Happy Friday, Friends!
I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama!
This past week, I learned/became aware of a couple of things that I wanted to share with all of you.
First, I want to share my notes with you from our sermon at church last week. Pastor Austin Young delivered the message, which he titled "The Four Layers of Sin."
The First Layer = Gross Sins. These are the major or obvious sins.
· The sin you deal with right when you give your life to Jesus.
· A list of obvious sins is found in Galatians 5:19-21
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
· These lead to great testimonies.
The Second Layer = Conscious Sins
· Choose to do things we know are wrong.
· Most of these are celebrated by culture.
· He then gave the following examples: Pornography, speeding, dishonesty, paying employees less than we could.
· We are held to a standard of obedience to God.
· God will ask you to do something individually.
o Personal convictions
With the first two, we are aware of them, they are behavior-based, and we can often correct them with self-discipline/will power.
The Third Layer = Unconscious Sins
· Don’t do the things you know you should do.
· Sins of Omission
o James 4:17 says, 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
· Sins of Motivation
o Serving to look good or giving to look generous.
· He noted that this type of sin is not about behavior, it is about our sin nature
· We cannot correct them on our own – this is a spiritual battle.
The Fourth Layer = Attachments
· What we need to be happy that are not God.
· Without this thing or person, you can’t be happy.
· He gave examples of family, reputation, and financial stability.
· If you need these things more than you need go, you will be unhappy because they will always fail you.
· Again, we cannot correct these on our own.
Pastor Austin then offered three steps to be freed from sin.
1. Jesus
o Psalm 51:17 says, 17 My sacrifice, O God, is[a] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
2. Bring it to the light
o Luke 8:17 says, 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.
3. Confess
o James 5:16 says, 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
I feel like I have talked about this second one in a previous Happy Friday. I was doing some Bible Study last week, read it, and it struck me as profound again.
Many of us know Philippians 4:6:
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And we know Philippians 4:8:
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
However, when you add verses 7 and 9 and link them all together, it just hits different… at least for me!
Philippians 4:6-9
New International Version
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
We are told not to be anxious in any situation, to take our requests to God, and then we are given this beautiful promise: when we do the first part, the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
It is so interesting that after we are told not to be anxious in any situation and to take our requests to God, we are told to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, anything that is excellent or praiseworthy. Perhaps it is just me; I totally get this! How often I have been anxious about something, I will take it to God in prayer, and then I will go right back to thinking about all the things around why I am anxious. The instruction here is clear: don’t be anxious, pray, and then think about anything that is excellent or praiseworthy.
Then the Apostle Paul encourages us to put into practice what we have learned, received, heard, or seen in him. He says if we do these things, the God of peace will be with us. To be honest, what struck me more than anything is what it would look like if people put into practice what they have learned, received, heard, or seen in me. Am I pointing them to God? If they did what I did, would the peace of God guard their hearts and minds, and would the God of peace be with them? Have you noticed how this seems to be what is missing more than anything else in our world today – peace? We have a whole lot of anxious, mad, and angry people. What if we actually lived out Philippians 4:6 –8 and lived our lives in such a way that we could confidently proclaim what Paul did in verse 9? Man, I aspire to that!
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day and a wonderful weekend. Please cherish your precious family, be kind, and please stay well!
Kev
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