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The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie http://www.harvest.org/devotional
Written by Wally Fry for “Truth in Palmyra” @ https://truthinpalmyra.wordpress.com
Original post @ https://truthinpalmyra.wordpress.com/2018/08/02/faith-in-action-lets-get-sad-over-sin-2/
James 4:9
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Read James Chapter 4 here
Is James telling us here to be sad, sober, gloomy faced Christians? Just a cursory reading of that might lead us to believe that way. But, that is not what James is saying at all.
As always, we have to look at anything we read in God’s Word in light of the context in which it appears. James is still talking about God’s grace for our daily lives and how we can best get our hands on it so to speak. He has just finished teaching about making ourselves pure in heart and mind to properly approach God. Now he is simply talking about our attitude toward sin.
Sin in our lives should make us sad. We should be distressed and upset about the sin in our lives, as an affront to a Holy God. In other words, we should certainly never take joy, or rejoice in, our iniquities.
Remember David, repenting over his sin with Bathsheeba? He recognized that the true sin was not against even the man he had murdered, but against God. We see this in Psalm 51, when David prayed to God, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.” Paul even instructed the Corinthian Church this way in the great Love Chapter, when he issued this instruction, love “Rejoiceth not in iniquity“
If we even pause for a moment to consider how our sin came to be paid for, we could never be anything but sad about it. A great, great price was paid to cover the debt of our sin. Because of the price Jesus paid on The Cross, our sin should never be something to rejoice over, but should cause us much grief.
There is a song which captures well the attitude believers should have over sin in their lives.
Feel The Nails By Ray Boltz
They tell me Jesus died
For my transgressions
And that He paid that price
A long, long time ago
When He gave His life for me
On a hill called Calvary
But there’s something else
I want to know
Does He still feel the nails
Every time I fail?
Does He hear the crowd cry
Crucify, again?
Am I causing Him pain?
Then I know I’ve got to change
I just can’t bear the thought
Of hurting Him
It seems that I’m so good
At breaking promises
And I treat His precious grace
So carelessly
But each time He forgives
What if He relives
The agony He felt on that tree?
Does He still feel the nails
Every time I fail?
Does He hear the crowd cry
Crucify, again?
Am I causing Him pain?
Then I know I’ve got to change
I just can’t bear the thought
Of hurting Him
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
Do you still feel the nails
Every time I fail?
Have I crucified you, Jesus
With my sin?
I’m tired of playing games
I really want to change
I never want to hurt You again
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
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P.S. (from bruce) If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ?? Here is the truth for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ… https://godsmanforever.com/2016/12/19/the-gospel-of-our-lord-jesus-christ-12182016-written-by-bruce-r-mills/
To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please feel free to share this message of the cross with those in need…
Thanks for sharing, Bruce