“and you may be sure that your sin will find you out”   Numbers 32:23

And we teach them to pray that way for themselves. Now some folks might find that harsh, but do you want to be clean or don’t you? You can’t hide from God anyway. What a foolish thought when we think we can.

Trust me, if you are doing something wrong, somebody is going to see it and their faith in the Kingdom will be damaged.

Even more so in today’s world is it important to keep a clean reputation if we claim to be a Christian. The world is watching. The definitions are changing daily. A hundred years ago being a “God fearing man” meant a completely different thing to most folks than it does today.  Today most folks have no idea what it means, but even if they ventured an opinion it wouldn’t be biblical. In fact most opinions today from folks who think they are Christians are far from biblical. And we know not enough folks read their bible. We need to give Godly examples if we are ever to “win the lost”. Godly biblical examples. I was recently surprised to hear an opinon that it was “un-Christian to deny same sex married couples to adopt children” to “deny children of loving parents is just not right” the person said. See what I mean? The word parent doesn’t even mean the same anymore. much less the word marriage. So much has changed even in the last ten years.

So I challenge you. Don’t act like what the world thinks a Christian is like. Act like what Jesus thinks a Christian is like. His word is true and somebody is watching you, looking for a real example. Looking for real deliverance, real love, real life.

Birthdays are a celebration of life around here. We seriously celebrate life. You have to stop what you are doing and recognize the gifts of friends and family around you. they are truly gifts to be cherished. All too often in this world we don’t appreciate folks enough while they are here. We take it for granted that they will always be here. And I can tell you that they won’t.

So hug somebody today and tell them that you love them.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”                                                                                                                                       Mark 12:30-31

 How often do we get this wrong?  Because we are busy, or just don’t care or here it comes…..we don’t want to offend anyone. I am afraid that the Gospel has become politically correct.

• In public we now have a “moment of silence” instead of boldly coming before His Throne
• We don’t preach the truth for fear of folks feeling condemned
• It is nearly illegal to say that Jesus is the ONLY way, so we say He is one way.
• We refer to God as a “higher power”.

And so on and so on. And we forget we are eternal beings. And that long after someones feelings are not hurt, he will still be gnashing his teeth, in eternal fire. FIRE that never ever ends. No forgiveness, no hope, no prayer, no changing there mind. Eternity without God. I saw the best church sign yesterday. It said, “Hell is Real.”  That about sums it up.

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.                                                                                                  Ephesians 4:25

So why are we so afraid to tell the truth. When was the last time you heard someone say in love, “hey brother, that is sin?” Why can’t we say it? Nobody even uses that word anymore. Oooh, big bad word. Sin. That might hurt someones feelings. We don’t want them to feel condemned now do we? But what is condemnation? It means you are guilty, and there are consequences. So if someone is in sin, or condoning sin, or rationalizing sin, or thinking about sin, or even heading towards sin, aren’t they already condemned? I mean the wages of sin is death right? So it would seem to make more sense to tell them the truth and save them from condemnation. It would seem to make sense that we ought to be telling folks everywhere, Jesus is not  A way, He is THE WAY, the only way.” And that His path is the Only Path. And yes that might hurt their feelings to find out they have been believing a lie.  But you know what? I believe that once their eyes are opened they won’t be focused on their own feelings anymore and He will heal them.

We can love sinners or those in sin and still proclaim what is true. We can and we had better start proclaiming the name of JESUS while we still can. Because if we don’t then we are no better than the ones we need to share with. A true Christian has true love. And friends don’t let friends burn in hell. I love you enough to tell you.