“They are my ‘friend'”

“Don’t be judgemental…”

“It is only a ‘little” thing..this ‘friendship’!”

“I do not see what is wrong with my being associated with them…”

“Are you sure you heard\saw them doing just that?”

“I see nothing wrong with our associating…”

Any one of these could be an ‘excuse’! Do we want to continue channeling advice exactly how we feel it is to be? Based on our feelings\emotions? Many times we receive this advice from people who truly Love us! Check this out… I didn’t just wake up this morning and state this…It has been said quite a few times. If I am not mistaken, you have read it!

Ok, I will be clear…

“Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?”

– 2 Corinthians 6:14

Just saying…More likely than not Saint Paul heard/noticed some cases where this was occurring in Corinth and stated the above!

Where do we stand? Excuse city? Just saying…

Let us examine our lives and be right, Amen

Are you light? A new creation? “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Check it out: “The old things have passed away…” All things have become ‘new’, Amen

Gone are our excuses; “Reasons” for supping with the ‘unknown.’ At this point, so many things are in\on my Spirit. But rather than ‘state’ fact, you know what is! Self correction is key. Knowledge is powerful and we all have The Spirit

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

Confessing

Not much ‘ramping up,’ let us get right to the meat of the share.

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”
And LORD you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. Amen
YOU are my hiding place;
You will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance, Amen.
For LORD, You have said “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” Glory Hallelujah a rip roaring Amen to this, Amen, Amen and Amen!!!
Psalm 32:5-8

A brief discussion

The other day an extended family member sat next to me at a church gathering outside of the church. God had turned her life around, released her from drug addiction and was using her now as a witness of His healing power.

As we sat there she began to share with me more in-depth details of her life before salvation, her testimony of her deliverance. As she talked she began to go into explicit details about her sexual trysts and orgies. To say I was uncomfortable would be like saying the Earth orbits the sun. My skin crawled, I was squirming in my chair, looking around for distractions or reasons to politely stop her stories that she was so at ease in sharing, unabashedly and unashamedly with me. Now I am no prude or shrinking violet, but doing the things she had described was so not a part of my reality nor was it in any way of interest to me, I was embarrassed for her and quickly found ways to switch the subject. Afterwards I felt offended that she would tell me about her and her husband & company’s sexual exploits, making me to look at the both of them differently now.

As I pondered what she had said I asked the Lord, “Father, why did she feel compelled to be so graphic with me or to tell me about that area of their lives?”

Then HE spoke to me and reminded me that sin is the ugly side of us. The side that makes us squirm, feel uncomfortable, writhe with angst either before, during or after committing it. But HE went further and said that there is no darkness in Him. That when we are delivered He already knows our ugly little secrets and that when we confess them and seek His forgiveness He will forgive us and cast that sin into the sea of forgetfulness. That we need not hide our heads in the sand, or in our testimonies try to pretty up or dumb down our transgressions for in that we still covet our sin. Baring our souls and sins is an inglorious act of contrition and penitence. We are not to judge it, nor to compare it to our own sins as if ours ‘are not that bad.’ For He reminds us that sin is sin. There is no graduated scale of minor to major sins. We have all sinned and fallen short of His glory. From the liars, to the adulterers to the murderers, to the fornicators, to the abortionists to the sex addicts to the hoarders, to the homosexuals and heterosexuals etc. etc. No we are unworthy of Him without the covering of JESUS ‘ blood.

So I now have a hint of how our Heavenly Father must cringe as He watches us go through our days when we forget who we belong to. When our flesh rises up in thoughts 💭 or words or deeds and He bears witness to it all.

Father forgive me my sins as I move through this day that you have blessed me to see. Help me to truly be more like you To uplift. Encourage. Pray more and for others so that your spirit that resides in me will be glorified. In your most powerful name I pray for without you I am nothing. Never take your love away from me Lord. Amen.