Snow is falling

Today is the type of day Shakin' Stevens lives for.

It is cold and miserable and slushy and cold and slow and cold. Did I mention cold?  Despite all this I still love the snow. 

The thing that makes snow so very wonderful is that it makes everything so pretty. All things are white (apart from a little yellow spot near each lamp post - thanks Rocky) and that beautifies them.  It takes away all their impurities, it covers up all the blemishes, it makes everything clean and fresh.

If only the stains on our character and on our hearts caused by the dye of sin could be covered over and made clean in this way, if only we could be made as white as snow.  Oh wait...

Come now, let us settle the matter,”
   says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
   they shall be as white as snow"

Isaiah 1:18

Beautiful.

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You see Bing, dreams can come true.

Wet wet wet



I put a screw through a water pipe last night.  It got very wet.



We had a bad leek in the bathroom

It was a pretty stupid thing to do, the kind of thing you do in an instant and regret for a long time.  I'm sure I'll be able to laugh about it someday...

Thankfully my father-in-law is a plumber, it wasn't the main reason I married my wife but it was one of them.  He got the pipe fixed and the water is, once again, running through the taps instead of down the walls which is much better believe me.

Now the clean up begins.  To be honest it's not that bad, a bit of drying out, some duct tape and a lick of paint and it'll all be right as rain - so to speak.

We make the wrong decision in haste and we regret it at our leisure, isn't that the truth.  We give into temptation just the once and all of a sudden things have changed, there are consequences, there is fall-out, there is destruction.  It is better by far to resist than to give in and regret.  If we knew the consequences to what the bible calls sin we wouldn't commit any would we?  The thing is though, we do know.

There are consequences to sin in this life and consequences in the next.  We have all sinned we all face the consequences.  There is only one way to escape a guilty verdict on the day of judgement.  Jesus offers to take the punishment for you, if you let Him do that you will be declared innocent.  This is the only option you have, take it.

Hic!

I'm scared of hiccups.

It's not that hiccups are particularly scary but they are a little bit sore and a whole lot annoying. What really scares me about them is not knowing when they are going to stop.

Charles Osborne, an American pig farmer (not the chancellor of the exchequer!), started hiccuping in 1922 and didn't stop until 1990, that's 68 years! Every time I get the hiccups I wonder will this be me until I'm 97, what a horrible existence that would be!

I mention this because last night I got a dose of hiccups. It turned out not to last too long but it was pretty annoying. Rocky had been naughty and I was telling him off, 'Bad dohukg!, bahuk dog, huk'. My wife laughed, even the dog chuckled, discipline became impossible.

It's the uncontrollable element of hiccups that makes it so disconcerting. You just never know when they will strike. They control you, you are a slave to them. There are many theories as to how to get rid of them but I'm not sure any really work.

Sometimes when we do things we shouldn't we think of it as a hiccup. Just a blot on our otherwise clean paper, just a slip-up, a one off. If our sin is just a series of hiccups Then I have had hiccups from the day I was born until now and it shows no sign of abating.

There seems to be no cure for sin either. In 1 John 1:8 the bible says, 'If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us'. But this tendency to sin is not the same as being a slave to it. We can overcome what we do wrong with the power of the Holy Spirit.

The bible also says, 'count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.' Romans 6:11-12. We do not have to be controlled by the things that are against God any more. By accepting Jesus we can be free from that, we can do good. This needs work, hard work to resist sin, to not let it fester in our bodies, to not indulge in deliberate sin. But the joy of release from slavery and the joy of pleasing the Saviour of the world, is worth it.


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Last night was a quiet one in Rathcoole, we thank God for that.  Please continue to pray for our estate and the people in it.  Also feel free to share any prayer requests you may have, I and others here would be happy to pray for you.

The problem with me is...

There's something that effects us all regardless of background, gender, income, skin colour, waistline, hairstyle or house size.  Something that screws us up.  Something that wants to destroy us.

Sin.

Whether you are a minister or an atheist, a monk or a hedonist sin is a problem for you.  Now, don't get me wrong, sin is not some evil force you have to destroy with light sabers and wooden stakes. Sin comes from the choices we make. It is every time we choose to do something that goes against God or every time we don't do something that would please Him. We know when we sin because of our conscience. My sin is my fault, your sin is your fault - no one else's.

I hate sin. If I'm honest I enjoy it, but I hate it.  I hate it because of it's consequences. The broken relationships, the guilt, the eroding of what's right and what's wrong...  Everything that is wrong with the world is because of sin, yours and mine.  Don't blame Adam or terrorists or the government or the pope or school teachers, blame yourself and blame me.

We all sin.  We're all guilty.  Sorry Lord.

If you hate sin because of what it's doing to you and others around you, if you want rid of the burden there is a way out. Jesus Christ. He came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15), he can take away the sin of the world (John 1:29) he can remove your guilt (John 8:36).  Only He can do it. Turn to Jesus and He will set you free. 

If, like me, you're a christian who still sins, it's time for us to change, it's time for us to take hold of the full life Jesus promises us. Let's stop holding on to sin.

Let's everyone step into the fresh warm light of Jesus, sin does us no good but without it we are released prisoners. We are free to do the good that our hearts yearn for. I have tasted this freedom, I taste it now and it is good!

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The Prayers of Rathcoole Presbyterian and I'm sure all Christians are with the family of Rebecca McManus who was killed yesterday (7/10)  in a car crash at Hazelbank roundabout (news report here).