Then and Now

Psalm 5:8 English Standard Version (ESV) Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

David submits to the Lord. He pleads for the Lord to show him where to go because of his enemies.

1 Peter 3:18 English Standard Version (ESV) For Christ also suffered[died] once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

Our Lord died because our sin was keeping us from coming to God. Jesus Christ removed sin as an obstacle to coming to God the Father. Sin was always the enemy, the sin of others and the sins within ourselves.

Romans 5:21 English Standard Version (ESV) so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus Christ put an end to the reign of sin to all who have accept Him as Lord.

Then it was a matter of what the Lord will do and now it is a matter of what He has done.

Warning

Psalm 73:12 English Standard Version (ESV) Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

We have been speaking about emotions and this warning is not about how you feel about what has been said over this past week. It isn’t really about emotions at all.

Beware comfort.

Comfort in sin is not an emotion, it is a lack of it.

The sinister side of sin strips away compassion for others. Sin seeks to promote jealousy in others when they see sinners comfortable in what they do with no consideration of the consequences.

If we are uncomfortable with the sins of others, embrace that righteousness in you that is Christ. It is not judgment, it is the constraining love of Christ in us that says that a life of sin is not for us.

Embracing Christ in us will allow us to root out sin in our own lives. This is not a matter of being perfect, it is a matter of being in love.

In that embrace we will not use or abuse others. We will find peace and a rest from seeking to satisfy selfish interests.

In that embrace we will learn to love what He loves.

Embrace His love, but do not get comfortable.

Love seeks to be shared, we cannot just kick back and relax. Love compels us to love others.

Then love is not an emotion, it is who we are in Christ.

Emotion is not everything God has to say to us in Psalm 73.

While this study on emotions is over, what else is to be found there is for each of us to discover for ourselves. That is true of just about every line of scripture.

God speaks to us through the Word.

Listen.