There SHOULD be Shedding of Blood!

"In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."

Hebrews 12:4

"Prisoner" by Eolo Perfido

Sin = death.

Sin gives nothing but temporary pleasure or an easy way out.

Sin only entraps, destroys.

Heard about habitual sin?

It can be pre-marital sex, pornography, masturbation, overeating, gossip, foolish talking, coarse joking, drunkenness, idleness ... oh the list could just go on and on.

It becomes a habit, an addiction, most probably because you think you get a lot from it.

But even though you think you're getting something from it, you know in your heart that it's not what you really want. That's why you try to fight it. Try.

You may be tired to go through the cycle over and over again.

The cycle of repenting, and, sadly, repeating.

After hearing one sermon, or maybe attending a youth camp, you may find yourself conversing with God, a dialogue you think would be the last of its kind. You ask for repentance and you vow to never do it again. 

And yet, after a few days...........

Oh sin would never lead us to what our hearts truly desire!

It would not give us real joy, real peace, or even the permanent solution to our problems.

Thinking otherwise is just a product of deception. Sin is never the right answer.

So why do we cling to it so much that we never really learn to stand up against it with all our might?

Unless your sinful nature dies, it would be hard for you to live for Christ.

Christ and your sin cannot be comfortably sitting across one another in your heart. It just doesn't work like that, they are stark contrasts of each other. A holy God like our God have nothing to do with wickedness!

If you really want to witness how the Spirit could powerfully move in you, renovating and transforming all of the rooms of your heart, not just a guest sitting at the porch, be reminded that overcoming sin is part of it.

The good news? God abundantly supplies us with what we need to end up as victors against sin. In fact, in Jesus Christ, it is finished.

So we should stop being slaves to sin as if it still has ultimate power over us. Our counterpart is to respond to God's gentle, loving, constant discipline to have nothing to do with sin! We should have the willpower to defeat and trample sin underneath our feet. No matter how hard, we should submit to God and to learn about discipline.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

 Hebrews 12:11

If you know you are weak when it comes to pornography, be extra extra cautious when you're surfing the net (or even try fasting on the internet). If masturbation is your weakness, resist being alone in a private room! If you struggle with gossiping, don't rashly join in conversations about other people without sincerely praying first!

Fight sin until it seriously hurts!!

What we need is the willingness to resist temptation even to our limits - even to the point of shedding of blood. Kahit na ikamatay mo pa yang paglaban sa kasalanan.

If we learn to submit to the discipline of the Lord, if we learn to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that easily entangles", we would see miracles, far greater than we've ever seen before, happen around us.

And what's the best about being dead to sin?

We experience true freedom in Christ.
We end up enjoying the life God has beautifully orchestrated for us!

For further reading hover over these verse:

Romans 6:23 | 2 Corinthians 12:9 | John 19:30 | 1 Corinthians 10:13 | Romans 6:11-12 | Romans 6 |  Hebrews 12:1-3 | Hebrews 12 | Hebrews 9:22

#RevolutionizingTheFightAgainstSin