What is God's response to COVID-19?

We are living in a time where people are fearful of what's going on in our world...a time that we really didn't see coming, didn't imagine coming...a time where we have said in the past "that'll never happen to us" or "well it's in other parts of the world, it won't reach the US". 
We have questions. We think that having questions is showing lack of faith, but as my pastor preached this morning through Habakkuk, having questions is not a lack of faith at all. 
If you'd like to hear my pastor's sermon from Habakkuk or ANY of his sermons, click here. 
Today's message was one that really hit home with what's going on in our world. 
My pastor said this morning "Times of uncertainty can produce a lot of worries in our heart."--This resonates so true through this time of uncertainty. We question, well how many more people is this virus going to hit? How many more will die? Why is God not hearing our cries? Why is He not healing our world? 
These questions...as my pastor said today...are not indicative of a lack of faith. 

Abraham, David, and Job all questioned...all "complained"...all implored to the Lord. But these questions have a way of drawing us closer to the Lord. 

I don't want to give the full sermon away, because I'd love for everyone to listen to it...but God will and is answering us. In His time and in His way. 
Just like when Habakkuk was asking His questions...God's answer was that He was Judging Babylon. But as Habakkuk continued to question and wait on the Lord, God softened his heart and finally answered with this..."the wicked will be punished and the righteous must live by faith"

God will answer our cries. In HIS timing. 

He has not forsaken us. He has not changed. He is still on the throne. He will reign and those of us who are in His will, we will be saved. 

I've learned so much not just from my pastor's sermon, but also from just being home...God is sovereign. 
He is every present in our times of trouble. 
He loves His people, and He longs for us to spend time with Him. 
Who knows? Maybe this pandemic is a way to bring His people closer to Him...maybe it's a way to draw people to Christ. Maybe, just maybe, it will save our world. 
People need hope. Our ONLY hope is in Jesus. 
Right now...in this pandemic...people are searching for any type of hope. My prayer is they will find Christ in the midst of all of this. 

Let us continue in prayer with each other. Let's pray for our world. Pray that God will continue to have his hand on this situation. Pray that those of us who are in Him will draw nearer to Him, and that despite loneliness we can remember He is with us. 

Let us continue to hold out hope. To hold on to our faith. 

God will respond. He will answer our questions. He will continue to hold us. Seek Him!

The Mortification of Sin

Sin. An immoral act that is a transgression against God.

We all do it. We have since the fall of man. Since darkness entered the world and killed the perfection that existed, we were born sinners.

In psychology Lawrence Kohlberg says we are innately bad.
Innately we are sinners.

So, then, what is it that we can do to come before our Holy God?
Nothing on our own.

However, there is good news for us innate sinners. God sent himself in the form of man to take the immorality and the sin and the "bad" upon him. So He did. And since then, since Jesus Christ came into this world and rescued us from what we deserve, we have been able to freely approach the throne of God.

But we still sin.

Jesus coming into the world saved us, yes, but it did not take away the temptation of Sin. It did not take away the fact that until the day that He fully returns and takes us all home we will continue to do things that are immoral against God.

We must,as humans, desire to and pray for the fullness of Christ and the Holy Spirit in us. So when these temptations arise we can fight against them, because there is always a way out of the temptations. In fact, temptation itself is not sin. We do not sin until we give into that temptation.

So what is the mortification of Sin?

Mortification is death.

So the death of sin. Only those of us who are regenerate and who have been made righteous before God have the ability to mortify sin. What does that mean? That the sin no longer exists? That we grab it, kill it, and we are done with it? No. Then we will just replace it with something else. We must suffocate the sin in our lives. Especially those perpetual sins that occur again and again. The ones we struggle with. The ones that may go quiet and dormant for a little while, but then in the midst of our peace, they appear again. We must go to Christ, admit and repent, and never turn to those sins again. Repentance. Admittance. Recognition. Not in that order :)

The mortification of Sin means taking control of the sin in our life through the grace of Jesus Christ. Through His power. We are powerless on our own. However, we are FILLED with the Holy Spirit who has come on our behalf and the Holy Spirit mediates for us in this life. So when we are tempted, we take control. With God. We allow God to take control by stepping away and saying "Lord I cannot do this on my own, but YOU, Lord YOU can"

Perpetual Sin.

Sin.

It's dirty. It's disgusting. Repulsive in the sight of God.

I sin. And it repulses me. We all sin. And it is repulsive to the Lord.

But he rescued us! He loves us! He sent His son for us! And we may approach Him in the midst of the repulsion.

Kill the sin. Suffocate it. Take hold of it. Turn from it. Give it to Christ. And don't return to it.