THE SECRET PLACE
“He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1)

PART 11

DISCOVERING TRUTH – WITHIN OURSELVES

Someone was telling me the other day, about a documentary they had seen on television that was about the views between gays and Christianity. Of course, most people now realize that many religions are softening their attitudes about homosexuality and are becoming more accepting every day. Even though many modern churches have taken a liberal direction, there are still some Christians that strongly oppose being gay as an intentional lifestyle. Supposedly, the gays featured in this program were questioning the “lack” of Christian love from those who proclaim to be filled with the mercy of Jesus. This is a type of reverse psychology that plays the victim and attempts to create an emotional guilt complex in those that are weak and ignorant. In the days ahead, the masses will surrender to the bombardment of the world, to modify their convictions and embrace all people no matter what they do or stand for; exactly as they are – without believing they are driven and captured by sin. It is the oldest trick in the book, to prey on the politically correct, that are double-minded and do not know God intimately – for the purpose of justifying sin.

I personally believe that we should not accept or congratulate the lifestyle of anyone that indulges in a habitual sin. Sin is sin and no matter how we paint it or decorate it, it is still offensive to God and He will never say it is ok. We are called to love sinners (everyone), but we are not to tell them it is alright to keep sinning. We are to help whoever sincerely comes to us in need of deliverance and willing to repent. However, we are not to wink at “acceptable” sins and then become aggressive toward other sins that offend us. If we gorge ourselves with fattening foods and become obese, we are intentionally sinning. If we drink alcohol or take drugs to become intoxicated, there is no way we can justify our actions as being holy unto the Lord. Being gay and having an abortion are lifestyle choices that may be popular and in the news, but they are not really any worse than any of the other sins we allow to come between us and God. It is hypocritical to point our finger in judgment and condemn someone for their open sin, while we are guilty of another “type” of sin. This would fall under the attitude of trying to remove the splinters from everyone’s eyes, while we have a log in our own eye. Both sins are wrong – and both individuals need to repent! The Lord hates ALL sin and is ready to forgive anyone that comes to Him in brokenness and sorrow. As the adulterous woman was pulled into the street and the religious leaders were ready to stone her, maybe Christ wrote their sins on the ground and told them they need to go home and repent. If she was to be stoned for her sins, then why were they not to be stoned for their sins? Of course, we notice they dropped the rocks and walked away. Many play games with; gluttony, perversion, abuse, pride, pornography, selfishness, wasting time, fornication, adultery, stealing, drinking and pain pills, lying, cheating on taxes, stealing at work or flirting with the opposite sex. Allow me to ask – what is the difference?

It seems we have lost our discernment to know what sin is – and what sin is not. We are always ready to justify our actions as we try to “bend” the rules, so we can escape the guilt and conviction of our conscience. We can say things like; reading erotic fiction is not really hurting anyone because it is fantasy and exaggerating my stories is not really lying because no one actually knows the difference. We can judge that people who are damaged because of their sinning do not deserve any help, because this justifies us not reaching out in love. We can justify our criticism and negative gossip toward those who appear lazy and trashy, because they “deserve” whatever happens to them. Is this really Agape love? It is true, the wages of sin is death, but this truth also applies to “our” sins. Jesus gave His life to set us free from our sins and this “freedom” should give us the compassion to proclaim His gospel that can rescue the lost.

Today’s religious agenda is trying to present Jesus as a God that became a human so that He could understand how weak we are. In this eye opening experience, Jesus now can relate to our temptations and realizes how weak we are when it comes to disobedience. Let me say this – He became the sacrifice that paid for our sins so that we could be DELIVERED from our sins! He did not shed His blood as a human just so he could relate to us and have sympathy toward our rebellious nature. Being the Son of Man, means He understands about our sin and being the Son of God means that He does not compromise His truth! He does ignore or look over our carnality because He wants everyone to relax and be happy as they LIVE in carnality! Sadly, He already knew how corrupt we were before He came to earth. If we are seeking truth, let us know that He hates sin! May we embrace the concept of salvation is turning AWAY from sin so that we can draw near to Him. Desiring more truth includes facing the truth within us. Selah.