do so for fear of rejection.

Then came a major breakthrough in technology—the Internet world was introduced in India. This was a great opportunity to gratify my lustful passions. It became easier for me to watch porn, going simply to Internet cafés and enjoy watching and reading sexual content. I also borrowed CDs and watched porn films.

Finally, I got a laptop with internet connection. You can imagine how my addiction escalated. Pornography was now available to me anytime I wanted to watch. I used to download all sexual stuff and secretly scan them at my convenience. Day by day, I became sensually wild and immoral in my thoughts and sight. I eventually found myself in a situation I could not live without watching porn.

CSD: You said that you have done Bible College with a desire to do ministry. How were you handling porn when you got into ministry?

PR: After completing my training in Bible College, I went for other trainings and got involved in ministry. I was ministering to various people, went around preaching and even giving counseling to others. I even became a youth leader in my church. Yet, in secret, I was helplessly living an immoral life, watching porn and masturbating. I was living a hypocritical life. And I lived this double life in a way nobody could doubt me. I left no trace of detection.

CSD: How were your feelings when you watched porn? Were you satisfied and living a happy life?

PR: The more I watched porn, the more I became miserable. Watching porn never satisfied me. If it did, it is only for a moment. In actual fact, it made me even worse, hungering for more and more. Even though I appeared to others as a jolly and nice guy, deep inside my heart I was empty, lonely, sinful and dismayed.

CSD: What about your feelings of guilt? Did you feel sorry for the way you lived?

PR: This was what had happened every time I watched porn. Once I finished watching porn and masturbating, feelings of guilt would overtake me. I used to ask God for forgiveness, cried and wept before Him. The remorse was so strong that at times I tore my clothes, fell on the floor and writhed in agony. I could not face anyone. I lost genuine connection with God and people around me. I despised myself and hated to look at my own face.

Sometimes, I cancelled my preaching, for I was filled with remorse for watching and soaking in dirty stuff. I knew what I was doing was sin. It is something I shouldn’t be doing as a child of God. But, I was helpless, addicted and became a slave to lust.

Then after feelings of sorrow and repentance, my lustful passions would rise and I felt desperate to watch again. I couldn’t control myself and gave myself over to indulge in porn. In short, I fell into a cyclical process—watching porn, feeling sorry, asking God for forgiveness and again returning to my own vomit, watching porn.

CSD: How did you eventually find liberation from porn?

PR: My deliverance from this addiction was not immediate, but progressive. After years of struggling with this sin, God mercifully revealed Himself to me. The healing actually began with an exposure to the majesty of God. For the first time, my eyes were opened to the glory and goodness of God.

Earlier, I had mere head knowledge of God. But I began to see for the first time the beauty of God. I was astounded to read about how great God is as found in Job 38-41. How He created the whole universe by His wisdom and power, how He is sovereign and above all things, how He is sustaining the entire earth and how everything exists because of Him. And, yet, He has His eye over me, a tiny creature before the Most High God.

When I started to know God’s excellencies, explored His majesty and tasted godly pleasures, the lustful passions began to lose its power over me. As I experienced God, who in His rich mercy had forgiven me and showed His glory in my life, I found great joy and satisfaction. I discovered lasting pleasures in Him. I fell in love with Jesus and that freed me from the love of sensuality.

I now know God and I love Him and want to please Him. I even love my wife and I seek to find my physical satisfaction in my wife alone and not in anything else.

CSD: Well, Prem, thank you so much for honestly sharing your heart. Finally, what is the message you want to pass on to those whose lives are ruled by lust and pornography?

PR: First, I want to mention that watching porn is a choice. You cannot blame anybody or anything. It is you who make a choice to click, to touch, to see, to entertain and to fantasize the forbidden things. So, ultimately, you are completely responsible for the choices you make in your life.

Second, addictions are not easy to overcome. You cannot get out of it on your own. You require divine help. Not just help from God but God Himself. Although your prayers may not be answered immediately, don’t give up. Don’t get disappointed and dejected. Keep seeking God, keep asking for His help, keep studying His word, keep looking for opportunities to know more of Him and keep pouring your heart before the Throne of Grace to reveal Himself to you. These words are forever true, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13)

Third, share with someone. Don’t live a life of secrecy. One reason for me to continue in this sin for years is due to withholding myself from opening to someone who could help me. And when you share with that person, make it a strict accountability. You may fall again, but still keep yourself accountable. You may even be rebuked and seriously corrected for watching porn, but still keep yourself accountable. Don’t let your pride ruin the help others could offer you. Whether you are addicted to porn or may be on your way towards addiction, rise up and seek help right away.

At last, I want to express—I have wasted a lot of my life and time by living in lust. For more than ten years, I was a secret addict to porn. Thankfully, I am now free from this sin, not just recently but long back. This does not mean I don’t face temptation at all. By God’s grace, I overcome it. I don’t watch porn constantly. I don’t watch porn once in a while. I don’t watch porn at all. I now enjoy the freedom of purity. I want to tell that there is no lasting satisfaction and happiness in porn. True joy and contentment is found only in Jesus, the one who loved us and gave Himself for us.

CSD: I am thankful to God for liberating Prem from this addiction to porn. I know him quite well personally and find his testimony trustworthy. Prem is now having a wonderful family and is doing a great ministry. God is using him to be a tremendous blessing to many. He now walks in freedom from pornography and enjoys his life in Christ.

Friend, if you think you are lost in lust and have no hope of deliverance from pornography, remember, you would never reach a situation in your life wherein you find yourself having no hope in God. There is always hope in Jesus. He died for our sins. He rose again from the dead to give us victory over sin. So, cling to the feet of Christ with a broken and contrite spirit. Know Jesus and love Him, for He is the most beautiful and wonderful person in whose presence sin loses all its power of enticement.

Of course, accountability to others, confession of sin, repentance and exercising self-control—all these things are important to overcome lust and pornography. But the most important element is seeing and savoring the glory of God.

When we draw closer to God, irrespective of our weaknesses and failures, and start seeking His holy face, study about Him, pray to Him, know Him and experience Him, we find displeasure in the pleasures sin offers. Knowing God more frees us from habitual sins. Living a life in His glorious presence is so pleasurable that even all the pleasures of sin fall short of it. Finding our utmost satisfaction in God liberates us from addiction to temporal, sinful pleasures. Falling in love with Jesus uplifts us from the mire of sin.

“Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fullness of joy; In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever” (Ps. 16:11).

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The Fourth Temptation of Man

I am sure you are well aware of the three temptations a man commonly faces in his life—glory [pride], girl [lust] and gold [money]. As we live in this modern, advanced age, there is another temptation that I wish to add to the list. This has become a powerful, irresistible temptation to many a man. It has now taken an enticing, equivalent position to the common three.

Can you guess what it is?

GADGETS.

Today, many Christian men, including so many pastors and leaders, have become victims of the fourth temptation—electronic gadgets. These have enslaved so many of us in the form of being good to our eyes and appearing pleasurable to our senses while in fact eating away our precious and brief time on earth.

Just think:

• How many spend more time before What's App and Facebook than before God’s book!

• How many spend more time on online chatting than in conversing with God!

• How many spend more time before the television, watching movies and programs, than in study of sound books that builds oneself in the Lord!

• How many spend more time listening to music players [mp3 players, iPod…etc] than in seeking opportunities to listen to discouraged souls and encourage them!

• How many spend more time with computer games than treasuring God’s word in heart!

• How many spend more time in superfluous conversations on their mobile phones than grabbing time to serve others for their edification!

• How many spend more money in buying electronic gadgets than generously helping the needy ones and in the spread of God’s kingdom work!

Well, I am not saying it is wrong or sinful to spend time with the electronic gadgets. What I want to convey is that we need to exercise discipline and moderation, investing reasonable time and money in such things. If we allow these gadgets to take precedence over our relationship with God, His Word and His kingdom issues—we lose spiritual fervency, vitality and strength, living no better creatures than those who do not know the Living God.

Donald S. Whitney counsels, "If we are going to be like Jesus, we must see the use of our time as a spiritual discipline." O, time wasted on earth is life wasted for God! So, let us beware of glory, girl, gold and gadgets—for all these have the potentiality to suck our spiritual strength and valuable time, making us impotent in our life for God.

Finally, I want to remind you that we are accountable to God even with regards to our time. Jonathan Edwards [1703-1758] exhorted to live each day as if at the end of that day you had to give an account to God of how you used your time. Imagine how carefully we would daily invest our time in things if we live with this sacred consciousness!

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The Conversation of Job on Lust

Note: One morning, I had a severe struggle with lust. To win this war, I turned to the words of Job in chapter 31:1-12. Job was one of the oldest patriarchs and is renowned for being a man who feared God and shunned evil. What he spoke here few thousands of years back are very much challenging to the people of modern age.

As I reflected upon these few words of Job, I was led to write the following words, elaborating the discourse of Job and allowing them to plainly converse with our hearts. I found the words of Job quite challenging in my own life in regard to living a life of sexual purity.

Here is Job.

Listen to my words. Let me tell you something to think about. I made a covenant with my eyes, with my sight, with how I look at a woman. Do you want to know the covenant I made with my eyes? I determined not to look lustfully at a woman. I resolved not to entertain sexual fantasies about a girl. I took a stubborn decision, not only to flee from committing physical adultery, but also from its very thought in my mind, i.e. not to undress a girl with my imagination.

Yes, I fled from watching the nakedness of a woman, whether with my physical eyes or in my imagination. I firmly made up my mind not to be led by whatever my eyes sees and whatever my heart feels. I have learned to master my sight, my thoughts and my feelings. I decided to treat the opposite sex with absolute purity. I know it is hard. It is a tough battle. But I made this solemn choice, not a one-time choice, but a constant choice not to dwell on lust.

Do you know why I did this? Because I fear God. Does He not punish those who do wrong? Is not disaster waiting for those who live by wicked thoughts and actions? Does He not see my ways? Are not my thoughts laid bare before Him? Is He not counting every step of my life? Isn’t God looking, observing how I live and what I think?

Am I not accountable to God for what I choose, what I watch, what I think and what I do? Does not God weigh me according to His holy standards?

O, my Maker, my God, knows all my thoughts and all my ways. When I watch a naked woman, God is watching my evil actions. When I secretly imagine of having sex with a woman in my mind, God is observing my evil thoughts. I cannot hide from His pure sight! There is no sin that I can commit without His knowledge.

All my thoughts, all my imaginations, all my secret communications, all my ways, which no man may ever know—glare before His blazing holy eyes. Since I cannot escape from the holy sight of God, from His judgment, I chose not to sin against Him by immersing myself in lust. And God knows that I am blameless.

There is another thing I thought about which I would like to tell you. It sounds scary but I thought it anyway. If my heart has been enticed by a woman, if my heart lustfully goes after her, and if I secretly lust to sleep with another man’s wife, let me be honest in telling you this—let other men sleep and have sex with my wife, for that is the worst punishment I should receive for what I did.

When I lust after other women, why can’t my wife lust after other men? When I sleep with another man’s wife, why shouldn’t other men sleep with my wife? My wife has every right to against me when I choose to go against her. The other men have every right to go against me when I choose to go against them [for lusting their women]. Oh, I have no right to hold my wife faithful to me when I remain unfaithful to her, whether in thought or in deed.

Here is what I want to say at the end. Lust and adultery is a deadly fire. It burns my house and others' house too. It ruins my family and others’ family too. It puts everyone closely connected to me in trouble. It brings curse upon everything. It gives momentary pleasure but reaps lasting pain. O, a choice made out of lust reaps inescapable destruction.

Therefore, I decided, not to lust any woman and chose to fear God and to stay faithful to my wife—in my thought, in my imagination and in my action.

What is your covenant?

Sincerely,

Job

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Job 31 (New International Version)

¹ "I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look lustfully at a young woman.
² For what is our lot from God above,
our heritage from the Almighty on high?
³ Is it not ruin for the wicked,
disaster for those who do wrong?
⁴ Does he not see my ways
and count my every step?

⁵ "If I have walked with falsehood
or my foot has hurried after deceit—
⁶ let God weigh me in honest scales
and he will know that I am blameless—
⁷ if my steps have turned from the path,
if my heart has been led by my eyes,
or if my hands have been defiled,
⁸ then may others eat what I have sown,
and may my crops be uprooted.

⁹ "If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
¹⁰ then may my wife grind another man’s grain,
and may other men sleep with her.
¹¹ For that would have been wicked,
a sin to be judged.
¹² It is a fire that burns to Destruction;
it would have uprooted my harvest."

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The Pastor’s Greatest Temptation

What do you think is the pastor's greatest temptation? I am not going to talk on the common battles that are well known to many – gold [money], glory [pride] and girl [lust]. I would like to share with you about something crucial which many pastors do not even think about it as a temptation.

One of the reasons, I believe, why the church today is not maturing is due to the pastor's focus on this while neglecting the essential. I think, almost every pastor, who is honest with himself, agrees that his focus is primarily on this and that this is indeed his greatest temptation. I have seldom come across a pastor who is free from this enticement.

What could this be?

Sunday Service
In my years of Christian life and ministry, I have observed that the pastor's greatest temptation is Sunday service. His focus is primarily on getting people together, possibly in large numbers, on Sunday. His main passion is to fill the place with people and feel good to see every member on the chairs.

There is nothing as disappointing for pastors as to see the missing members on empty chairs. Thus he chases people during the week not to miss the Sunday service.

The pressure is even more when a guest speaker comes to speak. When I go as a guest speaker to different churches and if there are no good numbers, I see how pastors feel embarrassed and struggle to justify why it is so. I have to take some effort to let them feel at ease.

Why does a pastor chase people to bring them all together? Is it for the glory of God and for the edification of all God’s people? I wish this would be the reason but it seems this is not the attitude of many pastors. I am afraid whether there is a kind of pomposity, a puffed up feeling, to stand before the crowd and feel good about the numbers.

I don't completely deny a pastor's love for people but I fear whether the temptation for numbers has taken precedence over his heart for them. The sight of great numbers of people can truly feed our hidden egos. We love numbers, want to feel good at the sight of numbers and even boast about the numbers.

Didn't David feel great about the numbers in 2Chronicles 21 and invoked God's judgment? One of the reasons the Lord may not hear our prayers for church growth is this—our attitude may not be to save people and fill the kingdom of heaven but to bring people and fill our church hall with folks and feel good about the numbers.

How complacent a pastor can feel to see his church hall being packed with people! But is good numbers on Sunday service a sign of success?

Building Lives in the Lord
I never heard of a couple being complemented for having a successful family just because of giving birth to a dozen children. Our common sense tells—the sign of a successful family is not in how many children we bear but in how we bring them up in the Lord. Likewise, a pastor's success is not in how many people he can gather on Sunday service but how he brings them up in the Lord. His reward is not in bringing people to the church but in drawing people closer to the Lord.

When a pastor sees a great number of people before him, instead of feeling good, he should prostrate before God and cry out to Him, "Lord, here I see so many before me. How can I bring them in you? I have a great responsibility upon me. I am incompetent to rear them. Give me your grace and wisdom to lead them towards maturity." As the numbers increase, he should fear and tremble at the great responsibility of equipping them to walk worthy in the ways of the Lord.

Remember, unlike many pastors today, Paul's passion was not to present every person regularly on Sunday service but to “present everyone perfect [mature] in Christ” (Col. 1:28). I wonder how many pastors come out of the pulpit and take personal concern, finding out and motivating believers to have a disciplined and devoted walk with the Lord in their daily life.

Monday to Saturday
Yesterday, i.e. on Sunday, I had an opportunity to personally listen and learn from brother Zac Poonen who visited my city to speak. He is about seventy two years old, doing the Lord's work for more than forty years. He is one of my esteemed Indian bible teachers in our day. In his teaching, he said something like this [about his ministry] which very much impressed my heart:

Our focus on people is not for Sunday. Our focus on people is for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and then at last Sunday. We want to see people living for the glory of God from Monday to Saturday. Sunday is not that important to us.

If pastors have such a focus and passion, the spiritual condition of the churches today would be quite different and better.

I plead with the shepherds of the church, not to stay focused on just the Sunday service—having good numbers, good worship, good sermon, good offering—but to stay committed and prayerfully focused on equipping people to have a good personal walk with the Lord 24/7. [1]

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1. I am not saying that we should not pray and desire to have a lively Sunday fellowship. It is good [provided if our attitude is to build lives in the Lord]. But it is not the only important thing as it is to many pastors today. The primary concern of every pastor must be for the believers’ personal walk with the Lord, not simply for a large gathering.

________________________________

ENQUIRIES:

Feel free to write your comments below (or) write to

E-mail: cstephendavid@gmail.com (or) stephen@tents-india.org

Insights from Genesis 3 - Part 7

7. Blame Game

Genesis 3:12, "The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13, "And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Hubert H. Humphrey, the thirty-eighth Vice President of the United States, once said, “We believe that to err is human. To blame it on someone else is politics.” If what Hubert said is true then politics began in the Garden of Eden. The first man and woman were great politicians in blame game. It is no wonder to see this attitude in men and women today. When the Lord God asked Adam, “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate" (Gen. 3:11-12).

If we observe carefully, it seems Adam blamed two persons. He first blamed God. He said, “The woman whom You gave…” It appears Adam was blaming God for giving Eve to be with him. Perhaps, he is saying, he would have been an obedient man if God didn’t have given him the woman; his life would have been smooth if God had not brought this woman into his life. How sad it is that people still blame God today! I have seen folks blaming God more for putting the knowledge of the tree of good and evil in the Garden of Eden than holding Adam responsible for his disobedience.

It saddens my heart when I look at people making their own choices against the wisdom of God and then blaming Him for putting them in crisis. I am reminded of a Scripture in Proverbs, “People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD” (Pro. 19:3, NLT). Are you blaming God for the consequences of your choice? Are you questioning, “Why did God put me into this situation? Why did He let this happen to me?” Perhaps it is because you made wrong choices. Examine the root cause and make amends. Life turns beautiful if we learn to thank God and repent of our unwise choices than blame Him and continue to make foolish mistakes. There is a proverb from India, “Do not blame God for having created the tiger, but thank him for not having given it wings.”

The second person Adam blamed was Eve. He said that it is the woman who gave him the fruit (Gen. 3:12). To put it different, Adam is saying, if this woman had not given me the fruit I wouldn’t have eaten it. Well, didn’t Adam have the freedom to deny Eve’s offer? Was he a sucking baby in a stroller or a mature man to make his own choice? How often is this blaming attitude manifested in interpersonal relationships! Bear this in mind, no one can spoil us without our permission. Of course, others may influence us but it we who allow ourselves to be influenced. When facing conflicts how easy it is to blame others and deny taking personal responsibility! Blaming each other will never make things better – in fact, it only worsens. Someone rightly said, “When you blame others, you give up power to change.”

Charles R. Swindoll well pointed out, "Three of the hardest words in the English language are "You are right." The other three are "I am wrong!" I wonder how many broken relationships can be healed if we learn to stop blaming each other and start accepting personal responsibility. The more we blame the more we make ourselves lame. As much as we are eager to take credit for success, if we show the same eagerness in taking personal responsibility for failures, things would turn out quite different. Unfortunately, our tendency is to take credit when it comes to success (even when we don’t deserve) and blame others when it comes to failures (when we deserve). I appreciate the person who put this question, “If you blame others for your failures, do you credit them with your success?”

And the last thing that was blamed in the fall of man was the serpent. When God asked Eve, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate" (Gen. 3:13). As someone humorously put it, “Adam blamed his wife, his wife blamed the serpent, and the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on.” Now, did not Eve have the freedom to rebuke the serpent’s temptation and trust in God’s words? Doesn’t the Scripture say to us, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Jas. 4:7)? Yet it is the devil who is often blamed when people fall in temptation. Remember, Satan won’t pull our collar to commit sin. He only entices us. We are solely responsible for making a choice to yield to the luring temptations.

Finally, do you know the saddest thing in this incident? Neither Adam nor Eve took personal responsibility to confess their sin. They didn’t show any sign of repentance. They were busy blaming the other person. They felt shame within but didn’t admit their sin. Don’t we often feel that shame within when we commit sins or mistakes but refuse admitting them? When we do something wrong our ego or pride immediately rises to justify our folly. We do all that we can by blaming people, devil and even God but deny taking responsibility for our sins. It is good for us if we stop playing blame game and heed to this Scripture, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Pro. 28:13).

(To be continued.....)

(Previous reading - Part 6)

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Insights from Genesis 3 - Part 6

6. Sin is Sin

Genesis 3:6, "She took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it."

Whether you throw a pebble or a rock both will sink into the water, right? It is our tendency to quickly justify ourselves, saying, “What great sin did I commit! It was just a little thing!” Remember, whether small or great, sin is sin. Read these words carefully: "She took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it" (Genesis 3:6). And when God asked Adam, "What have you done?" he replied, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it" (3:12).

Eve did not eat the complete fruit. She ate only some and so did Adam. However, her actions were not belittled just because she ate little. There was no way for Eve to justify herself before God, “Lord, I didn’t eat the complete fruit. It was only little that I ate. Don’t take it too serious!” Doesn’t this attitude sound familiar? How often do we consider some sins with ‘take it easy attitude’ simply because we view them as something “small” or “little.” 

O, by the way, do you remember Saul’s mission? God told him to completely destroy the wicked Amalekites. Saul did destroy Amalekites but he spared Agag king of Amalekites and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs-- everything that was good.

When Samuel rebuked Saul of his disobedience are you aware of how he responded? Saul justified himself saying, “But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal" (1 Samuel 15:20-21). Saul didn’t yet understand his sin. He still was under the impression that he obeyed God. He didn’t realize that “half obedience (little obedience) is no obedience at all.” He didn't grasp that little sin is still sin in the sight of God.

Furthermore, when we study the life of King Saul and King David, whose sin appears greater to us? Of course, David’s. He committed an immoral act by sleeping with another man’s wife and worse still, killing that man to take his wife. Saul’s sin seems to be smaller compared to David’s. Yet, Saul received a greater judgment than David. Why is it so? When prophet Samuel rebuked Saul he justified himself before others but when prophet Nathan rebuked David he humbly repented before God. No matter how great or small our sins are, when we honestly admit our sins and repent, God is gracious enough to forgive us.

How often do we take sin lightly or consider sin “little”, only to continue living in sin! The Holy Bible doesn’t weigh sin in terms of great or small; it just addressed sin as sin. May we dare not take sin lightly, saying, “It was just a lie, not a plunder; just a lustful thought or look, not an adulterous action; just an anger, not a violent fight; just hatred, not murder; just an unkind word, not an abominable speech; just unforgiveness, not vengeance; just premarital sex, not prostitution…etc.” Jesus’ exhortations in His Sermon on the Mount are related to what humans consider trivial. May we educate our conscience to see sin from God’s point of view, not from the world’s perspective!

James was straightforward in letting us know, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it" (Jas 2:10; cf. 1Jn 3:4). Can we live our entire life without stumbling at one law? For this reason, however holy we may seek to live we can never claim of being perfect in this sinful world. We may not commit sins which appear mountainous before people but are we not prone to commit sins which are like anthill? Anyways, sin is sin. We are saved by grace from the penalty of sin and live by grace on earth and enter in heaven by grace alone. Our life on earth is a journey towards perfection. Paul urged the Corinthians, “Aim for perfection” (2 Corinthians 13:11). Therefore, we must constantly seek God’s holiness, always examine ourselves in the light of the Holy Spirit, honestly repent of our sins (great or small) and keep growing in the likeness of Christ.

Well, I am not arguing here that all sins are equal in the intensity of offense or damage and that all sins have the same consequences. My point is—let us stop weighing sin (so to justify our actions) and take responsibility to confess and repent of any sin we commit, whether small or great. One of the great signs of a holy person—he is not flippant in his attitude towards sin. May we understand that sin, whether great or small, is still sin in God’s sight. Therefore, may we humble ourselves and “let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete purity because we fear God” (2 Corinthians 7:1, NLT).

(To be continued.....)

(Previous reading - Part 5)

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Insights from Genesis 3 - Part 5

5. Sin is Contagious

Genesis 3:6, "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it".

Do you know one of the tragic realities of sin? IT INFLUENCES THOSE AROUND US. Sin is terribly contagious. It is more dangerous and rapidly spreads than AIDs virus. The Holy Bible often likened sin to yeast in bread which symbolizes the power of corruption. When Eve sinned, she also involved Adam in her sinful act. She didn’t sin without immediately influencing Adam. She got spoiled and also spoiled the one with her. Perhaps Eve had best intentions in sharing the fruit with Adam but what she did was a worst action in the sight of the Almighty God. To quote Irish poet Oscar Wilde (a great thinker who lived a pathetic life), “It is always with the best intentions that the worst work is done.”

What Eve did continues to this day. It is human disposition that when we do something sinful we will inevitably cause others to partake in it. He who yields to the temptation will also become a temptation to others. For example, the one who commits adultery will seduce the other person to take part in the act. People cannot gossip without a partner. Women cannot grumble without spreading the bitterness into others. Men cannot walk in falsity without misleading others. We cannot live a bad life without leaving bad steps for others to follow; at least few people will be influenced, especially the ones who are close to us, like family members and friends. And there is no part in our body which is as influential as our tongue. For this reason it is written, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Pro. 18:21).

Some may say, “I can sin in isolation, i.e. in my mind; what I think or imagine is confined to myself.” True, but our thoughts and imagination does impact our words and actions, eventually influencing others. We influence ourselves with our sight and thoughts and others with our words and actions. Never forget—SIN IN ME BREEDS SIN IN OTHERS. SIN GROWS IN ME AND MULTIPLIES IN OTHERS. AH, THE SIN THAT TAKES ROOT IN ME WILL NOT FAIL TO BEAR FRUIT IN OTHERS! Ravi Zacharias was right in saying, “Sin has a ripple effect. You will never ever sin alone because when you sin you are changed and when you are changed you will affect somebody else.”

Here is one of the deceptive statements by some – “I don’t live a good life and nor will I influence others with my sinful lifestyle.” Every person is a channel, either of good or bad. Remember, there is no neutrality when it comes to sin. We may (at times) sin in isolation but we cannot live a sinful lifestyle in isolation. I need to yet meet a person who sins without dragging others into sin. Moreover, we may not necessarily have to become preachers or teachers to cause impact on others. The way we live is far influential than the words we speak, and especially the impact of a sinful lifestyle spreads like wildfire. The Holy Scripture is replete with examples, teaching us that the affect of a sinful life is much easier and swift than holy life.

Dear brothers and sisters, what kind of life are we living? How are we influencing those around us? What is it that others are learning from us? Are we setting up a good model or a bad example to others? Let me make it plain—to continue to live deliberately in sin is to inevitably have devastating affect on others, whether intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously. The Holy Bible has surplus examples and instructions about not being influenced by or influencing others with something bad. Here are some of them:

Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. (Lu. 17:1-2)

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. (Rom. 14:13)

Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? (1 Cor. 5:6)

Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." (1 Cor. 15:33)

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. (1 Cor. 8:9)

I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. (Rom. 16:17)

We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. (2 Cor. 6:3)

See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Heb. 12:15)

Application: The only way to evade bad influence upon others is to live a holy and loving life. May we be quick to recognize our sins, confess them to God and repent before we are tempted to pollute those around us.

(To be continued.....)

(Previous reading - Part 4)

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Insights from Genesis 3 - Part 4

4. Pleasure and Peril of Sin

Genesis 3:6, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.”

Do you know why we people love to commit sin? Because it is pleasing, alluring and exhilarating. When the woman saw the fruit of the tree it seemed irresistibly pleasing to her eye. I think she did not eat the fruit immediately after looking at it. She gazed at it and the more she had intent look at it the more it appealed to her. She couldn’t control herself anymore from eating the forbidden fruit and finally gave in to the trap of sin. Eve stands as an example of how one can be deluded by the fascination of sin, failing to see beyond its pleasure. Someone rightly said, “Sin will always expose to you, the pleasure that lies immediately in front of you, it blinds to the destruction that lies ahead of you.” Sin is attractive but destructive too; it is fascinating but also devastating.

Now here is a caution: If Eve was fascinated towards sin in her sinless state what about us who battle with our sinful nature? Don’t dwell on something that is forbidden. To do so is to get captivated by it. Sin is such a powerful force that once we are caught in its lure we are left defenseless to resist. Therefore, beware of yielding to the cravings of the eye, for it comes not from the Father but from the world (1 Jn. 2:16). Jesus said, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness” (Luke 11:34). Yes, our eyes direct our body. The eye is the organ whereby we look at something and signals the mind to think and move; the body becomes active by the mind to feel and act accordingly. I think we may abstain from committing most of the terrible sins if our eyes become blind.

For this reason Jesus said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away” (Matt. 5:27). What did he mean in saying this? Did he say to literally pluck our eyes? Certainly not! The paraphrased Bible “The Message” translates, “If you want to live a morally pure life, here's what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer.” I know by experience that to turn my eyes immediately from the pleasure of sin is like plucking my eyes; it’s really painful. However, this is what I have observed: To resist sin is painful for a moment but fruitful thereafter; to yield to sin is pleasurable awhile but proves perilous later. So, if our eyes are caught up in a sinful sight we have to instantly turn away and focus on something that is good (Phi. 4:8). Eve’s eyes were caught by the pleasure of sin, eventually leading her into peril.

Friends, if we fail to discipline the way we look at things with our eyes the power of temptation becomes uncontrollable. What do we do when we look at things that are pleasing to our sight? Did we school our eyes and mind? How do we look at magazines, television, women, men, unwanted material things, forbidden objects…etc? Many are in pursuit to get what is seemingly good, pleasant and desirable to their eyes and consequently getting into misery and heavy burdens. It's true that sin is fascinating and luring, but it is also true that it is dangerous and destructive. Sin is quite attractive but by yielding unto it, we put ourselves into its ugliness. Ah, sin has pleasant lips with poisonous teeth!

It was Samuel Smiles who said, “Sow a thought and you reap an act. Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny.” If I am permitted I wish to put at first, “Sow a sight and you reap a thought.” Sight and imagination work inseparably to cause feelings and actions. Take a note, what we watch is what we catch; what we catch is what we hatch. If we don’t control the way we look at things what we look will take control over us.

(To be continued.....)

(Previous reading - Part 3)

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Insights from Genesis 3 - Part 3

3. Discontentment

Genesis 3:6, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.”

How “blessed” Eve and Adam were! They had everything to taste and enjoy in the world God created for them. They had all the freedom to eat the best fruits from all the trees in the garden and had only one commandment to obey, i.e. not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, Eve didn't remain content with all that God had given her and craved for something more which was forbidden. She forgot all the best she received from the gracious hand of God, and instead, focused on that one thing she didn't have. She failed to acknowledge, “God has given us the best and I am content with what I have.” She allowed dissatisfaction to reign her heart. Make a note—discontentment was the ruination of our first parents.

What about us? Even today the devil is taking advantage of people’s dissatisfaction by luring them into unwanted things. No wonder many are chasing things that are forbidden by God. The mankind is in misery because there is no contentment. Solomon observed it well, “All man's efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied” (Ecc. 6:7). How disillusioned people have become in seeking to satisfy their passions and appetite! Never forget, the vast sea has boundaries but there are no limits to the desires of our heart. It may be easier to empty the mighty ocean than to fulfill our heart’s desires. To try to satisfy our passions and cravings is like chasing after the wind.

We Christians succumb to devil’s temptation when we remain dissatisfied with the few things we don't have when God has blessed us with countless blessings. It is the devil’s pleasure to see us regretting for things that we do not have than rejoice for the things we already have. When it comes to earthly things, therefore, the Holy Scripture exhorts, "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction" (1Tim. 6:6-9).

The Holy Bible teaches us that if we have the basic necessities of life we have everything to survive and to be happy on earth. Some are discouraged with God because of unanswered prayers; they didn’t get what they wanted. Well, we need to understand that God did not promise to satisfy our greed but to provide all that we need (Phi. 4:18-19). So whenever you are tempted to doubt the faithfulness of God, ask yourself, “Did God fail in providing me the basic necessities of life?” And remember, do not allow what others possess to direct your life and prayers. Solomon made an apt statement, “And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecc. 4:4).

Do not imitate the world, for the world is obsessed with materialism. As the world is advancing and so are people's cravings. Success is defined by what you gain, not with what you remain. But who are the blessed, successful and happy ones according to God’s word? Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and are content with physical things (Matt. 5:6; 1 Tim. 6:6-9) Sadly, rather than being content physically and craving to grow spiritually many are physically discontent and spiritually complacent. I fear the things that are below are dominating our lives more than the things that are above (Col. 3:2).

In the place where I live we have a chain store named, “MORE for you.” I don’t know with what intention that name was kept but that speaks a lot about what people are seeking today. People want MORE sex (outside marriage), MORE money, MORE pleasures, MORE power, MORE fame, MORE food, MORE comfort, MORE things, MORE prosperity, MORE and MORE and MORE ... Do we realize the tragedy of discontentment—the more we get the more we become desperate to get more? True joy is not in receiving what we want but in being content with what we have.

Now, added to the struggle of innate greed is the prosperity teaching which triggers more craving for the things of the world. This dangerous teaching is making many Christians carnal, selfish and greedy. Instead of giving up everything to follow Christ people are following Christ to get everything (Lu. 14:33). In these last days, without becoming victims of these false teachings which infiltrated the church we have to discipline the desires of our heart and make it submissive to God's Word. In doing so, we resist the temptation of the devil to be discontent. When we feel dissatisfied, consider all we have and thank God for His mercies that never cease. This keeps us from grumbling, greed and from ingratitude. We need to learn the prayer of George Herbert, “Thou hast given so much to me…give me one thing more—a grateful heart.”

Finally, we are well aware of the saying, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Heb 13:5). I see this verse hanging in many houses. But did we consider the context in which it is written? Please read the preceding words, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God said, never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Heb 13:5). In other words it implies, “Don’t live a discontent life because God is all-sufficient.” Yet, how many Christians are living a discontent life because they just believe in God but are not satisfied by having Him who is all-sufficient? Remember, we are created by Christ and for His pleasure, not for the world and for its pleasures (Col. 1:16). Our ultimate satisfaction is in living for the pleasure of Christ, not in getting the pleasures of the world.

(To be continued.....)

(Previous reading - Part 2)

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Insights from Genesis 3 - Part 2

2. Diluting the Consequences of Sin

Genesis 3:1-4, "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman."

One of the subtle strategies of the devil in enticing people to destroy their relationship with God is by diluting the consequences of sin. When God told, “You will die,” the devil said, “You will not surely die.” Eve took seriously the words of Satan than the words of God. She ate the fruit thinking that nothing God warned would happen. She failed to understand that God is not like a man who is casual in his words. She allowed the father of lies to fool her.

Even today the devil is continuing to fool multitudes by blurring their understanding towards sin and its consequences. He lied in the minds of many, “How can a loving God send you to hell? How would a merciful God punish you for your sins? Jesus died for your sins, so you don’t have to be concerned about how to conduct your life according to God’s word. Live the way you want and you will certainly not die; nothing will happen; God’s grace is all-sufficient to cover your sins.”

So people made their mind to focus on a God who is always loving, gives whatever people ask, blesses everyone, forgives whenever people sin, gives good health and wealth, offers peace and joy. Now that’s true! However, the devil has fooled people to ignore the other undeniable aspects of God’s character - such as holiness, justice, discipline and judgment. The devil has been successful in tempting people to direct their complete attention on God’s love without holiness, blessings without obedience, forgiveness without repentance, heavenly joy without godly sorrow, crown without cross, peace without righteousness, grace without godliness and faith in Jesus without fear of God.

It is regretful to see countless Christians living a compromising and easy-going life by claiming to believe in the loving God. To the Romans, who had partial understanding of God's nature, Paul exhorted, “Consider therefore the KINDNESS and STERNNESS of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off” (Rom. 11:22). Here is a caution that God would not spare anyone if we abuse His kindness for self-indulgence. In the same epistle Paul also cautioned, “Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?” (Rom. 2:4)

Dear brothers and sisters, God poured out His abundant grace and kindness upon us so that we would repent (without wallowing in self-condemnation) and change our lifestyle (without giving excuses to live a sinful life). We may not be entirely perfect but there is ongoing repentance and progressive growth in the holiness of God in all those who pursue His kingdom and righteousness. Moreover, the fall of man should constantly remind us that God is awesome; He cannot compromise with sin! Isn’t it amazing that the entire humanity was cursed because of one disobedient act of our first parents? What does this speak about God's view of sin? And what about the horrible death of Christ on the cross? Shouldn’t that bring to our mind that God put himself in terrible agony to provide forgiveness for our sins, revealing that He is never casual with sin and neither should His children be?

What about us? Do we take light of God’s warnings? Are we fearing God and shunning evil? Isaiah cried, "Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word" (Isa. 66:5). I am afraid to see many Christians losing the fear of God and becoming desensitized to the conviction of the Holy Spirit in regard to sin and righteousness. Do we seriously consider the exhortations and encouragement of God given in His Word or are we philosophizing our own view about who God is? One of the frequent exhortations given in God's word is, "Do not be deceived."

Are we seriously considering the sober teachings of the Holy Scriptures on the destructive nature of sin? If unrepentant, the Holy Bible explicitly teaches that – “the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexual offenders, impure, thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers, the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, those who practice magic arts, the liars, the envious, the aggressors will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Revelation 21:8; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:5). Therefore, let us renounce every deceptive belief of the devil that ignores holiness and encourages people to sin and face terrible consequences.

(To be continued.....)

(Previous reading - Part 1)

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