Fighting Sin

Last November our Young Adults group at church did a Bible study series entitled "Fighting Sin." This past week has been a tough one for me and I know that, despite the fact that sin has been waging war on my soul since the day I was born, the spiritual battle has recently caused me some deeper wounds that may take longer to heal than others received earlier in my life. I know that recovery is possible only if I rest in the grace and forgiveness of God and rely on Him to help me to get back up and fight. Reflecting on the "Fighting Sin" series has proven to be a great reminder and wake-up call:

Part 1 - Knowing Who You Are
Romans 8:1-17
Knowing who you are in Jesus is the crucial starting place in the war against sin. This passage in the first 8 verses shows the stark contrast between living life according to the flesh, which leads to death, and living life according to the Spirit, which leads to life. Verses 9-11 remind us who believe that we have no excuse to surrender the fight to sin because we have the power that raised Christ from the dead within us to help us in the battle! The last verses in the passage talk about how we are children of God, adopted into His family, free to call Him "Abba! Father!" Why would we not want to fight for our Father and King who gives us life through His Spirit?

Part 2 - Motivation
Colossians 3:1-17
Everyone has desires. Our desires become our biggest problems when we want them more than God because that is when they become sinful. Thankfully, God's Word is filled with the truth that can motivate us to crave Him more than anything else in this world! This passage reminds us that we need to be making choices that reflect the fact that we are God's representatives on this earth. How? Verse 16 specifically points us to the Word of God as our motivation to help us to live our lives as if we were in the throne room of heaven with Jesus Christ in front of us.

Part 3 - The Fight of Faith
Hebrews 11:23-28
In this passage we see that Moses took God at His Word. In verse 26 we see that Moses knew what his eternal reward was and so he prized it as greater than the treasures of this world. Sin makes us promises like pleasure, satisfaction, good feelings, etc. but all of these are so temporary. We need to fight against the promises of sin with the promises of God. Only trusting that God is who He says He is and trusting that His promises are true will lead us to deny the desires of our flesh.

Part 4 - God Fighting for You
John 15:1-11
None of the sin battle is about us. It is about fighting for God. We cannot fight this battle alone, but we can do it by the Spirit. One of the main ways we fight sin is through regular prayer. Prayer highlights that God is the one winning, not us. This passage reveals to us that we are completely reliant upon Jesus because He is our source of life, our source of joy, and we can only bear fruit through Him. Here we are called to be in His Word, pray, obey His commandments, and abide in His love.

Part 5 - The Ground War
Romans 13:11-14 & Matthew 5:27-30
We should do whatever we can to avoid committing sin. Sin is so serious and so destructive that if there was a part of your body causing you to sin, logically we should cut it off lest we go to hell. Hell is the result of a lifetime of tolerating sin! Christians fight sin no matter what the cost! It's all for the glory of Jesus.

Even as I conclude this post I know that sin is knocking at the door of my heart. There is so much more to be said about the battle against sin and I know that I only maybe scratched the surface of the passages mentioned above. The point is to be reminded of the spiritual battle that we must fight on a daily basis. May the Lord give us the faith that we need to stand strong and an ever-increasing hunger for His Word! 

22

Not the song by Taylor Swift (although downloading it was one of the first things I did this morning...) that many of us would know but, in fact, my age as of today.

I had many highlights this year as I look back on my blog and journals. There have been times of doubting and times of growth. Times of discouragement and times of thankfulness. There is a time for everything after all (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) I suppose. :)

I've taken some great selfies...I don't post the not-so-great ones lol

Ate some great food...this is from le macaron, my favourite coffee shop.

Witnessed some awesome sunrises...and these are the best out of many! Thanks God!

And just today captured some fat pheasants on my front lawn...no comment :)

I'm excited for what God has in store for me this coming year :)

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22!

Poop Pillow

I know what you're thinking: What an attractive post title! I want to read that right now! or That's disgusting! I don't even want to know...

Well whatever you happen to be thinking, I would recommend reading the following story anyways because I am sure it will make you laugh out loud :)

So our family has a dog. Her name is Maggie. I've posted about her before but I might have to change one of the facts about her after I tell you what happened two nights ago...

First, some background info: Maggie typically likes snuggling up with someone during the night and because she is so warm and fuzzy there are usually a few of us who would like to take her for the extra comfort while we sleep. The only downside to having her in your room is that if she decides that she needs to "do her business" in the middle of the night, guess who gets woken up to let her out?

Upstairs there are three bedrooms fairly close together. My two youngest brothers, my sister, and my parents all sleep upstairs. Most of the time Maggie is in one of these three bedrooms for the night, and because they are so close together, my Mom can easily hear Maggie whining and is usually the first responder to her cries, allowing my siblings to get away with pretending they didn't hear anything so they don't have to get up to let the poor beast outside.

Now two nights ago my sister took Maggie for the night and was disturbed at 2:00am by some whining. Laziness settled in and my sister lay in her bed hoping that my Mom would take care of the dog. Little did she know that Mom did not hear Maggie this time.

I will attempt to take this next part of the story from my dog's perspective...

Oh I've gotta go! Come on Hannah get up! I'm at the door whining here! 

Five or so minutes pass...

Ok seriously! I cannot hold this thing in any longer! You are really gonna regret not getting up!

So Maggie then jumps back up on the bed and poops right next to Hannah's head on her pillow.

What a relief! Well I guess I can go back to sleep now...but ooh that is a smelly one! I'm gonna sleep as far away from that as possible. 

At this point my sister wakes up to this stinky little doggy poo right next to her face, totally grossed out, and notices that Maggie is sleeping at her feet. As it is about 2:30am at this point, Hannah deals with the mess and goes back to bed.

That will probably be the last time anyone in this house ignores Maggie's whining. Especially in the middle of the night.

I'm sure no one likes waking up to poop on their pillow. I can only imagine their reaction and giggle to myself. :)

He Knows by Jeremy Camp

All the bitter weary ways, endless striving day by day,

You barely have the strength to pray in the valley low.

And how hard your fight has been, how deep the pain within,

Wounds that no one else has seen, hurts too much to show.

All the doubt you're standing in between, and all the weight that brings you to your knees.

He knows.

He knows.

Every hurt and every sting, He has walked the suffering.

He knows.

He knows.

Let your burdens come undone, lift your eyes up to the One who knows.

He knows.

We may faint and we may sink, feel the pain and near the brink,

But the dark begins to shrink when you find the One who knows.

The chains of doubt that held you in between, one by one are starting to break free.

He knows.

He knows.

Every hurt and every sting, He has walked the suffering.

He knows.

He knows.

Let your burdens come undone, lift your eyes up to the One who knows.

He knows.

Every time that you feel forsaken, every time that you feel alone,

He is near to the broken hearted, every tear,

He knows.

He knows.

Every hurt and every sting, He has walked the suffering.

He knows.

He knows.

Let your burdens come undone, lift your eyes up to the One who knows.

He knows.

He knows.

He knows.