"My Pets? Or... My Paraclete?” Series

Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit,

and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other:

so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

I- MY PETS:

1- my pet is one i always take care of-

Our pet is one where our hearts or where our minds drifts always. Consider where our thoughts go, everyday?

2- my pet is one i am unwilling to give up-

This sin is our Benjamin, the child we are unwilling to let go.

As Jacob refused to part with Benjamin, his favorite son,

we can cling tightly to our favorite sin.

We will allow other sins to fall, but protect that one, even with your life. What sin are you unwilling to live without?

3- My pet is one where I enjoy to spend my time

You cuddle your pet, embrace, kiss and play with.

Illustration From Our Daily Bread:

“For 8 years, Sally had been the Romero family pet.

She was only 1 foot long when they brought her home.

But Sally grew and grew until eventually she reached

a length of 11 feet and weighed 80 pounds.

Then one day Sally, a Burmese python, turned on

15-year-old Derek, strangling the unsuspecting teenager

until he died of suffocation.

Police said that the snake was “quite aggressive, hissing and reacting” when they arrived to investigate the young man’s death.

Sin is like that snake. When a sin first enters our lives, we think of it as harmless, almost cute. Yet it doesn’t stay small. Sin has a way of growing. We think we can handle it, but then it begins to handle us.

And it always leads to death—sometimes physical death, and often emotional death. At other times it leads to the death of a relationship.

And if sin is not confessed and forsaken, it will bring spiritual death. That’s why James warned us that “sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (1:15). His purpose in saying that was not to spoil our fun but to preserve our highest joys.

If you are playing with a pet sin in your life, God urges you to beware.

It’s a life-and-death matter.

“Just one little sin, what harm can it do?

But give it free rein and soon there are two,

And then sinful deeds and habits ensue;

So guard well your thoughts or they'll destroy you.” —DJD

II- MY PARACLETE

Paraclete is the presence of God in the world when Jesus ascends to the Father."

From Wikipedia about the Paraclete:

John 14:16 quotes Jesus as saying "another Paraclete" will come to help His disciples, implying, according to Lawrence Lutkemeyer, that Jesus is the first and primary Paraclete.

Raymond Brown (1970),supported by George Johnston (2005),

also says that the "another Paraclete" of John 14:16 is in many ways another Jesus, the presence of Jesus after Jesus ascends to his Father.

The Gospel of Matthew twice uses the passive form of the corresponding verb in 2:18 and 5:4.

In both instances, the context is of mourning, and the meaning of the verb is "to be comforted".

The Gospel is not something you get over, it is something you live in.

A cross-centered and resurrection powered life doesn't get saved

and then live on our own power.

We, instead, die daily. (1Cor.15:31)

And, it is repentance filled because that is how we should respond

to a sin sick world--but quickly and readily repenting.

Numbers 32:23But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

Think of King David, Uriah, Bathsheba, and Nathan...

If we won't come to repentance, God will bring us to repentance.

God is not mocked. What a man reaps, he sows.

And, God is interested in changing us.

God is more interested in our character than our comfort.

Even the king of an empire cannot hide his sin once God is ready to confront him with his deeds.