Thomas was still too young for Legos. He thought the game was emptying the bucket. As soon as the crashing noise ended, he was on to something new. I called his attention back to the tower I was building but when he swatted it, it stayed put. What fun is a tower that can’t be knocked over? Now he’s learned to stack blocks of any shape and size on his own but his favorite part is still knocking them down.
We like building things, and often with our own hands we knock them down. We are not so unlike toddlers. We are not so unlike Israel. We look at our sin from ground level and we see it sometimes beneath our feet, easily manageable, and other times teetering dangerously above our heads, overwhelming us, while all the world around us lies buried in the rubble of their own worse-than-ours transgressions. But what does God see?
“Everyone has sinned.
No one measures up to God’s glory.
The free gift of God’s grace makes us right with him.
Christ Jesus paid the price to set us free.”
Romans 3:23-24 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/rom.3.23-24.NIRV
“Suppose we claim we are without sin.
Then we are fooling ourselves. The truth is not in us.
But God is faithful and fair.
If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure.
If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar. His word is not in us.”
1 John 1:8-10 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/1jn.1.8-10.NIRV
Sin, simply put, is self will. We’re born with it. It’s any attitude or thought, word or action that says I will go my own way and I will not surrender to Your Way, God. I do not believe Your Word is truth. I will look within myself to find the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, yes, even self control apart from You. I am not lost so I do not need to be saved. I am who I am and that is enough.
But “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
“But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.
A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.
So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God.
But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.””
John 8:31-36, 47 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.8.31-47.NLT
“How terrible it will be for anyone who argues with their Maker!
They are like a broken piece of pottery lying on the ground.
Does clay say to a potter, “What are you making?”
Does a pot say, “The potter doesn’t have any skill”?”
Isaiah 45:9 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/isa.45.9.NIRV
“How terrible it will be for people who try hard to hide their plans from the Lord!
They do their work in darkness. They think, “Who sees us? Who will know?”
They turn everything upside down. How silly they are to think that potters are like the clay they work with!
Can what is made say to the one who made it, “You didn’t make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter, “You don’t know anything”?”
Isaiah 29:15-16 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/isa.29.15-16.NIRV
“Look! Yahweh now reigns as King! He has covered himself with majesty and strength, wearing them as his splendor-garments.
Regal power surrounds him as he sits securely on his throne. He’s in charge of it all, the entire world, and he knows what he’s doing!
Lord, you have reigned as King from the very beginning of time. Eternity is your home.
Chaos once challenged you. The raging waves lifted themselves over and over, high above the ocean’s depths, letting out their mighty roar!
Yet at the sound of your voice they were all stilled by your might.
What a majestic King, filled with power! Nothing could ever change your royal decrees; they will last forever!
Holiness is the beauty that fills your house; you are the one who abides forevermore!”
Psalms 93:1-5 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/psa.93.1-5.TPT
“So search your hearts every day, my brothers and sisters, and make sure that none of you has evil or unbelief hiding within you. For it will lead you astray, and make you unresponsive to the living God.
This is the time to encourage each other to never be stubborn or hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
Hebrews 3:12-13 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/heb.3.12-13.TPT
“My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives.
And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one!
My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, dispensing his life into mine!”
Galatians 2:20 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/gal.2.20.TPT
“And so it is in the body of Christ. For though we are many, we’ve all been mingled into one body in Christ.
This means that we are all vitally joined to one another, with each contributing to the others.”
Romans 12:5 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/rom.12.5.TPT
“Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.
We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
Through him you are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.”
Ephesians 2:18, 20-22 NLT
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