Breaking Free

Thanks for the recommendation of Russell Willingham's book, Hans.  I will make a trip soon to the local bookshop and ask them to find it for me.

Plenty of things. We are in a fallen state and mans heart is desperately wicked. But the good news is the saving grace of Jesus Christ !

Hi Peter,
Yes, we sin because we are members of fallen humanity.
Which sins we gravitate toward, however, may have a great deal to do with our personal history.  I have found that it is not for purposes of blame that we need to reflect upon this, but rather for recognizing possible sources of deep-rooted unforgiveness in our lives, which can have a quite negative impact on our spiritual growth.  If we do not face and dig up roots of bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness, we can't give them to God for healing, can we?
TruthSeeker

What Truthseeker said was true in my life.

Deep repentance did come first.  Probably because without it, when God began to take me back to my childhood, I may have blamed others for my problems. 

Instead, when I went back in meditation (just quiet thinking - not some kind of practiced TM or whatever), God showed me childhood scenes and they became absolutely real.  I remembered exact detail and could see where the devil set me up for a fall or a snare and how I would make a series of wrong choices based on the set-up.  I want to repeat that it was I who made the wrong choices - but in a sense it was like Adam and Eve, because I was beguiled.  But God also showed me what the condition of my mind was that allowed myself to be beguiled.   I saw this in exact detail.  Most of it related to vanity-humiliation issues to which a prideful course is presented as the solution to escape the low self-esteem. 

And this may not be a popular thought, but you can't have low self-esteem if you're humble.  Pride and vanity are evil solutions to low self-esteem and in fact are the real cause of it's occurence.  I'm not saying at all, that the answer is groveling and lack of dignity.  Dignity is different than an evil pride.  Dignity comes from a deep faith and trust in God.  And doubting God is probably the biggest source of the ability for the devil to come in and humiliate.  It is therefore Unbelief that is the underlying cause of sin.

I now this all sounds circular and platitudinous on the surface.  For me, it is not at all, and scriptures will back every bit of it up.  All I am doing is making a synopsis of a very long story.  I remember the vicious barbs of playmates and siblings used by the enemy.  We can all be used by the enemy to hurt others if we're not careful.  And - we can be so conditioned to hearing the whispers of doubt and fear that we don't recognize it's the enemy and he begins to misinterpret everything that others do to us.

The sin comes in when we listen and make our choices based on these spirits of darkness.  Often they will set us up (and I'm not really being metaphysical here as most of this happens through people's actions) to where it appears that all choices we have before us are bad and we might as well choose the lesser of two evils or choose the one that leads to our best chance of survival (inner or outer).

It is so important to remain under the protective covering of God by drawing nearer, ever nearer to Him.  To quote an old hymn:  There is a place of quiet rest, near to the Heart of God; a place where sin cannot molest, near to the Heart of God; oh Jesus Blest Redeemer, sent from the Heart of God; hold us who wait before Thee, near to the Heart of God.

When I went back, it was almost like I was being allowed to undo what I had done.  To see the choices I'd made and choose something else, some other path, even when it was other people who were being mean or hateful to me.  It was as if I saw how I could have had a different life-altering response, and I know this sounds strange, but it was like I had the ability to re-choose or to correct that past.  I also forgave those who, like me, were used by the enemy.   It was very healing and really came from the Holy Spirit - I did not follow some prescriptive book or measures at all - the Spirit just lead me into this.

Remember: repentance and drawing close to God comes first.  The first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart.  If you do not follow the first commandment, you will not be successful in any of the others and will not be successful in a full healing of the soul.  As Jesus said: do the First Works.  From a negro spiritual: Well, He's so high you can't go over Him!  So wide, you can't go around Him!  So low, you can't go under Him!  Great God Almighty!  You must go in at the Door!

Repentance leads to the Saving Grace of Christ.  A humble and contrite heart He will not despise.  And when you've drawn close to God and keep going there - you have no evil to fear- His Rod and His Staff will comfort you: He will correct you when and how you need it and He will steer you on the path to Himself when you need re-direction.  God is Almighty.  Our first work is to choose.

Wilderness Voice

greetings all,

it will probably come as no surprise that i do not see the Scripture supporting much of what has been said and the conclusions reached.

God is very clear that within man is no good thing.
our hearts when left to their own, run after sin, its desire is wickedness and we are worthy only of destruction.

adam was not beguiled, he chose sin and such are we.
we will always choose sin.
it matters not whether we live in eden or have the darkness of the world in our past upbringing.

we were unworthy of God's grace before it was given to us, we are unworthy now that it has been given, and we will be unworthy of God's grace for all eternity.

it is only when we can see the contrast between our wickedness and God's purity that we can begin to comprehend the glorious gift given to us.
it is only when we see the darkness in ourselves can we see God's glory and it is that pure fire that begins to refine us and change our lives.

all else is vanity, there is no room for self in the gospel that is preached in Scripture.
the Way does not have room for self-esteem, self-worth or any other self.

even repentance and a contrite heart are a gift from God.
the Scripture is clear, God chose the elect, we were incapable of choosing Him.

wv finishes with "our first work is to choose."
please ponder that concept and the fruit that that would bear.

may the God of heaven and earth grant us grace,
peter

Hello Peter,

               I don't disagree with anything you've said here. But, your statement that "we will always choose sin" I don't quite know what you mean by that. Do you mean we always choose to do evil over good? I believe the more we grow in our faith, the more we compare our actions to what would Jesus do in in certain situations.  At least that's the way I look at it. Therefore we certainly will not always choose to sin. I hope I've made myself clear.

                                                  Dennis