THE TROUBLER

THE TROUBLER

“Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.” —Joshua 7:25

Sin—rebellion and disobedience to the will of God— not only affects ourselves, but also those around us. The context of the verse above was when Achan took spoil that Israel had been told not to take when Jericho fell. He took of the spoil— a beautiful robe from Babylon, 200 silver coins and a bar of gold weighing over a pound. He coveted them and took them. What was the result of his sin? When the Israelites fled before Ai in defeat 36 men lost their lives. This was all because of Achan’s sin. His sin caused the death of 36 men.

Sin in the camp affected the camp. Sin in the church affects the church. Praise God that when a person sincerely puts their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and calls on His Name they are saved (Romans 10:13). Positionally in Christ those saved are sanctified, justified, righteous, blameless, holy… perfect in Christ. Experientially as we lived day to day we are growing in sanctification, justification, righteousness, blamelessness, holiness… becoming more like Christ.

Churches, like followers of Jesus, are perfect in Christ positionally, but experientially they are becoming more like He desires. Take a look at the Corinthian church. They were surely spiritually gifted, but they also had many sin issues to deal with. In Chapter 1 they were dealing with divisions— following personalities. In Chapter 2 there is distinction between human wisdom and the Spirit’s power. In Chapter 3 they were dealing with quarrels among themselves. In Chapter 4 they were encouraged to stick to the word of God. In Chapter 5 they dealt with an incident of incest in the church. In Chapter 6 they were taking each other to court before unbelievers. In Chapter 7 singleness and marriage is covered. In Chapter 8 stumbling blocks were mentioned. In Chapter 9 Paul defended his Apostleship. In Chapter 10 there is a warning against idolatry. In Chapter 11 there is a warning about coming to the Lord’s Table inappropriately. In Chapter 12 there is clarification on spiritual gifts. In Chapter 13 there is the challenge to live by love. In Chapter 14 there is teaching on orderliness in the church. In Chapter 15 there is discussion on false ideas concerning the resurrection. In Chapter 16 is a real challenge to those who do not love Jesus.

Let us confess any sin in our lives and stay in fellowship with our King, abiding in Him. Oh, that we would have a positive impact on the church and not a negative one!

Dear Father, may I seek to live holy and blameless in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus. May it be so. Thank You Father, that am safe and secure in Jesus.. THANK YOU! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjLlLPZderk