We know who someone is only by what they tell us about themselves. Why is it so hard to be who we are? We try to hide in plain sight of the people around us. No one wants to be singled out, and no one wants to be wrong. Yet we can not hide who we truly are from God. Psalm 139:12 says, “the darkness shall not hide from Yu, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.” Sin causes us to attempt to hide who we really are from God, others, and also ourselves, and as a result we pervert those things which God has created as “very good”. To begin to understand who we really are, we must come to understand who we are before God. We can not hide the reality of that, and yet, we must remember God loves us the way we are right now, and He will help us to become what we need to be, as we learn to walk with Him. Turn to Him and follow Him starting today.… READ MORE

While there are certainly many factors that are used to explain sin in our lives, and while we can build a case that these theories certainly contribute to the struggle we have with sin. We must understand that the true reason for our sin grows out of our sinful hearts. To overcome that battle I must recognize my actions as inappropriate (sinful) and confess them before the Lord (1 John 1:9). I must fight off the temptation to excuse my sinful behavior, because: 1. That is just the way I am 2. My parents or environment makes me this way. 3. I am a victim of my circumstances or environment 4. The devil MADE me do it. I need to take responsibility for y life and actions, and do not allow myself to choose sinful behavior, justifying it because it is not my fault. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 15:19-20 “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man,…..” I do what I do, because I want what I want. I am not defined by my past, nor must I allow the past to cause me … READ MORE

Why do I sin? Our culture says that one of the reasons that I sin is because I am a victim of my past. The events of our past cause us to be who we are. If you are struggling with those thoughts today, I would encourage you to take time to read Genesis Chapters 37-50 and focus on the concluding statement from Joseph in Genesis 50:20. If anyone has a reason for being bitter and resentful, it is Joseph, but instead of allowing those events to “cause” him to become bitter, he allowed them to enable him to become better!. Events must never define who we are, or what we can become. Our relationship with God must do that. We must never minimize the cost of trauma in our lives, But we must remain focused on the plan of God in molding us into the image of Christ. We read in Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I don not count myself to have arrived; But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. … READ MORE