Sneaky "little" Sins

Sneaky "little" Sins                                        Return to Main Menu

Gossip,   Where is the love in gossip?
                Hurtful truth in the absence of love- still gossip.

Worry,     Yes, Worry- Matthew 6: 25-34,  
       Being concerned is different from being worried.
       Jesus explicitly tells us not to worry.
       Discussed in "Living Without Worry".

Believing "This little lie does not hurt anyone."

Wanting excessively more than we need,
        Expecting more than we deserve,
              Getting mad when 
                    we receive what we earned.

Wishing beyond our needs,

    well, it might be ok, 

         but in our self-centeredness

               we too often slip into sin.

Often we Become mad on

        not getting our wishes,

and far worse, is     
Being mad in our selfishness when

          we do get our wishes
and 
           wish we asked for more!

Being very proud of the things we accomplish.

Arrogance in Thinking too often, "I did it" and
       Failing to Give Credit to those where Credit is Due
            Especially, not thanking God for the blessings of
                                                                      your abilities.

In our frustration, 
     in poor circumstances we find ourselves,
         and out of desperation we fuss and fume
Thinking "Why me, Lord?  Why me?"
     This is easy to think when experiencing events we do
     not like but
          Paul tells us to give thanks in all circumstances.
Our God is big, so big that 
      even in our madness when
            especially created by our own poor decisions
                   He continues in patience
                          the love He has for us.

Getting mad, instead of forgiving
      Forgiving, but holding a grudge,
            Holding a grudge and forgetting why,
               and worse,
                     Holding a grudge and knowing why!

Blaming others
      Instead of accepting responsibility.
Accepting responsibility but
      thinking consequences are for everybody else.

Saying "Excuse me" when 
      when stepping in line to get ahead of someone else.

Stepping on someone else when
       seeking career advancement.

Thinking "Taking Pride in your work" is 
       your best way to be motivated.

Thinking, "I'm a pretty good person."
         Jesus speaking in Mark 10:17-18, 
                       "...no one is good except God alone."

Accepting selfish common cultural attitudes and 
         self-centered conventional wisdom 
                  in creating our path to "get ahead" in life.

Thinking "to get ahead in life" is 
         the way to happiness and why we exist.

Living as if Salvation comes
         in just being a Sunday morning bench warmer and
              leaving God out of our daily thoughts. 
Then, living daily with never making prayer  
          part of your daily decision making process.  
          This essentially tells God you feel 
                He has no business in your everyday life.

Believing we know best for our lives.
           We are in need of God's guidance
                 through the Holy Spirit in all our decisions.

Thinking some of these are "ok" behaviors.

Thinking none of these
      are sneaky little sins.

Thinking you are safe because you did not read 

      what's on your mind about your sins.

Thinking, "None of these apply to me."

Thanks be to God
for forgiveness.

"Go and Sin no more"

==================================

Click here for>>>

           9+1 Behaviors that Separate us From God

           Why Do we Rebel Against God

            Return to Main Menu

=====================================

any more you can think of email me, I will add them
 -----  ldcoggins@gmail.com  or
          ldcoggins1948@yahoo.com

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© Lonnie Coggins

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© Lonnie Coggins

ldcoggins@gmail.com

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Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

Intro-
There are many things that can sneak up on us.  A friend, a chest or head cold, or even a spouses birthday, but, the worst are simple littls sins that we sometimes do not recognize.  Click the link below for some thoughts on some of those pesky, sneaky 'little' sins.  Share on your fb page as you wish to do so.
http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2013/01/sneaky-little-sins-return-to-main-menu.html

lonnie 

Publication  0099

In His Own Image

In His Own Image                               Return to Main Menu


Genesis 1:26-31
26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.30  And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day.


One Sunday in the comic strip 'Ice Age', the featured Neanderthal was rolling up balls of snow.  First, a big ball, then a middle size ball, and finally a small ball for the snowman he was making.  When he finished, his creation looked just like him, a neanderthal.  And, as the slumped shoulder man looked the slumped shoulder snowman, his likeness, his smile indicated He was very pleased.

On of the great blessings God gives us is the opportunity to create our children.  Not just from the inception but all the way through the process of teaching them as they grow into adulthood.  As good parents, we take great care in the process of raising our children.   And, as the children go on their own, we like to think, "those are very good children."  But, that caring process extends to many facets of our lives.

My son and I built a model car in cub scouts.  He wanted to look real shiny, red, and fast.  "Together" we cut the block of wood down, made it look really sleek, and started spray painting it.  It could hardly get dry before we lightly sanded it and painted it again, getting the finish sleek, slick, and with a deep finish.  Two days before the competition, it was dropped and it broke in half.  Both of us were devastated   We had worked so hard to make the car beautiful, and then I dropped it.  It was broke in a way I could glue it back together, paint, sand, paint, sand.  And by the competition time, it looked almost perfect.  In creating that car, it became a part of my son and I.  

In a much greater way we feel the same about our children.  We  work hard to  bring them up in the ways we should, and in time, we, like God did when He created man, we say "very good, my child".  Just like God, we are are saddened when they are hurt in some way, upset when they disobey us, but always loving them.  We are like that because we are in God's image.

For five "days" in the creation, God made things and called it good, but on the sixth day, he created Adam and Eve, and called it "very good".

In the fulfillment of the OT prophecy and teachings, Jesus brought new meaning to having a relationship with God.  The old relationship was the First Covenant with Abraham and based on "the Law", the Ten Commandments.  But, in the New covenant, the relationship became much more personal.  When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the command comes from Jesus, First- to Repent in Matthew  4:17 and then in Matthew 6:33, we are told not to worry, but to Seek First the Kingdom.  In that, God wants to know us, hear from us, desires communication with us more, much more than we even want to know our children.  I do not feel compelled to hear from my son everyday, but God's love for us exceeds anything we can have for our children.  And, he wants to hear from us, daily.

We are made in His image, as we love, He loves so much more.  As we are concerned about the things we conceive, grow, develop, and create, He is the same in a far greater capacity than we can ever know.  As we can get upset, Jesus showed the same.  But, Jesus showed us how to deal with our being upset, do it at the right time, in patience.  He waited many years before he cleansed the Temple, or told the Pharisees and teachers of the Law how wrong they were (Matthew 23).  As we try to teach our children, so too did Jesus teach us how to live in the Sermon on the Mount.

From all that is written here, truly consider this:  Genesis tells us that God created us and in His image.  As He loves us, so too we should love and desire a relationship with Him just as with our children.  As we yearn for something beyond ourselves, know too, that God yearns in patience to feel your love and your desire for Him.  Pray often everyday, in faith watch what God will do with you as you listen and feel the guidance of the Holy Spirit He puts in you.  It is just what He does as a loving parent and creator God.

Thanks Be to God.
lonnie
(c)

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© Lonnie Coggins

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© Lonnie Coggins

ldcoggins@gmail.com

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Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

lonnie 

Publication  0098

A Short Thought, Amazing!

A Short Thought                 Return to Main Menu
Amazing!

Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit

Mark 1:21-28pp -- Lk 4:31-37

21  They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.
22  The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
23  Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out,
24  "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!"
25  "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!"
26  The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
27  The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching--and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him."

28  News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

Lee Stroble in his book “A Case for Christ” details how in vowing to disprove the Messiahship of Jesus came to be a most ardent believer.  The circumstantial evidence was overwhelming.  One piece of that evidence is Biblically amazing; it is more likely, a greater probability (possibility) that 7 billion people on this earth would be struck by lightning at the same time than a person could accidentally satisfy over four dozen prophecies of the Old Testament (*1).

The words 'amazed' and 'astonished' are two of my favorite words in the New Testament and especially the Gospels.  In the Gospels, NIV,  'amazed, 'amazement', 'astonished', and 'astonishment'  are used 47 times.  These words go beyond what we think when we use these words in everyday speech.  We are 'amazed' when a magician makes a beautiful woman turn into a lion or makes the space shuttle disappear.  But the amazement is is how we are fooled and us wondering how it was done.

In the Bible, the word goes far beyond that with much greater meaning.  These words mean to be astonished, dumbfounded, in wonder of, in awe of, and most important, as if to have a new, never thought of meaning.  When people, the disciples, or other followers were amazed, it was due to something totally new and unconditionally different from anything ever seen before.

So to it is with Jesus.  When Jesus fully comes into and fills our lives, He calms our storms, relieves our burdens, removes our worries, and so much more that we are amazed at how we have been changed.  It is right that we should be amazed when God fully fills us with His Holy Spirit.  It is something totally new and unconditionally different from anything ever felt before.

But, in reality, God's perfect work is not really Biblically amazing and we should not be amazed with His work in this world, but only at the resulting beauty and wonder of his work such as a sunrise.  What we see in His work is what He does everyday!  After all, He created just by speaking everything into existence!  God spoke and Bang! it happened.  The amazing part is we should be equally and Biblically amazed and dumbfounded at ourselves, that we do not more fully seek, see, and more greatly desire God's wondrous work though us each and everyday!  We should daily seek God, praying that He fill us with His Spirit to do more of His work in us and through us to more fully expand His kingdom!    

God filled Jesus with the Holy Spirit, likewise the disciples.  In our acceptance of Jesus as Savior, we too have the Holy Spirit.  To achieve what we can amazingly do through God's work in us, to complete Jesus' work here on earth, we, just as Jesus was, must be amazingly filled in the Spirit; to be Filled, we must humbly pray and pray and pray.... everyday.

Thanks Be to God!

lonnie

(c)

*1
The actual probability of a person accidentally fulfilling four dozen prophecies of the Old Testament is 
                 1
----------------------------
 10 to the 117th power

or
one chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion,
                           trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion,
                           trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion,
                           trillion.

Reference:
Stroble L, "The Case for Christ", 
Chapter 10 - The Fingerprint Evidence,
Section - "The Coincidence Argument"
Paragraph- 3.
Publisher- Zondervan

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© Lonnie Coggins

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© Lonnie Coggins

ldcoggins@gmail.com

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

lonnie 

Publication  0097

Menu Bible Studies

A Daily Thought                               Return to
Bible Studies Menu                                    Main Menu

Matthew's Gospel
A Look Selected Scripture
Part 1       Part 2           Part 3

Glory in the Desert
A Study of Jesus' Desert Experiences
From Matthew 4
Part 1         Part 2         Part 3
   Why did Jesus Go to the Desert, it was more than the leading of the Holy Spirit
                             How did Jesus defend himself against Satan's Temptation
                                                          There is Glory in our Testing 

Genesis 22   The Test of Abraham

Matthew 2:1-12     The Visit of the Magi

Matthew 6:22-23   Stuff, We like our Stuff

Matthew 15:3   Why do we stand in amazement 
                              of God's Work in our life?

Matthew 19:16-22  The Rich Young Man,
                             Approaching Jesus Correctly

Matthew 26:32-40  Jesus:The Master of
                                 Submission and Relationships

Mark 10: 17-22  The Rich Young Man, 
                            Approaching Jesus Correctly

Luke 1: 34-35     What Did Mary Do?

Romans 1: 17   A Road Less Traveled
       One man can make a difference!  
                This man was tested and tempted, but in the end, 
                        he always returned to Testing and never gave up his faith.

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18  Giving Thanks 
                                  in All Circumstances, Really?

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© Lonnie Coggins

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You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins

ldcoggins@gmail.com

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

lonnie 

Publication  0096

Approaching Jesus, Correctly!

Approaching Jesus,  Correctly!  

                    

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The Rich Young Man - complete text is linked.

Mark 10:17-22   Remember- Mark is writing to the persecuted Christians of 65-70AD

17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"18"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.19You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' "20"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

Matthew 19:   Remember- Matthew is for the Jews as a bridge from the OT to the NT,  70-75AD
16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."18"Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,19honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.' "20"All these I have kept," the young man said.

As a Scoutmaster for 12 years and then a middle school teacher for 10 years, finding great teachable moments was often the best moments of my day.  Middle school students often asked good motivated questions but used the wrong words.  The teachable moment that came often involved the word 'can', meaning 'being able to'.  The conversations went something like this:
student- "Mr. Coggins, can I go to the bathroom?"  My immediate answer:  "I don't know." 

"But, Mr. Coggins, I have to go to the bathroom, can I?"
"I don't know."

"Mr. Coggins!, I really need to go, can I!!!?"
"Welllllll, I just do not know.  Are you able? Do you need help?  How do I know if you can even find the bathroom?  Do you need someone to hold your hand?"

Then, with a dumbfounded look, "Mr. Coggins, please let me go, I need to go now!!!!!!"

Then, another student would whisper, "Say, 'May I'."

"Ohhh, Mr. Coggins, may I go to the bathroom?"
me- "Of course you may, why didn't you ask me earlier."
And, they ran out of the room, presumably to the bathroom.

The wrong choice of words is often confusing, reveal misunderstanding of words, and reveal incorrect preconceived ideas of what one thinks they are really asking.

The simple student example shows their misunderstanding of the use of 'can' and the conversation taught the importance of clarity in the use of words.  The students, they always made it to the bathroom and through some slight embarrassment, they learned from the experience.  However, such is not the case for the Rich Young Man.

In reading the story of The Rich Young Man there is great insight on how to approach Jesus in prayer.  There are great meanings to be found in comparing and contrasting the reading of the two accounts in Matthew and Mark, but more importantly, discovering what the words of the story can mean for us.  

Much of the ultimate results of our life's experiences,

our Godly relationship, and resulting peace of mind

 is often based on our attitudes in the our motivations behind

 the thoughts we think, 

the questions we ask,  

the words we say, 

the things we do, and 

the prayers that we pray.

In the example above, if a student appeared before me disrespectfully demanding to go to the bathroom, my answer was often "no".   With a poor attitude you blunder into poor results.

The story of this man coming to Jesus is one of the great blunders of the Bible.   Every step of the way the man is completely out of step with what Jesus has to offer.  Why? His attitude!  His motivation was likely for a worthy purpose, but the question, his comments, and his body language betray and conspire to lead Jesus to know his heart.

First, consider what we can know about the man.  Likely he could be considered a good Jew.  Luke says he was a ruler (Luke 18:18),  he knew and claims obedience to the commandments (vs20),  from Mark we see him honoring and paying homage as he approaches Jesus (vs 17 ).  Finally, he was a man of wealth (vs22).  Our question then is what was his motivation in coming to Jesus?  What had he observed that made the man care about what Jesus could tell him?  Based on the placement of this story in both Gospels we can believe this event came quite near the end of Jesus' ministry.  Therefore, the man had been given opportunity to see Jesus's works, hear His words, and very likely came to believe that He was the Messiah.

The man comes concerned about eternal life.  This too, is our concern and why we submit to Jesus and the life He has for us.  Therefore, we can identify with this man!  We may not have all he had materially, but he, as for most of mankind, wanted to believe there is more to life than just existence, more to life than what we see, and more to life than the number of breaths we take.  People of nearly all faiths are concerned about eternal life.

The man's blunder in coming to Jesus is his attitude! The rich man has life, a good life and motivation, is earthly fulfilled, but still has an emptiness in his heart and this is his motivation in coming to Jesus.  This is the issue many people identify with, especially in western and secular societies, we have much, we have a good life if not a wealthy life, but many are still walking, breathing and living with an empty heart.  People do good works, but it is never enough; people try doing their best, but it is never enough; and people give much of themselves to many opportunities, but it is never enough.  So many people live a good life and keep asking themselves as the rich man did Jesus, "what must I do to inherit, to get, to stake my claim on life beyond this existence?"

People are motivated to have what Jesus gives, have the desire for salvation, desires to respond to Jesus’ "seek", as He commands us to do in Matthew 6:34.  But, just like the man in the story, people  often blunder living and asking the wrong question!

The man asks Jesus, "what must I do, what good thing must I do to inherit, to get eternal life."  The man's great blunder, and for many people their blunder, is the word "I".  For a true relationship with God, WE can do nothing in the manner the Rich Man asks.  He was right in being on his knees and head bowed in submission to Jesus, but he approached Jesus with the wrong attitude, and the incorrect words!

In our crazy world, God's world appears upside-down.  In God's world, love trumps hate, forgiveness over rules sin, everlasting life over comes death, and our approach to Jesus should not start with questions and a "I want" or "what can I do" attitude.  Rather, Jesus, tells us quite explicitly what we must do.  His whole ministry is the example of our behavior and his resurrection is the validation of his first and all other commands to us, "Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand".   In the Rich Young Man’s emptiness, in our emptiness without God, what we seek is not something we "get" or inherit.  In our homage to Christ, our love and submission to God, in our acceptance of the Holy Spirit and in our humble attitude, we simply go to Jesus in prayer and living in the words, “Lord forgive me, for I am a sinner".  In penitence, our real communications with God begins without confusion or misunderstood words, and quite correctly.  

In God's seemingly upside-down world, let not your "I do" attitude be your blunder as it was in the Rich Young man.  Living with a penitent heart in God's will is truly good for us in setting righteous attitudes and authenticating our prayers, resulting in peace of mind and the eternal riches of a Godly relationship that only God can provide.

Thanks Be to God,
TB2G

 lonnie

© lonnie coggins

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© Lonnie Coggins        source- Facebook "A Daily Thought Group"
ldcoggins@gmail.com              www.adailythought.NET

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

lonnie

Publication  0094


intro

HOW WE ASK FOR SOMETHING OFTEN DETERMINES WHAT WE RECEIVE.  Click for a discussion in this message about how we should approach Jesus in our prayers.   Please share the message on your Fb page as you like, and if you like, click the FB 'Follow' button to have notifications of these publications.  For other messages like this, visit my FB page, or on FB visit-"A Daily Thought Group".

http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2013/01/approaching-jesus-correctly.html