Sin Causes Fear, Pride, and Disobedience to God

2011-08-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

¹⁴ Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the LORD. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”
¹⁵ Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
¹⁶ So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.
¹⁸ But if you do not surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.’”
¹⁹ And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they abuse me.”
²⁰ But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the LORD which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live. (Jeremiah 38:14-20)

It is a great lesson for us to see the example of sin in the life of the king Zedekiah and his reaction to the word of God that was prophesied through Jeremiah. God already told Zedekiah about the consequences of his sins that Babylonians are going to come and take over the nation. Zedekiah had no choice but to surrender to the greater nation in order to stay alive because God already spoke to him to let him know that the war against Babylonians is not going to succeed--it was God`s hand to send Israelites to captive for all the sins they`ve been committing in front of the eyes of the Lord.

The interesting principles here are the following:

1. When we know we sin, we tend to flee and hide from the consequences. There are always consequences to the sin, and there is no way to hide from the eyes of the Lord even if we try to cover up for our actions.

2. Another interesting thing is when we sin we harden our hearts because we know what we do is wrong. Satan uses our sins to keep us captive and tell us lies for the possible circumstances if we would attempt to straighten our ways.

For example, in the case of Zedekiah, satan was telling him that he shouldn`t trust to surrender because people of Judah would go against his decision to surrender to Babylonians, and he was afraid to die from the hand of his own people. Another fear that satan was telling him that it wasn`t true that God promised Zedekiah would survive the caption of Babylonians.

How often does it happen when we sin that we hear these small voices in our head that tell us if you do the right thing, people would not understand or accept that, or they would judge it the wrong way. For example in my case, I knew I was sinning against God by rejecting Him and His will on my life and in my circumstances, but because I wanted God to deliver me from my problems my way, I couldn`t surrender to Him and to His will. It took Him almost three weeks to talk to me through the scriptures, daily devotions, and through the direct communication with me to let me know that it is either His way or no way. It doesn`t matter how long we refuse to obey His will, He would continue to pressure the circumstances around us until we surrender to Him. This is exactly what happened to Zedekiah-- he had to be pressured by the war and people as a consequence of his sins, but he still refused to repent and surrender to God for all of his sins.

3. The worst part of the sin is the change of our heart and what happens to our behavior and actions when we sin. We get so blind that we reject the truth. Very close friend of mine, continues to harden his heart to the truth of God because it goes against of the things he likes to do regardless of how wrong it is in the eyes of the Lord. The consequences of the sin is pride, hardened heart, and blindness that binds us with satan`s chains. It is very said to see people being deterred from coming to God because they choose to be chained by satan`s lies. It is never better on his side because satan`s path only leads to death and hell and further destruction not only in our own life but also to close people around us.

If you feel like you are one of those people who cannot break the chains of satan, I can tell you that there is only one way to do that and that is by making a decision to surrender to God. There would be consequences one way or another because sin carries consequences, but God is merciful and it is better to fall into His hands than into the hands of people.

2 Samuel 24:14

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁴ And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” ¹⁵ So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. ¹⁶ And when the angel^[b] stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah^[c] the Jebusite.
¹⁷ Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”

David have sinned after he made a decision to record all the men of Israel to see how many strong people he had that could be used for wars, and that was a sin against God because God was the One meeting the needs whenever Israelites went to war with their enemies and provided them with the necessary resources, equipment, and the amount of people needed to win. David had a choice to select his punishment as a consequence of his sin, and he chose to fall into the hands of the Lord, for He is merciful. Note, that sin had effect on the people around David, for 70,000 men died; those were innocent people. Sin always has consequences in the lives of those who surround us--close family members, friends, work, etc. A lot of times it is the only way how we learn- is when we see how innocent people suffer due to our actions. It is said that we are such wicked people that it takes us to hurt others, because of our own selfishness, in order to see what we did was wrong. However, it is a great promise that we have from God to know that He is always on our side, but He also applies the rod, so we could learn from our mistakes and could return to the right path; the only narrow way is with Him and to follow His will.

What is This All About

2011-08-11T03:51:00.000-07:00

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isa 40:30-31).

As I think about the Lord, I see His majesty and greatness in everything that He does in my life. He raised me from the ashes. We cannot afford to be weary and weak, and this is why this blog was created– to help those who struggle to rely on God and keep focus on who He really is.

As Oswald Chambers said:

“God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.”

If you are going through the struggles, you need to know that God has plans for the better only! He would never put you through something that you cannot handle. The most important thing is to seek Him. Do not rely on people because they are the same ashes as you an I are, but seek the Creator.

I am a prodigal daughter who returned to my Father for good; I am a wife, a mother, and I live for the Lord.

It wasn`t that long ago when I rejected God and became angry with Him for putting me through the worst nightmare any woman can go through, a marriage betrayal. As I became angry, bitter, and only desired to punished those who wronged me, I didn`t notice how I kept destroying my own life. I brought myself so low, that as I was retching on the floor in the bathroom all drunk, I realized that I have no right to be this selfish. There is no place for self-pity when you are a true christian, because you realize that everything you go through and live for is for your own benefit and for the glory of the Utmost High. He would never put me through something that would not be for my own benefit and for His glory. He loves me so much that He gave His own Son, Jesus for me.

When I woke up the next morning, I decided that something had to change, and I met with my pastor and his wife.

The hardest thing I ever heard that day was their advice: seek the Lord and His will first, and everything else would be added along the way. I had to go to the very beginning--start reading the Bible. I had to face forgiving my husband, and many other people that were/are involved.

He binds up our wounds. My Lord promised in Psalm 147:3:
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

This is the promise that I have from my Heavenly Father that regardless of how much others betray me or do me wrong, He is there for me to lift me up and "bind up my wounds". He already started doing that as I submitted to His will and asked for forgiveness being that prodigal daughter.

I surrendered my life over again to Him once and for all. He renews my strength every day, so I could mount up with wings like eagles not to be weak and weary of my every day trials and circumstances.

My Lord is faithful God, and He can do for you what He is already doing for me.
If you feel like there is no end to your struggles or to your trials, know this, that our Father gave up His own, sole Son, Jesus Christ, so you and I could be redeemed of our sins, transgressions, iniquities, sickness, hurt, and death.

If you feel like there is nothing left in your life and you understand that the only way out is through Him; He is there to restore you, to rebuild you, to save you. You can commit your life to God realizing that we only get saved through believing that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. If you believe that, you can pray with all your heart the following words:

Dear Heavenly Father, I realize that I`m a sinner and are not worthy to be called your son or daughter. I realized that I have sinned against You. I am asking You to come into my heart and forgive me all my sins that I`ve been committing in my life because I know that the only way forward is with You. I need Your grace, Your mercy, Your forgiveness, Your love, Your healing. Please take over my life and cleans me of all my iniquities. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.

If you have prayed this simple prayer, I can only say this: Congratulations! You have the most gracious Father now, Who is for you, and Who would lead you and protect you.

Please make sure you find the church near where you live. I go to Calvary Chapel church. Here is the main link to find the closest location of their church to where you are.
http://calvarychapel.com/

May God bless you and keep you whenever you go! Amen

God Promissed and He Will Deliver

Sin Causes Fear, Pride, and Disobedience to God

2 Samuel 24:14

What is This All About