Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Friday, July 16, 2021

"But He [Jesus] was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, TO HIS OWN WAY; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity [sin] of us all."¹

The unanswered question we asked yesterday was, "When did Adam and Eve sin?" Was it when they picked the forbidden fruit from the tree, when they ate it, or just when was it?

Actually they sinned before they took the fruit. Eating the fruit was the result of their decision to elevate themselves above God. They did exactly what Satan did. They set themselves up to be the judge between God and Satan, thus making themselves their own final voice of authority—making themselves as "god" or their own "god."

And that is at the heart of all sin and evil. When we make our own rules and choose to disregard the rules God has set in place, we too become our own authority, and exalt ourselves above God. Instead of being led by the Spirit of God, we are being led by the spirit of, or the example of, Satan, the devil—the original one to defy God, and in so doing he became the creator of evil.

What some people don't realize is that it is impossible for any person to be a free-thinker for the simple reason that we all have a sin nature which contaminates our ability to think purely with total honesty and to see the truth as God sees it. Plus we all have prejudices, biases, and mixed motives that contaminate our thinking. And the more dishonest we are with our inner-self, the more we will distort all truth to make it match our distorted perception of reality. The only true freedom we have is the freedom to choose God's way or our own—to let God be God or make ourselves a "god" unto ourselves.

When you have millions of people setting themselves up above God, becoming their own authority, and deciding what is right and wrong (and justifying what they decide and do), it's no wonder that evil is running rampant throughout the world. And it will continue to do so unless we quit playing god and let God be God, accept His Word as our final voice of authority, and live in harmony with His will for fully living and fully loving.

Remember, sin is defying God and going our own way. We cannot defy God and live. He has warned us that the wages of sin is still death ... but the gift of God is eternal life. It is our choice which route to take—that of life or that of death.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to see clearly what the nature of sin really is and how totally destructive it is of human personality. Thank You with all my heart for providing an escape from sin's eternal consequences through the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who died in my place to pay the penalty for all my sins. Help me to live in harmony with Your will and Your Word, so that my life will always bring glory to Your holy and eternal Name. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."

1. Isaiah 53:5-6 (NKJV).
NOTE: To be sure you have received God's forgiveness read, "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian" at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

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