Sins We Are Born Into, and Must Overcome

[JTC]

On 10/1/2019 at 5:37 PM, PromisesPromises! said:

 So many just give up and drift further and further away from the One who is calling them until they don't hear Him anymore.  Too sad....

I'm glad you didn't do that.  I'm glad I didn't do that!  I get what you're saying, I think.  Like you, I've been saved for most of my life.  I even remember the day.  I remember looking in the mirror when I got home that day and being just a little disappointed that I still looked the same.  I mean, I should have been glowing or something... right?  But no... the same old me.  I was already changing, though, by the power of the Holy Spirit, making me want to please God more and sin less--and if I did sin, whoa!  I realized real quick that there were still consequences to be faced in this life.  Now who, at our age, would want to wallow in the consequences of willful sins?  After years of reading the Bible, we have the advantage of knowing how we can be more like Jesus, and less like we were before He found us.  We have the advantage of being conquerors whenever we put on our spiritual armor.

Hi PromisesPromises,    I've gotten so many responses on this thread that I missed this, I'm sorry.

   You said something here that happens to me and was 1 reason I decided to quit sinning. Now granted most of the people I used to know were not Born Again. About 15 yrs ago I started to notice that every little sin I committed was soon followed with a consequence, or punishment as I called them. I had forgotten all about this. Back then my closest friend was a cousin-in-law who I told this to. I started thinking I was imagining it but she confirmed it really was happening. The sin could be as small as the cashier in a store charged me 10 cents too little and I didn't correct her; or me screaming at someone and ruining their day. Whatever it was, something bad happened to me. I used to tell my cousin that I felt like God was watching me and He wanted me to know this. Further, God wanted me to learn that sinning, no matter how small, is not alright with Him. Wow, I really had forgotten all this. But this is one reason I came to where I am now, eliminate all sins that are possible to eliminate. I'm sooo glad you know too.

                     **********************************

But maybe another reason God did that to me is because He knew that in the near future I'd be here at Worthy and God wants this fact known. God does not accept sins in His people. If it's an accidental sin forgiveness is available through Jesus, and we thank God for this. But to think sinning doesn't matter because you're covered by the Lord is wrong. Intentional sinning will get you in a heap of trouble with Jesus. And remember, Jesus is the judge we will all stand before after death. Jesus is not being forced to forgive those who knew better but nevertheless spent their lives doing sins. Jesus is the judge. All sins committed before we accepted Him are wiped clean, not to even be remembered. But sins we do after we accept the Lord carry a penalty. God didn't tell us what that penalty is, He only says do not sin so you won't suffer for them.

   I know most of you don't like this, don't believe this, you weren't taught this, not even in Bible collages. I know that, so don't bother posting it, I know what God has taught me.

  We Christians are supposed to be the salt of the earth and the light of the earth. We are supposed to show the world the way God wants everyone to behave. We can't do that by sinning. Remember this too, anger is usually a sin or it will lead you to a sin. So if you're talking to a secular person don't get angry and scream & yell at them or be nasty. If you do, you just lost them because you just sinned and they know that. You also just demonstrated that Christians are crazy people and Christianity is hog-wash.  

God Bless everyone who reads this and takes it to heart.

[JTC]

20 minutes ago, TraceMalin said:

I suffered a decompression sickness hit and suffered brain damage which has me house bound with severe dizziness and visual processing problems.

Hi TraceMalin,    You're the first member here that has spoken of SCUBA diving. I too was a diver, back in the 1970's. I was considered a hard-core NY wreck diver and I was lucky (blessed) I didn't die. I once went into a WW 1 battleship to get a hatch off the porthole. I was doing many things wrong that day, mainly I went down without a buddy because everyone else on the boat was inexperienced diving wrecks. I got the hatch but my fins kicked up so much sand I couldn't see the way out. To make matters worse I was "narked" even at 120'. I thought I was dead that day. A buddy could have directed me out using his light from outside the ship. I was almost panicked when I suddenly just found the way out. Surely God wanted me alive. My buddy, whom I usually dove with, wanted us to do caves, and we would have, but there are none around here. Maybe that was for the best. We also wanted to dive on the Doria but you had to know the right people to do the Doria. It was also very expensive and dangerous.

   God Bless you brother

[JustPassingThru]

@TraceMalin  

Brother, I hear ya, I know exactly what you are going through, …after I recovered from the Dengue Fever,   …when I got out of bed my head started turning a 100 MPH, I went to an ear specialist and after a slew of tests he informed me the nerve in my right ear had been severed, what I was suffering from was loss of equilibrium, it’s our ears the give us balance, I didn’t know that…, I staggered like a drunk and had to use a cane, …if there was any motion around me my brain reacted and threw my body in the opposite direction, …I learned very quickly not to stand on the edge of the curb at an intersection with a red light, I also learned I could no longer walk on a roof, cuz my brain perceived the open space was safer than the solid roof and would start to lead me over the edge, …even worse was my wife and I always held hands when we walked, but even that motion, with her walking next to me caused problems with my balance.   I have learned that I must keep a distance from people because any motion from the other side of me can cause me to move into someone else to avoid the original movement, …this makes going into stores very difficult!

So you see brother, …I understand, …may I humbly suggest, rather than ending it, …why not try what I heard a pastor say, …turn our problem, trials and difficulties into sanctified problems, trials and difficulties, …I’m not saying thank God for them, …but rather ask Him how He can turn this around to Glorify Jesus.

Father knows your heart and He is aware of your physical condition, …give it to Him, ..and see what He will do with it, …ever heard of Joni Eareckson Tada, quadriplegic since she was 18 years old, now at 70 she is an Evangelical Christian author, radio host, Bible teacher and a much sought after Christian speaker.

Here’s a link to a Wikipedia site about her:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Eareckson_Tada

 

There are no accidents in God’s Kingdom, so I hope you can you see, …you and I were brought together by a Divine appointment, there is always Hope, …Hope that doesn’t disappoint.

Take a look at this verse:

For I know the purposes which I am purposing for you, says Jehovah; purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Jer 29:11

God gave me that verse when flying over the Pacific Ocean from Los Angeles to Maui, the plane had engine problems and was flying about 500 feet over the water in anticipation of ditching in the ocean, …needless to say we made it to Maui safe and sound.

Here’ another one:

Now may the God of peace (who brought again our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant) make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.  Heb 13:20-21

 

Maybe the world can no longer use you, …but God, …our Heavenly Father, …He can!

 

Also if you are interested, I can give you links to online churches that accurately teach the Word expositionally, …just PM me.

 

Father, I bring my brother before Your Throne of Grace so that he can find Mercy and Grace in this, his time of trouble, …Father I ask you remove this thought from the enemy of his soul to commit suicide and replace it with how much you love him, how precious he is to You, …how even in these dark times You still have a plan for his life, …Father I know you have overheard this conversation and his desire to come back to You and live a holy and righteous life, so, …Father I ask You be Merciful towards him and extend Your super-abounding Grace and Infinite Love to Him, give Him Hope and lead him into the plan you established for his life before the foundation of the world, …even knowing this physical problem would happen to him, …Father, of course I ask for healing, to end his suffering, but qualify it with Your Will be done in His life, whether you heal him or not, …may your Power shine forth through him to be a Light in this dying world to glorify his Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.  Amen

 

Lord bless brother

[TraceMalin]

1 hour ago, JTC said:

Hi TraceMalin,    You're the first member here that has spoken of SCUBA diving. I too was a diver, back in the 1970's. I was considered a hard-core NY wreck diver and I was lucky (blessed) I didn't die. I once went into a WW 1 battleship to get a hatch off the porthole. I was doing many things wrong that day, mainly I went down without a buddy because everyone else on the boat was inexperienced diving wrecks. I got the hatch but my fins kicked up so much sand I couldn't see the way out. To make matters worse I was "narked" even at 120'. I thought I was dead that day. A buddy could have directed me out using his light from outside the ship. I was almost panicked when I suddenly just found the way out. Surely God wanted me alive. My buddy, whom I usually dove with, wanted us to do caves, and we would have, but there are none around here. Maybe that was for the best. We also wanted to dive on the Doria but you had to know the right people to do the Doria. It was also very expensive and dangerous.

   God Bless you brother

Was that the wreck of the San Diego? Upside down WW1 battle cruiser? I've been on it several times. I used to dive on the Wahoo which became the Garloo. I was always asked to dive the Doria as a trimix and cave diving instructor. I never had the desire due to cost. The Roy A. Jodrey is a 640 foot long lake freighter sitting in 250 feet of water in the St. Lawrence River right beneath the Wellesley Island Coast Guard station in Alexandria Bay, NY. We take a boat from Keewaydin State Park. It's 5 minutes from dock to wreck. We anchor in a little cove and can get our deco bottles and DPV's prepped while standing in waist deep water. Then, drop under to a water pipe at 20 feet then follow the cut the ship made in the rock wall down to the wreck. You arrive at the Texas Tower radar mast at 130 feet, the windows of the bridge are at 150, the deck at 190 and the sand at 250. Water temperature at the bottom mid-July to mid-September is 70 F. Steve Bielinda and Hank Garvin couldn't pay me to be in 40 F water on a weekend charter that costs as much as a trip to the Bahamas when I dive warm and comfy for $80. LOL!

[TraceMalin]

49 minutes ago, JustPassingThru said:

@TraceMalin  

Brother, I hear ya, I know exactly what you are going through, …after I recovered from the Dengue Fever,   …when I got out of bed my head started turning a 100 MPH, I went to an ear specialist and after a slew of tests he informed me the nerve in my right ear had been severed, what I was suffering from was loss of equilibrium, it’s our ears the give us balance, I didn’t know that…, I staggered like a drunk and had to use a cane, …if there was any motion around me my brain reacted and threw my body in the opposite direction, …I learned very quickly not to stand on the edge of the curb at an intersection with a red light, I also learned I could no longer walk on a roof, cuz my brain perceived the open space was safer than the solid roof and would start to lead me over the edge, …even worse was my wife and I always held hands when we walked, but even that motion, with her walking next to me caused problems with my balance.   I have learned that I must keep a distance from people because any motion from the other side of me can cause me to move into someone else to avoid the original movement, …this makes going into stores very difficult!

So you see brother, …I understand, …may I humbly suggest, rather than ending it, …why not try what I heard a pastor say, …turn our problem, trials and difficulties into sanctified problems, trials and difficulties, …I’m not saying thank God for them, …but rather ask Him how He can turn this around to Glorify Jesus.

Father knows your heart and He is aware of your physical condition, …give it to Him, ..and see what He will do with it, …ever heard of Joni Eareckson Tada, quadriplegic since she was 18 years old, now at 70 she is an Evangelical Christian author, radio host, Bible teacher and a much sought after Christian speaker.

Here’s a link to a Wikipedia site about her:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Eareckson_Tada

 

There are no accidents in God’s Kingdom, so I hope you can you see, …you and I were brought together by a Divine appointment, there is always Hope, …Hope that doesn’t disappoint.

Take a look at this verse:

For I know the purposes which I am purposing for you, says Jehovah; purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Jer 29:11

God gave me that verse when flying over the Pacific Ocean from Los Angeles to Maui, the plane had engine problems and was flying about 500 feet over the water in anticipation of ditching in the ocean, …needless to say we made it to Maui safe and sound.

Here’ another one:

Now may the God of peace (who brought again our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant) make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.  Heb 13:20-21

 

Maybe the world can no longer use you, …but God, …our Heavenly Father, …He can!

 

Also if you are interested, I can give you links to online churches that accurately teach the Word expositionally, …just PM me.

 

Father, I bring my brother before Your Throne of Grace so that he can find Mercy and Grace in this, his time of trouble, …Father I ask you remove this thought from the enemy of his soul to commit suicide and replace it with how much you love him, how precious he is to You, …how even in these dark times You still have a plan for his life, …Father I know you have overheard this conversation and his desire to come back to You and live a holy and righteous life, so, …Father I ask You be Merciful towards him and extend Your super-abounding Grace and Infinite Love to Him, give Him Hope and lead him into the plan you established for his life before the foundation of the world, …even knowing this physical problem would happen to him, …Father, of course I ask for healing, to end his suffering, but qualify it with Your Will be done in His life, whether you heal him or not, …may your Power shine forth through him to be a Light in this dying world to glorify his Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.  Amen

 

Lord bless brother

Thanks. Appreciate the prayer and kind words. I tell the whole story over in the advice forum.

[JTC]

1 hour ago, TraceMalin said:

Was that the wreck of the San Diego? Upside down WW1 battle cruiser? I've been on it several times.

Yep that's it, the U.S.S. San Diego, in the 70's the official government position was that it's not there. They don't want us peons to know we had German Subs 10 miles off the coast in WW 1. But we've seen it. Both Lou & myself had a piece of it in our homes and then Lou found out we could get a really big fine for owning that. So we sold them as scrap metal. What a waste. On one dive to the San Diego the boat captain anchored us in the rear by accident. All we saw that day was twisted metal where the torpedo hit it. When we surfaced Lou screamed & yelled at the captain while we were still in the water. That almost made the crummy dive worth it. Lou could be funny even when he was mad. Usually that was a great dive, one of my favorites.

  I also want to 2nd what JustPT said, don't try to end yourself. God doesn't want us to do that. Suppose instead of getting dead you damage yourself worse than you are now. If God doesn't want you dead anything can happen. I knew a divorced guy who lived here in NY but his ex-wife was in Florida. They had been arguing over alimony for months. One day my friend got on a lane and went there, she had no idea he was coming. Her plan was to kill herself that day so she took an overdose of several drugs, cut her wrists, and went to lay down expecting to die in her sleep. She might have if my friend hadn't gone there. Some of the drugs she took put her to sleep but they also caused her bleeding to slow down. She was still alive when he got there so he called an ambulance and she lived. But she suffered some brain damage, lost her kids, and wound up in court mandated counseling she had to go to or she would have lost all the financial support she received. Brother please, don't do it, wait for God to take you.

2 hours ago, JustPassingThru said:

Also if you are interested, I can give you links to online churches that accurately teach the Word expositionally

What exactly do you mean by teaching the Bible expositionally? I also didn't know there are online churches? You should post some links to a few, if you think they're any good. Since there are no decent churches where I live I use Worthy as a church. But I'll check out an online church. This is something that's needed nowadays. Even if there was one 5-10 miles away I couldn't get to it.

[Debp]

5 hours ago, JTC said:

All sins committed before we accepted Him are wiped clean, not to even be remembered. But sins we do after we accept the Lord carry a penalty.

Are you speaking of the penalty of sowing and reaping?   Or are you speaking of a penalty you will receive on Judgment Day due to your sins?

[Debp]

33 minutes ago, JTC said:

What exactly do you mean by teaching the Bible expositionally?

Expository preaching is a comprehensive explanation of the Scripture....usually it explains verse by verse or a small portion of text.

[Steve_S]

12 hours ago, frienduff thaylorde said:

BB , much as we love him ,  is not in a safe place right now .  BUT let us pray and keep reminding HIM continuously on what is WRITTEN and not what men peddle .

Please refrain from getting personal such as this.

[TraceMalin]

53 minutes ago, DustyRoad said:

Your testimony moves us all, Trace. I have something for you to consider and pray about if you're interested. I think you would benefit greatly from occupational therapy. Have you considered that? I have experience with sensory loss since, at the height of my mental and spiritual illness when I was so very far away from God, I started losing things which others take for granted. For example, I lost the sensation of hunger and the impulse to seek food.

Like you, I was active but I took my health and stamina for granted; I learned how to push myself during my time in the military and using lessons learned there, I dabbled in activities like caving which I miss greatly (nothing serious, just for fun). It's amazing what happens when you let panic wash over you: you emerge out of the other side intact. That's what happened the first time I looked up at a rock the size of a house directly above my head… and a crack wide enough to squeeze into ran across the entire length. There was evidence of a cave-in nearby and so my heart started hammering in my chest. A familiar feeling rose up to crush my chest:

Yeah, it's time to get out of here. NOW!  

It was precisely the same feeling I grappled with inside of the gas chamber during Army Basic Training. No one could wear the uniform in my drill sergeant's Army until they bathed in CS gas to the satisfaction of his cadre. The drill sergeants wanted to make sure you knew to follow orders even under duress because CS gas is some seriously loathsome stuff. I made it out of there without tossing my cookies but it was a close call!

I spent many years falling into my sins, Trace. Starting four years ago I lost the sensation of hunger, and then slowly but surely lost the ability to sleep. I couldn't think or even care for myself properly; I was in ghastly shape. I dropped from 220 pounds to 146 pounds over two years and I suffered from infections on various parts of my body; I had stage four hypertension and my kidneys were being damaged. I was dying --- but dying picked up the pace when I struggled in vain against suicidal ideations. 

That's when God happened. I exhibited symptoms similar to Autism Spectrum Disorder and had lost both the desire and ability to speak effectively to others. I was terrified of strangers and would hide away from them; I spent hours, weeks, and even months wracked by memories of the past. They denied me a moment's peace. When the Lord came to me I was damaged and dying, brother. 

Living in this place and doing what I do --- helping someone cope with terminal illness while looking after their affairs and keeping the ship afloat --- has been God's therapy for me. I think you would benefit greatly from occupational therapy, Trace. You're the perfect candidate for it!
 

Tried doing all kinds of vestibular and vision therapy. No change.