Do You Want God's Blessing?

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” –Psalm 66:18

We all want God’s blessing, don’t we? I’m sure that most people would say, “Yes! I want God to bless my life.” The alternative would be for God to curse my life. Who would willingly put their life under God’s curse?

Sadly, many who claim to know Jesus continue to make life decisions that keep themselves under God’s curse rather than His blessing. If we harbor sin, God will turn away our prayers. John teaches us this way:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” -1 John 1:9

Confession involved both an admission of wrongdoing as well as a desire to stop engaging in the illicit activity. Confession is also an affirmation that one will begin to do what is right in the eyes of God. This would include worship, ethical choices and obedience to God’s Word - in short, giving our lives away for the furtherance of Jesus’ Kingdom here on earth.

Do you want God’s blessings or His curses? Don’t answer that with words, but with your life.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” –Romans 12:1-2

Overcoming Strongholds

I received an inspiring note from Jim Utter, a member of the Tomoka Christian family. After many years of battling alcoholism, Jim finally surrendered it to the Lord. Now, his struggle with this sin is over!

After 12 years of receiving God's personal gift of grace, not only am I a changed person, but now feel compelled to share my life-changing experience with others who may be struggling with the same bondage that I had become a slave to.

That bondage was alcohol. That's right... WAS alcohol, past tense. The struggle for mind control was won by God and has been removed from my thought patterns entirely!

For 15 years I battled the demon of alcoholism, through self will, through family intervention, through hospitalization, alcoholics anonymous, mockery, thoughts of suicide, and more significantly a complete surrender to its mind control.

One night I felt deeply compelled to go outside. It was the wee hours, cold and still. The side light was on. I cried out to God, "Please God remove this demon of mind control. I cannot do it alone. I need your help as only Your will can provide me."

I went down on my knees. All the weight of my body was gone. I put my cheek to the cold Earth. To my right was a single sea grape leaf. Next I held it up to the light and there I saw outlined was the "tree of life" represented by the veins in the leaf, shaped like a tree, with its trunk and branches.

All this happened in only a few seconds, yet it seemed timeless in scope and power. It was the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ filling me with a "new life," beginning at that very moment.

Pastor Joe, God's truth is AMAZING! My prayer was answered! I truly believe that it was that prayer of total surrender that removed my struggle and most importantly, my sin of alcoholism was forgiven.

You see, about one month ago you boldly stated that alcoholism was a "sin" and not a disease. I, for one, can honestly say with my whole heart that you are right: alcoholism is a sin. Mine was forgiven completely. Now I have my life with God as my co-pilot and Jesus as my navigator. We have an awesome GOD!

Tiger and Me!

In Matthew 5:27, we read, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ ”

In this passage Jesus is quoting Moses, who is quoting Jesus. Perhaps this is a little confusing but Jesus is God and Moses got commandments from God. These commandments state, "You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 21:14) and "You shall not commit adultery” (Deuteronomy 5:18). Therefore, in reality, Jesus is quoting himself!

What you are about to read may upset you, yet I hope you will process God’s words. Whether we are discussing adultery or any other sin mentioned in Exodus 20, two key factors must be processed.

The first factor is that without a Biblical worldview, one might wonder why adultery is wrong. If we are a product of evolution, where does any other ethic come from if not from oneself? Through that lens, what Tiger Woods did would not only be OK, it would be good because it was good for Tiger.

Many in our culture continue to distance our nation from her Judeo-Christian roots, yet our entire system of laws and morality are built upon the ethics of the Biblical text. Are Tiger’s actions wrong or right? This question can only be answered properly based on a moral absolute.

Our second factor is the issue of addiction. The term turns everyone into a victim, as though no one is ever responsible for his or her own behavior. Did anyone force Tiger to be unfaithful? Did anyone ever force you to drink, do drugs, or abuse? I do understand that some grew up in more difficult circumstances than others, but we are still missing the key ingredient in all our problems. This ingredient is what God calls SIN!

Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Meanwhile, in Romans 6:23, we read that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The word "sin" implies missing the mark. What mark? God’s mark! Therefore, our surrender to Jesus and repentance is the only hope for wholeness. I am wrong. I have sinned. I am not the victim. I am the guilty party. Sin has wreaked havoc in all of our lives, but the issue is not to analyze my culture but my own choices.

Jesus gently made this statement to a woman caught in adultery that is detailed in John 8:10-11. “Jesus straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sir, she said. Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Albert Pujols, superstar athlete and St. Louis Cardinal, said it best. “As a Christian, I am called to live a holy life. My standard for living is set by God, not by the world. I am responsible for growing and sharing the gospel.” Pujols’ words were spoken at Manly Night, an annual evangelistic event held in January in a St. Louis, Missouri, high school. In his message, he added, “I can’t think of a greater place to celebrate my 30th birthday than with you guys, sharing my heart and lifting up the kingdom of Jesus.”

The three-time National League MVP said he prefers to live his life for Christ, not for himself. “It would be easy to go out and do whatever I want, but those things only satisfy the flesh for a moment. Jesus satisfies my soul forever.”