Tag: sin

Posted on

Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Getting to the Root of Things

At times we don’t want to admit something is wrong with us.

I had that happen recently when we went down to Tennessee to visit my parents and attend a conference. I was bothered by some tooth pain every once in a while, but the feeling passed and I just tried not to worry about it.

We got to the conference on Monday and enjoyed the speaker and meeting other pastors (and some of their spouses) that evening. Again, a little pain…and I wasn’t feeling like myself.

On Tuesday morning, I had swelling that was noticeable and I really didn’t feel well. I popped a few ibuprofen and sat through the teaching sessions. In the afternoon, we decided I’d better text a friend back in Volga who worked for a dentist (we didn’t have a new dentist yet since we just moved here around January 1).

She graciously texted back and forth and showed the dentist pictures of my swollen jaw.

With that evidence, they were able to prescribe antibiotics out of state and we picked them up later that day. They also directed me to take 800 mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours for pain.

I could really feel it when the pills wore off, and my swelling got worse before it got better.

I wondered if I could make it until the next Monday when I could get in to see this new dentist, but I moved forward each day hoping for the best.

I hoped maybe the antibiotics would take care of it and I wouldn’t need a root canal when I got home, but I tried to prepare myself for that possibility. I had gotten a filling in that tooth before we moved away from Platte and the dentist there had warned me about the possibility of needing a root canal at some point in the future.

It seems that time had come.

Sure enough, after an exam and x-rays on Monday, the dentist referred me to another place in Watertown to have a root canal. I had mixed feelings about how soon they could get me in, but I agreed to show up on Wednesday for the procedure.

I really psyched myself out before I got there. I felt anxious and a bit teary on the way. Once I got there, I tried to act calm, but my insides were doing all sorts of strange things. After they gave me the novocaine, I felt my heart pounding for several minutes while I tried to breathe deeply and calm down (thankfully, it stopped its jumping pretty quickly).

I took my earbuds along and listened to a podcast while they were working on me. With my eyes closed, I could almost pretend I wasn’t there.

I heard the drill and felt a little pressure, but I felt absolutely no pain. It was over in less than an hour and I was on my way home again (trying not to drool because of my numb face).

The experience got me thinking about how important it is to get to the root of things in other areas of our lives.

Sometimes we feel pain in a relationship or we don’t feel good about something going on in our lives, but we try to ignore it. We hope the situation will get better without doing anything, or we numb the pain however we can.

We may struggle with a certain sin that we just can’t seem to let go. It festers and poisons us, but we pretend it isn’t there.

If I hadn’t started taking antibiotics for my tooth abscess, the infection could have spread to other parts of my body and caused some serious complications.

When we don’t address the sin and/or emotional pain in our lives, the negative effects of that can spread to other areas of our lives and cause serious complications in our relationships, our emotional health, and our spiritual health.

We need to let Jesus get to the root.

He may help us get rid of the problem completely, or he may show us who we need to go to so we can get the help we need.

Still a little swollen, but feeling better!

My tooth was dead when I got to the endodontic office on Wednesday. It needed to be hollowed out and filled with something better so the tooth could stay in my mouth.

The Holy Spirit can help us get to the root of the problems in our lives. He’ll extract all the dead and poisonous thoughts and actions, and he’ll help us replace them with life-giving beliefs and convictions.

Now that’s something to smile about!

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 NIV)

Have you ever tried to ignore a sin or problem in your life? How can focusing on God help you get to the root of things?

Posted on

Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Being Satisfied

On Wednesday at youth group, we talked about the traps and snares the devil sets for us and how we can get free from them.

In our discussion time with the eighth grade girls I help mentor, I shared that I really felt that I fell into the trap of overeating way too often. Just that day I had gone to the cupboard in search of a candy bar leftover from Halloween, but I told the girls that I felt like God was saying, “No, you don’t have to eat that right now. You’re not hungry.” So I obeyed and put it back.

At one point in this conversation, one of the girls exclaimed in surprise, “Wait! It’s a sin to eat too much?”

I tried to explain that it can be a sin without heaping shame on these junior high girls who are just starting to think more deeply about what sin is and how they can live for the Lord. I’m not sure I succeeded in getting my point across.

The thing is, we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s promptings in all areas of life. Eating is the area where God is working in me right now. Over the years, I’ve put on extra pounds because I have run to the fridge or cupboard when I’m bored or stressed, and often I’ve continued eating way past the feeling of full signaling that it’s time to stop.

Is that sin? Yes.

Is it hard to see it as sin? Yes.

James 1:14 says, “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” I’m caught in the trap Satan set up for me because he knows my weakness for candy, ice cream, and chips.

The only way out of the trap I’m in is repentance. Being truly sorry when I eat when I’m not hungry or eat past that feeling of full. So far, I’ve said I’m sorry, but my actions prove that I’m not completely honest (with myself or God).

God loves me unconditionally. He loves every single pound of me. He’ll keep loving me no matter what pants size I wear.

But he wants my heart. When I feel unsatisfied, he doesn’t want me running to the cupboard, he wants me to run to him.

I can eat whatever I want when I’m hungry, but the Spirit gently nudges me when I sin by overeating. He points out that a bowl of ice cream (when I’m already full from lunch) will not satisfy me. It will just taste good for a few bites and then it might taste like regret.

Hopefully I’ve given you some things to chew on this week. If overeating isn’t a sin you struggle with, maybe you can think of something that has been a trap for you and apply the same principles:

Your desire leads to temptation and sin. You give in and get caught in the trap. You can stay there, or you can repent and get free.

Being satisfied with the relationship we have with Jesus can keep us from falling into the traps of sin that are set for us.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6 ESV)

Is it hard to see some of the things you do as sin? How can focusing on God help you to be honest with yourself and turn away from those things, choosing to be satisfied with God instead?

Posted on

Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Being Crucified With Christ

I’ve been reading from My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers during my devotional time in the mornings. The verse for April 10 was Romans 6:6, but I decided to read verses 1-14. How fitting that today–Good Friday–I would read about Co-Crucifixion.

That’s a gruesome thought, isn’t it? Most of us have probably seen the movies that show in graphic detail the pain and suffering Jesus went through on that cruel cross. We don’t like to imagine ourselves dying like that. And, of course, we don’t literally have to, because Jesus died for us.

But we do have to be crucified with Christ. Oswald Chambers said, “…it is the great moment in my life when I do decide that just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world, so sin must die out in me, not be curbed or suppressed or counteracted, but crucified.”

It reminded me of a song based on Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ, therefore I no longer live. Jesus Christ now lives in me.” (You can hear it at the beginning of Steve Green’s song Embrace the Cross on YouTube.)

The truth is, I want to live with Christ, but I don’t really want to die with him. I’d rather keep holding on to my selfish little sins and rely on his grace. But Paul asks right here in Romans 6:1, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”

We can’t. I can’t. So today I’ve been pondering that thought. “I am crucified with Christ.” If I truly believe that, then I may feel some pain as I decide to let the sin in me be put to death. I may have to endure some discomfort and I may not feel very good when I deny myself something.

But it’s worth it. When I allow the Holy Spirit to help me, I can be crucified with Christ. Today I’ll think about Jesus’ suffering as he died, and I’ll grieve my own sins that put him there. But I’ll also remember that I have hope.

He didn’t stay dead. On Sunday morning, he rose! And because he lives, I can live, too. He lives in me now, and in each person that believes that he died for them.

It’s almost too much for our human brains to comprehend. Such suffering! Such sacrifice!

Such love!

“For if we have been united with [Jesus] in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:5 NIV)

Have you ever thought about being crucified with Christ? How can focusing on God help you to decide to put the sin in you to death and let Christ live in you instead?

Posted on

Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Black Dots

Gary and I went to a Pastors’ Retreat at The Cove in North Carolina last week. We had a wonderful time meeting other pastors and their spouses, listening to the inspiring speaker, and enjoying delicious meals.

After some free time on Tuesday afternoon, we got in line for supper.

We visited with the others at our table, including one couple we had eaten with on Monday evening. Afterward, we figured we had a little time before the next session started, so we went to the basement bookstore for a while. Neither of us had our phones with us, so we asked a man in the hallway for the time. He held out his phone and we saw that it was 6:07.

We walked away. Oh good, we thought, we have over an hour before the session. But then we said, no that can’t be right. Our supper time was at 6:05. His phone must be an hour off (we were further confused because he had said that his watch was an hour off before he showed us his phone). Poor guy, we thought. He has no idea what time it is.

We went upstairs, but no one was heading into the auditorium for the session. We walked across the lobby and then we saw people in line for supper. And it suddenly dawned on us: we had eaten at the wrong time!

It really was 6:07 and we had eaten at 5:00 instead of waiting until our assigned time of 6:05. A black dot on each of our name tags marked us as “second group” eaters. Oops!

Such a little thing, but my mind spun as I tried to figure out how that had happened and dealt with the guilt of my sin.

We got on the shuttle and went back to our room to hide in shame (just kidding, but it did take a little work for me to let it go).

Why didn’t the cafeteria staff person point out our black dot and ask us to wait til our correct time to eat?

Why didn’t our tablemates notice? The couple from Monday night must have eaten at the wrong time, too! Was it on purpose, or accidentally, like us? (The next morning we saw that their name tags had no black dots, so they must have eaten late on Monday night)

I started pondering some comparisons between our mistake and the problem of sin.


We were completely oblivious to our mistake. Could it be that some people are completely oblivious to the sins they’re committing? They think they’re doing the right thing so they have no reason to feel any shame or guilt?

Sometimes people don’t believe the truth when they hear it, like we did with the man who told us it was 6:07. He can’t be right, we reasoned. But he was.

People may be very willing to change if they are just made aware of their sin. If someone had pointed out our black dots when we were in line, we would have quickly gotten out and waited until it was the right time to eat.

Rules are there for a reason. The name tags with and without black dots divided our group in half so we all fit in the dining room. It was a good policy. Too bad we didn’t follow it. And while our infraction didn’t hurt anyone, there are many sins people commit that do damage relationships, property, and our relationship with God.

People need to be more willing to point out sin, gently and with love. I’m glad the staff didn’t point at us and yell: BLACK DOTS! BLACK DOTS! But if they had lowered their voice and reminded us of our eating time we would have gladly complied. Can we figure out how to do that with the people in our lives?

On this Friday, this Good Friday of Holy Week, how wonderful that we can focus on Jesus’ death on the cross. His sacrifice covered all of the black dots of sin in our lives.

And when the time is right, we’ll join him for that incredible feast in heaven.

“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:14 NIV)

Do you believe that Jesus’ death on the cross takes away all of your guilt and shame? How can focusing on God help you to notice any “black dots” of sin in your life and confess them so you can be forgiven, completely and forever?