Repentance

Sin is like quicksand; the longer we live in it, the harder it will be for us to get out. Satan wants to draw us in and pull us down, but we have been set free and we don’t have to fall into his traps. We can train ourselves to avoid sin, or we can choose to allow sin to become more attractive to us. We are in charge of our own choices and we have no one else to blame but ourselves when we wind up with mud on our pants. At the same time, we cannot clean the mud off our pants by ourselves. We need God to clean us up. We have to run to God. Ignoring the mud on our pants will drag us down into the miry pit and trying to clean it off ourselves is a waste of time. Only Jesus can clean us; we need to cry out for Him.

Repentance is the solution for sin. Nothing else works.

We cannot solve the problems of sin by promising to do better, and trying harder next time. Also, sin doesn’t magically go away if we try to ignore it and move on with our lives. The only solution for our sin is Jesus. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:6-7). There is not a separate process to get to know the Father or the Holy Spirit, Jesus is the way. As we get to know Jesus better through prayer and reading the Bible, we will also grow in our knowledge of the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Christian living isn't something you do, it's something you become.

As we live our lives, we naturally change and become more like the people we spend time with. If we hang out with Godly friends, we will become more Godly; if we hang out with unGodly people, we will become more unGodly. If we spend time with God, reading His Word, praying and meditating, we will become more like Him. And as we change who we are, we will naturally change what we do (Proverbs 4:23, Luke 6:45). “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zachariah 4:6). We don’t change our action by will-power or by might, we change our actions by submitting to God’s Spirit and letting Him change us.

Blame no one but yourself and live responsibly as into the Lord.

We are responsible for how we live our lives. We get to decide who we will become by how we choose to  spend out time. God does not force us to serve Him. God will do everything to help us when we fall short of what God expects us to do, but we get to choose whether we will accept His help or not. We choose whether or not we will let God shape our lives for ministry or if we will shape our own lives.

“Princes & Kings”

Isn't it strange how princes and kings,

and clowns that caper in sawdust rings,

and common people, like you and me,

are builders for eternity?

Each is given a list of rules;

a shapeless mass; a bag of tools.

And each must fashion, ere life is flown,

A stumbling block, or a Stepping-Stone.”

R. Lee Sharpe

We are responsible for our own lives, and how we shape our life will affect those around us as well as shaping our destiny