Trapped In Sin

Did you know that Jesus was arrested, imprisoned, and executed not for His sin but for ours?   Through his death and resurrection we can be redeemed by faith

Trapped in Sin

From: Our Daily Journey

Mar 19, 2017

Read:

Romans 3:9-31
Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins (Romans 3:24).

A police officer rescued a deer whose head had become lodged within a discarded light globe. The officer’s first attempt to pull the plastic object off the frightened animal’s head failed, although it came free during a second try. Officials estimate that the animal had been caught with the globe on its head for at least one full day!

Similar to the deer’s helpless predicament, Paul says that we are poor, sinful, lost creatures, incapable of getting ourselves out of our own dilemma. He notes that our hearts are trapped in sin—all of us are born under sin’s power and “fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:9,23).

In Romans 3:10-18, the apostle quotes from six Old Testament passages revealing that we’re born alienated from God, don’t naturally seek Him, have turned away from Him, and don’t have a true view of His greatness. Without God, we’re utterly helpless and can’t rescue ourselves.

But in view of humanity’s helplessness, God stepped in and provided a perfect rescue by His grace through our faith in Jesus His Son (Romans 3:24). Jesus alone provided the perfect sacrifice God required, and His death for us on the cross satisfied the demands of sin—freeing us from the grip of sin and making a restored relationship with God possible (Romans 3:25).

You and I no longer need to remain trapped in sin. God saw our hopeless condition and extended grace, love, and mercy in order to restore us to Himself. We’re rescued and “made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes” (Romans 3:21-22).

Are you trapped by your sin? Receive God’s gift of salvation today through faith in Jesus!

 ( confessional )

If you are sincere this is a good practice. Whether with a confessional or if you are alone with God confession is good for you. Many people feel better after talking to God.

You have a friend and advocate in Jesus Christ. He will stand up for you even before God the Father. He will plead for you. God is loving and kind to forgive the repentant.

True Confessions

From: Strength for the Journey, By: Joe Stowell

[Written by Joe Stowell for Our Daily Bread.]

Oct

31

2015

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5

I love coconut. I always have! So, after an exhausting day in second grade, I found a bag of shredded coconut in the cupboard and devoured the whole thing. When my mother went into the kitchen later to bake—you guessed it, a coconut cake—I heard, “Who ate the coconut?!”

I knew I was in trouble, but my escape plan was simple—a quick, easy lie: “Not me!”

She continued her inquiry with my sisters, but after they denied it, we all heard the familiar words: “Wait till your Dad comes home!” My cover-up plan was doomed to failure, and later that evening I finally confessed.

No one had to teach me to lie. As the psalmist David admits, “I was brought forth in iniquity” (Psalm 51:5). But in his sin David knew where to go—to the God of abundant mercy who will cleanse us from our sin (Psalm 51:1-2).

When we recognize the ongoing reality of sin in our lives, we are reminded of our ongoing need for the presence of God and the power of His Word to keep us safe and spiritually sane. He is waiting for us to confess our faults and embrace the forgiveness and cleansing that He readily offers.

Remember, a refreshing plunge into God’s mercy awaits you on the other side of confessed sin!

Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,
Jesus, I come to Thee. —Sleeper

Own up to your sin and experience the joy of confession.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

I  Thessalonians 16-18

The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Can You See Her?

Feb

16

2017

“and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.” Luke 7:38

For most of us, prostitution represents a rather repulsive aspect of the underbelly of society. Given our disdain for such a godless practice, my guess is that few of us have ever thought about the people trapped in the “industry,” let alone the thought of taking the love of Jesus to them. We are far more prone to think of prostitutes with Simon the Pharisee’s sanctimonious aloofness—an aloofness that Jesus never felt.

Simon, the “good” person in town, was repulsed by the prostitute who had gate-crashed his party. The text indicates that he watched with revulsion the outpouring of her love at Jesus’ feet. His buttoned-up, spit-polished religious life had shut her out. Jesus, on the other hand, extended love and forgiveness to her and welcomed her in. What a contrast!

Lisa DePalma is the founder of a ministry to prostitutes on the dark street corners of Chicago. I have been stunned by Lisa’s stories of her work with these shattered lives, and I’ve been gripped by her example of what it means to extend the heart and hands of Jesus to them. Always used and never loved, these prostitutes hear—some of them for the first time—that God has wonderfully loved them through the person of Jesus.

To those of us who have a hard time feeling love and compassion for this kind of woman, Lisa writes these pleading lines.

Can you see her? Will you let God show you?

Her face instead of her clothes? Her eyes instead of her body?

Can you see her? Will you let God show you?

She has a name instead of a label, a broken heart instead of a hard one

Can you see her? Will you let God show you?

The image of God instead of an object of scorn

Her worth to the Savior instead of her worthlessness to the world

Can you see her? Will you let God show you?

His heart of forgiveness instead of your heart that judges

His blood that covers instead of your rules that condemn

Can you see her? Will you let God show you?

And when you do see, what then?

What then? That’s a great question! Getting over a self-righteous, condemning attitude toward people who are not like us—and overtly sinful as well—is not an easy thing. Our “goodness” has a way of backfiring on us when we become proud that we are not like them and think of them as hopeless objects of God’s judgment—if indeed we think of them at all. The good guys in Jesus’ day were constantly shocked that He cared about sinners. But as He said, He came to seek and save those who are lost.

Getting over our infatuation with how good we are begins by asking ourselves if we want to be like standoffish Simon or like the compassionate Jesus. I choose Jesus! I’m tired of how I feel when I am self-righteous and proud. I find that following His lead to love the lost is a breath of fresh air in a stodgy and stagnant world of people who are taken with their own goodness.

Jesus Liberates Us

Jesus sets us free from habits, addictions, and other issues. True liberation comes though the Lord.

Please leave your responses below

1. Have you ever been set free from something that had a hold on you?

2. What were you a "prisoner" to ?

3. Did the Lord help you from addictive things?

4. Do you still need to be set free from a besetting problem?

(pictures of people liberated from captivity)

A Prisoner No More

From: Our Daily Bread

January 22, 2016

Read: Romans 7:15-25 | Bible in a Year: Exodus 4–6; Matthew 14:22-36

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

Romans 7:15

A middle-aged man approached me after I led a workshop at his place of employment and asked this question: “I’ve been a Christian nearly my whole life, but I’m constantly disappointed in myself. Why is it that I always seem to keep doing the things I wish I didn’t do and never seem to do the things I know I should? Isn’t God getting tired of me?” Two men standing next to me also seemed eager to hear the response.

That’s a common struggle that even the apostle Paul experienced. “I do not understand what I do,” he said, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Rom. 7:15). But here’s some good news: We don’t have to stay in that trap of discouragement. To paraphrase Paul as he writes in Romans 8, the key is to stop focusing on the law and start focusing on Jesus. We can’t do anything about our sinfulness in our own strength. The answer is not “try harder to be good at keeping the rules.” Instead, we must focus on the One who shows us mercy and cooperate with the Spirit who changes us.

Focus on the One who shows us mercy & cooperate with the Spirit who changes us.

When we focus on the law, we are constantly reminded that we’ll never be good enough to deserve God’s grace. But when we focus on Jesus, we become more like Him.

I sometimes get caught in the cycle of trying harder to be good, failing, getting discouraged, and giving up. Help me, Lord, to depend on Your grace and to draw near to You so that You can change my heart.

Focus on Jesus.