"The Cancer of Sin" - 03/25/17 - Judges 19-21

"They asked, “Shall we again march into battle against the Benjaminites, our brothers? Or should we call it quits?”
And God said, “Attack. Tomorrow I’ll give you victory.” (20:28)




There are times the cancer we are to be rid of is someone we thought of as a "brother".  There are times when a "brother" is one we shake the dust from our feet because their fruits/actions are destroying us.  Our "brothers" are to lift us up, make us feel loved, honored, cherished, wanted and hold us accountable.  But, if the measuring stick they are using to hold us accountable is their own and not God's - they are a hindrance in our  growing "in" God.  They are trying to mold you into their way of thinking, their standards, their rules. 

It is all about them.

Just like cancer.  It doesn't care about making your body healthy - it is set on destroying you.

The "you" our ABBA created you to be. 

There have always been those who are set on destroying from within The Church.  Throughout time many famous, and not famous, Christians have had their fruits revealed that their lives weren't about living as our ABBA has instructed.  Many have went the way of the world, submitting to the cancer of sin.

 I continually pray for our ABBA to open our eyes to His Truth.  And throughout the years He has been opening my eyes to so many Scriptures showing me where I am, or not, standing firm "In" Him.  His Word has become my measuring stick and He is ridding me of the "cancer of sin" that is trying its best to destroy me.   He is constantly replacing it with His healthy Truth and transforming my diseased heart into a healthy vessel.  He is also showing me in order to cleanse my heart, putting up healthy boundaries is needed. 

I have finally come to the place of knowing although He doesn't want separation, He has instructions for us to "shake the dust from our feet".  Christ told us He came into this world to divide.  To divide us from sin - sin that becomes a cancer within us.  "Shaking the dust" doesn't mean we have not forgiven, that we no longer love those persons, it just means  we can not walk in gray in order to belong.  It means when someone is telling us it is their way or the highway, we can choose the highway because what they are demanding of us, isn't the same of what God is demanding.  He doesn't rule with double standards and these type of persons are only about what benefits themselves.

These persons come from all over, even from within the church.  May He open our eyes to The Truth and see they are nothing more than wolves in sheep clothing.  May we see how much destruction they leave in their path and stand firm "in" our ABBA.  May we fight, armed with His Armor, to save as many souls for Him that we can.  Following His lead, may we flush out and eradicate this cancer of sin.

 

Time after time in Scripture we see examples of how God rid His people of the cancer.  The verses today are not about strangers in the land, but their "brothers", the Benjaminites.  Can you imagine the mixed emotions some of these people were going through?  Perhaps some of them knew each other.  Shared life with them.  Were even friends. 

God is adamant about our not walking in this journey and flirting with sin.  He is telling us we can not play with fire without getting burnt.  No matter how quick or smart we think we are.  Once sin gets a hold of us - we are taking the chance of our hearts becoming hard towards God and going to the place of eternal fire.  Totally separated from Him.

As long as we are able to see that our fruits are His, by using the all of Scripture as our measuring stick, we then know we are walking in His Truth.  He didn't promise this journey would be without pain, but did promise us we would have total victory "in" Him.  Christ suffered beyond what we ever will for standing firm "in" Him.   

We have courage and hope when remembering the pain of shaking the dust, isn't near what the pain of the cancer would be.