What’s Your Sign?

May 15, 2012 Leave a comment

As a woman was waiting in the checkout line of a grocery store, she noticed a young mother standing in line in front of her. The mother had her child strapped to her back in one of those baby-backpacks. Attached to the backpack was a large sign that read: “This child tends to shoplift. Please inform mother.”

Truth be told, each of us could have a sign attached to us. One sign would read: “This person tends to lie.” Another would read: “This person tends to use profane language.” Another would read: “This person tends to lust.” Another would read: “This person tends to covet.” Another would read: “This person tends to throw temper tantrums.” Another would read: “This person tends to not pay his bills.” Another would read: “This person tends to get drunk.” You get the idea.

In Isaiah 53:6, the Bible says:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way.

Notice please that each person has his or her own way of sin. My way isn’t your way and yours isn’t mine, but each of us is particularly susceptible to some specific sin. For this reason we shouldn’t be so quick to judge others or come down so harshly on their sin. You say, “But I would never be guilty of committing that person’s sin.” Perhaps you wouldn’t, but there is some other sin that you are guilty of committing. And I’m guessing that you know what your pet sin is.

The good news is that the Isaiah 53:6 verse ends by saying:

…And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

The “Lord” spoken of there is God the Father, and the “Him” is God the Son, Jesus. Actually, the entire chapter of Isaiah 53 is a Messianic passage concerning Jesus. Writing prophetically under the inspiration of God, the prophet Isaiah speaks of how Jesus will be “wounded for our transgressions,” “led as a lamb to slaughter,” and “cut off from the land of the living.”

Of course, we Christians understand that Christ’s death on the cross pays the totality of our sin debt to God. We’re very quick to claim that truth, aren’t we? But, unfortunately, too many times we use the fact that we have been forgiven of all our sins as a license to sin. The apostle Paul addresses this problem in Romans 6:1-2 when he writes:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

In the verses that follow, Paul goes on to explain how a Christian’s baptism symbolizes that he has died to his old sinful way of living and is now walking in a newness of life. In this new life, the Christian will no longer be a slave of sin or let sin reign in his body. Rather than presenting the parts of his body as instruments of unrighteousness, he’ll present them as instruments of righteousness. Wow, Christian, when you got baptized you didn’t realize that you were committing to so much did you?

And so I’ll close out this post by simply asking, “How are you doing with your pet sin these days?” Are you keeping it in check? Or is some confession and repentance called for? You’ve probably heard that 1 John 1:9 is found within the context of John offering a word to Christians, not lost people. The verse says:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Like you, I thank God for this verse, and I thank Him that it is written to Christians. However, my point today is that if you find yourself confessing one particular sin over and over again, day after day after day, you need to roll up your sleeves and work harder to STOP committing that sin. If God forced you to literally wear a sign like that baby, the embarrassment would motivate you to change your behavior so that you could lose that sign, wouldn’t it? Well, out of your love for the Lord and appreciation for Christ’s death on the cross, why don’t you go ahead and change your sinful behavior anyway? After all, the Lord doesn’t need a sign to know how you are living.

Filed under Addiction, Backsliding, Baptism, Change, Christ's Death, Christian Liberty, Confession, Drugs, Forgiveness, Gambling, Gluttony, Personal Holiness, Repentance, Sin Tagged with , , , , ,

Preaching In A Prison

April 26, 2012 1 Comment

Yesterday morning I had the privilege of preaching the chapel service at Mountain View Correctional Institution, a prison in our area. I use the word “privilege” because that’s exactly what it was. I enjoyed the service immensely. Don Stafford, the chaplain there and a friend of mine, invited me to speak. It was actually the second time I had preached at Mountain View, but this service was even better than that first one a couple of years ago.

Somewhere between 40 and 45 inmates crowded into the small room where the service was held. Attendance at chapel is voluntary. Before the service I asked Don how many of the attendees would be Christians. He answered, “Probably all of them.” I was glad to hear that because the sermon the Lord had given me was definitely geared toward Christians, not lost people. I don’t mind telling you that I questioned the Lord on that one, but as always He knew what He was doing.

When Don and I walked into the room the “band” was already warming up. There was a white inmate on electric guitar, a black inmate on keyboard, a black inmate on drums, and a few others that I can’t recall right now. Don said of the drummer, “Now, he is a real drummer. He gets so loud in here sometimes that I have to calm him down.” The fact was, all of the musicians were great. I’ve never had the privilege of having a praise-and-worship band like that.

Before the service formally began a couple of the inmates brought bags and handed them to Don. The bags were filled with food items the men had purchased at the prison’s store using the meager money they had earned working their prison jobs. Bringing those items to Don was a way of paying a “tithe.” Don’s job is to disperse the items to other inmates who need them worse. I assure you that I’ve never seen more humble and heartfelt offerings. Don didn’t ask for them either or have a time of taking up an offering in the service. Again it was all completely voluntary.

The inmate who first took the podium to lead in worship was a white guy who had once served on the staff of a large church. You could tell he was very comfortable being in front of a crowd. He led us in a rousing version of “He Set Me Free.” He said, “Even though we’re in prison, we’ve been set free.” After several hearty, “Amens,” we were half way through the first verse before I caught up. Forget having a warm up song with that bunch!

By the way, that song leader wasn’t the only inmate who had once served in the ministry. Don told me there were actually five such inmates in that service. I said to him, “That’s pretty scary. What does that say about me and you?” He just laughed. Seriously, though, it drove home the point that being in the ministry doesn’t make you immune from sin or scandal. One of those five ministers, a white guy who led in a beautiful version of a contemporary Christian song, had killed his wife. When you hear that, you’re reminded that you are preaching in a genuine prison.

All of the singing and playing was fantastic, but perhaps the highlight was when an elderly, short, black, former street-preacher led in a song called “He’s An On-Time God.” I had never heard that song, but I assure you that I’ll remember it from now on. It was all that drummer could do to restrain himself from cutting loose on that one. Before and after the song the street preacher did some preaching. In between his sentences the black guy on keyboard would accentuate the previous line by striking a few notes. Please don’t think I’m even hinting at racism when I say that the old saying is true: Black folks know how to have church! I looked at Don and asked, “Is that keyboardist going to do that while I’m preaching?” He laughed and said, “No.” I was relieved to hear it because I don’t have the preaching style to keep up that pace!

The sermon the Lord had laid on my heart was on the subject of forgiving others. I began by saying, “I realize that all of you have wronged others and sinned against them, but that’s another sermon for another time. What I want to talk about is you forgiving those who have wronged you and sinned against you.” My opening text was Matthew 6:12, where Jesus says, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” I spent most of my time, however, in Matthew 18:21-35, where Jesus tells that incredible parable about the unforgiving servant. Toward the end of the sermon, I mentioned that Christ’s first words from the cross, right on the heels of Him having been betrayed, arrested, tried, mocked, beaten, whipped, and nailed to that cross, were, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).

The main point of the sermon was this: One of the truest marks of an authentic salvation experience is your ability and willingness to forgive those who have wronged you. The fact is, you can pray, read your Bible, go to church, put money in an offering plate, pay your bills, live an honest life, etc., but if you patently refuse to forgive others, your supposed Christianity can rightfully be called into question.

As another part of the sermon, I said to those men, “I want you to do something for me right now. Sitting right where you are say to yourself, ‘If I would be honest, I have never completely forgiven _______.’” Then I told them, “If some name popped into your mind, there is some business that you need to do with the Lord today.” When I was finished preaching, I called Don to the podium to close out the service. As he followed up with just a few words about my sermon, he said one thing that I thought was especially helpful to those inmates. He told them, “It could be that you need to forgive a prison guard who has wronged you.” That was another one of those moments when you realize full well that you are preaching in a real live prison.

And so I’ll close out this post now by having you do the same thing I asked those prisoners to do. Say to yourself, “If I would be honest, I have never completely forgiven _______. Believe it or not, Christian, if a name pops into your mind, you are living in a type of prison yourself. But the difference between you and those men I preached to yesterday is: You hold the key to your cell door in your hands.

Filed under Attitude, Forgiveness, giving, Personal, salvation, Worship Tagged with , , , , , ,

So Far, So Good

November 18, 2011 3 Comments

A man jumped off the Empire State building. As he went plunging down past the 50th floor, an onlooker spoke to him from an open window and said, “Well, how does it feel?” The jumper answered, “So far, so good.”

Just as that jumper didn’t grasp that the end of the story hadn’t been written yet, many people don’t understand that we shouldn’t judge God’s opinion of a situation based solely upon the current outlook. Take the great flood for instance. Genesis 6:3 tells us that God instituted nothing less than a 120-year countdown for that judgment:

And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

(By the way, some have wrongly taught that this statement was God limiting the individual lifespan to 120 years. Long after the flood, however, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Ishmael, and Jacob each lived more than 120 years. So, clearly, the 120 years refers to how long it would be before the flood struck.)

Now imagine that you were a citizen of earth during those 120 years. Couldn’t you have said, “So far, so good”? Jesus spoke of the footloose and carefree attitude that people had during those years. He said:

“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away…” (Matthew 24:38-39)

Right here I could really run with the fact that Bible prophecy teaches that this world has some dark days slated for its future. It’s hard to read Revelation chapters 6 through 19 and miss that. But I feel led to present the application in a different way. Rather than focus upon the coming judgment laid out in Bible prophecy, I want to ask you to examine your own life. Have you been engaging in some sin for which you haven’t paid the price yet? If the answer is yes, consider this post to be your wake-up call. God is longsuffering, but He isn’t foreversuffering. Just because you have gotten by with your sin so far, you shouldn’t take that to mean that you are untouchable. The truth is, you’re already on God’s countdown and a flood is headed your way. So why not repent of your sin today, confess it to Jesus, and lay hold of the forgiveness that comes with believing in Him as your personal Savior? If you don’t, all I can say is enjoy the free-fall while it lasts because you won’t like how it ends.

Filed under Backsliding, Coming Judgment, Forgiveness, God's Wrath, God's judgment, Personal Holiness, Repentance, Sin, Sowing and Reaping Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Forgiveness, But Not Change

October 3, 2011 2 Comments

I live in a small, rural county in the so-called “Bible belt.” It’s the kind of place where there is a church on every corner, down every side road, and up every holler. Consequently, it can be hard to find someone who has no qualms about admitting to not knowing Christ as Savior. What I mean is, it seems like just about everyone I meet was baptized as a kid, has their name on a church roll, claims to attend somewhere, knows pastor so-and-so as a friend, etc. You get the idea. We’ve got religion, church, the Bible, and prayer running out our noses.

But what bothers me about our little county (approximately 15,000 in number) is how easily we blur the line between authentic Christian conduct and rank worldliness. Some of the same people who go to church every Sunday morning don’t mind doing a good deal of drinking and carousing on Saturday night. Some of the ones who rant and rave about the sexual sin of homosexuality evidently don’t understand that adultery falls in that same category. Some of the ones who are quick to request prayer for themselves or their families are also far too well versed in backbiting, gossiping, and rumor spreading.

My point is that a lot of people love to hear about Christ, the Bible, forgiveness, grace, and salvation, but the numbers dwindle significantly when the topics become repentance, godly conduct, separation from the world, and personal holiness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not promoting a works-based plan of salvation here. I myself sin every day and have to spend more time than I should asking the Lord for forgiveness of those sins. But with me sin is the exception, not the rule. It occurs outside the norm. It’s the uncommon, not the common. That’s what salvation has done to me (or better yet for me).

Perhaps an illustration will help me say what I’m trying to say. Little Billy was dressed for church in his Sunday best, but his mother wasn’t quite ready to go. So he went out in the back yard and started playing in the dirt. In just a few minutes his clothes were absolutely filthy. When his mother saw him she was furious. Passionately, Billy said, “Mom, I’m real sorry. Please forgive me.” She replied, “Okay, you’re forgiven but go change.” But Billy didn’t want to go back in the house and go to the trouble of dressing again. So he said, “No, I’ll just go as I am.” You see, he wanted forgiveness but not change. And, unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of Billys running around out there these days.

Filed under adultery, Backsliding, Change, Church attendance, Disobedience, Forgiveness, Hypocrisy, Personal, Personal Holiness, Rebellion, salvation, Sin Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Rejoicing In The Lord Always

September 6, 2011 2 Comments

Many years ago, in Germany, a young man was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue. The cancer would spread unless the tongue was completely removed. That was an undesirable line of treatment, but it had to be done.

On the day of the surgery, a group of students gathered around the operating table to observe the procedure. Before the surgeon began, though, he bent down over the patient and said to him, “My friend, if you wish to say anything, you now have the opportunity. But I must warn you that your words will be the last words that you will ever utter. Think well about what you wish to say.”

The young man did take considerable time before speaking, and those moments of silence hung heavy in the air as the surgeon and the students waited. Finally, they heard him utter these simple words: “Thank God, Jesus Christ.” That response brought tears to their eyes.

I have to question if I would express such devotion at such a time. My last words could well have been: “Why, Lord?” or “I don’t understand, Lord.” Maybe I’m underestimating myself. Then again, maybe I’m not.

The New Testament book of Philippians is a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Philippi. It is a short book, just four chapters long, but over the course of those four chapters Paul uses some variation of the word “rejoice” no less than eleven times. Furthermore, he uses the word “joy” six times. What makes these words all the more amazing is the fact that Paul wrote the letter while he was under house arrest in Rome. This explains his references to “the palace guard” (1:13) and “Caesar’s household” (4:22).

How could a man talk so much about rejoicing and joy when he was chained to a Roman soldier twenty-four hours a day? (The guards operated in six-hour shifts). How could he say, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”? (Philippians 4:4) Obviously, Paul had learned that inner joy isn’t dependent upon outward circumstances. He understood that he had been granted spiritual life by Christ. He understood that his sins had all been forgiven. He understood that God could use him no matter what his circumstances were. He understood that even if Rome put him to death that would just be his promotion to heaven. This explains the joy that was bubbling out of him.

Christian, I don’t know where you find yourself in life today, but I do know that you can have joy there. Even if your earthly circumstances aren’t all that pleasant, you can focus on your eventual entrance into heaven. In that glorious place there will be no more sorrow, pain, sickness, shame, or regret. You will be eternally wedded to Christ as a part of the church, His bride. And you will surely have never-ending reason to say, as that young man in Germany chose to say, “Thank God, Jesus Christ!”

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Comfort, contentment, Forgiveness, Heaven, Joy, perseverance, Reward, salvation, The Tongue Tagged with , , , , , ,

How You Get In

August 23, 2011 Leave a comment

Dr. Thomas John Barnardo was revered in London for his work with orphans. One day a dirty, destitute little boy came to him and asked for admission to the London orphanage. Somewhat surprised, Barnardo said, “But, my boy, I don’t know you. Who are you? What do you have to recommend you?” The little boy held up his tattered coat and said, “If you please, sir, I thought these here rags would be all I needed to recommend me.” Barnardo swept the child up into his arms and said, “You are right, little fellow! Welcome to our orphanage!”

Just as that little boy’s ragged attire was all he needed to receive help from Dr. Barnardo, our sins are all we need to receive help from Jesus. But, like that boy, we must see our need for help. It is only when we stop attempting to justify ourselves and cleanse our own sins that Christ can step in and provide the forgiveness we need.

One writer has described it this way:

God has no message and no blessing for men who are trying to justify themselves. As long as you try to make a good name for yourself, God can only condemn you; but when you come into His presence and confess yourself a lost, guilty sinner, God has a message and a blessing for you. “God so loved the world” – a wicked, corrupt and ungodly world, and you and I belong to it.

Going back to the illustration of the little boy and the orphanage, yes, his rags got him inside the doors. But it wasn’t just his rags; it was also the love, grace, and authority of Dr. Barnardo. Okay, think of heaven as the orphanage and God the Father as Dr. Barnardo. How does the lost sinner get in? He gets in by way of his sins (rags). But, you see, those sins must stand as forgiven, and God the Father only forgives the sins of those who have believed in God the Son (Jesus) as Savior.

You ask, “But didn’t Christ’s death on the cross pay the sin debt for the whole world?” Yes, it did, but that doesn’t mean that the whole world is saved. Only those who stop trying to work out their own salvation and believe in Christ exclusively for the forgiveness of sins are saved. While it’s true that Christ’s death on the cross is sufficient for God to forgive all sins, that death is only efficient for those who place their belief in Christ. So, when everything is said and done, the question that each of us must ask ourselves is, “Am I in?”

Filed under Belief, Christ's Death, Forgiveness, God's Holiness, Heaven, salvation Tagged with , , , , , ,

Find Things For Which To Be Thankful

August 1, 2011 Leave a comment

A subway car was overly crowded, which caused several people to be forced to stand. Naturally, most of them were griping about the situation. As the car pulled into another station where still more people boarded, one man who was standing said to those coming aboard, “I hope you people like standing because we’ve been doing it for a long while.” He didn’t see the crippled invalid who was helped aboard the train and graciously given a seat, but the invalid heard the comment. To it he somberly replied, “You are fortunate.”

Please don’t hypocritically judge the fellow who was standing. The fact is, he could have been any of us. Speaking personally, his complaint sounds just like something that I would have said. It’s just typical human nature, isn’t it? But that doesn’t make it right or pleasing to God.

Hebrews 13:15 says:

Therefore by Him (Jesus) let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Christian, I ask you, how are you doing at continually offering the sacrifice of praise to God? What form is the fruit of your lips taking these days? Are you in the habit of giving thanks to the name of the Lord? Truth be told, our answers to these questions probably leave much to be desired.

The Lord knows that you have legitimate problems. He also knows that life can oftentimes be a difficult game to play. But through it all He remains forevermore worthy to be praised. Even during those instances in which you don’t feel like praising Him, He is still worthy. The secret is to train yourself to count your blessings. As the old saying goes, “Count your blessings one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

You see, even that crippled invalid who was boarding that train wouldn’t have had to look very hard to find something for which to be thankful. He could have been thankful for the people who helped him get aboard the train. He could have been thankful for the person who gave up his seat for him. He could have been thankful that someone in his condition could get aboard a train and travel to distant places, places he could never have seen on his own. Do you see my point?

So in the midst of all your grumbling and complaining, make yourself stop and be thankful for all the good things that God has sent your way. And if you can’t come up with anything, be thankful for the fact that Jesus Christ (God the Son) left heaven, took upon Himself human flesh, lived without sin among men, died on a cross to pay the sin debt for the sins of the world, arose from the dead, ascended back to heaven, and now offers salvation and forgiveness of all sin to anyone who will believe in Him as Savior. Trust me, that one item right there should be enough to keep you thankful for all eternity.

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Christ's Death, Christ's Resurrection, contentment, Disappointment, Forgiveness, perseverance, Problems, salvation, Thankfulness Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Can A Person Truly Change?

May 31, 2011 Leave a comment

Can people truly change? Mel Trotter did. Trotter was born to a Christian mother and an alcoholic father. By age 19, he was drinking heavily himself as well as gambling. He met and married a young woman and she gave birth to a son. Trotter, however, wasn’t much of a husband or father. He lost job after job and spent many nights out on the streets in the gutter while his wife and baby went hungry. Sadly, the little baby died. In a climax act of despicability, Trotter removed the shoes from his dead son’s corpse and pawned them for money to buy another drink. You talk about rock bottom!

After the death of the child, Trotter left his wife and ended up in Chicago where he soon found himself homeless and suicidal. During a blizzard, he sought refuge in the city’s Pacific Garden Mission. There he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and was marvelously transformed. He got a job, was reunited with his wife, and became active at the Mission. Ultimately, he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan where he and a group of community leaders opened a new Mission. Hundreds of thousands of people would be won to Christ and have their lives restored through that Mission, and even today, more than a century after its founder’s death, Mel Trotter Ministries carries on the work of ministering to the needy and telling them about the transforming power of Jesus.

And now I’ve got two questions for you. Question #1: If you find yourself at rock bottom today, what will it take for you to wholeheartedly and unreservedly give your life to Jesus? My prayer is that you won’t have to sink as low as Mel Trotter did before you lay your stubbornness and pride in the dust and accept Christ as your Savior. And then question #2: Have you totally given up that some “Mel Trotter” type in your life will ever change? If you have, perhaps you have given up prematurely. I’m not guaranteeing that the person will ever truly change, but I am guaranteeing that such a thing is possible through Jesus Christ. Think about that.

Filed under Belief, Change, Choices, Forgiveness, Gambling, God's Love, God's Work, Human Life, Husbands, Influence, Marriage, Ministry, Problems, Repentance, salvation, Sin, submission, The Depravity of Man, trials Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Woman & Her Church Seat

May 16, 2011 Leave a comment

Dr. Lee Roberson served as the pastor of Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn. for over forty years. After one Sunday-morning service in which several people got saved and others got baptized, he went out the back door of the large sanctuary and down the alley behind the church. There he was met by a dear lady from the church. He greeted her by saying, “How are you today, ma’am?” She answered, “Not very good. You know about it, don’t you?” Somewhat surprised, Dr. Roberson said, “No, I don’t know what you are talking about.” Incredulous, the woman said, “You mean you didn’t know about this?” Again Dr. Roberson said, “No.”

The woman then launched into her story. “Dr. Roberson, you know that for twenty-two years I have sat in a certain seat in the balcony to your left.” “Yes, that’s right,” said the preacher. “Well, this morning I went to my place, and a man was sitting there. I told him that was my seat, but he just said, ‘It’s not yours today.’” After the man’s refusal to move, the woman had gotten mad, left the service, and stood outside to wait for Dr. Roberson.

And how did the venerable old pastor respond to her complaint? He said, “Ma’am, you have heard me preach again and again on dying to self. How long has it been since you died?” Then he got in his car and went on his way.

During the service that night, while the choir was singing, Dr. Roberson looked up to the balcony, but he didn’t see the woman in her usual seat. Finally, after scanning over the sanctuary, he found her sitting in a new seat in the lower section. When their eyes met, she just smiled. Roberson used to love to tell that story and end it by saying, “She died. And I haven’t had a problem with her since.”

In Luke 9:23, Jesus says, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Keep in mind now that a cross was an instrument of death. Nobody took up a cross and lived. And so, Christian, I’ll just ask you, how long has it been since you died? Have you died today? Have you ever died? Please understand that the only way to properly live for Christ is to attend your own funeral afresh and anew each morning.

Filed under Attitude, church, Church attendance, Dying To Self, Forgiveness, Humility, Repentance, Revenge Tagged with , , , , ,

The One Requirement Even The Christian Must Meet For Prayer

April 14, 2011 Leave a comment

Okay, this week I’ve been doing some posting on the subject of prayer. Here’s one last word. Did you know there is one requirement that even the Christian must meet to ensure that God will hear his prayer? As you read the following passages, see if you can spot it:

If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. (Psalm 66:18)

One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. (Proverbs 28:9)

Then they will cry to the Lord, But He will not hear them; He will even hide His face from them at that time, Because they have been evil in their deeds. (Micah 3:4)

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. (Isaiah 59:2)

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. (1 Peter 3:12)

The requirement jumps right out at you, doesn’t it? Even if you are a Christian, the only way to guarantee that God will hear your prayers is to live a life of personal holiness. I’m not talking about some unattainable sinless perfection. That isn’t possible for born sinners such as us. But I am talking about making the confession of sins and the actual repentance of them integral parts of your walk with Christ.

I’ve known some Christian singles who chose to live with members of the opposite sex rather than get married. I’ve known other Christians who frequently got drunk on alcohol or high on drugs. I’ve known others who consistently conducted themselves in other sinful ways. Concerning these Christians, I’ve asked myself, “Is God even hearing their prayers?” Based upon the passages that I gave earlier, a solid case can be made to answer, “No, He’s not.”

I’m not trying to play the role of “Prayer Czar” here. God is God, and He can choose to hear any prayer that He wants to hear, regardless of how the person is living. But if His word means what it says, He has to draw some lines of division between the prayers of Christians who are trying to live right and the prayers of those who aren’t.

If this seems harsh, let me offer an illustration to help you better understand. Let’s say that a father has a son whose life is dominated by a lust for money and possessions. The young man wants everything the “good” life has to offer, even if it means bending a few rules or breaking a few laws to get it. Time and time again the father begs him to reprioritize his life and repent of his sins, but the son refuses.

Finally, with a broken heart, the Father says, “Son, I’ve tried to help you, but I‘ve grown to realize that you are dead set in your course. The only play I have left is to separate myself from you and let you hit rock bottom. You are still my child, and I will always love you, but there comes a time when love must be tough. Don’t call me, write me, or come see me again until you have changed your ways.”

Several months later, the son gets caught embezzling from his company. Not only does he lose his job, but if he doesn’t repay the thousands of dollars he stole, he’ll be formally charged and sent to jail. He goes to see his father and says, “Dad, I’m in trouble. I owe my former company a lot of money that I don’t have. If I can’t pay it, I’ll end up in jail. Will you help me?”

How do you think that father will respond? If He responds as God does, everything will hinge upon whether or not he sees true repentance in the son. If the young man is obviously broken and ready to live a different kind of life, the father will do whatever it takes (empty his savings, take out a loan, mortgage his house) to pay the son’s debt and keep him out of jail. But if it’s clear that the young man is just a somewhat less cocky version of his same old self, complete with the same priorities, attitude, and immoral streak, the father will remain staunch in his tough love and refuse to hear the son.

And the thing about God is that He always renders the correct verdict in regards to whether or not He will hear His child’s prayer. He knows the child’s situation before the child ever prays. He knows if repentance is on display. He knows if there is sincerity in the heart. Therefore, when He says either, “I’ll hear your prayer and help you” or “I won’t even hear your prayer,” His choice is the appropriate one.

Filed under Children, Disobedience, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, God's Holiness, God's Love, Greed, obedience, Personal Holiness, prayer, Repentance, Seeking Forgiveness, separation Tagged with , , ,

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