“Awwh man, I did it
again!!”
“Rats, I screwed up
again!”
“What am I going to
tell God?”
Every Christian has
these moments; I call them the Ouch moments!
That moment when you
realize that you’ve just finished dancing to the devil’s tunes, that you have
just brought sin and shame and scorn to the Lord’s temple…
Before you read this,
just envision a moment when you’ve sinned, remember the events leading up to
sin or envision a sin described in the bible, read through the details leading
to it.
Sin is seemingly an
ever-present predator looking to devour, Peter had it right when he said in
1Pe. 5:8 be
self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls
Around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour.
It’s a scary thought no
doubt, and one we should always consider, sin and the enemy is always prepared
to tear down and stumble you at all time and to bring you away from the
presence of God.
Here is a secret, the
devil knows that you grace cannot depart from a Christian unless they willingly
give it up, so he works to have us fall from grace, in that we forsake God… who
is so holy that He cannot violate our free will. As such, if you tell God to
get gone, He will, but that is not the wisest thing to do, remember Hebrews
6:4-6
For it is impossible
for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and
have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God
and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to
repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him
to an open shame. (NKJV)
So how does it
happen??? The sly demons works in phases… Here goes:
Phase One
This part we mostly do to ourselves.
It involves not doing the right thing,
the will of God!
It may seem basic but it has such an
impact in that it gets you out of the will of God and thus out of His
protection.
Let me explain, not doing the right
thing does not necessarily mean that you have done something wrong, or sinned
for that matter. However God is not with us unless we are with Him, He says, in
James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will
draw near to you. (NKJV), thus if we pull away from God, He also pulls away
from us; He cannot impose Himself upon us.
Problem is if He pulls away we are
exposed, we no longer have the Rock of our salvation, and we become vulnerable
to the evil one.
James 1:14, But each one is tempted
when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. (NKJV)
From the Bible,
Eve was hovering about the forbidden
tree, Gen 3:1-6
Cain failed to bring the right
sacrifice to God, Gen 4:4-8
David did not go to war as He was
expected to at the time, 2 Sam 11:1-2
Solomon married so many wives who
were not of Israel’s origin who led him astray
1 Kings 11:1-8
Simeon Peter was warming himself by
the enemies’ fire when he denied Jesus. Luke 22:56
Phase two
This is where the devil capitalizes
on his snare. He begins to plant thoughts in our minds that are not from God.
He makes us consider certain evils, lightly but in due course the thought
begins to take shape and translate into an actual actionable deed, a faraway
thought grows with momentum to become a fathomable deed… 2 Corinthians 10:5
Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ ;(
KJV)
This verse is designed deliberately
to tell you that the origin of all sins is in your imagination and thoughts, so
bring every thought into captivity for the obedience of Christ, that is, all
thoughts perceived should correspond to what Christ wants from us, if not then
they should be instantly dropped.
From the Bible,
Eve perceived that the fruit would
make her like God, something she obviously desired so that thought led to her
sin, Gen 3:6
Cain was jealous of his brother Abel
for His offering was accepted, so jealousy led him to sin Gen 4:5
David lusted after Bathsheba, lust
led him to sin. 2 Sam 11:2
Solomon wanted to please his wives
and concubines so he went after foreign gods, for their sake!! 1 Kings 11:3
Peter let fear grip him, Luke 22:56
IMPORTANT QUOTE: DON’T GIVE THE dEVIL
A RIDE, hE WILL WHAT TO DRIVE!!
Phase three
The nails to the coffin, I dare say.
The devil now matures the thought of
sin to how it will be done.
We strategize and scheme on how to
implement the sin. This may take a minute e.g. thinking up a lie or it may take
hours and days like planning a robbery.
We make all possible excuses to God
of how what we are doing is the right thing or we alternatively block the Holy
Spirit warning us not to sin.
We are accelerating towards sin and
away from God and His guidance.
From the Bible,
All Eve had to do was pluck the fruit
and eat it, and she did. She perceived that the tree was good for food, and
pleasant to the eyes. Gen 3:6
Cain had a conversation with both God
and Abel his brother. He disregarded God and schemed on how to eliminate the
competition, which he did in the field. Gen 4:8
David enquired about Bathsheba, and
He did not stop there, he sent messengers to her house to get her, where he
took her and lay with her. 2 Sam 11:3-5
Solomon went after other gods at the
behest of his wives and concubines; his heart was not loyal to the Lord. 1
Kings 11:4
Peter lied out rightly. Luke 22:56
Phase four
THE DEED
This is where action follows thought
and sin is committed!
Eve ate the fruit.
Cain rose up against his brother
Abel.
David slept with Bathsheba, Uriah’s
wife.
Solomon worshipped other gods.
Peter denied Jesus.
Phase five
The devil doesn’t stop there; he has
to work on you proper so he matures your sin, by causing you to sin more and
more or to recommend it to others!
From the Bible,
Eve gave the fruit to her husband to
eat. Gen 3:6
Cain murdered his brother Gen 4:8
David tried to cover up his sin by
purifying Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:4), but he found out she was pregnant (2 Sam
11:5), so he had Uriah come from the battlefield and tried to make him go home
so that he could lay with his wife thus making it look like Uriah was the
father but Uriah wouldn’t break his honour and duty to the King (2 Sam 11:11)
so David had him ELIMINATED. (2 Sam 11:15)
Solomon built altars and places of
worship for the gods of his wives. 1 kings 11:7-8
Peter denied Jesus
three times, Luke 22:56-60
it would be an abomination if I just stopped there, because I know God does not…
Here is how God responds to us.
He presents our sins
before us and accuses us of our iniquities so that we may repent. The just
judge will always give us a chance to respond to our actions as evidenced from
our cases in point:
From the Bible,
God questioned Adam and Eve whether
they had eaten the fruit from the forbidden tree Gen 3:11
God questioned Cain where his brother
was. Gen 4:9
God sent Prophet Nathan to David to
accuse him. 2 Sam 12:1-9
The bible clearly depicts that God
had appeared to Solomon twice and commanded him concerning this thing. 1 Kings
11:9-10
For Peter the rooster cried, and
Jesus looked at him, then he remembered what Jesus had said that before the
rooster crows, you’ll have denied me three times. Luke 22:60-61
Our response
Like in any other
courtroom, the defendant (ourselves) is given a chance to state their plea…
There are basically two
pleas, we can either
- Acknowledge our sins (guilty) and repent,
- Not Guilty, either by refusing that we have sinned or by making up excuses for our sins.
If we take the first
option,
Guilty, this is what
the Lord does: 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (NKJV)
If we claim we are not
sinful. This is how God responds: 1 John
1:10
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and
His word is not in us. (NKJV)
And this is when
punishment and condemnation falls upon us!!
When God asked Adam and
Eve, they made up excuses each pointing to another, hence God declared
punishment upon all of them. Gen 3:12-17
When God asked Cain the
whereabouts of Abel, Cain responded rudely to God and refused to acknowledge
sin, thus God pronounced punishment upon him. Gen 4:9-12
When Nathan, sent by
God came up to David and accused Him, David thoroughly repented, put on sack
cloths and even wrote Psalms 51, a prayer of repentance. Of course the
consequences of sin still caught up to him but God forgave David and even named
the son he got afterwards. 2 Sam 12:16-25
When Peter saw Jesus,
He ran and wept bitterly, a sign of total repentance. Luke 22:62
NEED I SAY MORE??
JUST ONE
James 1:13-15
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by
God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is
full-grown, brings forth death. (NKJV)
