Many times in my walk with the LORD, He has used common everyday experiences or situations to convey how great His love is for me and for ALL of His children. I really feel that a lot of people who disagree with a lot of what I have written about over the years need to hear this.
So often, when I speak out against the many celebrated or abominable sins being committed in our nation and world, I am called a hater – bigot – judgmental – homophobe – Islamophobe – and every other kind of “phobe” that you could think of. I’m that “crazy Holy Bible-thumper” that is (or that the current generation wishes was) a dying breed.
No matter how many times that I have coupled my preaching against sin with the awesome message of God’s saving grace and mercy toward even the most wretched of sinners, people still spend all their energy hating on me for my hatred of sin instead of rejoicing when I tell them that simple repentance is all it takes to get right with their all-Holy Creator.
So, if any of you have hated or despised me because of my “archaic” Biblical beliefs, I pray that you will take 5 minutes out of your day to read this and rejoice that my beliefs have not and will never go out of style on this earth. They have not because the Holy Bible is not a book of judgment. It is the ultimate Book of Love.
It is the only Book on the planet where you can find true grace, mercy, forgiveness, self-worth, salvation, and the Key to Eternal Life. That is because it was written by the most loving, gracious, merciful, patient, forgiving, inspiring, saving God in history. It was written by the Only God, the true God of Heaven and earth.
You may be some teenager reading this and saying to yourself, “I don’t believe in YOUR God. I don’t believe in ‘religions.’ I have my OWN God.” You have every right to believe that, because my God (OUR God) gave you the free will to accept or reject Him. You can paint a picture in your head of whatever you think that “your” perfect God would look like but it would never compare to just how perfect, Holy, and loving our Creator truly is and always has been.
I could write another book (and just might) about why all of the judgments upon the earth and its inhabitants, throughout the pages of the Old Testament, were done out of love and for the good of all mankind. Though it would probably take a whole ‘nother book to get through to this generation, I do not have enough space in one article to do that. So I just want to focus on the core message that every one of you (believer or not) needs to hear today.
The Holy Spirit of the LORD uplifted me so much last night after reminding me of His great unfailing love for me through something as simple as telling my cat to stay out of trouble. Yes… through something as simple as raising your voice to a disobedient child or a pet, God can express His deepest love.
Everyone who knows me knows that I have a kitty who is my world. I love him more than my life itself. He was such a Godsend 7 years ago, and we have been inseparable ever since. But, just like a young child, cats and dogs will act up and do things that they are not supposed to do. That is what happened last night.
My little guy did something that I have told him time and time not to do. I know deep down he knows, from being hollered at every time for it, that it is not something he should do. The only things that I don’t let him do are meant for his safety. While some things may seem like fun to him, I know that they can be dangerous and could harm him.
So, I make sure he knows that I don’t approve but I never physically strike him; and then, afterwards, I always regret raising my voice whenever he gets into trouble. I love him more than he could ever know, and only want him to be happy and healthy all the days of my lifebreath.
So, long story short, he did something he was not supposed to do – I immediately said, “JACOB, how many times do I have to tell you! Don’t do that! You KNOW BETTER.” Less than 30 seconds later, I said, “but you’re so lucky that your daddy can’t stay mad at you for more than a minute. No matter how many times that you do this, you know your dad is gonna be quick to forgive you every time.”
After I pet his little head, he smiled at me and darted up the stairs to find something else to get into. 😀
Many of you are probably saying by now, “Okay. Great, you love your cat. What does any of this have to do with God and His love or saving message of mercy toward me?” I’ll tell you, and you’ll never think about God the same if you are an unbeliever or a wicked sinner. If you’re a believer already, after reading my little cat story, I’m sure you probably already know where I am going with this.
After that moment with my little guy, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart in that still small voice which is undeniable. I remembered how I just said to Jacob, “You know your daddy could never stay mad at you. I’m just trying to protect you. That’s why I tell you that you can’t do stuff like that. I love you too darn much.” Then, it hit me… the Spirit said, “SEE?”
For a few days leading up to my little guy’s misbehaving incident, I was repenting a lot. I had sinned with my eyes and heart a whole lot recently as so many beautiful women have been parading themselves around town leaving very little of their bodies to the imagination because of the Summer heat. Before you condemn this man of God for admitting that, ask any straight guy that you know how they can see a good-looking girl walking around half-naked in public and not think or feel something.
We do whether we want to or not. Remember King David and Bathsheba? Even the “man after God’s own heart” couldn’t keep it together. Most of us can’t. So, I’ve been kinda angry at myself because it’s just too hard to divert the eyes away sometimes. I don’t want to sin. I want to be 100% holy for the LORD. Why can’t I get it together?
The Spirit put it on my heart that no matter how much I do what the LORD has commanded me NOT to do, for my own good and because He is trying to protect me, God just loves me TOO DARN MUCH to stay mad at me for more than 30 seconds. He is quicker to forgive me than I am to forgive my little guy. Even though I forgive him in the blink of an eye.
I thought deeply about just how much I love my little guy, and would die for him, because he means the world to me. The Spirit was showing me that that is not only how God loves ME and YOU, but all of His children. On top of that, the Spirit said to me, “Think about how much you love your child (cat in this instance). Yet, God loves you so much more.” WOW. Just wow. Think about that.
Yes, I say that I would lay down my life for my little guy if it ever came to it in order to protect and preserve his life, but God actually DID lay down His life for every one of us in the form of JESUS. He gave His life out of his immeasurable, unsearchable, unchanging, eternal love for ALL OF US. Even you unbelievers! Yes, you atheists, whoremongers, and pagans.
GOD DIED FOR YOU. Because HE LOVES YOU. Just like my kitty, we will all dart off into this world and be disobedient to our Father in Heaven once again. Maybe not today or tomorrow. But we will. It is inevitable. I just want you all to take heart in the fact that just like I won’t stay mad at my little guy when he does wrong again, how much more will God not stay mad at us?!
Remember one key thing though. You are only God’s true child “by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). If you don’t believe in Christ, and that He died for your sins, then unfortunately you make yourself an illegitimate child in God’s sight. He doesn’t disown you. It is you who disown your Creator when you go believing in anything or anyone else to get you to Heaven at the end of the road other than the sacrifice that He gave for you.
You cannot be cleansed of your sins outside of the blood of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
Now, I know some of you may think that you are too far gone to be redeemed or to ever have a relationship with God. You may be a homosexual sleeping around with multiple men on a daily basis, a prostitute or stripper giving your body to strangers, a drug addict or drunk wasting every day away on momentary pleasures, or an atheist who mocks and blasphemes the God of the Holy Bible.
Well, guess what? If you are too far off to save, then EVERYONE IS. Christ came to save SINNERS, not those who are living holy lives. (Matthew 5:12, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:31-32)
I’m just as much of a sinner as the rest of you, and that is why I beg to be washed in the Blood of Jesus daily. Many unbelievers probably think that I’m some “holy Christian” that never does wrong and lives a “Godly life” 24-7. You would be mistaken. The reason that I’m a Christian, in the first place, is because I’m a poor sinner that needs God’s grace and mercy everyday! I’m just like all of you reading this.
I may not sin as much as some and maybe I sin more than others, but even the smallest of sins is frowned upon by a God Who cannot stand in the presence of sin. I struggle like every other human being in this carnal flesh to live a Godly life. The flesh and the spirit are at battle everyday. It is just a matter of which you will heed to.
I try my utmost best though to live holier each new day for the LORD, and some days are definitely better than others. I may even get a nice holy streak going once in awhile; but, at the end of every day (whether I had realized it or not), somewhere along the way I fell short and sinned. WE ALL DO. That is why I get angry when people try to say that I “single out” homosexuals or abortion as sins to attack.
I speak out against ALL sinners, including myself above all!
The only reason that I write more about those two sins is because they are the only two that are actually being CELEBRATED in our country today. I cannot stand by and watch abominable sins be celebrated. Not for one second. If people were celebrating gossip, lying, or adultery, then I would be speaking out against those sins just as much! Thank God that most people aren’t promoting or lauding those sins today.
The fact is, I’m an adulterer, I’m a liar, and sometimes I’m a gossip. Those are just SOME of my sins. I know most of you are saying, “MichaEL is an adulterer?! What?!!!” Most of the guys reading this are. Jesus said that if men even LOOK upon a woman with lust in our hearts then we have committed adultery with them.
As I mentioned earlier, virtually everywhere that a man goes during these Summer months, chances are that you are seeing multiple women scantily clad in bikinis or short shorts or half-naked. Unfortunately, even if I were to lock myself indoors and go into hiding, there is television and the internet which is flooded with the same kind of images of women on a daily basis.
We can change the channel, or get off that girl’s Instagram profile, but there is still a moment of lust in the heart. I committed adultery. Even if just for a second. Thus, I’m an adulterer in God’s sight. I’ve told white lies. So, I’m a liar. I’ve talked about someone else when they’re not present, even though I know it’s wrong. That makes me a gossiper. Did you know the Bible says that God HATES a gossiper?
I’m not as holy as you unbelievers thought, am I? I’m not. NO Christian is. We are only holy because we are washed and cleansed in the most-holy sinless blood of the Lamb of God, Christ JESUS. We repent of our sins, and we accept that He bore our sins (every sin that we have ever committed, commit, or will ever commit) on the Cross at Calvary.
He was God in the flesh. He was as Holy as God the Father. He never committed one sin. Yet, he endured the most excruciating death in history as punishment for SIN. Again, not His sin… OUR SIN. The judgment that I and every one of you deserve for our sins was poured out upon Him. By sacrificing Himself on our behalf, we are all made HOLY in the sight of Almighty God.
All the holy living in the world can’t save you Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, or atheists. Only HIS Holy sacrifice can. Because no matter how many “good deeds” you think that you do, you are still breaking at least one of the 10 commandments or hundreds of others that are listed in God’s Word. You may not think so, but according to the Word of the LORD, you are a sinner – and unholy sinners cannot enter the Heaven of a Holy God. It is impossible. Sin does not exist there. Never has. Never will.
The only way that we can get up there is an EASY WAY! It is to simply repent (tell God that you are sorry for your sins and regret committing them) – believe in your heart that the Lord Jesus Christ came down from Heaven in the flesh of a man – to die for YOUR sins – to make you holy by washing you of your sins in His precious shed blood, which was offered as an eternal sacrifice to the Father in Heaven on behalf of our souls – and that He rose from the dead to ensure that everything He taught, did, and accomplished brings us Eternal Life in Heaven. How easy is that?!
I don’t know why anyone would not want to believe that. I don’t know why anyone would not want that kind of LOVE. I want to leave you all, believer or not, with this thought to meditate on… think about the person or pet you love most in this world… then multiply that love by infinity. God loves you THAT MUCH, and more than mere human words could ever describe. All that He ever desires from you is a little bit of love in return.
“For God (YHWH) so LOVED the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes IN HIM should not perish, but have EVERLASTING LIFE. For God sent NOT His Son into the world to CONDEMN the world; but that the world THROUGH Him might be SAVED.” ~ John 3:16-17
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