The Dangers of Compromising with Sin

"Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak." 1 Corinthians 8:9

I just felt sick. I couldn't shake the feeling that I had just dishonored God. Talking to a relative of mine, I had made light of the fact that a certain sin was acceptable because the events leading to that sin had already been committed therefore what they had done was justifiable. After I had spoken those words, I felt ill. I knew my Bible. And the person I had spoken with is very weak in their faith. I had became a stumbling block... I had tried in vain to back paddle but it was no use, she had taken to heart what I had said earlier as the absolute truth. I knew God had forgiven me, but it doesn't fix the damage that I had caused.

"But the sad truth is that millions of professing Christians are searching for a way to strike a workable compromise between their convictions and the ways of this wicked world. I feel passionate about this issue because I too struggle with the insidious influence of compromise in my own walk. We are all under relentless pressure to conform to the world. The devil is always offering to negotiate our values and principles, rarely using an all-out frontal assault. Instead, his most effective game plan is an internal, step-by-step erosion that we often barely perceive until it is too late....

In reality, a great percentage of compromise and conformity worms its way into our lives and the church because nobody wants to offend anybody. We are trained from our earliest years to be polite and considerate - to comply with people's requests and not do anything that might upset somebody. But Jesus taught that it is not possible to preach the gospel without causing some offense (Galatians 5:11)...

Likewise, when we begin to compromise with truth, and our actions finally get out of hand and the consequences come full and hard, we won't be able to claim innocence either. Once you start thinking of going down the road of compromise, remember Pilate. Remember that Jesus died because someone thought he could compromise truth.

Refusing to buckle to the pressure of compromise requires divine courage. The Lord told Joshua, 'Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest' (Joshua 1:7).
 
We don't need to worry that God won't forgive us if we sincerely repent of our compromise and turn the other way. But when we sin, when we stumble into error, we train ourselves to go down that road again. God can give you a new heart, but don't think you can continue to compromise and not reap the hazards that come with it. Continued compromise can and will numb your conscience, so that your fruit is one of total conformity with the world....

Once we know that something is right according to God's Word, our responsibility is to take a stand. God will do great things for us if we choose to stand still in His will. 'For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him' (2 Chronicles 16:9 NKJV). When you stand firm for truth, your life will be a saving witness to your family, your friends, and your neighbors. God will look down from heaven and say, 'Have you considered My servant, that there is none like that on the earth, one who fears me and shuns evil?'" (See Job 1:8.)[i]
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[i]  Excerpts taken out of the book titled: "Compromise, Conformity, and Courage" by Doug Batchelor; Doug Batchelor is the President of the Amazing Facts Ministry stationed in Sacramento, California.  
  

Do You Hear Him Knocking?

Do you hear Him?  He is knocking.  Can you hear the "tap, tap, tap" of His hand gently hitting the wooden door?  You call out to Him from inside, "Come in!"  But He doesn't.  Instead He continues knocking.  Feeling a little flustered, you try again, only louder, "Come in!"  He doesn't because He can't.  Still He continues knocking.  Bewildered and confuse, you poke your head out of the window and ask "Why are you not coming in?"  Jesus replies, "It is because on My side of the door there is no knob for Me to turn.  The only way I can come in is for you to open the door from the inside."

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Revelation 3:20

Four Flat Tires

I invite you to read the sixth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans.

In verses 6 and 7, Paul writes, "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him [Christ], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin."

Imagine driving your route to work one morning when you hear a loud bang and feel the steering wheel tugging to the side. "Oh great," you mumble as you herd the car to the side of the road. You pull the trunk release, grab the jack from the trunk, and prepare to replace the tire with the spare. Your thoughts about how you should have stayed in bed are interrupted by a glance at the wheels. Your car is sitting on four rims. The tires have disappeared!

I used to think that being freed from sin means that sinful behavior suddenly disappears from my life. And if it doesn’t, I wasn’t doing something right. This led me to doubt my sincerity as a Christian and drove me down a dark road of discouragement—exactly the route the enemy had mapped for me.

The Greek verb in the phrase "done away with" is katargeo, which means "to render inoperative...to deprive of force, influence, power."

Being crucified with Christ doesn't mean that sin suddenly disappears from my life. It means that it has been rendered inoperative; it has been deprived of its force, influence, and power over me. I no longer have to engage in it. Sin has been given four flat tires.

Christ didn’t die to make me a perfectly-behaved person. He died to give me a choice of which direction I drive—through the town of Sin with a final destination of eternal Death, or through the towns of Obedience, Righteousness, and Holiness, with a final destination of Eternal Life.

And as I drive with Jesus, I gradually begin to behave more and more like Him.

Jesus is Your Sunshine

At the end of a powerful sermon, responding to the pastor's request, we stand to our feet for the closing hymn. Glancing over my shoulder, to the right, I notice the view outside through the small rectangular windows located on the wall, near the ceiling of the church.  My heart begins to drop.  Frigid cold, dark gray clouds spread endlessly across the sky...

Earlier this morning, I had woken up feeling depressed and sad...The icy cold, dark cloudy days, we have had for the last few weeks, was starting to take a toil on me emotionally. I was desperate to be free from this depression, so I had prayed, "Please Lord, let it be sunny today.  I can't bear another cloudy, yucky, wet day!  Please Lord! Let it be sunny!"

The music from the grand piano, echoing through the sanctuary, jolts me back to reality.  As I begin singing with the congregation, I hear a still small voice saying to me "It is not the physical sun, but the spiritual 'sun' that you need."  I stop singing and the voice continues, "Start praising God, for it is He who brings the joyous sunshine into your heart."

Our Awesome Caterer

When I was little, my dad, mom, and sister would stop at our favorite restaurant on road trips. My parents knew about how much my sister and I could eat and would order a bean burrito and a tostada for each of us. But when I became a teenager and went to the same restaurant, I found that two items was not enough. Today, it takes four items to fill me up.

Not long after God's people watched in amazement as the last Israelite camel lumbered onto the Red Sea shore and those towering walls of water came crashing down, God did something else just as miraculous.

Imagine providing food for a couple of friends on a camping trip. How hungry is each person going to be? Did everyone have breakfast? How big is each person? How fast is each person's metabolism? You're bound to either have stuff left over or someone is going to wish there were more Linkettes.

Now imagine providing food for two million people! It's been estimated that if the Israelites walked side by side 10 abreast, they would have formed a line 150 miles long.*

God provided exactly what each Israelite man, woman, and growing teenager needed for nourishment. No more, no less. He did it for two million people, and He did it for 40 years.

"So when they measured it by omers [an omer is 3.7 quarts], he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one's need" (Exodus 16:18).

At this very moment, you have a God who knows you inside and out, is intensely interested in your practical needs, and is more than able to meet them.

You can trust our awesome Caterer!!!

__________

*Cline, Eric H. (2007), From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible, National Geographic Society, ISBN 978-1426200847 p.74.

The Hot Seat

“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Galatians 3:24, 25).

When I was a toddler, my favorite toy was a plastic, three-wheel trike with a big front wheel. I called it my “hot seat.” Boy, did I tear around the yard on that baby! Without realizing it, those three wheels were teaching me something far greater than anywhere they could take me.

Soon it was time for me to graduate from three wheels to two. I remember my Dad running alongside me, encouraging me with every pedal stroke. What a feeling when I finally got the hang of it!

Then I was riding everywhere on my bicycle and that “hot seat” began gathering dust in the back yard. It wasn't that it was now a bad thing or that I was no longer "required" to use it. It remained a good thing that had done its job. Without the “hot seat,” I never would have known the joy of riding a bicycle.

Without the law, I never would have known the joy of a faith relationship with God.

He Risked All

He risked losing heaven forever to save you. Are you willing to take a risk for Him today?

God Wants to Give MORE Than Peanuts!

Imagine if you had no Mom or Dad. Imagine if all you knew was mud walls and thatch roof, and every moment you spent struggling just to find enough food to eat. Then one day you were rescued and taken to a warm home and given food to eat and love and security. And people traveled from another country just because they wanted to see you??? How special would you feel??? 

Well, Christ has done this for us and sooo much more! He didn't just take us to a warm home and give us the necessities of life, but He's taken us to His palace and spread out a banquet before us.... That's what He's offering us. Yet if you think about it, most Christians today prefer to stay in their mud huts with thatch roof and live on spiritual scraps. Yet God longs to give SO MUCH MORE!!!!!

Today I took my two girls as well as one boy named Daniel shopping to nearby village. We picked out a few nice clothes for Sabbath, and then I asked the children, "Is there anything else you need or want?" (Everything is so cheap here that I can do something special for them and it still doesn't cost much!!) "No, we don't need anything" They replied.  With amazement, I asked "Are you sure, because I may not come back to village for shopping again very soon." Recognizing their opportunity, they finally picked out a few more small items--soap, lotion, etc and some crackers and candy like peanuts. I had to smile to myself. Treating them out was like PEANUTS -- in other words, It was nothing!

Imagine what God must be thinking? The Creator of the universe and vast galaxies--He's asking, "Is there anything more you'd like me to do?? Anything more you need??" He says, "Just ask!! I can do anything!!" And yet, our requests are so small. He wants to give us the world and so much more. But what do we usually ask for?? The equivalent of a bag of PEANUTS!! All I can say is, "Lord, increase our faith!"

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." Eph. 3:20

The beautiful thing with God though is, He didn't just come to supply our needs or be that genie in the sky catering to our every wish. He came to give us a new heart and a new life. No one else can do that, only God - Our God! What a great God we serve. 

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5:17 

Let's ask for a new heart today! 

With love from Bangladesh,
Melody 

The Power of Love Part Two

How can we become more like Jesus? We need to be filled with His love. Romans 5:5 NIrV- “And hope will never let us down. God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.”

How do you know if a person is filled with the Holy Spirit? The more loving they are, the more of the Spirit. If we love one another as Jesus does, people will know that we are His disciples (John 13:34-35).

Ephesians 3:16-20 NIV “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

God’s love is measureless. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, He can fill you with love.

What does the power of love do? It brings forgiveness of sin, it breaks down dominion of sin,

frees us from bondage of sin, corrects us, removes all prejudice, fosters humility, motivates us to obedience. Love never fails.

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 NIV “Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”

What we will achieve when we’re filled with God of love? We become holy and blameless. Sin is the opposite of love. There is nothing loving about sin.

“Love…does not seek its own” (1 Cor. 13:5 NKJV). As we put God first, the fog of selfishness will clear up and we will naturally seek the good of others which will leave us with an experience that fulfills the words of Christ, “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” (Matt. 25:40 NKJV). May the Lord fill our hearts with His love that will illuminate the world with His glory!

Amanda Colgan

UPDATE FROM MELODY

You will notice, right under the "Moring Sonshine" picture, there are tabs directing you to different pages within the blog.  The tab just right after "About the Writers", you will notice a tab called "Melody's Bangladesh updates".  That's where you will see all of Melody's updates since she has landed in Bangladesh.  She will continue to update this page when she is able.  Please continue to check back for more of her stories and experiences from Bangla Hope Orphanage!  She will be returning to the States February 12, 2014.

The Power of Love Part One

1 John 4:16 NKJV “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”

The Greek word “agape” is the highest type of love. Agape love means selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love and this describes God’s love for us. Anything we do, good or bad, will not change His everlasting love for us. God is love.

What is the opposite of agape? Self-interest, conditional love. Conditional love means we love something or someone because perhaps it benefits us or it makes us feel good.  It expects something in return.

Agape love is the nature of God. God loves you not because you are desirable or deserving. He loves you because He has nothing else but to love.  

Love is the principle of giving self to others. I would like to share with you a couple of verses (and there are more) that show the connection between love and giving oneself like Jesus:

Ephesians 5:2 NKJV- “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up.”

Galatians 2:20 NKJV- “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

These two verses I just shared with you show that because of God’s love and unselfishness, He gave Himself for us so we can have eternal life with Him. Amazing love!

Amanda Colgan

He Harkens to My Cry

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalms 145:18

I call upon the Lord, He hears my cry.
My voice He harkens, I am not ignored
When the storm blows and darkness surrounds me,
He is there to cast the shadows away
He is there to calm the raging winds

Eye Transplant

I wonder what would happen if I saw every person today exactly how God sees him or her.

The Old Exercise Bike

"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you" (Jeremiah 31:3).
 
Parked in a sea of dreary 1970s carpet, my grandpa's exercise bicycle was old when I was young. I remember climbing onto that white frame and perching on the seat that was so big it had its own zip code. I placed my feet on the pedals and tried to push. They wouldn't budge. I pushed harder and they still refused to move. I stood on one pedal with all my weight and the pedal stubbornly relented but traveled only about two or three inches. By that time my patience had worn thinner than a piece of paper on a diet, and I was ready to climb off.

Then my grandpa walked in, saw my dilemma, and released the tension knob. What a difference! The pedals rotated freely and it was a completely different experience!

I used to think that my relationship with God is like pushing hard on those pedals. If I push hard enough, God will hop on the other pedal and help me grind away in a sea of dreary "Christianity." And so with the tension knob clamped down, I would strain, grimace, and grunt until I was ready to climb off.

Then God walked in, saw my dilemma, and at great sacrifice, released the tension knob. He drew me into His presence where I found genuine peace, joy, and a completely different experience.

He is drawing you, too!