Read an Excerpt
OOPS I DID IT AGAIN
GOD HATES SIN, BUT HE LOVES YOU
By RON KELLY
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2012 Ron Kelly
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4772-4008-3
Chapter One
Just Forget About It
Many of you find it difficult to move forward because you can't seem to let go of your past. You're left with feelings of guilt and shame as your past sins keep resurfacing: suicide attempts, abortions, felony convictions, infidelity and a host of other mistakes. Sometimes, the decisions we make in life create a wedge between us and God, causing us to run away from Him. However, God never leaves us. Jesus, in turn, extends His nailed scared hands, making it clear to him: that whatever he's done was nailed to the cross, and he's welcomed back in the arms of Jesus.
You may remember the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). Here, the younger of two sons disrespects his father by prematurely demanding his inheritance. The son goes on to denounce his religion and his God. He takes his inheritance and flees to a distant land, where he wastes his fortune on wild living.
Naturally, he runs out of money. When a severe famine hits the country, the son finds himself in dire circumstances. He is forced to take a job feeding pigs and is so destitute that he longs to eat the food given to the pigs. The young man finally comes to his senses and remembers his father. With humility, he recognizes his foolishness and decides to return to his father and ask for forgiveness and mercy. His father, who had been watching and waiting, receives his son back with open arms.
The parable of the Prodigal Son is a beautiful reflection of the grace and forgiveness of our Heavenly Father. Typically, a son received his inheritance at the time of his father's death. For the younger brother to instigate the early division of the family estate showed a rebellious and proud disregard for his father's authority, not to mention a selfish and immature attitude. Yet his father received him back after all he had done.
This story is an extreme case of blatant disrespect for which the son should have been cut off from his father. In the same way, how many times have we displayed momentary lapses in judgment and totally disrespected our Heavenly Father? If we're honest, we'd all have to admit that we've had moments in our lives when we've been in the pigs' pen. And because of our past actions, we run away from God, and we believe it's impossible to come back after sinking so low. The truth, though, is that it doesn't matter what you've done. We serve a God who says, "I'm waiting for you with open arms. Come back home!"
Back in the 1980s, I was a teenager. Raised in church, I was trying my best to live for God while struggling with the actions and behaviors typical of most teenagers. Around 1985, I became a huge fan of a contemporary gospel group called Commissioned. In particular, their song "Running Back To You" spoke directly to my heart and changed my life forever.
The lyrics include a detailed conversation between a down and out believer and the Lord. At his lowest point he is convinced, that because of his indiscretions and wicked ways, he has reached a point of no return. Pursuing his own desires on worldly things, he literally turns his back on God. At one point in the song, he even tries to tell the Lord that He doesn't understand. Jesus in turn, extends His nailed scared hands, making it clear to this person: that he's welcomed back in the arms of Jesus.
I encourage you to pause and meditate on the lyrics of this powerful song, which still ministers to the hearts of so many struggling Christians today. I even encourage you to watch the YouTube video of Commissioned performing it live during their reunion tour in 2009: http://youtu. be/QtOOOq5NWnU. As well, this song will help you understand how the grace of God is far greater than your sins. Even though you have committed great sins, you need to realize that the blood of Jesus Christ is still greater.
If you are new to Christianity and find this concept hard to comprehend, don't feel bad. It still blows my mind today! But the reality is that God can, and does, forgive us at our worst. So if He forgives and forgets our indiscretions, why can't we? It is clear throughout the Bible that God not only forgives our sins, but He forgets them as well. Take a moment to read and meditate on the following scriptures:
Hebrew 8:12, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
Jeremiah 31:34, "... For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Isaiah 43:25, "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins."
As you have just read, when we seek God's forgiveness with our heart, His forgiveness is immediate and complete. Our almighty, all-powerful and all-knowing God loves us so much that He doesn't hold our forgiven transgressions against us. Why? Because the blood of His Son Jesus Christ washes them away!
As believers, we can rest in this truth and rejoice in the certainty that the Lord will not remember our sins anymore. Why should we? 1 John 1:9 tells us, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
In the Bible, the word "condemnation" simply means to fall short of God's glory. Many of God's people are living under a heavy burden of guilt and shame because of their past. As a result, they find it difficult to believe that God will forgive and forget their sins. The act of condemning (or condemnation) will bring unrelenting feelings of guilt and shame, with no hope of mercy or freedom, but the devil is a liar! Romans 8:1-2 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."
So what's the next step after you've asked for forgiveness? How do you become liberated from your feelings of guilt and shame? Paul gives us the answer in Philippians 3:12-14, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me; Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
I remember visiting with my former pastor during a rough patch in my life. I sat in his study and proceeded to beat myself up over a collection of past mistakes that I had made. As always, my pastor injected a healthy dose of motivational nuggets into my sprit, but the words of wisdom that lifted my spirit were "Your past is not fatal, your mistakes are not final, and your failure is not the end." This statement spoke volumes to me, so much so that I have passed it on to countless others who have a hard time letting go of their past.
You will never become the man or woman that God has called you to be if you allow yourself to be held hostage by the guilt and shame of your past mistakes. It doesn't matter who you are; every last one of us will make mistakes in life. Throughout our lives, we are constantly learning; thus, true wisdom and spiritual maturity are exercised only when we learn from our past mistakes.
Satan would love to keep you in chains from the bondages of your sin, but you don't have to be a slave to your past indiscretions. You are free through the precious blood of Jesus Christ! John 8:34-36 says, Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."
Sure, you've made some mistakes along the way, and you're going to make many more during the course of your life! You might have even veered off course, but your spiritual navigational guide keeps saying, "Recalculating!" In other words, you might have fallen down, but you don't have to stay there. You can get back up again in the Name of Jesus Christ!
As believers, we can rejoice in the fact that God doesn't erase our future because of our past! I encourage you to forget about what happened in your past and move forward with the following declaration:
I will pursue what I know is His call on my life, regardless of my past mistakes and indiscretions. I will not allow the enemy to convince me that I am unqualified to become what God has called me to be because of my struggles with sin. No longer will I be bound by the shackles of sin and shame. I will move forward with the power of the Holy Spirit, rise above my past mistakes, and believe with every fiber of my being that "greater is He that is in me than he who is in the world!" I accept the fact that I am not perfect, but God still loves me unconditionally. I will forgive myself and leave the past behind me. Most importantly, I will receive the forgiveness of God and press forward toward the ultimate goal: the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!
Reflections
______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
Chapter Two
Stop Faking It
It has become common in many American churches for Christians to pretend that everything is fine and dandy in our lives, even though we know that's the furthest thing from the truth. Furthermore, throughout Christian history, misconceptions about what characteristics define a true Christian have formed. Many people believe that good Christians should always have a smile on their face and a bubbly, pleasant personality. If by chance they're confronted by a challenging circumstance or experience, they should put up a façade and pretend as if everything is just fine.
Unfortunately, an unwritten rule seems to exist in many Christian churches and religious circles these days: Everybody seems to be faking it. We go to great lengths trying to fool people into believing that we're more spiritual than we really are. We put up a front so that people will think that we believe God is in control of our situation when in reality, that's not at all what we believe.
We pretend that our faith gauge is on full when we're actually running on fumes. We do a great job of concealing the imperfections in various parts of our lives, because we've learned how to fake people out. We pretend that we have the perfect marriage when we're living in separate bedrooms and barely speaking to our spouse. We pretend that our children are perfect. We pretend that we aren't living from paycheck to paycheck. We pretend that we're not being overtaken by this pressure cooker we call life.
Some people will go so far as to practice their Christian walk in the mirror, so they're able to strut in the church on Sunday mornings and fool all the other saints with their customary greeting, "Child ... God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!" We have become experts at pretending. We pretend that we've got it all together, so much so that we could never be forthcoming about our sin to others!
It has become second nature for most Christians to play make believe. We give quick and efficient responses when someone probes into our lives. If someone asks how we're doing, we paint that superficial smile across our faces and respond by saying, "Oh, I'm better than blessed!" This answer is much easier than saying, "Honestly, I feel like all hell has broken loose in my life!" Imagine the look on the person's face if you said, "I got fired from my job, my wife/husband doesn't love me, my kids have lost their minds, and my dog won't even greet me when I come home!" One thing is for certain; you wouldn't have to worry about them asking you about your personal life ever again!
In his book Messy Spirituality, Mike Yaconell eloquently writes: "Pretending is the grease of modern non-relationships. When we fake it or pretend that all is well, it perpetuates the illusion of relationships, by connecting us on the basis of who we aren't!."
By no means should this suggest that you have to share all of your problems with the world, but Yaconell's point is that all of this pretending is sending many people into a downward spiral of depression. Why? Because of all these false appearances, many people start to feel like no one can possibly relate to their situation. They become convinced that everyone seems to have it all together, except for them!
However, the reality is that most people really aren't who they appear to be. We all have our secrets, our skeletons and individual issues, because we all sin. It doesn't matter who you are or how long you've been saved; everyone struggles with sin and must ask the Lord for forgiveness on a continual basis.
The biggest misconception of Christians is that we don't sin, but this is certainly not the case. The Bible is clear when we read 1 John 1:8, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." As well, Romans 3:10, "... there is none righteous, no, not one;" In other words, everyone struggles with sin from time to time. True liberation comes only when we refuse to pretend, fake, lie or allow others to believe that we are something or someone that we're not! I think we forget that God has His eyes on us at all times, lending truth to that 80s hit song "I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me!"
David was able to deceive the people of Israel about his sins with Bathsheba and the assassination of her husband Uriah that he ordered, but he couldn't fool God! God saw everything, and David confirms this in Psalms 139:2-3. He says, "You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways."
Even more, Jesus says in Luke 12:2, "For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known." In other words, what's done in the dark will ultimately come to the light! However, the all-seeing eyes of God should encourage us, because it's comforting to know that we serve a God who sees us in our weaknesses and still decides to love us.
Stop faking it! You're not fooling anyone but yourself! God hates sin, but He doesn't hate the man or the woman who commits the sin. He loves us unconditionally! Dottie Rambo says it best in her song "He Looked Beyond My Faults." God sees everything we do and knows our true selves, including our strengths and weaknesses. We might be able to hide our weaknesses and conceal our sins from friends and family, but when we cheat, steal, lie or misrepresent ourselves, God sees it all. We might be successful at fooling others, but we can't fool God. God is watching us at all times, not to spy on us, but to protect us, provide for us and guide us while we're on this tedious journey. I don't know about you, but I'm thankful and relieved to know God is watching over me.
As I encourage you to stop faking it, let me reiterate that God forgives us when we repent. Through the precious blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He gives us another chance! God doesn't see what we are today but, rather, our potential! Sometimes we can only see our weakness, but God sees our strength! When we have failed miserably and sadness clouds our vision, sometimes the only thing we can see is defeat, but God sees our ultimate victory!
It's easy for people to accept the notion that only those outside the Christian community have problems with sin. However, this book is targeted to those within the faith who find themselves struggling with sin. More than ever before, believers are abandoning the church and some have given up on their faith altogether because of their ongoing struggle with sin. The reality, however, is this: From the front door to the pulpit, every last one of us has to deal with sin and the consequences when we get off track.
The self-proclaimed super Christian will have a problem with me saying this, because it goes against everything we've been taught since Sunday school. But I have a real passion for the under-achiever Christian, the silent majority who repeatedly says, "I'm never going to get this Christianity thing right!" A Gospel message of hope and encouragement needs to be spoken continuously to those struggling in their faith because of their inability to avoid sin. The truth is that there is no such thing as a Christian who doesn't sin!
(Continues...)
Excerpted from OOPS I DID IT AGAIN by RON KELLY Copyright © 2012 by Ron Kelly. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
