“For ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
The Bible tells us that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, yet, many struggle with their sin, arguing that God cannot use someone so openly engaged in behaviors that are contradictory to His plan.
Friend, as long as you fight God’s ability to use you, you will forever remain stuck. The battle is not whether or not God CAN use you, the battle is Will You Let Him? Sin is simply an open disobedience to God’s plan for your life. I have personally never known anyone in my own life or even those in the Bible who have not struggled with disobedience. The issue that I am confronted with most today is the fact that too many men and women believe that “their sin” is above God’s reach. Well, let’s look at the sins that most people see as being out of God’s reach and see what He has done with those engaged in these sins in the past:
Lying: “But Peter denied it. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said, and he went out into the entryway. Just then, a rooster crowed” (Mark 14:68). Peter lied in the most heinous way possible; denying that He knew who Jesus was. Not once, not twice, but three times. Regardless of his sins (and how often he repeated the same sin), Peter would later be known as “the rock on which My church would be built.”
Sexual Sin: “One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. While he was on the roof, he saw a woman bathing. She was very beautiful” (2 Samuel 11:2). This is a vivid example of the sexual sin that has plagued the human race since the beginning of time. What we know today as pornography, haunted one of the greatest men in the Bible. David would go on to produce more lies to cover up his sin and even plan the death of another man, yet God forgave him and he is known today as the one that God referred to as “a man after my own heart.”
Murder: “He looked all around, and when he didn’t see anyone, he beat the Egyptian to death and hid the body in the sand” (Exodus 2:12). Moses knowingly killed a man, and ran to another land to avoid being caught. Yet God would later strategically use this “murderer” and call Him to be the very leader who would save the Israelites from slavery.
If you find yourself tormented today by your past, and your sin, remember what the Bible says in Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing new under the sun.” The sin you are dealing with today has been dealt with before. What separates us from these men that God used in great and powerful ways is not that they were untainted by sin, but that they openly admitted their sin, pleaded with God for forgiveness and accepted His forgiveness. You, too, have complete access to that forgiveness. Take heart and know that Christ paid the penalty for your sin and His desire is not that you live a perfect life, but that you come into a saving relationship with the One who can free you from your sin and use YOU for His glory!
As Always, we’re saving you a seat at Community Family Church
We Love Y’all!
Pastor Tom
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