Tag: sin

What We Really Deserve

Published on by Thesearchforhappilyeverafter

When I was in school as a kid all I could focus on was getting stickers on my chart or earning the coveted trip to the Treasure Box for another dollar store toy. I wanted to earn the favor of my teachers so bad! Come to think of it, I guess I continued this behavior all the way through college—but instead of stickers and slinkys, it was A’s and honor societies.

I always needed approval. I guess I thought I had to earn love or to prove my worth to others. That’s why I had such a hard time accepting God’s free gift of grace.

But I couldn’t do anything to earn God’s grace. His standard is too high. He says every person sins and we all fall short of his requirement of perfect holiness (Romans 3:23). In the book of Matthew Jesus said that even thinking about something bad is just as bad as doing it (Matthew 5). I remember my roommate in college once said,

“I just realized that all I deserve is hell. None of us deserve Heaven.”

She was right. I don’t deserve to be forgiven and I can’t be accepted by God based on my good deeds. That’s why Jesus steps in. His sacrifice made me able to finally be “good enough.” In Isaiah chapter 61, verse 10, it says,

“I delight greatly in the Lord…for he has clothed me in garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness…as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Jesus is the only one who makes me good enough! He puts the righteousness on me. He makes me beautiful. He makes me acceptable to his Father.

I’m so thankful that I don’t have to fill up a chart to be good enough. And I’m so glad we believers in Christ won’t get what we really deserve! Thank you, Lord!

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We All Deserve to be Cancelled

Published on by Thesearchforhappilyeverafter

Anyone else notice the new American fear? It’s not terrorism or earthquakes. It’s something that haunts us in a deeper level: the fear of being cancelled.

Just a few years ago, Americans discussed different viewpoints with an ounce of civility. There was always Uncle Fred—or that neighbor that gets real emotional—and you’d see someone explode in rage. That happens.

But something has changed this past year. Americans are taking sides. Disagreements that used to cause a little distance are causing divisions in families, churches, communities, and more.

There is a new mindset that has permeated popular culture since 2020. We can thank the race riots and the riotous race for president. The media trumpets this message louder every day:

“If you don’t fall in line, you will be kicked out of the crowd.”

There is a media stronghold in this country, and anyone who opposes it—or even just says something they consider disagreeable—that person gets “cancelled.” In other words: shunned. Pushed out of the discussion about the country. Snubbed from having any right to say anything. It’s the grown up equivalent to your parents sending you to your room when they didn’t “like your tone of voice.”

Popular culture has created a new religion, and it’s called “being woke.” The way to earn your salvation is to toe the line and be as politically correct as you can be. Your righteousness is in how “woke” you prove yourself to be.

Americans are shaking in their Nikes over this. What do we do? What if it happens to me? Will I be cancelled?

Here’s the truth: We all deserve to be cancelled.

The Bible says, “There is none righteous, no not one.” (Romans 3:10) All of us fall short of righteousness. All of us sin. None of us are good enough.

The media and its pundits would have us believe that we must think a certain way or vote a certain way or we are “bigots” or “racists” or “Uncle Toms.” Even though we know these labels aren’t true, they strike fear into our hearts. (I’m guilty of this fear too.) But the righteousness of the woke means nothing to God.

When we stand before God—not as an ethnic group or a race or a gender, but as individual humans—we will each see how our “good deeds” meant nothing to earn our individual salvation. Only those who believe in Jesus as their Savior will be seen as clean. Our social justice involvement won’t earn us a pass. Neither will our amount of melanin. How oppressed we feel or what gender we are won’t get us a better spot in Heaven.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

Acts 16:31

Only Jesus. Only He can save us. Only He can make us worthy. Because it’s not about anything we do or have done, it’s only about what He did for us on the cross. We have all sinned (yes, even bad thoughts are sin) and deserve eternal punishment in Hell. But Jesus Christ stepped in and voluntarily took that punishment in our place. That fact means that my future is secure no matter what the world thinks about me.

So, bring on the cancel culture. We all deserve it. But if you’re a believer, Jesus steps in and says, “You can cancel her, but I never will.”

the weight lifter

Published on by Thesearchforhappilyeverafter

“I am the Lord your God. You were slaves in Egypt. You were bent low from the heavy weights you carried as slaves. But I broke the heavy weights that were on your shoulders. I let you walk proudly again.”
‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭26:13‬ ‭ICB‬‬

Have you felt more than tired under a heavy weight? I have. The weight of regret. The weight of sin. The weight of fear. So many weights…

But God is a weight-lifter. Not in a gym—though that would be fun to see—but in our lives! He can carry your burdens. He wants to take them. All you gotta do is turn to him and ask him to take whatever is weighing you down. He will do it.

Jesus said in the book of Matthew, “Come to me, all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

Lean on Him. He’s there for you!

I Admit to my Affair

Published on by Thesearchforhappilyeverafter

Ok, this is confession time. I have had an affair going on for years—not against my husband but against my Savior. And the only person it’s hurt has been me. It’s not an affair with a man; it’s an affair with something even more tempting.

Food.

Yep, this is embarrassing to admit, but I have struggled with this affair since I was about ten. I remember starting my first diet (consisting of trying not to eat the whole family size bag of M&M’s myself) around that time. By the time I hit high school I was committed to daily exercise and only eating 20 grams of fat a day (of course, fat free chips were free game). In college, after purposefully getting myself addicted to Diet Coke, I increased the exercising and graduated to Slim Fast. I was able to keep my weight down until my second child was born (when I was around 30) and since then the struggle has been more obvious (on my waistline).

I’ve realized, however, that the struggle isn’t truly with my weight. And it isn’t really with the rules of my diet. My struggle is with myself.

My biggest problem is that I don’t want to deny myself. I want what I want when I want it.

Ok, yes, I do believe that sugar and carbs are addictive and that I have an emotional connection to food. I know that I am an emotional eater, that I’ve established bad habits over the years and that I would feel much better to go gluten free. I know I get in the shame cycle of addiction and eat more when I feel hopeless because of the four pizza slices I ate last night.

These are all what I would say if someone told me this was their problem. I would “diagnose” them with so many typical eating issues.

But the real problem is my heart. I am a sinner saved by grace, and, while I don’t struggle with stealing or violent crime, I do struggle with saying “No” to myself. This is the age old struggle of humankind: the desire to be our own god. We want to control our lives without God, the “cosmic killjoy,” telling us what to do.

But Jesus tells us in His Word, “If anyone comes after me, let him deny himself and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) He goes on to say that if we want to save our lives we must lose our lives. This doesn’t really mean dying; it means giving up our selfish desires.

That is my problem. A daily struggle with giving up my desires minute by minute, for what God desires for me.

And we know what God desires for us is good. (If you doubt that read Psalm 34, Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalm 139.)

So, I would appreciate your prayers and comments if you are struggling with this too. Or with anything else pulling you from God’s best. We can fight this day by day with God’s Word in our hands.

Please feel free to contact me if you have a question, comment or need prayer! Lnewsom77@protonmail.com

Throw it Off

Published on by Thesearchforhappilyeverafter

Ok, picture this: A bride all dressed and ready to walk down the aisle. She pauses outside in front of the country church for one last photo. Her hair is perfect. Her makeup is perfect. Her dress is perfect…or is it? When she turns around to let the photographer capture the decor on the back of her dress, everyone freezes. As she looks curiously at all the pale faces and big eyes of her bridesmaids, she realizes something is wrong. “Don’t move!” is all she hears. Her brother comes up and carefully reaches behind her, picking something off her back. To her horror, her brother is holding a HUGE, pregnant spider by the leg as the other seven legs wiggle in the air! The bride screams and runs into the church, throwing off her bouquet, her veil, and her shoes in her fright!

This memorable wedding day happened to my coworker’s daughter, and I’m pretty sure I would have run just as fast! (I probably would have run to the bathroom and tore that dress off of me!)

That scene is what I picture every time I read Hebrews 12:1.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We are supposed to “throw off” everything that could hinder us (meaning anything that could hold us back) or any sin that we easily fall into.

We’re not supposed to just slowly walk away from these things. We’re not supposed to hang out there a little while. We are supposed to run like a bride from a spider! Throw those things off!

God knows how damaging sin is to us. It corrodes our lives. We tend to think it’s no big deal sometimes. (“Oh, I’ll just do it this once!”) But it is like that pregnant spider; if you let it hang around it will birth hundreds of tiny baby spiders all over you! (Ok, not spiders, but bad stuff for sure.)

Jesus said, “The thief (the devil) comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

So, I struggle with sin as much as anyone. But I just wanted to give you a picture of how destructive it can be in our lives. Next time we’re tempted, let’s throw off that temptation like a huge, pregnant spider! 🕸