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Sin is Sin by Amy Cormier

9/29/2020

Shortly after I became a born again believer, one of my first bible study lessons taught me that ALL sin was the same to God. Sin was sin period. We like to place different levels to sin and make some sins seem impossible to overcome or be forgiven simply by comparing sin. For example, I remember asking my bible study leader, “So you’re telling me that someone cursing and someone murdering someone is the same in God’s eyes?” And she answered, “Sin is Sin.”

A person who has never repented for their foul language and continues to speak with an uncontrollable tongue has sins that are unforgiven because they have not felt convicted and admitted that they are sinners and turned away from their sin. Someone who has murdered someone and felt convicted and repents from his/her heart and turns away from their sin is forgiven by God. Only God knows the heart of man. God knows when we are truly repented. He can see when our hearts turn away from that sin and turn towards Jesus.

We can often become caught up in the trap of comparing sin and circumstantially start believing that some of our own sins are unforgivable by God. For this reason, God often brings into my remembrance that early lesson I was taught when He notices me comparing my sins or when God notices I begin to judge others sins by comparing their past to my own short comings as to justify myself.

Understanding that God knows my heart helps me push past the barriers that have tried to keep me from repentance. If I know I am truly sorry for something that I have done that is not pleasing to God or if I am struggling with something and really need God to help deliver me from it, I can trust that He sees my heart! He even knows our thoughts. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” Matthew 9:4 ESV

So, the next time the enemy tries to condemn you and make you feel like your sins are beyond forgiveness, you just remember who your savior is! Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 ESV Thank God we are not the judge! Thank God for we have a savior who loves us beyond our understanding and rejoices along with all of heaven when we repent and turn away from our sins. Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:7 ESV

Do not wait another moment confess those things that have bound you for so long and kept you from truly living a life of freedom! Jesus sees your heart and He is quick forgive. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 ESV God not only forgives He forgets! It’s like it NEVER happened in God’s eyes. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, Acts 3:19 ESV Does this mean that we will not have to face some consequences for our actions here on Earth? Of course not, however eternally in Heaven there is no more record of it! So that means we will not have to face eternal consequences for any repented sins! How AMAZING is that?! That is why Jesus died for you and me. So that we may live a life eternally free from sin!

“Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

Amy Cormier is dedicated to her work for the Kingdom of God. She, her husband, Joshua, and their three children, Tayton, Jaci, and Ty, reside in Lake Charles, LA and have attended Livingway Pentecostal Church since the Lord led their family there as new converts in January 2013. When God filled Amy with His Spirit, He set a fire in her that has grown more consuming with the passing of time. Her love for God shines through her commitment to the spiritual and her hunger for His Word, and her love for His people is most evident in her burden for children and young adults. God has used her to minister to youth through bus ministry, Sunday school, and Bible studies, but Amy’s zeal for God is also apparent in her contributions to an adult small group and in her work as a real estate agent. “The thing I love most about my career is it allows me to reach others outside of the church.” Now, Amy takes on a new challenge, sharing her affection for the Kingdom, through writing.

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Restoring the Ruins

9/10/2020

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With my heart in sync with the aftermath of hurricane Laura, I had more empathy for the Israelites as I read Ezra today. I could better identify with the exiles returning to their homeland. As they straggled back to a destroyed city, they likely felt emotions akin to those experienced by evacuees returning home to find that Laura had taken their homes, their businesses, and their history.

It’s mind-numbing to see the life you once knew reduced to matchsticks and mildew. You can’t point to a favorite restaurant and reminisce about dining there. You can’t go down a familiar street and see the storefronts of your favorite shops. You can’t drive into your neighborhood and wave at friends. You can’t even pull up to your own house because your driveway ends in front of a debris pile. For the returning Israelites, a 70-year-old heap of stone was the rubble that greeted them. No wide streets filled with laughing children. No busy marketplace with vendors hawking their wares. No passing by the familiar. Nostalgia was only for memory, not for reliving. Instead, the crumble of broken walls surrounded the city that was once secure within its gates. The city itself was wiped out, a mere shell of its former self. At its center, the temple of God lay in ruin, stripped of its carvings, jewels, and precious metals. Haunting lamentations and the echo of dirges hummed upon the wind. All that was bare and bleak sprawled before this tired group.

The task of rebuilding was daunting, but it was for that purpose that these people had returned, bringing with them a younger generation, whose strong backs were not weakened by the memories of what used to be and whose visionary eyes were not blinded by the city’s former glory. Eager to work, they saw only what was ahead, and their energy, hope and enthusiasm were fueled for recovery. These fearless Hebrews who had traveled 4 months, walking 900 miles from Babylon to Palestine, knew what they were returning to, but the possibilities of what they could accomplish overrode the disappointment of what they faced. That resilience put in motion practices that can help anyone rebuilding from the brokenness of life.

1. They acknowledged their God. Their journey had been made with God in mind. Freedom of worship was at the forefront of their cause. Our recovery begins with God is established in first place in our hearts and our confidence in Him is settled.

2. They secured their identity. For the Israelites this meant finding proof of everyone’s lineage so that the priestly roles could be filled. For us it means anchoring ourselves in the truth of who we are. Identity is a fragile thing, and it can quickly become unraveled if it’s placed in the temporal things that storms destroy. The stabilizer that moors identity is the unchanging Word of God. Knowing who God says we are is the surest foundation on which to build recovery.

3. They rebuilt their altar. When we are in recovery mode, we can feel weak and vulnerable. Challenges that we once anticipated can become overwhelming. We need supernatural strength. An altar of prayer provides the surrender of our weakness to the superiority of God’s strength, and we find “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,” Philippians 4:13.

4. They kept their feasts. Feasts were celebratory times that connected the people with one another and with their God. Hebrews 10: 25 admonishes “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” There’s something about sharing the load with one another that lessens the pain and strengthens the determination. Keeping encouragement, especially spiritual encouragement, alive is so important. It is a gift we both give and receive to propel and enhance recovery efforts.

5. They gave money and food and supplies to support the labors beyond their own strength. Like the Hebrews, we have limits. We can’t do everything for everyone, but we can offer some kind of support. I’ve seen 18-wheelers of supplies roll in from neighboring states, and electrical workers, church groups, and the Cajun Navy, sweep in to feed the stranded, the hurting, and the helpers. There’s always something we can do to aid recovery.

While I’ve read Ezra before, I never FELT it quite like I did today as within its story were answers for our present situation…and answers we all need when we are rebuilding with a greater future in mind.

Tip/Tidbit: What you do today can be a part of a glorious future.

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A Horizon of Hope

9/3/2020

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While hurricane winds whirled across Louisiana, I was in Biloxi Mississippi watching relatively calm waves lap against the Biloxi shore. Walking out on the pier, I observed dilapidated pilings reminiscent of Biloxi’s own bout with storms and their damage. At this off-shore level, the waves rose with greater height and dove to deeper depths as they slapped hard against the wood, rocking the scarred timber before rolling to land. I scanned the horizon. Along the line where the Gulf met the sky, all was peaceful. At that level there was no evidence of the crests and valleys lapping against the pieces of the pier near where I stood. While the waves were, in fact, present from shore to sea, my view of them was not. The distance invited me to behold the blessings of blue sky, the strokes of wispy clouds, and the sunlit sparkles glinting off the water. The way I viewed the waves was a matter of perspective.

Close up, Hurricane Laura was scary. The damage left in her wake was more harrowing still. Like pilings off the Biloxi coast, our cities were pummeled, and in her aftermath, they stood naked. Trees were stripped of leaves, vistas were stripped of landscape and structures, and families were stripped of homes and livelihoods.

Hurricane Laura caused heartache. She left behind emotional waves that run deep. Her rough winds pummeled against our souls as harshly as they pounded our land. Devastation is everywhere. It’s knee deep. Shoulders are damp from absorbing loved ones’ tears, and backs are slick with the sweat of digging through refuse for something to salvage. In many ways, we are standing on a pier, looking at losses that once defined our past. We are in the surge. Close to the place where raging winds and drenching rains hammered against us. We are soggy, soaked through. But we see the horizon. The place where trouble meets hope.

With nothing but a weekend’s worth of clothes, evacuees smile, eyes crinkling above masks thrust upon us by another storm, Covid. In hotels, we exchange muffled hellos, but they are empathetic, genuine. The thread of surviving together winds around us during elevator rides, and our hearts are tied together in the most un-socially distant way. Common loss reminds us that within skin of all shades are similar hurts and the potential to love all neighbors. Family reaches out, offering shelter and encouragement that shrink the miles between us. Friends call, checking on one another, and texts always include the words, “We are so blessed. It could have been worse. We are all alive. My family is safe; that’s what matters.” Resilient. Resolute. The scattered unify, and eyes are lifted off the waves.

In peaceful places where there are electricity and water, where powerlines are strung from upright poles, where storefronts still wear their signs, where houses still have roofs, and where mighty trees remain rooted, the horizon beckons with a melodious voice. “Look away from the waves,” it sings as strangers along the coast say, “We were praying for your city. We’ve experienced devastation before.” It sings as convoy after convoy of energy workers file down the interstate from as far north as Canada. It sings as churches in other towns hold prayer meetings with our city as their focus and preachers address their congregations-not about the blessings coming their way--but about the amazing recovery God is going to give to us.

Before the storm, we were isolated, individual, disconnected. But the storm blew us into a single world, linking us together with its invisible winds. In that unique way that trouble has, the same current that brought ruin clears away the clouds. And there is love. Exposed in all its glory. Love draws our eyes upward. It extends hands to clean, to build, to give, to serve, to encourage, to believe.

We see where sky meets water, and though the water churns at our feet, we see seascapes dappled with sun kisses. We hear the song of seagulls. We feel the peace. We experience love, and we have a perspective full of hope, an expectancy of greater, beautiful things to come.

Tip/Tidbit: Perhaps you did not go through a hurricane, but storms can come in many varieties. Look up today, and draw strength from the beauty that remains.

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Sin is Sin by Amy Cormier

Restoring the Ruins

A Horizon of Hope

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Tips and Tidbits

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Sin is Sin by Amy Cormier

Restoring the Ruins

A Horizon of Hope

A little about Tips and Tidbits

Categories

Archives

A little about
Tips and Tidbits