Friday, July 10, 2026
Thursday, July 9, 2026
Excusing Sin is to Spit in God's Face
Anyone who is using the excuse for their sin that God doesn't care about it anymore because they are under the blood is a liar, twisting God's Word to justify their sin or the sin of someone they love.
Those who do not hate their sin are lying when they say they are a Christian. When Christ transforms us into a new creation, we hate sin we would never boast about it. We would be ashamed and confess it to be cleansed but we would never fight to defend it.
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
And, 1 John 3:9 "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God."
Those who do not hate their sin are lying when they say they are a Christian. When Christ transforms us into a new creation, we hate sin we would never boast about it. We would be ashamed and confess it to be cleansed but we would never fight to defend it.
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
And, 1 John 3:9 "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God."
Living Out Our Callings With Confidence and Joy
Nearly every grandparent loves their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, or at least the idea of having them. We cannot place them above Christ.
I do not remember one instance in the Bible where God tells the prophets or the apostles to make sure and spend lots of time with grandchildren.
In fact, God tells us that when we are busy with God's work, most family members will not come alongside, and they are often hostile toward us for our fanaticism.
Our devotion to Christ gets in the way of the family goal of fun and worldly pursuits.
Those who love Christ have a hard time with superficial chatter, usually filled with boasting and flattery to make everyone smile and laugh.
When we bring up anything important according to the Bible we are like a wet blanket over a hot fire; those who feel this become angry and even fearful of us. We tend to ruin everyone's fun.
Most family structures, even Christians, do not mention the name of Christ outside the church building, and even then, they let the preacher do it for them.
When we are with those who believe as we do and enjoy discussions about God, our joy is full; they are our dear friends whom we love and miss when we cannot be with them.
John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
Family does not lay down its life for the members; they use them, have expectations of them but do not come alongside to be supportive of their relatives who are serving Christ.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 "4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
Families tend to be group thinkers, they do not want anyone in their circle who does not believe what they believe and desire the world as they desire it.
If someone comes to their clique and does not think their way, that person will be disregarded, ignored and even treated with covert contempt to show them they do not measure up to the rest of the group.
All the prophets and apostles were treated with contempt and as outsiders for not fitting into the culture. We know this because they were all martyred except for John. No family members stood by them in their trials and hardships. No family came to their aid or protected them in some way.
Matthew 10:22 "22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."
Matthew 10:35-37 "…35 For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;"
Luke 12:51-53
Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division. / From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. / They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Mark 13:12 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death."
Matthew 24:10 "At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,"
There are those reading this who might think; "what a negative outlook", I would say to them, it is better to face the truth with joy so as not to be deterred from our calling by hurt feelings.
God told us it would be this way, we should expect it and put all our efforts into serving Christ instead of chasing impossible family relationships.
Mark 6:4 "Then Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.”
John 7:5 "For even His own brothers did not believe in Him."
John 1:11 "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him."
When you see this happening, you can know that you are on the right path, not sucked up in the family pressure and drama to be just like them. It is a great joy to follow Christ without the coercion and strain of living up to someone else's standard that is against God's standard.
My advice to all my friends is to become comfortable with being misunderstood, disliked, and even mocked; it happened to the followers of Christ and to Christ Himself. We are in a good place full of expectations of living out our callings.
I do not remember one instance in the Bible where God tells the prophets or the apostles to make sure and spend lots of time with grandchildren.
In fact, God tells us that when we are busy with God's work, most family members will not come alongside, and they are often hostile toward us for our fanaticism.
Our devotion to Christ gets in the way of the family goal of fun and worldly pursuits.
Those who love Christ have a hard time with superficial chatter, usually filled with boasting and flattery to make everyone smile and laugh.
When we bring up anything important according to the Bible we are like a wet blanket over a hot fire; those who feel this become angry and even fearful of us. We tend to ruin everyone's fun.
Most family structures, even Christians, do not mention the name of Christ outside the church building, and even then, they let the preacher do it for them.
When we are with those who believe as we do and enjoy discussions about God, our joy is full; they are our dear friends whom we love and miss when we cannot be with them.
John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
Family does not lay down its life for the members; they use them, have expectations of them but do not come alongside to be supportive of their relatives who are serving Christ.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 "4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
Families tend to be group thinkers, they do not want anyone in their circle who does not believe what they believe and desire the world as they desire it.
If someone comes to their clique and does not think their way, that person will be disregarded, ignored and even treated with covert contempt to show them they do not measure up to the rest of the group.
All the prophets and apostles were treated with contempt and as outsiders for not fitting into the culture. We know this because they were all martyred except for John. No family members stood by them in their trials and hardships. No family came to their aid or protected them in some way.
Matthew 10:22 "22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."
Matthew 10:35-37 "…35 For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;"
Luke 12:51-53
Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division. / From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. / They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Mark 13:12 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death."
Matthew 24:10 "At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,"
There are those reading this who might think; "what a negative outlook", I would say to them, it is better to face the truth with joy so as not to be deterred from our calling by hurt feelings.
God told us it would be this way, we should expect it and put all our efforts into serving Christ instead of chasing impossible family relationships.
Mark 6:4 "Then Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.”
John 7:5 "For even His own brothers did not believe in Him."
John 1:11 "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him."
When you see this happening, you can know that you are on the right path, not sucked up in the family pressure and drama to be just like them. It is a great joy to follow Christ without the coercion and strain of living up to someone else's standard that is against God's standard.
My advice to all my friends is to become comfortable with being misunderstood, disliked, and even mocked; it happened to the followers of Christ and to Christ Himself. We are in a good place full of expectations of living out our callings.
Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Why God Brought His Commands
70% of second marriages after divorce end up splitting because of the children of the first marriages. A parent who has remarried will always place their child before the new spouse.
The new spouse in a "blended family" has little to no authority over the children. When the child goes back to their other bio-parent for the weekend, they handle the children differently, usually more leniently, causing anger toward the other bio-parent when they return for the visit with the non-bio parent.
It is normal and natural for bio-children and parents to cater to their own bio family.
Do you now see why God said not to divorce and not to remarry? When God made two people one in marriage, gluing them together with a spiritual glue, He knew the disaster it would be when parents divorce and what would happen to their children.
Bio-children have a bond with their parents that no one else can have. Even with adopted children, we see they do not fully bond to the adoptive parents, in most cases going off later in life to find their biological parents. Because of this I see the bond is more than physical traits, it is a spiritual matter that most people do not recognize.
Moses went back to his bio-family after being raised from an infant in the Pharaoh's house. He was connected to the royal family until he discovered they were not his bio-family. After that he sought to go back to his bio-family.
Children who have to be shuffled back and forth between bio-parents become angry. They don't have two homes; they have no permanent home, and they feel it.
1 Corinthians 7:10-11 "10 But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife is not to leave her husband 11 (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband is not to divorce his wife."
God has good reasons for telling us His commands; they protect us from ourselves when we are at our lowest. When we no longer have the strength to figure things out because of emotional pain, we can look to His commands until we come to our senses.
Doing anything from emotional pain is a huge mistake, it does not allow us to see that even though things may be hard in the moment, there are lessons learned and situations change when all is better again.
Most divorce and remarriage situations are because people are ruminating on their feelings, becoming bitter, and refusing to see the side of the other person.
Rather than going to prayer, asking for determination to obey God inspite of the emotional pain, those who are willful defy God's Word and follow the easy way of the world supporting them in their sin, even making them feel justified for doing it.
1 Corinthians 2:14 "But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.'"
When we follow the world, we can be temporarily comforted, but emotionally and spiritually, we regress in all that is important!
The more we regress, the less we are able to see the wisdom of powering through what is important.
James 1:2-15 "2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass[c] he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."
We miss the lessons from persevering and eventually become infant-like in our responses to life, making more mistakes than we would have if we had just obeyed God. And worse, becoming less wise, when in our elder years we should be prudent and sensible.
The new spouse in a "blended family" has little to no authority over the children. When the child goes back to their other bio-parent for the weekend, they handle the children differently, usually more leniently, causing anger toward the other bio-parent when they return for the visit with the non-bio parent.
It is normal and natural for bio-children and parents to cater to their own bio family.
Do you now see why God said not to divorce and not to remarry? When God made two people one in marriage, gluing them together with a spiritual glue, He knew the disaster it would be when parents divorce and what would happen to their children.
Bio-children have a bond with their parents that no one else can have. Even with adopted children, we see they do not fully bond to the adoptive parents, in most cases going off later in life to find their biological parents. Because of this I see the bond is more than physical traits, it is a spiritual matter that most people do not recognize.
Moses went back to his bio-family after being raised from an infant in the Pharaoh's house. He was connected to the royal family until he discovered they were not his bio-family. After that he sought to go back to his bio-family.
Children who have to be shuffled back and forth between bio-parents become angry. They don't have two homes; they have no permanent home, and they feel it.
1 Corinthians 7:10-11 "10 But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife is not to leave her husband 11 (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband is not to divorce his wife."
God has good reasons for telling us His commands; they protect us from ourselves when we are at our lowest. When we no longer have the strength to figure things out because of emotional pain, we can look to His commands until we come to our senses.
Doing anything from emotional pain is a huge mistake, it does not allow us to see that even though things may be hard in the moment, there are lessons learned and situations change when all is better again.
Most divorce and remarriage situations are because people are ruminating on their feelings, becoming bitter, and refusing to see the side of the other person.
Rather than going to prayer, asking for determination to obey God inspite of the emotional pain, those who are willful defy God's Word and follow the easy way of the world supporting them in their sin, even making them feel justified for doing it.
1 Corinthians 2:14 "But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.'"
When we follow the world, we can be temporarily comforted, but emotionally and spiritually, we regress in all that is important!
The more we regress, the less we are able to see the wisdom of powering through what is important.
James 1:2-15 "2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass[c] he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."
We miss the lessons from persevering and eventually become infant-like in our responses to life, making more mistakes than we would have if we had just obeyed God. And worse, becoming less wise, when in our elder years we should be prudent and sensible.
Monday, July 6, 2026
When Forgiveness is Just Useless Words
If you say you have forgiven someone but cannot have a relationship, then you have not forgiven; it's just words, only words.
There is a new distortion going around, which is that we can forgive someone in our hearts but cannot have a relationship with them. This is not true.
God's purpose for repentance and forgiveness is to reconcile two people.
When we ask God to forgive us He does and the relationship is reconciled. God does not do something different with us that He does not expect us to do with others.
We are not required to forgive those who are not sorry; this does not mean we are bitter; it means the relationship remains broken.
We pray for people, but not all people we have relationships with; some we must avoid because we are walking a very different path with goals to please God, but the other person is not walking that path and will attempt to derail our closeness to God.
God never intended forgiveness to be used as a means of feeling better about ourselves; that would be a selfish goal. Our love for God and others compels us to work toward the harder and more lasting solution.
When we love Christ, we desire the highest good, that is, that a relationship be mended. When it is not possible to mend a relationship because one element of the formula is missing, then we pray for them and move on with our lives.
When someone will not forgive when they are asked, then we leave their choice with them. When someone will not repent when asked, then we move on with our relationship. In either case, until both happen, that is, confession of sin and forgiveness extended, the relationship remains broken.
Please stop saying that you forgive but cannot reconcile; it is unBiblical and flies in the face of God's purpose for both to be applied, two sides of the same coin.
Luke 17:3-4 "…3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Psychology has twisted scriptures into pretzels, causing the opposite result and truth than God originally intended.
This is what reconciliation based on repentance and forgiveness looks like according to the Scriptures. Read it carefully.
Luke 15:18-20 "I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him."
Repentance is expressed, forgiveness is extended, and the ultimate result is reconciliation.
There is a new distortion going around, which is that we can forgive someone in our hearts but cannot have a relationship with them. This is not true.
God's purpose for repentance and forgiveness is to reconcile two people.
When we ask God to forgive us He does and the relationship is reconciled. God does not do something different with us that He does not expect us to do with others.
We are not required to forgive those who are not sorry; this does not mean we are bitter; it means the relationship remains broken.
We pray for people, but not all people we have relationships with; some we must avoid because we are walking a very different path with goals to please God, but the other person is not walking that path and will attempt to derail our closeness to God.
God never intended forgiveness to be used as a means of feeling better about ourselves; that would be a selfish goal. Our love for God and others compels us to work toward the harder and more lasting solution.
When we love Christ, we desire the highest good, that is, that a relationship be mended. When it is not possible to mend a relationship because one element of the formula is missing, then we pray for them and move on with our lives.
When someone will not forgive when they are asked, then we leave their choice with them. When someone will not repent when asked, then we move on with our relationship. In either case, until both happen, that is, confession of sin and forgiveness extended, the relationship remains broken.
Please stop saying that you forgive but cannot reconcile; it is unBiblical and flies in the face of God's purpose for both to be applied, two sides of the same coin.
Luke 17:3-4 "…3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Psychology has twisted scriptures into pretzels, causing the opposite result and truth than God originally intended.
This is what reconciliation based on repentance and forgiveness looks like according to the Scriptures. Read it carefully.
Luke 15:18-20 "I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him."
Repentance is expressed, forgiveness is extended, and the ultimate result is reconciliation.
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