Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Sin's Pressure Cooker

By Glenn Ansley
DeeperDevotion.com

Lamentations 5:15-16
The joy of our heart is ceased; Our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head: Woe unto us! for we have sinned.

Sin will crush your spirit like few others will. The burden of guilt is an unyielding force pressing you from every direction. The accuser’s lies fall upon your head like shards of broken glass. The Father’s voice seems no more than a distant memory.

The joy in your heart has ceased. Gone away with your innocence is the ability to rejoice in the Lord, to worship in truth, or to sing songs of praise. Your dancing has turned into mourning… a constant distraction from the realities of the cross. Your crown all of honor, your splendor, anything that you could have held as dignity has past away. It has fallen from your head and you search desperately for the place where it rests.

As the Lamentation says, “Woe unto you! For you have sinned.”

Take joy in knowing that you serve a compassionate God. You’re Father has paid the price for your disgusting habits. His Son has died for your sin. But have fear. Remember that His Son DID die for this sin. The Father has willingly allowed Him to do so, is overjoyed by the results, and beacons you to come to Him in repentance. Nonetheless, His forgiveness has come to you along with His strength. You are no longer enslaved to sin, therefore deeming each instance as a choice of your own.

The Father will always forgive a repentant spirit, but He takes much more joy in one that’s contrite, steering away from the sin in the first place.

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