It would seem an impossible task to convince a prince to swap his palace for a pigsty, but the devil is up to the challenge. He is the father of lies, and we must not underestimate his power. He is an expert deceiver and knows just how to persuade us to exchange our priceless inheritance for a bowl of moldy lentils. This is sin, a deception of huge proportions. If only we saw this as clearly as Jesus did, we would never sin again.
Surely, we all want to please God but our desires are still so mixed. We need to be purified in the crucible of suffering, so that only the gold of our selfless desire to please God and help others remains.
Let us ask Jesus to teach us to see the world as he sees it, with a great supernatural spirit, so that like him, we will value the things of heaven more than the things here below.It should be our one desire to belong to God alone. Let us totally abandon ourselves to God's holy will. Let us never sell our heavenly birthright for the measly pleasures of the world here below.
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Three crosses stand on top of Calvary, the tragic hill, and remind us of a detail of the great drama related by St. John:
"There they crucified him and with him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the Middle" (Jo. 19, 18).
When the four authors of the gospels noted this circumstance of the Passion, it was not just to bring out a picturesque detail, but rather to point out an important circumstance of the sufferings of Jesus, the ignominy and shame of his death and the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy: "He was counted among the wicked" (Is. 53, 12).
These three crosses, if we look at them with attention, will teach us a still more important lesson. The two thieves crucified with Jesus represent all sinful mankind, likewise condemned to death.
Are we not all of us thieves, and great ones? Did we not rob God of his glory and of the honor we owed him? Are we not, all of us, condemned to the cross with Jesus? "If anyone wises to come after me, let him…take up his cross every day…" (Lk. 9,23).
Looking at the three crosses of Calvary, we shall learn what our attitude to our own cross can be, and what will result if we (1) reject it as did the bad thief, (2) accept it as the good thief did, or (3) embrace it with Jesus.
I would suggest that if you think you have the ability to "never sin again" you've downplayed the demands of God moral law.
"A judge is a law student who grades his own papers."
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10 ESV)
What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? (Job 15:14 ESV)
Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. (Psalm 143:2 ESV)
you say, 'I am innocent; surely his anger has turned from me.' Behold, I will bring you to judgment for saying, 'I have not sinned.' (Jeremiah 2:35 ESV)
For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. (James 3:2 ESV)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23 ESV)
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? (Psalm 130:3 ESV)
You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. (Psalm 90:8 ESV)
If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity. (Job 10:14 ESV)
But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? (Psalm 76:7 ESV)
he who handles the bow shall not stand, and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself, nor shall he who rides the horse save his life; (Amos 2:15 ESV)
let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. (Nehemiah 1:6 ESV)
But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. (Malachi 3:2 ESV)
for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" (Revelation 6:17 ESV)
God's moral law, that is:)
Dear Charlie,
Thanks for the comments!
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