Ezekiel 36:26

[Steve2422]

Ezekiel 36:26

I know through my experience in life, the ups and downs, they don’t discriminate, life has its twists and turns, sometimes not from our own fault and sometimes due to our own fault. Either way what I’ve learnt over the years, is that no matter what i did or said nothing really changed, if anything things got worse without myself even knowing, Sin separated me from God, a lack of obedience to Gods commands and a unrepentant heart caused things to snowball. I think we can all relate to these circumstances to some degree. God calls us to his kingdom and to a life with him every second of the day, their isn’t a moment of the day where he does not love us, he calls us to repentance and to eternal life with him. Now it’s hard to hear Gods call when we have chosen to live separately from God, we’re blind to what God is trying to show us and deaf to what he is trying to say, we are too busy with earthly matters blind to what really matters. Over the years we tend to build up bad habits,due to this crushing world, we have built up resentment, anger, bitterness, hatred, and unrepentant hearts, all these emotions are their to destroy us and let Satan into our lives to dictate. It is impossible to defeat Satan alone, the harder we try, the harder we are let down,the harder our hearts become. God gave us a choice, out of his infinite love he gave us free will, and no matter how much it hurts God to see us in pain, he will not step into our lives. In my case and I think in a lot of our cases life beat us down so bad to the point where Jesus was the only way out! It’s is written: Jesus is the way the truth and the life. At the time we were in pain, but God washed us of every single iniquity and cleansed us of our sins. We are so unworthy of his love and grace, I thank God for every trial and tribulation that led to his saving Grace. Seek the lord, build a relationship with God, lean on his wisdom and understanding, repent, follow Gods commands to love and worship him, don’t wait until you feel like death! To want to be obedient, I suppose it does take Death to the flesh these days, considering how many lies and distractions their are in this world due to satans curse. But just know a lifetime of sin does not measure up to The Lords power and Grace, all sin God has overcome, all temptation God has overcome, Jesus has crushed the flesh for us, so we can be washed and made holy, righteousness and blameless through Him! So no matter what we are going through or where we are or what we have done God is always waiting, andready to heal us with his love and grace, to live a life of worship and obedience to Him.

For it is written: I Will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean, i will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols, I Will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh

 

[Rose_bud]

Thank you for the sincerity of this post.

 

[roman2819]

Ezekiel 36:26

I know through my experience in life, the ups and downs, they don’t discriminate, life has its twists and turns, sometimes not from our own fault and sometimes due to our own fault. Either way what I’ve learnt over the years, is that no matter what i did or said nothing really changed, if anything things got worse without myself even knowing, Sin separated me from God, a lack of obedience to Gods commands and a unrepentant heart caused things to snowball. I think we can all relate to these circumstances to some degree. God calls us to his kingdom and to a life with him every second of the day, their isn’t a moment of the day where he does not love us, he calls us to repentance and to eternal life with him. Now it’s hard to hear Gods call when we have chosen to live separately from God, we’re blind to what God is trying to show us and deaf to what he is trying to say, we are too busy with earthly matters blind to what really matters. Over the years we tend to build up bad habits,due to this crushing world, we have built up resentment, anger, bitterness, hatred, and unrepentant hearts, all these emotions are their to destroy us and let Satan into our lives to dictate. It is impossible to defeat Satan alone, the harder we try, the harder we are let down,the harder our hearts become. God gave us a choice, out of his infinite love he gave us free will, and no matter how much it hurts God to see us in pain, he will not step into our lives. In my case and I think in a lot of our cases life beat us down so bad to the point where Jesus was the only way out! It’s is written: Jesus is the way the truth and the life. At the time we were in pain, but God washed us of every single iniquity and cleansed us of our sins. We are so unworthy of his love and grace, I thank God for every trial and tribulation that led to his saving Grace. Seek the lord, build a relationship with God, lean on his wisdom and understanding, repent, follow Gods commands to love and worship him, don’t wait until you feel like death! To want to be obedient, I suppose it does take Death to the flesh these days, considering how many lies and distractions their are in this world due to satans curse. But just know a lifetime of sin does not measure up to The Lords power and Grace, all sin God has overcome, all temptation God has overcome, Jesus has crushed the flesh for us, so we can be washed and made holy, righteousness and blameless through Him! So no matter what we are going through or where we are or what we have done God is always waiting, andready to heal us with his love and grace, to live a life of worship and obedience to Him.

For it is written: I Will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean, i will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols, I Will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh

The following is adapted from the book, "Understanding Prayer, Faith and God's Will: Compass for Christian Faith".

The Issue of Sins

It is not difficult to see that we live in a sinful world. We see sins happening around us constantly. News, newspapers and news media constantly speak of corruption, crimes, violence, and wars, to name a few. Sins are not just around us, but they are within us too. We have a tendency to sin. Dishonesty, slandering or being unscrupulous are acts of sin. It is easy for people to fall prey to greed and temptations. Sin is not only about being self-centered or angry, but instead, it is being trapped in a state where we cannot change even though we want to. Usually, people tend to say that we can try to improve, only to realize that it is difficult or even impossible. Indeed, it is not without reasons that we say, “Human nature never changes.”

There is a Chinese proverb, “Dynasty can be changed, but human nature is immovable.” It means that a dynasty that reigns over a vast kingdom can be replaced, but the roots of human nature cannot be moved or changed. This is an implicit acknowledgment that sin is part of our nature. Indeed, when we observe the rise and fall of empires through the ages, we will observe that sins happen in vicious cycles. When a new dynasty came to power, the ruler was powerful, and ministers were faithful to both king and people, while peace and order prevailed. As time passed, however, officials misused their influence to amass personal wealth and neglected their duties to the people. When corruption spread to the grassroots, people began to suffer, and later, their resentment boiled over. They rebelled, toppled the kingdom, and set up a new era. Initially, there would be harmony and prosperity but later, decadence and corruption would repeat in the same way as before. Throughout history, the cyclical rise and fall of empires can be attributed to similar reasons.

Today, corruption is still common among people, governments and corporations. In 2015, allegations of rampant bribery at the world soccer organization, FIFA, shocked the world. The economies of various developing nations continue to be hampered by greed and abuse of power, which in turn, lead to widespread suffering and poverty among people.

Can humanity, collectively or individually, learn to be better? A Chinese sage, Mencius, who lived circa 300 BC, taught that people were born good, but became corrupted by the sins of society. He taught that human beings could improve by cultivating certain principles and rules of conduct. The Bible, however, has no second thoughts. It says that we are born into sin and are inherently sinful. It emphasizes that we are sinners who cannot be saved by any good works of our own, and whatever merits that we have are insufficient in the eyes of God. Isaiah said our righteousness is like filthy rags [Isaiah 64:6]. Any attempts to do good are not enough and there is absolutely nothing we can change to be right with Him, unless we confess our sins and ask for His forgiveness through Jesus.

Sin is also the tendency to resist God. People may believe that He exists, but they refuse to believe in Him. When they hear that Jesus has atoned for our sins, they resist turning to Him. The root of sins comes from being separated from God. And the wages of our sins is death [Romans 6:23].

We are sinners who cannot be redeemed without God’s grace. Paul emphasized that it was not our good deeds or work. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” [Ephesians 2:8-9]. To many people, however, it seems to be too easy. How could anyone just walk into heaven by confessing their sins without any good works to show? But that is the truth. If there is any additional condition, such as we have to be a little less sinful, it would be impossible for anyone to fulfill it.

After being redeemed, do Christians stop sinning? When John wrote that anyone who is in God would not continue to sin [1John 5:18], he was saying that believers would not want to dwell in darkness, but instead, we want to break away from the bondage of sin. With the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, sin loses its grip over us. This is what Paul meant when he said that “we should no longer be slaves to sin” [Romans 6:6]. The apostle explained that sins still existed in the old nature in him even though he did not want to sin. The tendency to sin still continues in us, and our new person in Christ continues to struggle with the old sinful self. James spoke about some believers in the community who slandered and did not bridle their tongues. Jealousy, untruthfulness and greed are part of human nature.

When we sin, we ask God to forgive us. And the Spirit empowers us so that we will not be hopelessly entrapped by sins. This is a process of constant renewal. We will never be totally sinless, but we “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” [Philippians 2:12-13]. This does not mean that we have to show good work to earn or keep our redemption; instead, be mindful of how we live and conduct ourselves. Paul said, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” [Romans 6:1-2]. When sins lose its grip on us, we turn our minds to seek out the things that please God, such as Christ-likeness, compassion, and humility. Such empowerment is given by the Holy Spirit that dwells in us.