THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

March 1, 2023

LIFE IN THE FOLD

When Jon and I were dating, I didn't have a lot of money. At some point, I bought a new pair of jeans; which was a big deal, considering how little money I made, at that time. One Saturday evening, Jon and I went to see a movie. When we walked outside the theater, it was dark. We stepped off the sidewalk to walk across the parking lot to Jon's car. Without any warning, I was on the ground! Jon was still holding onto my hand, and looked down at me like, "What are you doing?! Why are you on the ground?!"

There was a huge pothole that I hadn't seen, in the dark, and had stepped right on the edge of it. I ended up tearing a big rip in the knee of my new jeans and cut my knee on the jagged edge of the pavement. I, also, sprained my ankle, when my foot hit the edge and turned my ankle the wrong way, as my foot fell into the deep hole.

Jon helped me up, but I couldn't walk, due to the pain in my ankle. I crawled over to the sidewalk and sat down, while Jon went to get the car and bring it around to where I was at.

Unexpected things can catch us off-guard and happen very quickly! One minute, Jon and I were laughing and talking about the movie, and the next I was on the ground with a sprained ankle. Actually, I was probably paying a whole lot more attention to Jon and looking at him, instead of paying attention to where I was walking!

It was an accident, but the truth is, had I been paying attention and watching where I was going, I likely wouldn't have stepped on the edge of that pothole and would have avoided being hurt and ripping my new jeans. There was consequences for my inattentiveness. I couldn't blame anyone, other than myself. Jon didn't push me, no one ran into me, there was plenty of room to walk around the hole..... I suffered due to my own lack of paying attention and watching where I was walking.

Sometimes in life people can make bad choices and then have consequences due to their lack of judgement or giving into temptation or deciding to sin. And it's not always bad people who do this! Sometimes it's good people, who know right from wrong, yet they make a bad decision that can have a huge affect on their life; as well as the life of their family.

The spouse who is tempted to have an affair or just one night of passion with someone other than their husband or wife, and give into that temptation, can ruin their marriage. If a pregnancy happens.... or that one time leads to more.... the sneaking around and lies to cover up... one lie leads to another to another, until they get caught in their own deceit.... the betrayal and guilt.... trying to justify their actions, so they begin blaming their spouse and saying hurtful things... It can be a huge downward spiral that happens quickly. Consequences can be a child born out of wedlock, broken trust in a relationship, divorce, children paying for their parent's mistakes by being raised in a broken home -- feeling as if they've done something wrong to cause their mom and dad to divorce, etc.

Perhaps it is someone who used to party and drink, then changed their life and has been sober and responsible for years. They may be involved in their church and family oriented. But then something happens that tests their faith, so they choose to go back to the bar and get drunk. That could lead to an addiction, or driving drunk and having a detrimental accident, or other adverse outcomes. They may not have meant for that to happen, but that one bad choice leads to consequences and ruin a life. It may be someone taking their first drink, convinced that nothing bad could ever come of it. But that one drink leads to an addiction that they struggle with for years.

Satan will plant a seed in our thoughts about making an ungodly choice; but it's up to us on whether or not we allow that seed to took root and grow.

In Genesis chapter 3 we read the story of Adam and Eve's disobedience and the consequences. The serpent planted that seed of doubt in Eve's mind by saying, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" Eve replied, "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, 'You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.'"

God gave them specific instructions. This was the only thing that God said don't do. So it was the one thing that Satan knew that he could tempt them with. This was his only chance of deceiving them and planting doubt in their heart, causing them to sin.

God didn't trick them or put it there without giving them specific instructions about the tree. They knew it was wrong and that there would be consequences if they ate of the fruit from this one tree, because God told them what would happen. But they chose to eat from it anyway.

When God came down to walk with them in the garden that evening, they hid from Him. Sin will make us try to hide from God, because we feel convicted and guilty. But nothing can ever be hidden from the Lord. He knows the very second that we make sinful choices and disobey His Word.

Adam immediately blamed Eve. "It was the woman You gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it." He even tried to put a little part of the blame onto God, by saying, "The woman YOU gave me."

Eve immediately blamed the serpent. "The serpent deceived me. That's why I ate it."

Neither of them took the blame upon themselves and said, "I did wrong! I made the choice to disobey what You commanded us not to do, and I am so sorry! Please forgive me for eating the fruit that You instructed us not to eat."

Too often, when we make wrong choices and get caught, we try and find someone or something to place the blame on. We try to justify why we did what we did, when the truth is, we knew right from wrong and chose to do wrong. We may come to that place of repentance, but often, we go the long route to get there. We first find excuses, blame, justify.... before crying out to God and saying, "It was me who sinned and chose badly. I knew it was wrong, but did it anyway. I'm sorry for my disobedience and repent of my sin. Please forgive me!"

God forgives us quickly, cleanses us and makes us white as snow -- as if we had never sinned, and forgets about what we did. He makes us clean and new and doesn't remind us of our past sins and the bad choices that we made. Satan will remind us over and over again, trying to keep us under condemnation and feeling guilty, as if we aren't worthy of God's redemption. Then we have to choose who we are going to listen to. Do we listen to the Father and Him telling us that He loves us and all is forgiven and forgotten; or do we listen to the taunts and lies of the devil? One voice will bring us healing and peace, while the other will bring turmoil and discontent.

Even though God forgives and give us grace and mercy, there may still be consequences for our actions. In fact, many times we still have to suffer the consequences for what we did. We may have thought that what we did would only affect ourself, but too often, others will be hurt and suffer due to our bad choices.

A simple example of this is when a child disobeys and does something that could have hurt themselves or someone else. The parent will forgive them and continue loving them; but they also mete out punishment for that child's actions. They are teaching their son or daughter that when you make wrong choices, there will be consequences. Discipline is how they teach those hard lessons.

Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to learn from our wrong choices and sins. If we don't, then we will continue doing it over and over again; possibly doing things a little worse each time. He disciplines us because He loves us. God forgives, but doesn't necessarily take away the punishment or consequences. But He will also never leave us or forget about us, and will be there with us during those hard lessons when we are enduring the repercussions. He will walk with us each moment and give us the endurance and peace that we need during those times. He will encourage us and strengthen us for the journey. God loves us and promises to give us a future and a hope!

Let's watch where we're walking so we don't fall into the pitfalls and snares that Satan tries to lay in our path. We need to always pay attention and be aware of his lies and that his plan is to get us into trouble and draw us away from God. When we are faced with choices, may we choose what's right, and not listen to the voice of the devil trying to deceive us.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 says, "If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure."

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

The sins of someone else can't justify my own sins.

The serpent lied to Eve. But its sin didn't justify hers.

Eve took the fruit, knowing that she wasn't even allowed to touch the tree. That didn't make Adam okay for eating a bite. Her sin didn't justify his.

A spouse that cheats might claim that the other spouse was cold and withholding affections. But the one's sin doesn't justify the others' sin.

While Moses was spending time with God, his brother, Aaron, made a golden calf as a false idol for the people. Their sin in pressuring Aaron into it didn't justify Aaron's sin. And Aaron's sin of making the idol didn't justify the people worshiping it.

The sins of someone else can't justify my own sins.

God justifies our sins. Not in the sense that He can make our sins okay to commit. But in the sense that He paid the fines for them so they won't be counted against us. Justice is served. Only His purity and Jesus's sacrifice can make our sins justified.

ON THE MENEWE:

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Mix dry cake mix and pumpkin together. Add chips; if desired.

Spoon into muffin cups.

Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

When Jon was born, he shared a room with his big brother until he was around five or so; which was probably about the time Jon became very talkative and inquisitive, asking lots of questions. Apparently, he was a really heavy sleeper and very little bothered him. One particular day, their dad was in the room talking to Jon's brother, who picked up his trumpet and started playing. Jon lay there and slept through the whole thing.

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Never limit your prayers because you think you are sinful or undeserving.

You're not praying because of who you are -- you're praying because of who He is! - unknown

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org