The troublessing coffee brought me
Before I counted the cost of purchasing coffee each morning, I would stop almost every day on my way to work. One day as I was pulling into a parking spot, I noticed another young lady pulling in alongside of me. Thinking she might get ahead of me, I quickly put my car in gear, grabbed my purse, keys and phone, and jumped out of the car. I had to beat her to the door. As I walked with purpose to the door, I felt the sweet prompting of the Holy Spirit and asked myself, “Tahnee, what are you doing?” I was so embarrassed. So, I quickly pivoted, opened the door, and stepped aside to allow my nemesis—unbeknownst to her—to enter before me. It was another lesson that there was much work that needed to be done in my heart.
Once I purchased my coffee, I remember sitting in my car and thinking, What on earth is wrong with me? The conclusion: sin! Sin is what’s wrong with me. While I had heard all about sin, I really did not understand how sinful sin really was. Sin is so vile that God, not being able to look on sin, had to turn His head as His Son, Jesus, died on the cross for the sins of this world. (Matthew 27:46) Once sin gets its hooks in you, it steals, kills, and destroys (John 10:10). Therefore, sin cannot be overlooked or tolerated—not even for a moment.
If you are thinking that trying to beat someone into a store is not a big deal, then you may be tolerating sin. Our enemy is very tricky and knows that small things grow into big things—if they are not dealt with. That is why we need to check our hearts every day and listen intently to the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us and leads us into righteousness. It is His job to rebuke sin in our lives. When He shows us sin, we need to go to battle like we are going to war. Just remember that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. (2 Corinthians 10:4) In other words, we fight with spiritual warfare with spiritual weapons such as the Word of God and prayer.
Sisters and brothers in Christ, if you are not killing sin, then sin is killing you. Stay on your knees before the Lord. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you sin that you may be tolerating. When he reveals it, go to war. You may be tempted to rationalize it or say it is not that bad, but don’t! Understand this: sin is not cute, it is deadly; its root is evil. Use the Word of God as your weapon. Read, study, meditate and commit it to memory. Pray and ask God to give you a pure heart. Ask Him to remove anything that is not holy and tear down sinful strongholds that are set up in your heart. As you continually do this, you will find yourself falling deeper and deeper in love with God—loving what He loves and hating what He hates. (Romans 12:9b)
For God’s Glory,
Tahnee