Don't Let Sin Have Dominion Over Me!

Reading:  Psalm 19
My Verse:  "Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them  not have dominion over me!  Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression" (19:13).

This should be every Christian's plea!  Oh, LORD God, it is my plea. 

Deuteronomy 17:12 says of presumptuous sins.  "The man who does preumptuously and will not listen to the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God or to the judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel." 

The dictionary says of presumptuous - unwarrantedly or impertinently bold; forward.  Some synonyms are:  arrogant, audacious, bold, conceited, egotistic, foolhardy, insolent, self-assured, self-condifent.  It is definitely not a characteristic one would aspire to, Lord.  And yet it is one that we are so prone to.  We are ever wanting to determine for ourselves our way.  And that is at the crux of becoming a follower of You.  We need to admit that we cannot live our lives as we please - it just doesn't work.  Well, it may seem to work for a time but eventually the longing of our souls gets the better of us.

It is so easy for sins to have dominion over me if I allow them to continue.  Oh, Lord, You only can keep me from them.  You only can make me blameless.  Guilt is such a strong part of our lives.  We are constantly battling guilty feelings over a myriad of things, mess-ups that we do.  What a wonderful, freeing feeling to be blameless!

Then to be innocent!  In verse 12 the author asks to be declared "blameless from hidden sins."  It is so wonderful that we can expect You, LORD God, to forgive us of sins we even forgot and  sins we committed ignorantly.  Then here in verse 13 he asks that he be declared "innocent of great transgressions."  How wonderful that we can ask You, Lord, to keep us innocent in our daily practices, our daily living.

Thank You, Lord for this Psalm.  Thank You that I can cry out to You to keep me every moment of every day!

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer" (19:14).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Come, LORD Jesus!




Reading:  Revelation 22
My Verse:  "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last the beginning and the end" (22:12,13).

Here are the two final blessings of Revelation.   And here You tell us You are, indeed, coming soon.  I love how John ends this book.  "Amen, come, Lord Jesus!"

The 6th blessing is.  "Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book" (22:7).  This simple verse tells me so much.  First, that I need to be reading this book to know what it says.  Second that there is prophecy in this book, meaning there are things yet to come, events yet to happen that will usher in Your return.  Then that wonderful blessing for those who read and heed Your Word!

The 7th and final blessing says.  "Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates" (22:14).  Washing our robes is to allow You to cleanse us with Your shed blood, cleanse us in a way we never could. Only You can make us pure and clean and so able to enter into Your city.

In today's atmosphere of political correctness, it is not popular to tell someone what they are doing is a sin.  We are now to call various sins either addictions or lifestyles.  Yet they, according to Your Word, LORD God are sin.  You even name them as such. Galatians 5:19-21 gives one such list of sin.  "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious; sexual immorality, impurity and debauchers; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. .. "  Sin is not something we are forced into, it is something we choose to do.  You say in verse 12. "He who is unrighteous, let him be unrighteous still; and he who is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he who is righteous, let him be right still, and he who is holy, let him be holy still."  Does this speak of patterns of behavior?  Patterns of behavior that we choose and will no longer be able to change once You come?  You go on to say that outside the city gates will be those who cannot enter in.    "Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood."  What dreadfulness.  What utter despair for those who choose to ignore Your constant warnings, for those who refuse to acknowledge sin is sin and we are sinful!

Oh, LORD God, thank You for this Your word which is Truth!  Thank You for telling us what the ending of this amazing story if to be.  Thank You for telling us how to prepare ourselves to be ready for that ending, so that we can participate in a joyous way.

Yes, Come, Lord Jesus!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!