RESPECTABLE SINS - NYOBS 82.14

RESPECTABLE SINS

- Acceptable Sins - Whatever became of Sin? – Are we all Died and Fried? -

First Word

·         We visit the Flea Market often and this week we found a vendor with about 300 Christian books that were like new for just 25 cents each.  One about “Respectable Sins” caught my eye and I surrendered my quarter.

·         Later I found that Jerry Bridges’ eye opener book had been taught in Bible studies groups for some time. – Standing on this giants shoulders has allowed me to see so much further down the road, than I ever could have.  I don’t normally do a “Book Report”, but so many of the commentaries on sin refer back to Bridges Book. -  I cannot wait to read what God has to say about Acceptable Respectable Sins in our society.

·         Whatever became of Sin? – Our personal sin has disappeared; as a nation we don’t commit SIN; sex outside of marriage is not fornication or adultery, it’s just an affair, a lack of indiscretion, a brief sexual liaison. – When we feel OK with ourselves, we feel it’s OK with God too.

·         Our Secular Sensibility; our ability to sense, feel and perceive has been modified so as to cushion the impact of sin in our own lives.  Our Nation as a whole has lost the ability to understand what constitutes reprehensible sin in the eyes of God.

·         The greatest deterrent to SIN is THE FEAR OF GOD. – When we present God as a benevolent and gentle grandfather, we tend to treat our sins superficially.  We live life on our own terms worshiping God half-heartedly.  Sermons, for the most part are soft peddled, in the hope that Christianity will be more appealing to non-believers, so the sermons tend to lift up the Love of God and play down the Wrath of God.  

·         We promote God as a best friend who has saved us and lives within our hearts; we are His adopted children and fellow heirs to the kingdom of God. - We are taught that we are called “Friends” which is an Old Testament term used when someone is in a Blood Covenant with God, BUT as a nation we have lost the FEAR OF GOD. - He is God, and we are not His equal, we are His forgiven sinful creatures and on the Day of the Lord, we will stand before Him and give an account of the good and the bad in our lives. -  NYOBS 05.34 – BLOOD COVENANT

·         A reverent fear of the Holy God will dramatically affect the way that we live out our lives. - In Archery when you miss the mark in the center of the target, it’s referred to as SIN; “Missing the MARK”. 

·         The Book says “SIN”, large or small, scandalous or respectable IS Lawlessness, Wickedness and Rebellion against God.  – Sin is a Cancer, and left untreated will metastasize and spread throughout our entire being, Body Soul and Spirit.

·         Moses was a devout man of God, but instead of speaking to the rock to get water, he hit the rock with his rod, disobeying what God had commanded him to do and therefore Moses was not allowed to personally lead Israel into the Promised Land; Moses MISSED THE MARK.

- It’s in the Book –

Exodus 20:20 – Respect & fear of God prevents you from sinning
²⁰ Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them,

“for God has come in this way to test you, and so that

your FEAR of Him will keep you from sinning!”

(NLT)

2 Chronicles 19:9 – Respond in the Fear of the Lord
⁹ These were his instructions to them: “You must always act in the FEAR of the LORD, with faithfulness and an undivided heart.

(NLT)

Proverbs 9:10 – The Fear of God is the foundation of wisdom
¹⁰ FEAR of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. (NLT)

Proverbs 19:23 – The fear of God brings security and protection
²³ FEAR of the LORD leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm. (NLT)

2 Corinthians 5:10 – We must ALL stand before Jesus
¹⁰ For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. (NLT)

Romans 8:16-17 – WE are His children, His heirs
¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. (NLT)

Isaiah 40:25 - Whom will you compare me? Who is my equal
²⁵ To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. (NLT)

Genesis 15:17-18 – God makes a blood covenant with Abraham
¹⁷ After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses.
¹⁸ So the LORD made a (blood) covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River—(NLT)

James 2:23 – Abraham Blood Covenant with God - FRIEND
²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a FRIEND of God. (ESV)

John 15:14-15 – We are God’s blood covenant FRIENDS
¹⁴ You are my FRIENDS if you do what I command.
¹⁵ I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my FRIENDS, since I have told you everything the Father told me. (NLT)

2 Corinthians 5:9 – Our Aim is to hit the mark of pleasing Him
⁹ So whether we are at home (in the body) or away, we make it our AIM to please him. (ESV)

Philippians 3:14 – Aim for the Mark of the high calling of God
¹⁴ I press toward THE MARK for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (KJV)

1 John 3:4 – Sin is lawlessness
⁴ Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is LAWLESSNESS. (NIV2011)

Leviticus 16:21 – Sin is Wickedness and Rebellion
²¹  He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the WICKEDNESS, REBELLION, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. (NLT)

James 2:10 – Break ONE law; guilty of ALL
¹⁰ For the person who keeps all of the laws EXCEPT ONE is as GUILTY as a person who has broken ALL of God’s laws. (NLT)

Galatians 3:10 – Break just one law and you are cursed
¹⁰ But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “CURSED is everyone who does not observe and obey ALL the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” (NLT)

Isaiah 53:6 - All of us have strayed away to follow our own path
⁶ ALL OF US, like sheep, HAVE STRAYED AWAY. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. (NLT)

Matthew 5:21-22 – Anger; abusive talk, cursing
²¹ You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’
²² But I say, if you are even ANGRY with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you CURSE someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell. (NLT)

Galatians 5:19-21 – A sinful nature separates us from God
¹⁹  When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
²⁰  idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
²¹  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. (NLT)

Numbers 20:8 -12 – Speak to the Rock – Not beat it up
⁸ Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and SPEAK YE UNTO THE ROCK before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.
¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand, and SMOTE THE ROCK with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.
¹² And Jehovah said unto Moses and Aaron, because ye believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them. (ASV)

James 1:14 – Our temptation comes from our own disires
¹⁴ Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. (NLT)

*Worldliness

·         The Book has a lot to say about idols of the heart, things that absorb our thoughts and governs our actions.  Jerry Bridges Book on “Respectable Sins” list three areas.

1)   Loving the world by aligning your lifestyle with its culture; perhaps with immodest dress and apparel or maybe lack of self-control of indulgencies.  The pursuit up the Corporate Ladder, Politics, Cultural Concerns and even Sports can become an IDOL; it can become so all-consuming that relationships are damaged and the family unit suffers.

2)   The pride in possessions can become an IDOL;  Hobbies not only consume your time, but drives your thinking and consumes your finances; it closes the hand of giving that withholds from God; Greed and the pride of possessions is the NEVER SATISFIED SIN

3)  The desires of the flesh causes you to linger looking over something you should not be looking at; perhaps a sensual tabloid at the checkout at Walmart. -  The Book says the eye of man is never satisfied. – Vicarious immorality is when you experience in the imagination the feelings or actions of another person’s erotic behavior. - Each secret glance & lingering look whets the appetite for more. – Sex can become an IDOL that you worship in your imagination.

·         Monopoly – I got my first taste of Worldliness and Greed while playing Monopoly – I would buy up all the properties I could, and put hotels on them so I could make more money from the rentals and bankrupt the other players who landed on my properties. – Oddly enough, I would often borrow so much money from the bank that I would be the one that would go bankrupt. – Earning more money raises the expectations of what you NEED.

·         I don’t get NO satisfaction. - When does wanting something turn into worldliness or greed? – I’ll tell you; it’s when you have a very excessive desire and pursuit of material possessions. - Worldliness exist when you don’t need it, but you would like to have it. – When you are wanting more, regardless of what you already have. - It can be defined by TWO different characteristics;

1.   Never satisfied with what you have,

2.   The need to keep hold of what you’ve already got.

·         The story of the Rich man and Lazarus the beggar is a great example of Worldliness, when giving becomes so hard to do.  The rich man’s attention was on his earthly life and not on the divine.  He could not even give the crumbs from his table to the beggar Lazarus. – They both died; Lazarus went to Paradise and the Rich man went to Hell. – What profits a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses his life?

·         Our Excuse – I don’t give to people, because it encourages them to NOT get a Job, I would become an enabler. – Please get this; if God impresses you to give money to someone, you should do it.  You are not the Police of what they do with the money; that’s between them and God; your job is to be obedient. – I have a friend that purchases McDonald gift cards, so when someone asks her for money, she gives them a card; a gift certificate for a meal.

·         I saw a man going through a dumpster collecting cans; God impressed me to give him some money, but I thought, he is just a GUMMY RUMMY and would spend it all on booze; so I didn’t. The next day I saw him again and I felt impressed by God again to give him some money, so I went over and this time gave him the money and said, I guess you will heading down to the LIQUOR STORE now.  He said; YES he was. -  Being cynical, I asked; what do you like Christian Brothers or Blue Nun wine - He said he did not drink at all; that he had a family of five to support and he had a job at the liquor store, sweeping  the floors and cleaning up; the cans from the dumpster helped bring in the extra money. – I was glad I OBEYED the impression from the Lord and learned about my own respectable acceptable sin; JUDGMENTAL SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. - Obedient is better than a sacrifice -

Proverbs 27:20 - The eyes of man are never satisfied
²⁰ Hell and destruction are never full; so

THE EYES OF MAN ARE NEVER SATISFIED.

(KJV)

1 John 2:15-16 – Do not love and crave the world
¹⁵ DO NOT LOVE THIS WORLD nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 7:31 – Don’t be engrossed in worldly present things
³¹ those who use the things of the world, as if NOT engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

(NIV2011)

Colossians 3:2 – Set your mind on Heaven; not on the World
² SET YOUR MIND ON THE THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE, not on the things that are upon the earth.

(ASV)

Malachi 3:8 – Worldly attitude affects our tithe and gifts
⁸ Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.  

(NLT)

Matthew 6:24 – You either serve the World or you serve God
²⁴ No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both GOD and MONEY.

(NLT)

2 Corinthians 8:9 – Be generous; ALL we have comes from God
⁹ You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though HE (Jesus) was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that

by his poverty he could make you rich.

(NLT)

Proverbs 27:20 – Worldly human desire is never satisfied
²⁰ Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so

HUMAN DESIRE IS NEVER SATISFIED.

(NLT)

Luke 9:25 – What profit – Gain the World, but lose your life
²⁵ And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?

(NLT)

1 Samuel 15:22 - Obedience is better than sacrifice
²² But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. (NLT)

* Ungodliness

·         Ungodliness is an attitude toward God with little or no thought to our dependence on Him for our daily provisions in our everyday life.  – When we need something, we casually look to God as a Heavenly vending machine or our Devine bellhop.

·         The Book says to acknowledge God’s providence in our lives by daily saying; “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” – We are to WORK WILLINGLY at whatever we do, as though we are working for the LORD rather than our work place boss.

·         Thirst for God, the living God like you are in a parched and weary land where there is no water.  Seek most to live in the house of the LORD all the days of your life, meditating in his Temple and delighting in the His perfections.

·         Unrighteousness is our thoughts, words and actions that treat God as though He does not exist.  - God already knows our heart, thoughts and our MOTIVES.

·         The Book says we should pray daily for the complete knowledge of HIS WILL in our lives, yet we don’t worship Him as God anymore and have even forgotten to give thanks for what we have.  We have traded the truth of His Word for lies that satisfy our shameful sinful nature and have even come up with NEW WAYS of sinning.  It’s so sad; even though we know our actions could eventually lead to death, we do them anyway and even encourage others to do so as well.

·         We have to ask ourselves the question; how much of our life do we live without regard for God? – Can any behavior difference be observed between us and an unbeliever? – If there is no difference, then we are just Make-Believers. - It’s in the Book -

Romans 1:18 – Ungodliness (Attitude) – Unrighteousness (Actions)
¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all UNGODLINESS and UNRIGHTEOUSNESS of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (ESV)

James 4:13-15 – If the Lord wills, we will do this and that.
¹³ Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”
¹⁴ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.
¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” (NLT)

Colossians 1:9-10 - Pray for the complete knowledge of His Will
⁹ So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you COMPLETE knowledge of HIS WILL and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.
¹⁰ Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

(NLT)

Romans 1:18-32 – Treated God as if He did not exist
²¹ Yes, they knew God, but THEY WOULDN’T WORSHIP HIM AS GOD OR EVEN GIVE HIM THANKS. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.
²² Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.
²³ And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
²⁴ SO GOD ABANDONED them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.
²⁵ THEY TRADED THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD FOR A LIE. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
²⁶ THAT IS WHY GOD ABANDONED THEM to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.
²⁷ And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
²⁸ Since THEY THOUGHT IT FOOLISH TO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD, HE ABANDONED THEM to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full
²⁹ of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
³⁰ They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. THEY INVENT NEW WAYS OF SINNING, and they disobey their parents.
³¹ THEY REFUSE TO UNDERSTAND, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
³² They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to DIE, YET THEY DO THEM ANYWAY. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. (NLT)

Colossians 3:22-24 – Do your work as unto the Lord
²² Slaves, OBEY your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to PLEASE them all the time, not just when they are watching you. SERVE them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord.
²³ WORK WILLINGLY at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
²⁴ Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 10:31 – Whatever you do, do it to God’s glory
³¹ So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (NLT)

Psalm 42:1-2 – I thirst for waters of the Living God
¹ As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.
² I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? (NLT)

Psalm 63:1 – My whole body thirst, longs and searches for you
¹ O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. (NLT)

*Self-righteousness

·         Self-righteousness also called sanctimoniousness, and a holier-than-thou attitude is a feeling or display of smug moral superiority derived from a sense that one's beliefs, actions, or affiliations are of greater virtue than those of the average person.  Self-righteous individuals are often intolerant of the opinions and behaviors of others. – Wikipedia

·         When we read the account of the PHARISEE who was a teacher of God’s Laws and the repulsive hated TAX COLLECTOR; - both are praying.  - We see the independent spirit of the Pharisee Looking down his nose at the one who is despised because he collects tributes or taxes for Rome. – What we see in the story is two men, one who knew he was a sinner and the other who did not. – One humbled because of his position in life, and the other one full of self-righteousness of his knowledge of doctrine and of his own achievements in life.

·         In the story of the Prodigal Son, we find two sons who received their inheritance from their father, one foolishly spent his and the other saved his, what we know is that BOTH WERE SINNERS; one realized it and the other didn’t, he was self-righteous. – One humbled himself and the other became angry and stood a far off.

·         In the story of the immoral woman we see the Pharisee and an immoral woman; both were sinners; one knew it and the others didn’t. – The immoral woman knowing her sin, knelt behind Jesus at his feet, weeping. - Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. The self-righteous Pharisee said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”  Jesus said, I tell you, her sins are many and have been forgiven; she has shown me much love, but a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.

·         Jesus ripped into the Jews self-righteousness because they boasted that they were taught the laws of Moses from birth and their reliance on the laws made them righteous. There is a constant temptation in all of us to believe that we can somehow generate in and of ourselves a righteousness that will be acceptable to God, but if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there would be no need for Christ to die on the Cross.

·         The Book says there in no one who is righteous, not even ONE. -  It was because of Abraham’s FAITH that God counted him as Righteous.

Romans 3:10 - No one is righteous— not even one
¹⁰ As the Scriptures say, “NO ONE IS RIGHTEOUS— not even one. (NLT)

John 15:5 – there is no righteousness apart from God
⁵ Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. (NLT)

Romans 2:17-24 –The Jews relied on their self-righteous laws
¹⁷ You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him.
¹⁸ You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law.
¹⁹ You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness.
²⁰ You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth.
²¹ Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal?
²² You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? You condemn idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples?
²³ YOU ARE SO PROUD OF KNOWING THE LAW, BUT YOU DISHONOR GOD BY BREAKING IT.
²⁴ No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”

(NLT)

Romans 10:3 – They did not seek God’s righteousness
³ For, being ignorant of the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. (ESV)

Galatians 2:21 - If Law gave righteous; no need for Jesus to die
²¹ I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. (NLT)

Galatians 3:1-3 - Trying to become perfect by your own effort
¹ Oh, FOOLISH Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.
² Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? OF COURSE NOT! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.
³ How FOOLISH can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, WHY ARE YOU NOW TRYING TO BECOME PERFECT BY YOUR OWN HUMAN EFFORT?

(NLT)

Galatians 3:6 - God counted Abraham righteous because of faith
⁶ In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as RIGHTEOUS because of his faith.”

(NLT)

Romans 10:3 – Men seek to establish their own righteousness
³ For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. (ESV)

Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who morn over THEIR OWN SINS
⁴ God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

(NLT)

Luke 18:9-14 – Both were sinners; one knew, the other didn’t
⁹ Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else:
¹⁰ TWO MEN WENT TO THE TEMPLE TO PRAY. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector.
¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector!
¹² I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
¹³ But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
¹⁴ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

(NLT)

Luke 15:11-32 - Self-righteous condemned by their own words
¹¹ To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons.
¹² The younger son told his father, ‘I want MY share of your estate now before you DIE.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
¹³ A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.
¹⁴ About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.
¹⁵ He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.
¹⁶ The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
¹⁷ When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!
¹⁸ I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,
¹⁹ and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
²⁰ So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
²¹ His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’
²²But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.
²³ And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,
²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
²⁵ Meanwhile, THE OLDER SON was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house,
²⁶ and he asked one of the servants what was going on.
²⁷ Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
²⁸ THE OLDER BROTHER WAS ANGRY and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him,
²⁹ but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends.
³⁰ Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
³¹ His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.
³² We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

Luke 7:36-50 He who is forgiven much, loves much
³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.
³⁷ When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.
³⁸ Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
⁴⁰ Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
⁴¹ Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other.
⁴² But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
⁴³ Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said.
⁴⁴ Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
⁴⁵ You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet.
⁴⁶ You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
⁴⁷ I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”
⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
⁴⁹ The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
⁵⁰ And Jesus said to the woman, “YOUR FAITH HAS SAVED YOU; go in peace.” (NLT) 

*Selfishness

·         I think we are all born with a selfish nature and have our own blind spots that causes us to be domineering, if not even heartless at times. – Selfishness is harder to spot because it is more delicate and refined; hidden by our ability to weave a tapestry of colorful illusions. 

·         Narcissism is a big 25 cent word that most of us have never used. - It is the pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one's own attributes. The narcissist displays a high level of selfishness and sees everything as “How does this affect ME?” 

·          Paul writes to Timothy saying that there will be very difficult times IN THE LAST DAYS.
People will LOVE ONLY THEMSELVES and their money. They will be boastful, proud and ungrateful; scoffing at God. They will consider nothing sacred and be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have NO SELF-CONTROL. They will be cruel and hate what is good. - They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.  – They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. - Paul says to STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE LIKE THIS. NYOBS 75.25 – NARCISSISM & THE BIBLE -- NYOBS 38.02 – SEVEN DEADLY SINS

·         THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF SELFISHNESS  narcissism – Wikipedia -

1.   Shamelessness: Shame is the feeling that lurks beneath all unhealthy narcissism, and the inability to process shame in healthy ways.

2.   Magical thinking: Narcissists see themselves as perfect, using distortion and illusion known as magical thinking. They also use projection to "dump" shame onto others.

3.   Arrogance: A narcissist who is feeling deflated may "re-inflate" their sense of self-importance by diminishing, debasing, or degrading somebody else.

4.   Envy: A narcissist may secure a sense of superiority in the face of another person's ability by using contempt to minimize the other person or their achievements.

5.   Entitlement: Narcissists hold unreasonable expectations of particularly favorable treatment and automatic compliance because they consider themselves special. - Failure to comply is considered an attack on their superiority, and the perpetrator is considered an "awkward" or "difficult" person. 

6.   Exploitation: Can take many forms but always involves the exploitation of others without regard for their feelings or interests. Often the other person is in a subservient position where resistance would be difficult or even impossible.  Sometimes the subservience is not so much real, as assumed.

7.   Bad boundaries: Narcissists do not recognize that they have boundaries and that others are separate and are not extensions of themselves. Others either exist to meet their needs or may as well not exist at all. Those who provide “narcissistic supply” to the narcissist are treated as if they are part of the narcissist and are expected to live up to those expectations. - In the mind of a narcissist, there is no boundary between self and other.

·         Selfish people do not have discretionary time for others, but have no problem imposing themselves on others time; they are late, but do not consider the time of others waiting. – While a selfish person rarely sees the needs of others, they expect others to meet their needs and are quick to reject things that “ARE NOT THEIR JOB”.

·         The Book says that the answer to Selfishness is to have LOVE in your heart; love is patient and kind, it’s never jealous, boastful or proud.  Love never demands its own way, nor is it irritable and with love in your spirit you don’t keep records and try “to get even” with folks.

·         If you are sick with selfishness, then get the cure; Get Love – Get God - God is Love.

·         Love is dependable and does not give up, it never loses faith and is always hopeful; it endures every circumstance. – Three things last forever: Faith, Hope and Love, but the greatest of these is Love. – Love will cover a multitude of sins. - It’s in the Book -

2 Timothy 3:1-5 – Selfish people think only of themselves
¹ You should know this, Timothy, that IN THE LAST DAYS there will be very difficult times.
² For people will LOVE ONLY THEMSELVES and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.
³ They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have NO SELF-CONTROL. They will be cruel and hate what is good.
⁴ They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.
⁵ They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE LIKE THAT!

(NLT)

1 John 3:17 – You have God’s love when you help others
¹⁷ If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? (NLT)

1 Corinthians 13:13 - The greatest of these is love

 ¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and LOVE—and the greatest of these is love. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 – Love is not boastful, proud or jealous
⁴ LOVE is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud
⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

(NLT)

1 Peter 4:8 - Love covers a multitude of sins.
⁸ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since LOVE covers a multitude of sins.(ESV)

1 John 4:16 - God is love
¹⁶ We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. GOD IS LOVE, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. (NLT)

1 John 4:8 Anyone who does not LOVE does not know God
⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

(NLT)

John 14:6 – There is only ONE WAY to God; Jesus Christ
⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (NLT)

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – We no longer live for ourselves
¹⁴ Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.
¹⁵ He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will NO LONGER LIVE FOR THEMSELVES. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. (NLT)

*Un-thankfulness

·         Failing to give thanks has become an acceptable respectable sin, we know God, but we don’t honor Him with thanksgiving; we no longer even return thanks for our food.  Food is a given; it’s not IF we will eat, it’s WHAT we will eat; our dilemma is all the choices we have.

·         We remember things from our childhood; – I have memories of my dad and me on our knees praying every night just before bedtime. - My dad would say; “son if you have your health you have everything”; remember to thank God for your health. - God knows our hearts and our thoughts, when we get up and when we lay down and knows what we are going to say. – Give Him Glory.

·         As a child, I remember Dad returning a heartfelt thanks for our meal; Dad said that sometimes we don’t know what we are eating and should ask God to bless it to our bodies not only for the nourishment that food brings, but also for the healing of our bodies.  -When we complain about our food, we are complaining against God who provided it; we should remember to be thankful for what has been placed in front of us; it’s all by God’s grace.  Today many homes are single parent, missing the guidance of a father.

·         God gives us our health, our skills, abilities, food, clothes, and for most folks, a job and a good and comfortable place to live. – Everything we have including our talents are a gift from God. - How can we not return thanks for every meal and thanks that we can give away money?  For me giving away money is easy; the hard part for me is giving up my time; myself.

·         Be thankful in all circumstances, God causes everything to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, for this is God’s will for those who belong to Christ Jesus. - Give thanks in the name that is above all names, that of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

·         The Book recounts a story of ten lepers that were healed, but only one returned and gave thanks.  Jesus asked the question; where were the other un-thankful nine? – One morning my puppy could not walk and I prayed over her as well as many friends on Facebook and the next day she could walk.  How could I not give thanks to God who is the God of all flesh?

·         The Book says to let the Holy Spirit guide our lives, then we won’t be doing what our sinful nature craves.  The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. - The Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These TWO FORCES are constantly fighting each other, so we are NOT FREE to carry out our good intentions of thankfulness because of this Invisible War.

·         Being made in the image of God does not apply to the un-regenerated man, one who does not acknowledge God and His Son; the un-regenerated man HAS NOT been called to God’s purpose nor His promises. – We are all to some degree ungodly in the sins that we tolerate, but un-thankfulness should not be one of them.  We should seek to develop the habit of continually giving thanks to God IN every situation; but not necessarily FOR every situation.

- It’s in the Book -

Psalm 139:1-4 – God knows our heart, thoughts and doings
¹ O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
² You know when I sit down or stand up. YOU KNOW MY THOUGHTS.
³ even when I’m far away You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.
⁴ YOU KNOW WHAT I AM GOING TO SAY even before I say it, LORD. (NLT)

Psalm 139:13 – You made all my parts and knit me together
¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. (NLT)

Psalm 139:16 - Every day of my life was recorded in your book
¹⁶ You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. (NLT)

Ephesians 5:20 Give thanks for everything
²⁰And GIVE THANKS FOR EVERYTHING to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NLT)

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - Be thankful in all circumstances
¹⁸ BE THANKFUL in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (NLT)

Jeremiah 32:27 - I am the LORD, the God of all flesh
²⁷ Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? (ESV)

Romans 8:28 – Promises are for the regenerated man
²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (NLT)
Romans 8:29 – Conformed to the image of Jesus
²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the IMAGE OF HIS SON, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (ESV)

Luke 17:11-19 – Ten men healed – only one gave thanksgiving
¹¹ As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria.
¹² As he entered a village there, TEN LEPERS stood at a distance,
¹³ crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
¹⁴ He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.
¹⁵ One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!”
¹⁶ He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, THANKING HIM for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?
¹⁸ Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
¹⁹ And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.” (NLT)

Galatians 5:16-17 -Two forces constantly fighting each other
¹⁶ So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
¹⁷ The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These TWO FORCES are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. (NLT)

Romans 6:22 - We are NOW free from the power of sin
²² But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. (NLT)

*Slothfulness

·         Sloth translated from Latin means “WITHOUT CARE”. – Another translation of a Sloth is “Self-Pity”, a condition of Self-Centeredness; a melancholy passive mind-state of idleness with a cessation of motion. A sloth was first referred to spiritually persons especially Monks who had become bored and indifferent to their duties and obligations to God.

·         Slothfulness is defined as a failure to do the things that one should do; it has been called THE DO NOTHING SIN. -  While slothfulness is sometimes defined as physical laziness, it’s the spiritual laziness that is emphasized. - In the Christian faith, the sloth fails to utilize his gifts and talents, and for the most part rejects the grace and spiritual matters of God.

·         ARE YOU SLOTHFUL, have you begun to not care and not give your best effort, have you begun to procrastinate, do potential difficulties paralyze you, are you unwilling to begin because of the effort it takes?

·         Slothfulness sneaks up on you; it begins with the inward tendency to reject God’s requirement for diligent labor and shows up as carelessness, this progresses to making soft choices in the daily decisions where we become unwilling to act; that progresses to half-hearted efforts, and finally becomes disabling when doing “little” become a WAY OF LIFE; we become easily discouraged by any possible difficulty that we see.  

·         Sometimes we think, “I’m tired and this is just too much, I’m quitting.” - These thoughts are not from God; He has called us to redeem our time and to persevere and has given us the Helper; the Holy Spirit to help us in this pursuit.

·         The Book uses the ant to illustrate the basic characteristics that are lacking in the slothful person; the ant understands the seasons and plans the work for the future, it has self-direction, initiative and the ability to finish jobs.

·         Much of the time our half-hearted effort is not because of laziness, but because we have not prioritized our life; a person should have at the most only five priorities going on at a time, otherwise they will just get overwhelmed. - Sometimes a task is so overwhelming that we just keep putting it off until it becomes practically impossible to finish. 

·         I prioritize what I do into two categories.  1) What the boss wants me to do, and 2) What I want to do. - For me I do all the boss’ stuff first and the hardest task first, then each task becomes easier and that releases me to do what I find pleasure in; whatever I do, I do it all as if God is watching everything I do. - The Book says “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”.

·         Slothfulness is a Sin that requires you to DO NOTHING AT ALL. – It’s a Lack of zeal, an inability to get going; just browsing or hanging out doing mostly nothing. – For some it’s from the bar to the bed, then back to the bar. - Evil thrives when slothful men fail to act. – This is the sin that fertilizes all the other sins. - Sodom was characterized by Pride, Gluttony and SLOTHFULNESS as well as other detestable sins, and GOD wiped them out.

·          FAILING TO DEVELOP SPIRITUALLY is key to becoming guilty of the sin of slothfulness. Did you get that? - FAILING TO DEVELOP YOURSELF SPIRITUALLY IS THE SIN OF SLOTHFULNESS. - It’s in the Book -

Proverbs 13:4 – Lazy people want much, but get little
⁴ Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper. (NLT)

Ezekiel 16:49 – Sodom’s sins; Pride, Gluttony Slothfulness
⁴⁹ Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and LAZINESS, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. (NLT)

Proverbs 26:14 – Sluggard just sleeps his life away
¹⁴ As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. (ESV)

Proverbs 6:10-11 – The do nothing Sluggard just folds his hands
¹⁰  A little SLEEP, a little SLUMBER, a little FOLDING OF THE HANDS to rest,
¹¹  and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. (ESV)

Proverbs 26:15 – Sluggard is too lazy bring the fork to his mouth
¹⁵ A shiftless SLUGGARD puts his fork in the pie, but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth. (MSG)

2 Thessalonians 3:10 – No Work – No Food
¹⁰ For even when we were with you, this we commanded you,

IF ANY WILL NOT WORK, NEITHER LET HIM EAT. (ASV)

Ephesians 5:15-17 – Redeem your time – take every opportunity
¹⁵ So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.
¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
¹⁷ Don’t act thoughtlessly, but UNDERSTAND what the Lord wants you to do. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 10:31 – Do your work as unto the Lord
³¹ So whether you eat or drink, or WHATEVER YOU DO, do it all for the glory of God. (NLT)

Colossians 3:17 – Do everything as a representative of God
¹⁷  And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. (NLT)

Colossians 2:13-14 – We were dead in our sins; but made alive
¹³ You were DEAD because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you ALIVE with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.
¹⁴ He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. (NLT)

Romans 3:21-22 – We are made right with God by faith in Christ
²¹ But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.
²² We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. (NLT)

2 Timothy 3:1-5 – In the last day’s people will be Make Believers
¹ You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.
² For people will LOVE ONLY THEMSELVES and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.
³ They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.
⁴ They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and LOVE PLEASURE rather than God.
⁵ They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE LIKE THAT! (NLT)

*Judgmental

·         We have personal opinions that we hold to that we zealously believe are right and true and we dogmatically defend them; topics such as: Politics - Organic – Vegan – Vegetarian Tattoos – Recreational Drugs – Premarital Sex - LGBT Lifestyles - Religious Theology - Church Dress - Traditional Organ Music or Contemporary Drums & Guitar Music just to name a few.  – This is not new, the early church judged on all these topics except they didn’t have a piano or pipe organ. – NYOBS 20.12 – WORSHIP

·         I was taught that a man should take off his hat when inside, especially inside the house of God in reverence to Him, but the Jews wear a skullcap in the Temple in reverence to God. Oddly enough both opinions could be judged acceptable to God. – NYOBS 32.06 – HEAD COVERING

·         My mom would say that I would get along better with others if I did not discuss politics or religion.  She said feelings run deep on these subjects and our PERSONAL OPINION may seem judgmental resulting in unintentional hurt and divisions.

·         As a Human Recourse Manager, I generally already knew the issues of the Company, but upon hearing a report, I would not confirm nor deny; I would only thank them for taking the time to bring it to my attention, otherwise my comments might seem to confirm a judgment and add fuel to the fire before I could resolve it. -  President Obama had a slow “gate” to his speech pattern; he would formulate and judge the impact of each word of his message.  

·         Sometimes we get a critical spirit that so strongly disagrees, that we berate and demonize those who would oppose our thinking. - A personal opinion “shot from the hip or lip” comes across as criticism and what others perceive and receive is rejection.

·         The Book says we should NOT JUDGE other people, but we should be FRUIT INSPECTORS.  What does the fruit around the Believer’s tree look like? - Paul writes a letter to Galatea teaching them what the “Fruit of the Spirit” looks like and includes a number of things which all make up ONE fruit. - Paul list nine FRUIT which the believer’s life should exhibit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control.  If you are a Believer you will exhibit ALL of these qualities; not just two or three.

·         There is a calling for the Believer to live a lifestyle that reflects who they are in Christ.  There is an denomination that teaches a Biblical “Method” of worship, as well as a Biblical “Method” to the way we should live out our everyday life; they are called Methodist.

·         Concerning Spiritual things, the Church does not judge the un-believer, that’s God’s prerogative alone, but we are to judge the believer within the church who has strayed off the paths of God and living in Sin; our efforts are to lovingly bring them back to God, lest they be separated from Him forever. - It’s in the Book -  NYOBS 30.27 – TWO JUDGMENTS

John 4:23 – God wants non-judgmental worshipers
²³ But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when TRUE WORSHIPERS will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. (NLT)

Romans 14:23 - Don’t judge others Godly convictions
²³ But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning. (NLT)

Romans 14:4 – Don’t judge others; let God judge right or wrong
⁴ Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let Him (God) judge whether they are right or wrong. And with the Lord’s help, they will do what is right and will receive his approval. (NLT)

Romans 14:5 – Don’t judge when others worship
⁵ In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable.

(NLT)

1 Timothy 4:4 – Don’t judge what God has made good
⁴ Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 4:5 – Don’t judge others - That’s God’s prerogative
⁵ So DON’T MAKE JUDGMENTS ABOUT ANYONE ahead of time—before THE LORD returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due. (NLT)

Romans 14:1-3 – Don’t judge other believers of right and wrong
¹ Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong.
² For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.
³ Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.

(NLT)

Matthew 7:1-5 - Do not judge others or you will be judged
¹ Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.
² For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
³ And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?
⁴ How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?
⁵ Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

(NLT)

1 Corinthians 5:11 – Church judges the BELIEVER living in sin
¹¹  But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of BROTHER if he is GUILTY of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler— not even to eat with such a one. (ESV)

Matthew 7:16-20 – You will know a believer by their Fruit
¹⁶ You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?
²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so

you can identify people by their actions. (NLT)

Galatians 5:22-23 – Fruit of the Spirit
²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of FRUIT in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

*Impatience

·         Impatience is a strong sense of annoyance that causes us to hurt and wound others, it breeds irritability and usually points out the short comings and failure to perform of others.

·         It happens at the Bank “drive through” when the person in the car in front of you is not prepared and sits there and fills out deposit slips and signs the checks and looks it all over while the cars are packing up behind them.

·         Smoke comes out our ears when the waitress is just way too slow serving us. – When we complain about our food, our complaints are against God, who provides everything we eat.

·         Impatience and annoyance builds when your kids do not clean their room and the dog poops in the house for the third time.

·         A dispute arose in Moses FAMILY when Miriam his sister and Aaron his brother, criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite (black) woman.  Moses remained humble and turned the matter over to God. – God said Moses was more humble than any other person on earth.

·         Jesus did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor did He threaten revenge when He suffered.  He just left His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.

·         LOVE is patient and kind.  LOVE is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand its own way. - It is not impatient and irritable; it keeps no record of being wronged - Since God chose us to be His holy people, we must clothe ourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and PATIENCE, making allowances for each other’s faults because of His LOVE.

Numbers 12:1-3 – Moses was patient with slander from family
¹ While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite (black) woman.
² They said, “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the LORD heard them.
³ (Now Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth.) (NLT)

1 Peter 2:23 – Jesus had patience and did not retaliate
²³ He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 – Love is Patient and not irritable
⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud
⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it KEEPS NO RECORD of being wronged.

(NLT)

Ephesians 4:2 – Be humble, gentle and patient with each other
² Always be humble and gentle. Be PATIENT with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

(NLT)

Colossians 3:12 – Clothe yourself with humility and Patience

¹² Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and PATIENCE. (NLT)

Matthew 18:15 – Be patient, speak privately to the other
¹⁵ If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. (NLT)

*Jealousy & Envy

·         Jealousy and Envy is Unspoken Dis-satisfaction with the circumstances of others. - We are not jealous or envious of those who have talents and expertise that are out of our league, but it becomes a painful awareness to us seeing those we most closely identify enjoying advantages in areas we value the most. – NYOBS 30:16 - SINLESS

·         I spent 25 years in Television being blessed of God, arriving in top management only to see someone I trained with just a few years’ experience, who was younger, smarter and more talented than me being groomed to take my place. - I was jealous, I didn’t want someone else to experience the blessings of God that I had experienced; WHY WAS THAT? – This was my sin nature rising up inside of me.  The Book says there is a dual battle going on within us.

·         Jealousy disparages everything – It’s Unspoken Competition. - Sometimes we may not even want what others have, like a nicer house or better car, but we just resent them having it. - Jealousy is an Intolerance to Rivalry, it seeks to control, manipulate and dominate others to our advantage in order to get what we want.

·         Envy spoils the pleasure of others. – Hates everything. – Some are so consumed with ENVY that they are unconscious and totally unaware of this CANCER.

·         Peggy and Polly were twins that I grew up with at church and Peggy was by far the most popular, but as time moved on, Polly’s happy and positive personality drew people to her and Peggy with ENVY withdrew into sarcasm and negativism; pushing herself far into the background. With arms folded, she seemed mad all the time and it slowly CHANGED HER WHOLE FACE. – They were no longer twins.  – This was sad, she seemed so unaware of how her reactions were being received as people distanced themselves from her.

·         Envy and jealousy are characterized as a feeling of Discontentment towards someone's traits, status, abilities, or rewards. The difference is the Envious has an Insatiable Desire for the entity and Covet it.  This relates to the Ten Commandments, specifically, "Don’t be envious of anything that belongs to your neighbor or their status."

·         Cain & Abel was the first Prototype of envy found in the first book of the Bible, where Cain was envious of God’s approval of Abel’s offering. – Abel had a relationship with God and Cain was just going through the motions - This envy led Cain to murder his brother Abel. – Abel was a Believer; Cain was just a Make Believer. - NYOBS 16.06 - CAIN & ABEL–

·         Jacob (Israel) is another example of Envy and Jealousy; he gave a coat of many colors to his 1^st born son of Rachel the sister of Leigh who Jacob was tricked into marring.  Joseph‘s brothers from Leigh and her maid were envious of Joseph’s special coat and they plotted to KILL HIM. -  SIDE BAR; Leah had 6 sons, Zilpah her maid, 2 sons (Leah also had one daughter.) - Rachel had 2 sons; Bilhah her maid, 2 sons for a grand total of 12 sons; tribes

·         King Saul was jealous and envious of David because the ladies were singing greater accomplishments of David than Saul; this rotting jealous Cancer consumed him and led him to spend much of his time trying to find David in order to kill him.

·         The High Priest, Sadducees and officials were filled with jealousy when the Jews were turning away from them and following the disciples of Jesus, so they arrested them and put them in jail. – Some of the prominent Jews were so JEALOUS of the crowds surrounding Paul that they SLANDERED Paul and ARGUED against WHATEVER he said.

·         Ever since President Trump took office there has been the greatest division I have ever seen between the Democrats and Republicans.  The Democrats are so jealous that they slander and argue against WHATEVER Trump says.  The Book says those in power are put there by God, so we should to pray for our President; not slander.   In this blessed and wonderful nation, we get a chance to change things every four years; so PRAY and VOTE.

·         The Book – Envy is like a cancer that eats you up from the inside out.  ENVY ROTS THE BONES

1 Samuel 18:7-9 – Saul became Jealous and wanted to kill David
⁷ This was their song: “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands!”
⁸ this made Saul very ANGRY. “What’s this?” he said. “They credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they’ll be making him their king!”
⁹ So from that time on Saul kept a JEALOUS EYE on David. (NLT)

Acts 5:17-18 – High Priest and Sadducees full of Jealousy
¹⁷ The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with JEALOUSY.
¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. (NLT)

Acts 13:44-45 – Jews became Jealous of the Jesus crowds
⁴⁴ The following week almost the entire city turned out to hear them preach the word of the Lord.
⁴⁵ But when some of the Jews saw the crowds, they were JEALOUS; so they slandered Paul and ARGUED AGAINST WHATEVER HE SAID. (NLT)

Romans 7:21-25 – Spiritual Nature and the Sin Nature
²¹ I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
²² I love God’s law with all my heart.
²³ But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
²⁴ Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
²⁵ Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. (NLT)

Galatians 5:20-21 – Jealousy & Envy will not inherit the kingdom
²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, JEALOUSY, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
²¹ ENVY, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. (NLT)

Psalm 75:7 – It is God who decides who will rise or fall
⁷ It is God alone who judges; he decides who will rise and who will fall. (NLT)

1 Timothy 2:2 - Pray for our President and those in authority
² PRAY this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. (NLT)

1 Peter 5:5 – Accept authority; serve in humility
⁵ In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” (NLT)

Ephesians 5:21 - Submit to one another
²¹ And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (NLT)

*Self-Control

·         A person without self-control is like a city with broken down walls that is vulnerable to all kinds of invading temptations.

·         Self-Control is one of the nine qualities that make up the “fruit” of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and SELF-CONTROL.  - All these qualities make up ONE FRUIT.  If you have all the qualities, but lack self-control, you do not possess the Fruit of the Spirit.

·         Lack of self-control of your speech opens the door to all manner of defiling speech, sarcasm, gossip, slander and ridicule. – It gives way to having a temper; “flying off the handle”, having “a short fuse” with explosive anger.

·         It affects other areas of your life, it affects what you watch on television, pornography on computers, sports, impulse buying and hobbies. - For me, I collected Depression Glass, Lunch Boxes, Iron Toys, Antique Utensils, Army Paraphernalia and Avon Bottles.  It was so much fun and gratifying, but it had to STOP. 

·         I collected LIONEL TRAINS; it seemed harmless enough, I only spent 20 dollars a week which is not much for a hobby, but after a year I had invested $1.000.00 and 30 years later I was still going and so was the investment in the collection…

·         At one point in my life I was skipping Sunday School and Church so I could buy up all the trains that were in the Sunday paper. Our 14’X20’ master bedroom became filled with a train table with shelves floor to ceiling. - Trains became an IDOL for me, it consumed my thinking, extra money and activities. - I just had to get control of myself and STOP.

·         Lack of self-control affects your finances, going into debt just because you see it and want it.  Solomon said that “whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them” and in the end he said it was all vanity.

·         Lack of self-control in your eating habits causes weight problems that affects your health as well as your professional and social life.

·         Food was at the Heart of Jewish observance.  It begin with a feast to show wealth, and the more you had to eat was symbolic of your prosperity; you should eat as much as possible in case of a bad day, even though that day probably never comes.

·         The Epicureans world view was an ethic of individual pleasure as the sole or chief good in life, and advocated living in such a way as to derive the greatest amount of pleasure possible during one's lifetime. - Gluttony is THE SIN OF PLEASURE

·         Gluttony - The excessive indulgence of food and drink. – A longing and thinking of food. – It comes from the Latin meaning the “over indulgence” and “over consumption” of anything to the point of waste. - Vomiteriums were available in order to get rid of your food so you could go back quickly and GRAZE some more. - Gluttony is considered sin when the excessive desire for food causes you to withhold it from the needy.  It can be interpreted as selfishness when it places concern with one's own interests above the well-being of others.

·         There was a Quail Hunt  where the Israelites gorged themselves with QUAIL, God slew the FATTEST of them while the food was still in their mouth. -  God says you should just cut your own throat if you are given to gluttony. – Greedy cravings revile the Lord. 

NYOBS 25.10 – MANNA                           - It’s in the Book -

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 – Lack of self-control is chasing the wind
¹⁰ Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors.
¹¹ But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—LIKE CHASING THE WIND. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. (NLT)

Psalm 78:27-31 – God killed the fattest of them
²⁷ He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls (quail) like as the sand of the sea:
²⁹ So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;
³⁰ They were not held back from their lust. But while the meat was yet in their mouths,
³¹ The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the FATTEST of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

(KJV)

Proverbs 25:28 – Self-control gives a wall of protection
²⁸ A person without SELF-CONTROL is like a city with broken-down walls. (NLT)

Galatians 5:22-23 – Fruit of the Spirit is Self-Control
²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³ gentleness, and SELF-CONTROL. There is no law against these things!

(NLT)

Titus 2:2 - Teach Self-control, be filled with love and patience
² Teach the older men to exercise SELF-CONTROL, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.

(NLT)
Titus 2:11-12 – Live self-controlled godly lives
¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,

¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live SELF-CONTROLLED, upright, and godly lives in the present age, (ESV)

1 Peter 1:13 – Exercise self-control in order to think clearly
¹³ So think clearly and exercise SELF-CONTROL. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.

(NLT)

1 Peter 4:7 – Be sober minded and self-controlled
⁷ The end of all things is at hand; therefore be SELF-CONTROLLED and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

(ESV)

Proverbs 14:17 - Short-tempered people do foolish things
¹⁷ Short-tempered people do foolish things, and schemers are hated. (NLT)

Proverbs 16:32 – Be slow to anger; rule your spirit
³² Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. (ESV)

James 1:19 – Be slow to speak and slow to get angry
¹⁹ Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. (NLT)

*Pride

·         Wikipedia - Pride, is considered the original and the most deadly of sins.  It is the SOURCE of all the other sins and is identified as believing that one self is essentially better than others.  Pride has become so common that it is accepted among Christians and is not even regarded as sin.  Pride gives birth to an independent spirit that resists instructions and authority and comes with an unteachable attitude accompanied with excessive admiration of self.

·         Pride is “Self-Love” that is perverted into contempt for others. – It is the overwhelming excessive confidence in one’s self and it fails to acknowledge the accomplishments of others. – Elected officials swing their weight around, ignoring laws, then one day it all catches up with them; then they put up SMOKE SCREENS, WEAVE ILLUSIONS and SPIN LIES as they fall from grace. - Pride comes just before the fall; before destruction and disgrace.

·         Pride is considered the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to damnation as shown in the example of the story of Lucifer, AKA Satan, who displayed pride within himself when he indicated his desire to compete with God; this caused his fall from Heaven. - NYOBS 07.018 - ESCHATOLOGY; WHO IS SATAN -- NYOBS 37:29 – FREE WILL

·         Pride is the opposite of Humility - There is no such thing as a self-made man, it is God who gives us and our children the ability and power to succeed; everything we have, we have received from God. – Do we hold ourselves out of “proper position” toward God? - Is our thinking “GOD” centered or “ME” centered? - What do we have that we did not receive from God? - When we serve faithfully, we have only done what we were supposed to do. – We should realize that we deserve nothing; but incredibly, we still continue to receive, so therefore when we lack we have NO REASON to complain, fuss, whine or commiserate.

·         Warning; God opposes the Proud, He opposes those who think they have moral superiority, who treat others with contempt.  Pride is only second to the sin of ungodliness. – We tend to look with some disdain on those whose beliefs are different than ours.  We believe our doctrinal beliefs are the “correct ones”.  – Ashamedly, I do this one over and over, I have “Doctrinal Pride”.  

·         When I first received my salvation, I didn’t care about ANY doctrine; just John 3:16 that says that ANYBODY that believes in Jesus will not perish, but will have eternal life.  BAM case closed. – But for me now, doctrine is extremely important, I not only want to know the Book of the Lord, I want even more to know the Lord of the Book. - I must further realize and accept that other theologically capable people hold to other convictions than I do. - Many hold that humanity is PREDESTINED to heaven or hell while others hold that we have the FREE WILL to choose our destination.  I find that both are taught in the Book. – Many are called (free will), but few are chosen (predestined).  – It’s in the Book –

·         We all possess some doctrinal knowledge. -  The Book says “KNOWLEDGE” PUFFS UP, but goes on to say that “LOVE” BUILDS UP; so if I had ALL the knowledge of earth and of angels, but didn’t LOVE others, I would just be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

·         When folks differ on doctrine, it’s not saying one is right or the other is wrong, it’s just saying that we won’t know for sure till we get to heaven, so in the meantime we just need to LOVE one another; can I get an AMEN on that.  – It’s in the Book –

Luke 17:10 – Obedience is doing what you are supposed to
¹⁰ In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’” (NLT)

Isaiah 66:2 – God looks a humble & contrite spirit who fears God
² All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (ESV)

Ezekiel 28:12-17 – Pride was found in Satan

12 You (Satan) were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created

until wickedness was found in you.

17 Your heart became PROUD on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. NIV

1 Peter 5:5 – God favors the Humble
⁵ In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for

“GOD OPPOSES THE PROUD but FAVORS THE HUMBLE.” (NLT)

1 Corinthians 8:1 – Pride of Knowledge puffs up – Love builds up
¹ Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” PUFFS UP, but

Love BUILDS UP. (ESV)

John 3:16-17 – God loves us so much He gave His Son
¹⁶ For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that EVERYONE who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world
¹⁷ not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 4:7 – What do you have that you did not receive
⁷ For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift? (NLT)

Proverbs 4:1 – Pay attention to correction; learn good judgment
¹ My children, LISTEN when your father corrects you. Pay attention and learn good judgment, (NLT)

Proverbs 5:1 – Listen to the wisdom of wise counsel
¹ My son, PAY ATTENTION to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. (NLT)

Proverbs 7:1 – Follow my advice, treasure my commands
¹ FOLLOW MY ADVICE, my son; always treasure my commands. (NLT)

Proverbs 3:1 – Store God’s teachings in your heart
¹ My child, never forget the things I have taught you.

STORE MY COMMANDS in your heart. (NLT)

Proverbs 2:1 – A Believer will listen and treasure commands
¹ My child, listen to what I say, and

TREASURE MY COMMANDS. (NLT)

Hebrews 13:17 – Obey your spiritual leaders with joy
¹⁷ OBEY YOUR SPIRITUAL LEADERS, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to DO THIS WITH JOY and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. (NLT)

Matthew 22:14 – Some are called, some are chosen
¹⁴ For MANY are called (by Freewill to come), but FEW are chosen (Predestined to come).” (NLT)

*Anger – THE SUDDEN SIN

·         ORDINARY Anger is a strong feeling of displeasure that seethes inwardly with resentment. - Anger, Wrath or Rage is a SUDDEN SIN that speaks in CAPITAL BLOCK LETTERS to the listener.  It is an inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred. - In its purest form it is violence, self-destructiveness, and hate that may fuel and provoke feuds that can go on for centuries and persist long after the person who did another a grievous wrong is dead.  These feelings can manifest in different ways including impatience, revenge, and self-destructive behavior such as drug abuse or even suicide.

·         Manipulation Strategy - Displays of anger are a result of "what has happened to them personally," – The angry person can exhibit Tantrum Behavior that is used as a manipulation strategy for social influence in order TO GET WHAT THEY WANT

·         It is the results of our own selfishness and the lack of our desire to control it. - So much of the time, anger is directed toward our family members and perhaps even our own church family. - It surfaces in belittling or sarcastic comments.

Ø  RIGHTEOUS Anger is always with self-control; this is pictured when Jesus became angry in the Temple when He saw MERCHANTS selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; He saw DEALERS at tables exchanging foreign money, so He MADE A WHIP FROM SOME ROPES and chased the dealers out of the Temple, then drove out the sheep and cattle. -  He turned over the money changers’ tables and scattered their coins over the floor; then told them, “Get these things out of here, STOP TURNING MY FATHER’S HOUSE INTO A MARKETPLACE. – The take away from this story is to HARNESS AND FOCUS your ZEAL for the things of God.

·         Anger indicates that a person’s basic boundaries have been violated. – It’s an emotional response related to one's psychological interpretation of having been threatened. - It involves a strong emotional and uncomfortable reaction or response to a perceived harm that is considered deliberate or of unfair treatment or provocation by others.

·         It is displayed as a correction of wrong behavior by others and a promotion of social justice. It is when a person makes the conscious decision to take action to immediately stop the threatening behavior of an outside force.   Sometimes anger is released through retaliation, similar to a pressure cooker where the pressure builds up until it explodes.

·         Physical and Mental Consequences; Anger causes an increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and increased levels of adrenaline.  It impairs one's ability to process information and to exert cognitive control over their own behavior.  An angry person may lose their objectivity, empathy, prudence or thoughtfulness and may cause harm to others.  Un-resolved anger turns inward and becomes Depression.

·         Sometimes we get mad at God. – We have prayed about a situation and feel like God has let us down; our tithe has been put into the “Holy Vending Machine” and nothing came out. – When we are angry with God, we are accusing Him of wrongdoing, neglecting us or treating us un-fairly, because we feel an absence of the “evidence” of His love toward us. 

·         Don’t sin by letting anger control you, don’t let the sun go down while you’re still angry. The Book teaches to Forgive and Forget – To turn the other cheek – To harness the passion of anger for good. – Do good to your enemy; it will be like heaping hot coals on their head.

·         We cannot deal with anger until we acknowledge its presence and seek the Book on how to deal with it. - Don’t get angry when you ae treated cruel. - Be kind to each other, tender hearted, forgiving one another. - Now is the time to get rid of all ANGER, bitterness and rage; malicious behavior, quarreling and jealousy; selfishness, arrogance and disorderly behavior; harsh words, slander, gossip and dirty language. - Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. - It’s in the Book -

John 2:14-16 – Self-Controlled Righteous Anger
¹⁴ In the Temple area he saw MERCHANTS selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw DEALERS at tables exchanging foreign money.
¹⁵ Jesus MADE A WHIP FROM SOME ROPES and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.
¹⁶ Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them,

“Get these things out of here.

STOP TURNING MY FATHER’S HOUSE INTO A MARKETPLACE!”

1 Peter 2:18 – Don’t get angry when you are treated cruel
¹⁸ You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. (NLT)

Colossians 3:8 – Now is the time to get rid of Anger and Rage
⁸ But now is the time to get rid of ANGER, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. (NLT)

Colossians 3:13 - Control your anger; make allowances
¹³ Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. (NLT)

Ephesians 4:31 – Get rid of anger, be kind and forgiving
³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage, ANGER, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. (NLT)
Ephesians 4:32 – Forgive as God forgave you; do not be angry
³² Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. (NLT)

2 Corinthians 12:20 - Quarreling, jealousy, ANGER, and slander

²⁰ For I am afraid that when I come I won’t like what I find, and you won’t like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, ANGER, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior. (NLT)

Ephesians 4:26 - Don’t let the sun go down on your angry
²⁶ And “don’t sin by letting ANGER control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still ANGRY, (NLT)

Ephesians 2:1-5 – We were once subject to God’s Anger
¹ Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.
² You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
³ All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to GOD’S ANGER, just like everyone else.
⁴ But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,
⁵ that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) (NLT)

*Grudges

·         People have what I call a gunny sack, it’s a place where they throw all the stuff they don’t like about you and STORE IT FOR YEARS.  When they get upset, they pull something out of the gunny sack to beat you up with.  The Book says to keep no record of wrong doings.

·         Esau held a grudge against his brother Jacob because he stole his birthright and blessing. Joseph’s brothers held a grudge against him because he was the father’s favorite son, so since this was in their heart, they thought Joseph would hold a grudge against them also.

Herodias bore a grudge against John the Baptist and wanted his head cut off; and did.

Grudges are a sickness of the heart and the cure is Love. Get Love – Get God – Get healed

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 – Keep no record of wrong doings
⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud
⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it KEEPS NO RECORD OF BEING WRONGED.

(NLT)

Genesis 27:41 – Esau held a grudge against Jacob
⁴¹ From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because their father had given Jacob the blessing. And Esau began to scheme: “I will soon be mourning my father’s death. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob.” (NLT)

Mark 6:19 - Herodias bore a grudge against John the Baptist
¹⁹ So Herodias bore a GRUDGE against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless,

(NLT)

Genesis 50:15 – Grudge in your heart; you think others do also
¹⁵ But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said.

(NLT)

Leviticus 19:18 - Do not bear a grudge or seek revenge
¹⁸ Do not seek REVENGE or bear a GRUDGE against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

(NLT)

Psalm 55:3 - In anger they bear a grudge against me
³ because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in ANGER they bear a GRUDGE against me.

(ESV)

James 3:5-9 – The Angry Tongue is set on fire by hell itself
⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.
⁶ And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for IT IS SET ON FIRE BY HELL ITSELF.
⁷ People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish,
⁸ but NO ONE CAN TAME THE TONGUE. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.
⁹ Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. (NLT)

*Worry Stress Anxiety & Frustration

·         Devine providence is God's extraordinary intervention in the universe and in the life of people which began when God created the world with everything needed for human life, including both physical things and natural laws. - Divine providence means that God is directing (or even recreating) every minute detail of creation. – It is all for His glory and for the good of His people. (Wikipedia) – NOTE; Everything people have that is good is given and preserved by God, either directly or through other people or things.

• The opposite of trust is worry, anxiety and fear; you distrust God’s Devine Providence. – That does not mean we are not to pray about an events outcome, but to also pray with a submissive heart, the acceptance of whatever “God’s will” turns out to be. – When the situation looms greater than your faith; pray “I believe Lord, Help me in my unbelief”.  God helps us in our struggles of Faith.  - It’s in the Book –
• In the frustration and ungodliness of the moment, we don’t tend to think about God, we focus on the situation; and if left unchecked these emotions can lead to sin; but if we use it to turn to God to see what we need to learn, we can then grow in our Faith.
• Anxiety, Worry & Stress does not discriminate based on geography, race, gender or age. It permeates your entire body like yeast in bread, it affects you Physically, Mentally and Spiritually; so you’re a MAN with a different kind of PMS. - It’s in the Book -
• Wikipedia describes Stress as a Physical, Mental or Emotional strain or tension. - It can cause us to do things that we would not ordinarily do or even cause our system to shut down completely.  Stress is caused by either Processive Stressors which causes “Fight or Flight” reaction or it is caused by a Systemic Stressor which causes automatic physiological reactions; unchecked these two Stressor can rule our lives.
• Materialism is a big troublemaker.  We purchase a Corvette or a Boat which we can manage, but then we get hit with the taxes, insurance and the operational cost required to maintain this lifestyle.  This leads to living paycheck to paycheck and barely making ends meet.
• I didn’t have enough time to get it all done, I felt so tired and overwhelmed that my mind would just go blank. -  I was restless, taking deep unfillable breaths and my chest tightened up; my mind was churning and my mood swings were moving from just being irritable to outright anger; I was STRESSING OUT.
• There are invisible chains of infirmity that are not physical.  You can’t see them, but the bondage is ever present.  Maybe at work you really need more salary or maybe a little less workload. -  You lack support and have conflicting demands. – You don’t have control of the situations and when you get home at night you just can’t “TURN IT OFF”.

·         The invisible infirmity of Worry Stress Anxiety and Frustration can move around your body exhibiting a cornucopia of symptoms; a Pounding Heart, Chest Pains, Shortness of Breath, Fatigue, Dizziness, Hot Flashes, Sweating, Twitches, Headaches, Back and Muscle Aches, Nausea, Diarrhea, Upset Stomach, Sadness, Depression, Panic Disorders, Stress, Fear, Paranoia, Rage and it may even cause you to exhibits Different Personalities.

• Maybe you need companionship or the need for more patience or you are in sorrow or sickness, you need finances, in tribulations, distressed, chastised, dishonored, the butt end of mean spirited jokes, have sleeplessness and heaviness of spirit and the list just goes on and on and I’m sure that you can add some of your own to this list. – NYOBS 54.11 – IN THE PITS
• Satan wants to persecute our very soul; to crush our spirit cause anxiety, worry, and stress to consume our lives. – Stress has been labeled the SILENT ASSASSIN that can create blood clots that lead to heart disease. When we are operating in Anxiety, Worry and Stress, we are doing Satan’s work for him; he comes to kill, steal and destroy. – You can never worry yourself into a longer life, but you can worry yourself into bad health & death.
• Sometimes the mind will JUST NOT RELEASE folks from their thoughts. – Our bodies are WIRED with “Fight or Flight” responses which is sometimes wrongly diagnosed as a medical or a MENTAL condition, - What is needed is to have our mind rewired, transformed and renewed. -  Satan comes to WIRE us with Anxiety, Worry, Stress, Fear and Depression.  Jesus comes to RE-WIRE, ADAPT & RESTORE our PMS; Physically, Mentally & Spiritually.  Jesus gives us the ability to “Go with His Flow” of comfort, His gentleness and His peace and He gives it to us more abundantly than we can possibly imagine. – It’s in the Book -
• The Book gives us just two rules; 1) HUMBLE YOURSELF and 2) CAST YOUR CARES ON HIM.  Two of the SHORTEST PRAYERS I have found is when a mama prayed; ”Lord Help Me” and a daddy prayed, “I do believe, but help me with my unbelief”; God heard both and they received.
• REMEMBER THIS, whether we are on the mountain top or down in the valley, whether lacking in patience, or in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in violence, in wounds, in imprisonments, in labors, in sleeplessness, by dishonor, by evil report; as chastened, as sorrowful, as poor, as having nothing. - In all of that, we are still God’s Witness’, His Evangelist, His Ministers and His children.  – It’s in the Book -

Psalm 143:3 – Satan persecutes the soul – Crushes the life
³ For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in darkness, Like those who have long been dead. (NKJV)

1 Peter 5:8 – Satan seeks to find someone he MIGHT devour
⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he MAY devour. (NKJV)

2 Corinthians 6:4-9 – Invisible War comes against God’s people
⁴  But in all things we commend ourselves as MINISTERS OF GOD: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,
⁵ in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;
⁸  by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known;
⁹  as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
(NKJV)

John 10:10 – Satan comes to kill, Steal and destroy
¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (ESV)

Matthew 6:25-34 – Don’t Worry - Don’t Worry - Don’t Worry -
²⁵ That is why I tell you NOT TO WORRY about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?
²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?
²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
²⁸ And WHY WORRY about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,
²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.
³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
³¹ So DON’T WORRY about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you NEED.
³⁴ So DON’T WORRY about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (NLT)

Matthew 10:29-31 – Don’t fear; God has got this
²⁹ What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.
³⁰ And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.
³¹ So DON’T BE AFRAID; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. (NLT)

Luke 12:7 – God as got every hair on your head numbered
⁷ And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.

So DON’T BE AFRAID; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. (NLT)

Philippians 4:6 – Don’t Worry, instead pray about everything
⁶ DON’T WORRY about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (NLT)

1 Peter 5:7 - Give all your worries and cares to God
⁷ Give all your WORRIES and CARES to God, for He cares about you. (NLT)

1 Peter 5:6 – RULE #1 - HUMBLE YOURSELF

⁶ HUMBLE yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

1 Peter 5:7 – RULE #2 - CAST YOUR CARES ON HIM
⁷ CASTING all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (ESV)

Matthew 15:25 - Simply Prayer - LORD, HELP ME
²⁵ But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” (ESV)

Mark 9:24 – Simply Prayer  HELP ME OVERCOME MY UNBELIEF
²⁴ The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (NLT)

John 10:10 - RE-WIRE ADAPT & RESTORE - Go with God’s Flow
¹⁰ Satan comes to WIRE us with Anxiety, Worry, Stress, Fear and Depression.  Jesus comes to RE-WIRE, ADAPT and RESTORE our PMS; Physically, Mentally and Spiritually.  To give us the ability to

Go with His Flow of comfort, gentleness and peace and He gives it more abundantly than we can possibly imagine. (Paul’s Paraphrased Bible)

Romans 12:2 – You are wired up in knots and must be RE-WIRED
² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

*Lust

·         Lust is the Most Popular Sin - It is a psychological force producing an intense drive or desire wanting an object or circumstance that fulfills the passion of emotion and its craving. Lust is selfishness; it can take any form such as an intense lust for money or perhaps the lust for fame or power or perhaps the lust for sexuality; which defined is a very strong appetite, desire or longing for SEX; it is lechery or horniness, but it can also take the mundane form of the lust for food. 

·         SEX is not Love, it’s a function for the pleasure of the body – It deviates into affections for Prostitution – Pornography – Fetish’s; leather, pain, Homosexuality and Lesbianism which the world identifies as just an alternate lifestyle. – NOTE; God calls this alternate lifestyle an abomination which He groups and damns with the sin of witchcraft. – This is so serious, it’s the separation from God for eternity. -- NYOBS 18.05 – SAME SEX MARRIAGE

·         Lust of the Flesh is at war with the Spirit, and the Spirit is at war with the flesh. – It starts with your eyes and fires up your imagination, which spins off SEVENTEEN more sins: Adultery, Fornication, Uncleanness, Lewdness,  Idolatry, Sorcery, Hatred, Contentions, Jealousies, Outbursts Of Wrath, Selfish Ambitions, Dissensions, Heresies, Murders, Envy, Drunkenness, and Revelries.  – NYOBS 08.18 – ADULTRY AND FORNIFICATION -- NYOBS 02.02 – HOMOSEXUALITY.

·         God makes it pretty plain about how He feels about the sin of LUST; He says when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else. TEMPTATION COMES FROM OUR OWN DESIRES, which entice us and drag us away. Do not be deceived, the unrighteous; the fornicators, adulterers, the effeminate, and Homosexuals, SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

·         BUT WAIT – You are not yet Died and Fried. - You can still humble yourself; pray and seek God’s face and turn from your lifestyle and receive forgiveness. The Holy Spirit will produce in you love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control - Life IS Choice driven. - You don’t have to stay where you are. – It’s in the Book -

Matthew 5:27-28 – Do not Lust in thought
²⁷ You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’
²⁸ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with LUST has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

(NLT)

Galatians 5:19-21 – Life of Lust; not inherit the kingdom of God
¹⁹  When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, LUSTFUL PLEASURES,
²⁰  idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
²¹  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

(NLT)

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 – God’s Will is for us to have self-control
³ GOD’S WILL is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.
⁴ Then each of you will CONTROL HIS OWN BODY and live in holiness and honor—
⁵ NOT IN LUSTFUL PASSION like the pagans who do not know God and his ways.

(NLT)

1 Peter 4:2-3 – Be anxious to do the Will of God
² You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will BE ANXIOUS TO DO THE WILL OF GOD.
³ You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. (NLT)

Romans 8:5-8 – A sinful nature can never please God
⁵ Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
⁷ For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.
⁸ That’s why those who are still under the control of their

SINFUL NATURE CAN NEVER PLEASE GOD.

(NLT)

Galatians 5:16-17 – The sin nature and the spirit nature battle
¹⁶ So I say, LET THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDE YOUR LIVES. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
¹⁷ The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are NOT FREE to carry out your good intentions.

(NLT)

James 1:13-15 – We are tempted by our own desires; not God
¹³ And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else.
¹⁴ Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.
¹⁵ These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, IT GIVES BIRTH TO DEATH. (NLT)

Colossians 3:5 – Put to death sexual immorality, lust and greed
⁵ So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, LUST, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

(NLT)

Matthew 5:5 - God blesses those who are humble
⁵ God blesses those who are HUMBLE, for they will inherit the whole earth. (NLT) 

Numbers 12:3 - Moses was more humble than anyone else
³ Now Moses was a very humble man, more HUMBLE than anyone else on the face of the earth. (NIV2011)

*Word & Thought

·         Gossip is probably the first thing you think of when you paint a picture of respectable or acceptable sin, but any communication that tears down someone’s character is sin.  Gossip is certainly at the top, but so is corrupt, critical or harsh speech, insults, sarcasm, ridicule, slander, spreading unfavorable, humiliating or hurtful information, creating false or slanderous impressions as well as just plain out lying about someone.

·         I remember being in the breakroom and the conversation had turned to GOSSIP about a co-worker and someone asked me what I thought. – As I paused, someone else spoke up and said “Paul never says anything bad about anybody” and immediately the subject was changed.  What a complement; our daily lives are a sermon.

·         We can disguise gossip by sharing un-favorable information and calling it a prayer request. Is what we say kind? – Is it respectful? – Is it needful? – Is it true? -  Does it tear down or build up? - Does it even need to be said?  We all have the ability to posture a conversation to lead the listener to perceive something that was not actually said, it is just manipulation by implication. – I could boast, that a few of us, that the new manager LIKED had lunch in the breakroom today. – The perception manipulation could be that YOU were not included because the new manager did not like you; you are on the outside.

·         The Book says to let no corrupt talk come out of your mouth.  -  In the early days of the Church, a man’s reputation was his character and was all that a man had, and to call him a Fool assassinated his character, his reputation; it was considered as the sin of murder, which was damnation to the judgment of hell fire. – Would you ever think that repeating something you really know nothing about, could damn you to hell fire forever?

·         The Book says the tongue is set on fire by hell itself; no one can tame the tongue, it’s restless, evil and full of poison. - The Believer should not have curses and blessings coming out of the same mouth; unless they are just a Make-Believers. – We are to guard our hearts; bit out tongues and control what we say; we don’t have to speak every thought that POPS into our mind.

·         Paul in his letter to the Church at Ephesus encouraged the Believers to avoid foul and abusive language and to let the words they speak, to be of encouragement to those that heard them.

·         Whatever is in your heart will overflow your mouth whether its praises or curses.  On the Day of Judgment we will give an account for every carless word we speak. – If we put on the nature of God in our THOUGHTS, we will be able to control our tongue, therefore we will be able to control our actions. - It’s in the Book -

Ephesians 4:29 – Don’t use foul or abusive language; encourage
²⁹ Don’t use FOUL OR ABUSIVE LANGUAGE. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

(NLT)

Psalm 139:1-4 – He knows our heart, thoughts before we think it
¹ O LORD, you have examined my heart and

KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT ME.
² You know when I sit down or stand up. You know MY THOUGHTS even when I’m far away.
³ You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.

YOU KNOW EVERYTHING I DO.
⁴ You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. (NLT)

Matthew 5:22 – Don’t assassinate your brothers character
²²  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever INSULTS HIS BROTHER will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘YOU FOOL!’ will be liable to the HELL OF FIRE. (ESV)

1 Samuel 25:25 – A man’s reputation is his character
²⁵ Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means FOOL, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. (NIV2011)

Proverbs 15:28 – Abundance of the heart overflows the mouth
²⁸ The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking; the mouth of the wicked overflows with evil words.

(NLT)

Proverbs 10:32 – The Godly speak helpful words
³² The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words.

(NLT)

Matthew 12:34 – What’s in the heart overflows the mouth
³⁴ You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For WHATEVER IS IN YOUR HEART DETERMINES WHAT YOU SAY. (NLT)

Matthew 12:35-36 – We will give account for every carless word
³⁵ The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
³⁶ I tell you, on the DAY OF JUDGMENT people WILL

 GIVE ACCOUNT FOR EVERY CARELESS WORD THEY SPEAK, (ESV)

Matthew 12:37 - Your words either acquit or condemn you
³⁷ The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” (NLT)

Psalm 19:14 – Let what you think and say please God
¹⁴ May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (NLT)

James 3:1-2 – Control your tongue; you can control your actions
¹ Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.
² Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could

CONTROL OUR TONGUES, we would be perfect and

COULD ALSO CONTROL OURSELVES IN EVERY OTHER WAY. (NLT)

Ephesians 4:29 – Avoid foul talk; speak helpful encouragement
²⁹ Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. (NLT)

Ephesians 4:22-24 – Put on the nature of God in thoughts
²² throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
²³ Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
²⁴ Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. (NLT)

*God Abandoned Them

·         There are no atheist in foxholes; when the bombs are falling and the bullets are whizzing past the ears, everyone calls on God and recites the 23^rd Psalm; the Lord is my shepherd. But as soon as the problem disappears, so does thoughts of God.

·         God selected the best piece of land on a rich and fertile hill, he plowed it and cleared it of stones.  Planted the best vines, made a hedge and rock wall to protect it and made a watchtower to guard it, but all God got was BITTER GRAPES… What more could He have done.

·         There will come a time when GOD WILL ABANDONED FOLKS to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired - Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, HE ABANDONED THEM to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. GOD ABANDONED THEM to their shameful desires.

·         You cry out, WHY DOESN’T THE LORD ACCEPT MY WORSHIP? I’ll tell you why! Because the LORD witnessed the vows you and your spouse made when you were young. But you have been UNFAITHFUL, though your spouse remained your faithful partner. – God remains your faithful partner, where did you go?

·         When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, THE RESULTS ARE VERY CLEAR: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living this sort of life WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

·         Life is either about avoiding God or trying to know more about Him. - It’s in the Book

Isaiah 5:1-6 – What more could God have done
¹  Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill.
² He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, BUT THE GRAPES THAT GREW WERE BITTER.
³ Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard.
⁴ WHAT MORE COULD I HAVE DONE for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I EXPECTED sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?
⁵ Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it.
⁶ I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it.

(NLT)

Romans 1:24-32 – God abandoned them to their desires
²⁴ So GOD ABANDONED THEM to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.
²⁵ They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

²⁶ That is why GOD ABANDONED THEM to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.
²⁷ And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
²⁸ Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God,

HE ABANDONED THEM to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
²⁹ Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
³⁰ They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.
³¹ They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
³² They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway.

WORSE YET, THEY ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO THEM, TOO.

(NLT)

Galatians 5:19-21 – God abandoned them
¹⁹  When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
²⁰  idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
²¹  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that ANYONE LIVING THAT SORT OF LIFE WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. (NLT)

Malachi 2:14-15 – When in Sin; God doesn’t accept your worship
¹⁴ You cry out, WHY DOESN’T THE LORD ACCEPT MY WORSHIP? I’ll tell you why! Because the LORD witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been UNFAITHFUL to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.
¹⁵ Didn’t the LORD make you ONE with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So GUARD YOUR HEART; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. (NLT)

Ephesians 4:22-24 – Take off old nature; put on new nature
²² throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
²³ Instead, let the spirit renew your THOUGHTS and ATTITUDES.
²⁴ Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. (NLT)

*Unbelief

·         Most people have knowledge about God, but come packaged with a heart that has an attitude of trust and faith in themselves more than having trust and faith in God; a lack of faith is unbelief. - Unbelief is a refusal to accept God’s authority.

·         At the very heart of Sin is a lie that says; there are sins that are MUCH WORSE THAN YOURS and God is a good and forgiving God. – So You’re OK and God’s OK; He knows you’re just a frail human who is just following his heart.

·         Your heart determines the course of your life; the Book says the heart is deceitful above all things and is desperately corrupt, whoever has doubts & unbelief is condemned, for whatever does not proceed from faith is SIN. 

·         Because of unbelief Jesus could not do any mighty works in his own hometown.  Jesus told a father that if he would only believe; his son would be healed - The father instantly cried out a prayer that was concise and right to the point that all of us should pray; he  exclaimed “I DO BELIEVE, BUT HELP ME OVERCOME MY UNBELIEF”.

·         Be careful and make sure that your own heart does not become evil and unbelieving, causing your to turn away from the living God. – Everyday, seek to find a way to share with others “The Word”, while there is still time, so that none will be deceived by sin, and their hearts hardened, separating them from God forever.  - It’s in the Book -

Hebrews 11:6 – You must have Faith in order to please God
⁶ And IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD WITHOUT FAITH. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (NLT)

 Hebrews 3:12-13 – Warn each other while you still can
¹² Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.
¹³ You must WARN EACH OTHER every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. (NLT)

Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked
⁹ THE HUMAN HEART IS THE MOST DECEITFUL of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? (NLT)

Romans 14:23 – Doubts birth unbelief and condemnation
²³ But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For

WHATEVER DOES NOT PROCEED FROM FAITH IS SIN. (ESV)

Proverbs 4:23 – Guard your heart, it determines what you do
²³ Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (NLT)

Mark 9:24 - I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief
²⁴ The father instantly cried out, “I DO BELIEVE, BUT HELP ME OVERCOME MY UNBELIEF!” (NLT)

Mark 6:5-6 – Unbelief stops the mighty hand of God in your life
⁵ And BECAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF, he couldn’t do any mighty miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.
⁶ And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. (NLT)

Last Thoughts

·         Our first step is to “acknowledge” the respectable sins in our lives and honestly confess them.  Repentance and Contrition is the state of being a contrite penitent person who is feeling sincere regret and remorse, acknowledging they have “Missed the Mark” – The worst sin we can have is to deny these subtle sins exist in our lives.

·         When you realize that you are a great sinner, remember Jesus is a great Savior; while we are still working on our sin, God already no longer holds it against us. Dealing with personal sin is not an option, we are commanded to repent, turn around and go in the other direction. - Every day that passes, we sin in our motives, in our thoughts, words and deeds.

·         The Seven Deadly Sins; Anger, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride and Slothfulness are actually the worship or IDOLATRY of one’s SELF. - They are the ORIGIN of all the other sins and ALL are in rebellion against God.  

·         The Seven Holy Virtues are the counterparts of The Seven Deadly Sins.

·         PATIENCE; Anger - KINDNESS; Envy - TEMPERANCE; Gluttony - CHARITY; Greed -CHASTITY; Lust, HUMILITY; Pride - DILIGENCE; Slothfulness.

·         Believers are called to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to display the FRUIT of the Spirit. Although there are some nine characteristics listed for the Spirit filled Christian; they all compose just ONE FRUIT. – Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. - The Christian should display ALL of them, not just two or three.

·         Humility seems to be the NEUTRALIZER for the respectable Sins - Scripture encourages us to look at the life of Moses as an example of humility. - God said he was more humble than any other man. – God teaches His ways to the Humble and blesses them. – The Gospel plows the ground that cultivate the heart of the believing Sinner - It’s in the Book

Galatians 5:22-23 – Fruit of the Spirit is Self-Control
²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³ gentleness, and SELF-CONTROL. There is no law against these things! (NLT)

Romans 8:31 - If God is for us, who can ever be against us
³¹ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

(NLT)

Psalm 130:3-4 – None could survive without God’s forgiveness
³ LORD, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?

⁴ But you offer forgiveness that we might learn to fear you.

(NLT)
Romans 4:7-8 - Rejoice, your sins are forgiven
⁷ Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.
⁸ Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.” (NLT)

Ephesians 1:7 – The Blood of Jesus purchased our freedom
⁷ He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. (NLT)

Isaiah 53:6 – God laid on His Son all of our sins
⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.

Psalm 103:12 - Our sins removed far as the east from the west
¹² He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. (NLT)

Isaiah 43:25 – God blots out our sins, remember them no more
²⁵ I - yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. (NLT)

Romans 8:1 – Believers are no longer condemned
¹ So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. (NLT)

Micah 7:19 – Our sins trampled under and thrown into the sea
¹⁹ Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our SINS under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! (NLT)

Colossians 2:13-14 – Forgave ALL our sins & cancelled the record
¹³ You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for

He forgave ALL our sins.
¹⁴ He CANCELED THE RECORD of the charges against us and took it away by NAILING IT TO THE CROSS. (NLT)

Hebrews 8:12 – Forgive our wickedness, never remember again
¹² And I will forgive their wickedness, and

I WILL NEVER AGAIN REMEMBER THEIR SINS.”

(NLT)

Colossians 1:13-14 - Rescued us from the kingdom of darkness
¹³ For he has RESCUED US FROM THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,
¹⁴ who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. (NLT)

Hebrews 13:20 – He ratified our eternal covenant with His blood
²⁰ Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and

RATIFIED AN ETERNAL COVENANT WITH HIS BLOOD— (NLT)

Ephesians 4:30– We have a guarantee that we are saved
³⁰ And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

(NLT)

Philippians 3:8-9 – We become righteous through faith in Christ

⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
⁹ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I BECOME RIGHTEOUS through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself DEPENDS ON FAITH. (NLT)

In the multitude of counselors,

there is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:14

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical

information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders

                         and see further that I otherwise ever could have.              

                                                                                                                                     

A Commentary; Critical, Experimental and Practical - Eerdmans

Antiquity of the Jews – Flavius Josephus Matthias

Apocrypha – Goodspeed

Baker Commentary on the Bible – Elwell

Bible Almanac; The – Packer-Tenney-White

Bible Commentary – F.B. Meyer

Bible Dictionary – Harper and Row

Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s

Dake’s Annotated Bible – Dake

English Standard Version Bible – ESV

Expositor’s Bible Commentary – Frank E. Gaebelein

Forgotten Books of Eden; The – World

Gospels Interwoven; The – Karmit Zarley

Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale

Interlinear Greek-English New Testament – Baker

Invisible War; The – Donald Grey Barnhouse

Joined at the Hip – James Merritt – Touching Lives

King James Version Bible – KJV

Lost Books of the Bible; The - World

Lost Books of the Bible; The - Bell

Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Zondervan

Missing Books of the Bible; The – Halo Press

Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest

Nag Hammadi Library; The – James M. Robinson

Nave’s Topical Bible - Zondervan

New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney

New International Version Bible (2011) – NIV

Now that’s a Good Question – R.C. Sproul

NOTE: The “new” NIV has been corrupted & made GENDER NEUTRAL.  AVOID IT.

New Living Translation Bible - NLT

Respectable Sins – Jerry Bridges

Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls – Hugh J. Schonfield

Thru the Bible – J. Vernon McGee

Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament – Mac Donald

Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner

Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison

Wikipedia –

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The – Tenney