October 29, 2012
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:27-30
OBSERVATIONS
1. Jesus shows how sin is much deeper than wrong actions. It begins inside of me long before it shows itself in what I do. The heart is sinful, therefore sinful actions result. We may think He is being extreme about cutting off and gouging out, but He is only pointing out how destructive and serious sexual sin is. Ask the victims, they’re usually all for castration.
2. We live in a sex-saturated society. We are exposed to sexually stimulating content all day long. Though sexual crime is never OK, we should not be surprised by it, when the pump is being primed every day. We are losing control, and the consequences are serious. Ask the victims, they would quickly admit that their experience was hell.
3. Whatever hell is, it is serious and worth avoiding. I think much of the thinking relating to hell is mistaken, but I still believe in eternal consequences. In the end God gives us what we want – an eternity with Him or without Him. Our choices lean us in one direction or the other. There will be consequences, and Jesus is saying that it is better to suffer for the moment through dicipline and self-control than to suffer for ever through lack of it.
What do you notice in this passage?
APPLICATION
1. I hear God calling me to look at the ways my heart leads me to sexual sin. My sin may not be as obvious as the sin of others, but it is as serious. The devil has brought down many church leaders through sexual misconduct, do I think that I am immune?
2. The Lord is reminding me that even improper sexual thinking has serious consequences. It is demeaning to the person who is being looked at, it weakens the bond of marriage, it undermines my integrity, it affects my relationship with God, and if unchecked it slowly increases in it’s intensity.
3. God is reminding me of my need for mercy and help. Do I think I am better than others whose sexual sin is supposedly worse than mine? We are all the same, we all have sin-sick souls. There is an urgency for me too, I need to take sin seriously enough to seek help – divine help.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
God, forgive me for thinking that I am better than others, that my sin is not as serious. Show me my heart as You see it. Challenge me for my sexual sin, and help me to change!
Observation:
Here we read about the seventh command which was already given in the book of Exodus. Breaking the law is a sin. Even the looking and the thinking at the woman with wrong thoughts is a sin.
Anything that causes man to sin needs to be cut off – so that he will not be lead into temptation.
Application:
I am reminded about Joseph and Potiphar’s wife – and Joseph fled. I need to do the same today – flee from the sin rather than seeing how close I can get before it is a sin. Keep oneself pure like the refiners fire. Victory over the the heart and mind – all for Jesus – can lead in the way of joyful living within the bounds of His law. I need to daily strive to be pure of heart and mind, living in the presence of my living God Who empowers me along the way each day.
Prayer:
Thank You Lord for Christ Jesus who forgave the adulterous woman. Thank You Lord for forgiving me. Help me to live for Jesus in all I do and say. help me to be pure of heart and mind in my life.
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold, pure gold.
Chorus:
Refiner’s fire, my heart’s one desire
Is to be holy, set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be holy, set apart for You, my Master;
Ready to do Your will
Purify my heart;
Cleanse me from within and make me holy;
Purify my heart;
Cleanse me from my sin, deep within.