Category Archives: Sin

Greed, Money / Finances / Wealth, Obeying God, Study the Word

Righteous Attitude Toward Money and Possessions

Jesus speaks to us in Matthew 6:19-34 about a righteous attitude toward money and possessions and also reminds us how important it is that we ensure we are following God’s instruction, God’s light,  to guide our path.

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

22 “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[e] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Jesus reminds us that if we focus our time and energy on generating money and possessions in this world, we are focusing on the wrong things. Money and possessions are temporary. They will not last. We can not serve both money and God. One or the other may be our master, but not both.

While it is right to plan for the future, worrying about tomorrow is not helpful. It can not add a single moment to our lives, and if you study the adverse health impacts of stress you come to realize that worry may actually shorten our lives or negatively impact our health. We must put our trust in God… the creator of the universe who loves each of us individually us as a father loves a child.

Jesus reminds us also that those who think they see the light clearly… understand right and wrong… understand God and His will… but do not truly know Him are in trouble. They are in utter darkness, but not even searching for the true light to guide their path for they think they already have it. To ensure we stay connected to God’s will we must anchor our understanding of His character and will in the Bible and have an active, personal prayer life to come humbly before our lord and savior on a regular basis.

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Consequences of Sin, Obeying God, Pride

Why Did God Confuse People With Different Languages?

God made it clear in the beginning to Adam and Eve and again to Noah and his sons after the great flood that He wanted them to have many children, grow God’s people, and spread across the earth to govern it.

[Genesis 1:28] 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

[Genesis 9:1] 9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.

It is not hard to imaging that in both cases, as God’s people were growing in size, they still spoke a common language as they were derived from a single family and thus culture. This common language had potential to be a powerful asset in accomplishing God’s purposes.

Unfortunately, as we learn in Genesis 11:1-8, the people came to a point in time where they decided they had a better plan than God. They wanted to stay together in one place and thus set about building a great city for themselves. They had become prideful and arrogant, leading to ignoring or outright rejecting God and His instruction.  Thus God intervened to humble them.

11 At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia[a] and settled there.

3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why the city was called Babel,[b] because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.

It was not God’s intent to force people to have different language, but rather His response to their arrogance and failure to follow His instructions.  How glorious it is when we decide to obey God and follow His plans. We do not have better plans than He does. When we think we have better plans, we often start down a difficult path that leads us further from God and the good plans He had in mind for us.

Challenge yourself to submit to God’s will and God’s plans over your own desires.

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Am I on the path?, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, How do I get started?, Love, Sin

Love Your Enemies

In Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus continues challenging us as His followers to be different from the world, to live according to His instruction.

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’[q] and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies![r] Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends,[s] how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Loving your enemies does not mean you want them to destroy you. It does not mean you agree with or accept what they are doing or how they are living.  Paul describes love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Sometimes loving someone means you have to reject their sin, tell them how they are wrong and encourage them to repent… even if they do not want to hear it. To ignore or accept their sin is not showing show love, but rather it shows ambivalence… it shows you do not care about them.  To accept and endorse someone’s sin is equivalent to walking by children who are playing with a sharp knife and choosing not to say anything.

Praying for those who persecute you does not mean you pray for them to be successful in their efforts towards persecution. It means you pray for them to be open to the true word of God, for their lives to be transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. You pray for them to know, love, and serve Jesus.  How glorious to have more people to follow in the path of Saul, who after encountering Jesus Christ turned his life around and became Paul… one of the most effective missionaries for Jesus Christ ever.

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Anger (unrighteous anger), Consequences of Sin, Envy / Jealousy / Coveting, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Murder, Pride, Righteousness / Serving God

Sin Wrecks Families and Separates Us From God

God speaks to us in Genesis 4:1-16 about the devastation that sin can create for individuals and their families.  When we choose to sin, there are consequences. When we choose to sin, it is not God’s fault, but our own.

4 Now Adam[a] had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced[b] a man!” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.

When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

8 One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.”[c] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.

9 Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”

“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. 12 No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”

13 Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment[d] is too great for me to bear! 14 You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!”

15 The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. 16 So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod,[e] east of Eden.

There are many important points in this passage of scripture.

  • Despite earlier sin in the garden of Eden by Adam and Eve, God still maintained a personal relationship with their family. They were special to Him.
  • Cain and Abel both grew up in the same family environment with the same parents and likely a similar upbringing. That was not the cause of Cain’s sin.
  • God did not create the sin. He created people with a free will, who have the ability to love or rebel against God. Then He told them what they should do and what they should not do.
  • God loved Cain enough to speak to him personally about his sin, despite the fact that Cain was not doing what was right. God specifically warned Cain to address the sin in his life and to change behavior to do what is right. This instruction would require Cain to change his behavior.
  • Cain gives the appearance of genuinely caring about pleasing God, but was unwilling to change his behavior. Instead, Cain attacked and killed his brother who was honoring God. Jealousy led to anger, which led to murder. Of course, his actions did not lead him to right standing with God… quite the opposite.
  • Cain never demonstrates a repentant heart or regret for his actions. He lies to God and tries to hide his sin. Cain never admits wrongdoing or asks forgiveness. He only expresses grief at the consequences of his sin when confronted about it.
  • Because Cain was an unrepentant sinner, he created separation for himself from God.
  • God still loved Cain enough to protect him despite his unrepentant attitude toward sin. Imagine how God would have rejoiced if Cain would have repented.

Cain’s pride and stubbornness to do things his way instead of God’s way and his refusal to repent from sin wrecked his family and separated him from God. We should each challenge ourselves to learn from Cain’s poor choices and apply those learnings to our lives.

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Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Marriage

Seek a Godly Marriage Rather Than Divorce

Jesus speaks clearly on the covenant and commitment of marriage in Matthew 5:31-32 and Matthew 19:3-9.

[Matthew 5:31-32]  

31 “You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’[m] 32 But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.

[Matthew 19:3-10]

3 Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’[a]” 5 And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’[b] 6 Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”

7 “Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?”[c] they asked.

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. 9 And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.[d]”

A marriage covenant based on God’s word is to be taken very seriously. When there are difficulties, we are called to work through them in a godly way, not to harden our hearts and seek divorce.

Jesus also highlights in both scriptures how damaging adultery is to a marriage, by calling it out as an exception to His statement. Do not misunderstand this though, many who have suffered through adultery in a marriage can, with the help of Jesus, overcome that sin and betrayal and still build a godly marriage from it based out of true repentance.

The Bible provides insight in building godly marriages, even when husband and wife do not both know God equally. At www.HearingFromJesus.org, we also provide some links on our website to ministries and to resources (e.g. books, etc.) that focus on godly marriage.

One more important reminder… work proactively to build a godly marriage even before you experience trouble in your marriage.

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Consequences of Sin, Free Will, Satan, Sin

Disobeying God Has Consequences

As early in scripture as Genesis 3:1-19, God introduces us to the deception of Satan. Satan is not to be dismissed as parable but in fact is a real and powerful being that wants to deceive us and create separation from us and God. To do this, Satan does not need to convince us to serve him, he just needs to convince us to disobey or stop trusting God.

3 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man[a] and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed
    more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
    groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike[b] your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

16 Then he said to the woman,

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
    and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
    but he will rule over you.[c]”

17 And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
    whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
    All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
    though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
    will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
    from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
    and to dust you will return.”

There is much depth to this scripture, all cleverly packed into a story even a child can understand.

  • Satan is real. He will come against us often when we are alone. You likely will not recognize who he is when he comes.
  • Satan knows what God has said and lies to convince us God’s word is not true.
  • When we choose to sin, we often have a tendency to get others to do it with us or to agree with our behavior, to help rationalize that our disobedience to God was acceptable.
  • We do not help others by accepting and agreeing to their sin. Instead we create separation for ourselves from God as well.  We would help them by pointing out their sin and guiding them to repent.
  • When we listen to Satan and disobey God, we interrupt the good plan God has for our lives and instead replace it with our own path. God will not force us to follow Him. That would not be love.
  • When we sin, we cannot hide from God. Better to come before Him in repentance and seek forgiveness through His grace.
  • There are real and tangible consequences to our sin. They cannot be avoided by blaming someone else as Adam and Eve did. All who did the deceiving and those who allowed themselves to be deceived and reject God’s instruction will be held accountable.

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Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law

Avoid Even Adulterous Thoughts

While teaching to the crowds during the Sermon on the Mount, as documented in Matthew 5:27-30, Jesus powerfully clarifies the commandment about not committing adultery to show us how high God’s standard is for us.

27 “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your eye—even your good eye[b]—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your hand—even your stronger hand[c]—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Jesus is not telling us to poke out our eye to overcome adultery. He is, however, clearly telling us how important it is for us to fight sinful thoughts rather than dwell on them. Do not accept lustful thoughts thinking “I am not physically committing adultery, so it is ok to think about it.” Avoid, fight or flee from lustful thoughts or situations.

There are at least two good reasons for doing so:

  • Our thoughts ultimately guide our actions. If we dwell on sinful thoughts it can lead us to sinful behaviors.
  • Even just accepting the sin in our minds, if we never act on the behavior, can have a damaging effect on our relationship with our spouse or with God.

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Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Creation, Free Will, Homosexual Behavior, Marriage, Sin

God Formed the Man From the Dust

Genesis 2:5-25 provides a lot of important details about God’s creation of man (and woman) that may be easy overlook. Try to avoid reading this scripture too quickly just because it is something we may think we know well. Spend time thinking about what it means… and how to apply it in your life.

When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. 6 Instead, springs[b] came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. 11 The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. 12 The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 13 The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. 14 The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man[c] to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs[d] and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

23 “At last!” the man exclaimed.

“This one is bone from my bone,
    and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
    because she was taken from ‘man.’”

24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

Here are a few of my observations:

  • God created man and man was special in his relationship with God, above the rest of God’s creation.
  • God created a place to meet man’s physical needs… a beautiful, well watered garden.
  • God created purpose for man… to watch over the garden.
  • God gave man free will and then also gave him clear instructions on what he should do and what he should not do… and what would happen to him if he did not obey God’s instruction.
  • God created woman to be the perfect companion to man. It is clear that God intends man and woman to be husband and wife… not marriage between same sex couples. God intended it to be one man and one woman in marriage… not adultery and sexual promiscuity. God did not intend for divorce to be considered. The relationship of husband and wife is to be second only to relationship with God and should be held above prior relationships with parents or friends.
  • There was not yet any shame… thus no sin at that point. Sin came later through the decision of Adam and Eve to disobey God and eat from the tree He told them not to. God did not create sin, he gave man free will and thus created the opportunity for sin. However, without free will there is also no love or relationship.

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Anger (unrighteous anger), Grace / Forgiveness, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law

God’s Law Demands A High Standard

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Jesus explains the full measure and expectation in the law regarding “murder” in Matthew 5:21-26. He reveals exactly how high God’s standards are and reveals to those of us that are listening that we continue to fall short of those standards.

21 “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’[c] 22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone,[d] you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot,[e] you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone,[f] you are in danger of the fires of hell.[g]

23 “So if you are presenting a sacrifice[h] at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

25 “When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.[I]

Jesus commands us not to hold unrighteous anger toward others. Instead we should seek to be reconciled with them. Holding anger toward others creates bitterness and separates us from God and the joy filled life He wants us to have.

We also see in this scripture that as sinful beings we will never perfectly meet the standard of God’s law. This realization should help us to turn toward Jesus and accept His offer of grace through His death on the cross. Only in this way can we be set free from the bondage of sin.

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