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(1 Corinthians 10:13) "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it."
This next series is about how GOD wants to deal with the "sin that so easily besets us" (Hebrews 12:1) and how He will help us come out from under the enslavement of it through His Son, Jesus.
Our sister Sally Ann sent this in response to Sunday's message... (which one of you has the next part in the process)?
"Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” Being in sin is like living in darkness. We can all lie to ourselves and pretend that it’s only a small stain of darkness, it won’t hurt anyone. And when you live that way, you can easily get very drunk and lose control. Or you can have sex outside of marriage and justify it. Or you can try some drugs…
Afterwards, you can justify it by saying to yourself, “I’ve only done it once, and I didn’t suffer any harm. It’s only a small stain on my white robe!” But, because you’ve excused it away so easily, you will do it again … and again … and what happens is the stain gets darker, and darker, and bigger, and bigger until it becomes a cancer in you and spreads throughout your body and in your bloodstream! I remember hearing Pastor Colin say that sin is like adding a few drops of milk to a clear glass of water. It still looks the same on the outside. So we put a couple more drops of milk in… But even though you can’t see it, it has become contaminated. In fact, as more milk is added, it becomes more milky. This is just like cancer, as it spreads, its roots go deeper and deeper. A small cancer can be easily removed with a simple biopsy, and it will only affect a local area. But if a tumour has spread, its roots become like a dandelion plant; it will have an enormous tap root. Then, even though you dig down and break off as much of the feathery roots as you can see, you’re still leaving the root in! And that’s where the garden fork of Relationship comes in! Pastor Colin often said that in life's journey, the worst place to get off the train is "Deception.” Because if we get off there, we're unaware that we've even been deceived! i.e. you think that the sin you’re living in doesn’t matter - and that’s a terrible state to be in because the badness of your soul can actually pollute your spirit! We should always keep short accounts with God (1 John 1:9), i.e. "Lord, I’m truly sorry. I did it, and I know it was wrong. Then, over the next few days, you begin to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5)
“I’m not going there again. Thank You, Jesus, for Your Grace to help me. Lord, let me feel your Love right now. Let me know how much you love me, right now, right now! And He will just let down His Love, His Connection, His wrap-around Presence, and say, “My Child, I love you, I will help you…” And we should respond, “I love You too, Lord. In fact, I love you more than my sin!”
We CAN’T do it on our own! We can’t just say through force of will, I won’t do this - because that’s doing it in the flesh! We need the Holy Spirit; we need to say, “Holy Spirit, help me right now, because I know I can’t do this in my own fleshly strength!"
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Let us pray, "Heavenly Father, I come before you with a humble heart, acknowledging my own weakness and limited strength. I pray that Your grace and Holy Spirit would guide and empower me, helping me to surrender my will to Yours. Please teach me to lean on Your might, not my own, and give me the courage to trust in Your perfect plan. Help me to see Your strength in my weakness, knowing that You can do all things through me." Amen!
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