Sunday, April 06, 2014

"Cancer of Sin" - 04/06/14 - 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 God created you to be. 

I have been praying that God will open my eyes and others to His Truth.  And yes,  He has been opening my eyes to so many Scriptures that show me where I am or not standing firm "In" Him.  His Word is my measuring stick and He is ridding me of the "cancer" that is in my heart.  He is replacing it with His healthy Truth and transforming it.  He is also showing me that in order to cleanse my heart, that also entails putting up healthy boundaries. 

I have finally come to the place of knowing that although He doesn't want separation, He has instructions for us to "shake the dust from our feet".  Christ told us that 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 I haven't forgiven, that I no longer love those persons, it just means that I can not walk in gray in order to belong.  It means that when someone is telling me it is their way or the highway, I can choose the highway because what they are demanding of me, isn't the same of what God is demanding.  He doesn't rule with double standards, these type of persons are only about what benefits them.

These persons come from all over, even from within the church.  He is opening my eyes to the Truth that they are wolves in sheep clothing and how much destruction they leave in their path.
 
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 you can not play with fire without getting burnt.  No matter how quick you think you are.  Once sin gets a hold of you - you are taking the chance of your heart 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 all of Scripture as our measuring stick, we then know we are walking in 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.  

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