Life Lifters | Lakeshore Community Church

Dec 13 8:07 AM

Best of 2021: God's Gift to Us (Released 11-08-2021)

Dec 13 8:07 AM

Monday, December 13, 2021

When I'm thinking about gifts, there's this perfect gift that we have that has been offered to each and every one of us.

Monday, December 13, 2021

Originally Published November 8, 2021

Ephesians 2:8-9

Through the end of the year, we’ll be rerunning some of the best Life Lifters from 2021. We hope you’ll join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning!

Today we're talking about gifts. It's Christmas time, so we're all looking for the perfect gift. We go on Amazon, we go to Walmart, we go to Best Buy, we go to Target, and we're looking for this perfect gift for our loved ones and our friends. So we find this perfect gift, as we would think, and we give it to them. Then, a couple of weeks later, they don't use it. They use it for week one, they use it for week two, and then it just gets boring, it gets overused, and we never see them pick it up again. However, there's a perfect gift that we have. When I'm thinking about gifts, there's this perfect gift that we have that has been offered to each and every one of us. That's the gift of salvation.

Paul talks about this in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of work so that no one may boast." What Paul's saying here is that salvation, is a gift from God. What Jesus did for us on the cross is a gift from God. What's awesome about this is it says it's not of our own doing, we can't do anything to earn this gift. If we do something to earn it, then it's no longer a gift. So, that's the encouragement for today is that we don't have to do anything in order to get this this free gift of salvation that God has given to us. He has given it to us out of his love, out of his grace, out of his mercy for us, because he loves us just that much. As we go into this holiday season with Christmas right around the corner, I encourage each and every one of you not just to remember that the gift of God is free, and we don't have to do anything for it, but remember it's a gift that we can give to other people. So whoever you come into contact with, let them know what Jesus has done for them, so that they can also receive that free gift of God. So that's all I have for today. I hope you were encouraged. Until next time, make sure to love yourselves, love others, but most of all, love God. God bless.

By Pastor Antoine Evans

Nov 29 8:34 AM

TOP 10: Washed, Sanctified, Justified (Originally Published 7-12-2021)

Nov 29 8:34 AM

Monday, November 29, 2021

Paul painted the blackest picture he could of who they were and what they were like. But then he tells them this...

Monday, November 29, 2021

1 Corinthians 6:11

TOP 10 LIFE LIFTERS: For the next few weeks, we'll be re-releasing some of the top Life Lifters we've ever published since we started this devotional series. Join us as we look back at popular topics like prayer, joy, trust, and hope!

Our Life Lifter today comes from 1 Corinthians 6:11. The Apostle Paul had told the people there in Corinth that some of them were sexually immoral, some of them were thieves, they were greedy. Some of them were slanderers, swindlers, and drunkards. He painted the blackest picture he could of who they were and what they were like. But then he tells them this, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."

What he was telling them was that even though they were dirty with all of this sin, they had been washed by God. I remember a commercial some years ago for a famous detergent. The wife in the picture was constantly trying to clean her husband's shirt. His neckline was constantly dirty, and she was trying to wash it out, scrub it out, clean it out. And I remember a comedian on television saying to the wife, "Why are you scrubbing that shirt? Tell that filthy man to clean his neck!" Well, when God cleans something, or when you are cleaned and washed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, how many of you know that that washing is clean, and pure, and without spot? Some of you who used to be these evil people have been washed clean by Christ Jesus. All of us who have put our faith in Christ Jesus for our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins have been washed clean by Christ, and through the spirit of our God. We have been sanctified, which means we've been made holy. That's a difficult one to believe because typically we don't think of ourselves as being holy. But what has happened is when we came to Christ Jesus, that old life, and all of those things that made us up and defined who we were, those things are gone. We have now been made holy in Christ Jesus. And we have been justified. We have been declared not guilty, not simply because God declared us not guilty, but because he made us not guilty in Christ Jesus.

That is really good news. What the language of this particular text of Scripture says is that in Jesus Christ, and by his Holy Spirit we have been made all of these things right now, we have been washed, we have been sanctified, we have been justified in Christ Jesus. That means no matter what has happened to you, no matter how you have sinned in the past, even yesterday, or today, or even in the future, you've been washed, you've been sanctified and made holy. You've been justified because of your faith in Christ Jesus, and by his Holy Spirit. No matter how you think you failed, because you're in Christ, all of these good things are true of you. Therefore, when you look at your life now, and throughout this day, you can go throughout it rejoicing in Christ Jesus because of what he's done for you. And my hope for you today is that because you go rejoicing, because you realize what Christ has done for you, it will be that lift for your day.

By Pastor Brian Rathbun

Nov 19 8:52 AM

TOP 10: White As Snow (Originally Published 9-21-2020)

Nov 19 8:52 AM

Friday, November 19, 2021

God gives us many tremendous promises of forgiveness, and today we are going to focus on one of them.

Friday, November 19, 2021

Isaiah 1:18

Today, I'm going to talk to you about how to deal with your past so you can move forward in your life. The number one way you deal with your past is you ask God to forgive you for whatever it is that happened in your past. God gives us many tremendous promises of forgiveness, and today we are going to focus on one of them. God only forgives what we bring to him. I mean, he forgives us for sins that we don't even know about, admittedly, but the best way to deal with your sin is to acknowledge it before God when you get called to attention on it. Then, you can experience His forgiveness. One of God's promises is what I call the white as snow promise. When Isaiah the prophet, speaking for God to Israel some 2700+ years ago about their sin, he made this amazing statement. After talking to the rebellious nation about their sin, he says this in Isaiah 1:18, "'Come now, let us reason together,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'"

Our sins are bold, they're red, they're undeniable. They cannot be hidden. They're visible to everybody. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Imagine that, a big blood stain on your white t shirt, and then God says, "I'll make it white as snow. It's as if it's a brand new T shirt right out of the package and no remnant of that blood stain. Though our sins are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Again, he just goes from red to white. The amazing thing is that if you come to God in your rebellion, like Israel was challenged to do here in Isaiah 1!18, God will cleanse you. The basis of God's cleansing is Jesus Christ's blood. It's interesting to me that in Isaiah the idea of sin is painted as crimson red. The color of our blood is crimson red. It's almost like the blood of Christ, over and dealing with and engaging with the blood of our own guiltiness leads to white. It's like red plus red equals white. It's like the blood of Christ can cleanse any stain, because Jesus loves you that much. He wants to flip the script on your life. He wants to help you go from being a crimson mess to being a forgiven person.

The only difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is whether or not our sins are forgiven. Now, hopefully a Christian lives a more noble life. Hopefully a Christian doesn't flirt around with sin. I would hope so. I know many Christians have had their lives changed and transformed, and they are living a more godly life, but that doesn't mean once you become a Christian, you stop being burdened with sin. The difference between a Christian and non Christian ultimately is what happens with our sin, it can be forgiven. So I want to say this, if you're already a Christian, God has already forgiven you in one sense, but in another sense, you need to turn to him to ask for forgiveness when you sin. And you can thank Jesus for that forgiveness because he provided it through his crimson blood. If you're not there yet, I just want you to know this: Jesus Christ loves you. He loves you so much that he shed his blood so that your crimson-stain-sin can be forgiven. I hope you'll know how much Jesus Christ loves you and I hope you know that one of the benefits of getting right with God through His Son Jesus Christ is that forgiveness is available. It doesn't matter what you've done in the past, it's available and he will turn your red, bloody, messy sin as white as snow is white as well. You want that? White as snow is available to you.

Let's pray. Lord, I come to you as one who sins and needs tons of forgiveness. I'm sure everybody listening would agree that their own life would be the same. Thank you that you provided this cleansing opportunity that our sins can be white as snow. When we turn to you, like Israel on their rebellion, if we turn to you, we can find this forgiveness. We do that now. Forgive us our sins, Lord. Forgive the specific sins that we think of, that come to mind right now we give to you. Forgive us. Help us appreciate that we are as white as snow when we ask you to forgive us, in Jesus' name, Amen.

By Pastor Vince DiPaola

Nov 08 8:19 AM

God's Gift to Us

Nov 08 8:19 AM

Monday, November 8, 2021

Today we're talking about gifts. When I'm thinking about gifts, there's this perfect gift that we have that has been offered to each and every one of us.

Monday, November 8, 2021

Ephesians 2:8-9

By Pastor Antoine Evans

Oct 15 8:31 AM

God's Love Inspires Us to Imitate Him

Oct 15 8:31 AM

Friday, October 15, 2021

Today we're going to continue we're going to take a look at what God's love does inside of us, and specifically how it inspires us to imitate God.

Friday, October 15, 2021

Ephesians 4:32-5:2

Today we're going to continue we're going to take a look at what God's love does inside of us, and specifically how it inspires us to imitate God. I want to read Ephesians 4:32-5:2, in which Paul writes this, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." You know, leading up to this, this section of Scripture, Paul is telling us that because of God's love for us, we are no longer to live the way that we used to live. He goes and talks about the old self. He tells us to put the old self away and put on the new self, almost like you would put on a new shirt or blouse in the morning. He gives us a list of things that we should stop doing. Then, he tells us, "I want you to focus on this one thing, be an imitator of God."

A few years back, I used to be one of the worship leaders here at Lakeshore. My kids grew up seeing me playing guitar, leading the band, and singing. My youngest daughter, Mazie, when she was probably about four years old, one day I had a friend over and we were in in our dining room, sitting at the dining room table. Mazie was playing, and she used to have this toy guitar and a toy microphone. As I'm talking to my friend, I hear her kind of singing a song to herself. All of a sudden she stopped, I heard her praying, and then she looks up and says, "Okay, everybody can sit down now." She was imitating me as a worship leader. She grew up seeing me leading worship, praying, and telling everybody they can sit down now, and she was just imitating her dad, which kids do all the time. We, therefore should be imitators of our Heavenly Father, being kind and compassionate to one another. Why? Because God has been kind and compassionate to us. We should forgive one another. Why? Because we were forgiven of so much by God. We should live a life of love. Why? Because you are a dearly love child of God, and you've been adopted into his family. God's love for us is the model of how we should treat others. If we do not understand God's characteristics, then guess what? We cannot imitate him. How do you learn God's characteristics? Read your Bible, study your Bible, become a student of your Bible. That's how we get to know God.

"But Frank," you're saying, "you don't know what so-and-so did to me years ago." Or, "you don't know what this person said about my family. You don't know how they treated me." You're probably right, I probably don't know. But here's what I do know, I do know that God expects us to be kind and compassionate, forgiving those who sin against us, and living a life of love. Now what that looks like in your life, that's between you and God, but I do know that God through the Apostle Paul is encouraging us to be an imitator of God, to strive to be like him. "That's impossible," you say. Yes, it is an impossible task, but we have already been made perfect by God. Whether we act perfect or not is another story. But we should try our darndest to be an imitator of God because when we experience God's love in our life, it changes our heart. It gives us a new perspective. It allows us to do things that we thought were impossible, including forgiving that person, including loving that person that hurt you. We can do this. Jesus Christ, when we experience his love, changes us from the inside out, helping us to be that imitator of God, that dearly loved child of God that Paul talks about.

Let's pray. Father, thank you that you gave us your son Jesus, and because of the sacrifice that he made for us, we have a model to follow. You have given us a model to follow, Father, to be forgiving, compassionate, and loving. Help us to live a life of love. While that may seem like a daunting task, I pray that you change us from the inside out. Give us a new perspective. Help us to see. Help us to see what we can become when we allow your love to work in our lives. Thank you Father. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

By Pastor Frank De Luccio

Oct 04 8:22 AM

Dealing with Regrets

Oct 04 8:22 AM

Monday, October 4, 2021

1 Corinthians 15:3-10

One of the hardest things, being Christian, is sometimes looking back at your life and just being distressed that some of the things you did before you were a Christian. Believe it or not, the Apostle Paul had that same distressed feeling. Read this section from 1 Corinthians chapter 15:3-10, "Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures... Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

When the Apostle Paul looked back over his life, he saw that at a time in his life he persecuted the church of God. Because of that, he didn't think he even deserve to be called an apostle. He also says, "I worked harder than all of them," and I wonder if there was some part of the Apostle Paul that was trying to work out that sin of persecuting the church. But it comes to the conclusion, "I worked harder than all of them - yet not I." As if he is saying, "Not the hard work that I did." Hard work was important, and he worked hard for the kingdom. He tells us at the end of 1 Corinthians 15 that we should give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. But this kind of hard work can't make up for the persecution, or for any sin in our past. He finally gets to the point where he says, "but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect." Even though Paul worked harder than all of them, it wasn't him, but the grace of God that was within him. The persecution in his past bothered him terribly, and yet he found his freedom in the fact that the grace of God had worked so powerfully in his life. The same is true for you and for me. We can't go back and make up for things that we did in our life. We can't make up for those things, but what we can do is see that the grace of God has set us free to be who he wants us to be. We can live productive lives presently, because of God's grace, no matter what we've done in our past. I hope for you that that will give you the lift for life that you need today.

By Pastor Brian Rathbun

Oct 01 8:05 AM

Joy in God's Grace

Oct 01 8:05 AM

Friday, October 1, 2021

Today, I want to talk to you about the joy of God's grace. What is the grace of God?

Friday, October 1, 2021

Philippians 4:23

Today, I want to talk to you about the joy of God's grace, how we find joy in God's grace. Look at Philippians 4:23. It says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit. Amen." Amen means "so be it" or "it is so." Paul says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." He didn't just say be in your life, but be with your spirit. What is the grace of God? When you become a Christian, you become a Christian by putting your faith in Jesus Christ. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you experience His grace. If Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace," meaning God's grace, "you have been saved, through faith. It's the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one can boast."

Grace is, first of all, getting something we don't deserve. So, he says our spirit gets something from God that we don't deserve. What is that? We don't deserve forgiveness. We don't deserve love. We don't deserve a place in heaven. But we get all that through faith in Christ. Another person said this, think of grace as acrostic. G R A C E: God's Riches At Christ's Expense. Grace is God's riches, given to us at Christ's expense when he died on the cross. But there's another meaning of grace that is less popular. Grace also has the idea of not only undeserved favor and our spirit, but divine power and our spirit. When you become a Christian, God gives you his power in your spirit to live out the Christian life, to do good works, to serve other people, to live holy, to change bad habits, to pursue good habits, to desire him more, etc. And Paul prays that we would have more of this grace, more of this divine power to live for Him. I love grace. Where would we be without grace? Where would a funeral service be without Amazing Grace? Of all the funerals I've done, for at least half of them we've sung Amazing Grace at some point. We love grace, we need grace.

Paul says, "May the grace of God in Jesus Christ be with your spirit." Maybe you need little grace today. Maybe you need a little forgiveness from God. Maybe you need a little power from God. Maybe you need a little help from God. Maybe you need something from God. And all I want to say is this: you can only find it through Jesus Christ. If you've never made a faith commitment to Jesus Christ, you have no idea what grace is. You can ask Jesus Christ in your life if you do what Ephesians 2:8-9 says. For those of you who are already convinced, are you still living by grace? Are you still operating by grace? Are you still experiencing God's grace? Are you still extending grace to other people who maybe don't do things right? I hope you're living in grace. But for those of you who have never committed your life to Jesus Christ, let's look at Ephesians 2:8-9 one more time. Take this in, "For it is by grace you have been saved from your sin, through faith in Jesus Christ - and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God - not the result of our good work so that no one can brag or boast." Have you ever put your faith in Jesus Christ? You may say, "I believe in Jesus Christ," but I didn't say "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" I asked, have you put your faith in Jesus Christ? And there's a big difference. I can believe all I want that there's a tree over there, but until I touch it and feel it and know it and climb it, it doesn't make a difference. I could believe this thing in front of me is a table, but until I put my arms on it and trust it, it does me no good. Believing in Jesus Christ doesn't do us good. You have to trust him and put your faith in him. The devil believes in Jesus Christ, but he doesn't put his faith in Him.

Have you? You can do it right now. Say, "Jesus Christ, I believe that I sin stem to stern, and I know that you're holy. I know there's a problem. The problem is I'm not good enough. I can't be good enough. Your holiness demands perfection and I'll never have that. But I do what Ephesians 2:8-9 says. By your grace, I put my faith in you, Jesus. I trust you. And I put my faith in you that when you died on the cross you took my place on the cross. You bore my sin, you forgave my sin, and you offer me a clean slate, a fresh start, a new life, and total forgiveness, so that I can be seen as righteous by you, and go to heaven." If you say that prayer and mean it with a heart of faith, congratulations, you've experienced the grace of God in Jesus Christ. We celebrate that. Let us know about it and we'll help you grow, even from a distance. And this Sunday, as always, we're talking about some aspect of grace. I hope you'll join us at Lakeshore online, or in person if you're local. Our sevices are at 9 and 11 AM, and we would love to have you.

By Pastor Vince DiPaola

Jul 12 8:05 AM

Washed, Sanctified, Justified

Jul 12 8:05 AM

Monday, July 12, 2021

Paul painted the blackest picture he could of who they were and what they were like. But then he tells them this...

Monday, July 12, 2021

1 Corinthians 6:11

By Pastor Brian Rathbun

Mar 29 8:08 AM

Mercy Over Judgement

Mar 29 8:08 AM

Monday, March 29, 2021

It just seems so true that we are unwilling to forgive. The reason why we're so unwilling to forgive is because we're quick to judge.

Monday, March 29, 2021

James 2:12-13

I was going through a news feed, and I saw an article that I thought captured a lot about how I'm thinking today. The title was, Has America Forgotten How to Forgive? The whole gist of the article is that anytime somebody does something wrong, we have what has been termed "Cancel Culture," which I am, by and large, opposed to. Cancel Culture says that anytime you do something wrong, that's it. It's over for you. So, the article told a story of somebody from a magazine who said something he shouldn't have when he was a teenager, and was fired from his job. He said it as a 17-year-old, apologized for it, but was still fired from his job. It just seems so true that we are unwilling to forgive. The reason why we're so unwilling to forgive is because we're quick to judge. I'm going to say something, and I hope you'll understand my heart. Do I believe racism is still a problem in our country today? Yes. But can I tell you what's really concerning? Every time something happens from one group to another, it's instantly termed racism. My fear is that the real problem of racism gets blunted by calling everything racism. If everything's racism, then nothing's racism. And then we don't deal with the real issues of racism.

It's all because of this: We have forgotten how to forgive. We have forgotten how to forgive because we're so quick to judge. The Bible says so much about judging and the dangers of judging. I do not mean judging in terms of rendering a verdict. If I see somebody call an African American or an Asian American a derogatory name, and if I say that's wrong, that's not judging. That's just the truth. In the Bible, to judge is to assign motive and to say something about someone's character that isn't necessarily true. For example, judging would be if you say, "You said that because you're a racist," or, "You did that because you're a bad person," or, "What you said when you were 17, that carries over, and you can't change that. So you're done." The Bible says that judging is basically assigning somebody's motives to something that's not true, or that you couldn't even possibly know. And it's got a negative view.

I want to read from James 2:12-13. To illustrate this concept, James says this, "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment, without mercy, will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment." So, think and act in a way that you don't judge, becuase the way you judge will determine the way you are judged. In other words, the measure you use is the measure that will be used against you. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 7. And then he goes on to say that judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. The reason why we can't forgive is because we're such judgmental people. And the reason why we're such judgmental people is that we lack mercy. So here's my encouragement to you, when somebody does something wrong, don't judge them. Now, it's not judging to say that something is wrong, especially something horrific, like murder. I'm talking about those gray areas where you see something and the math doesn't look good, but you're not sure. Be careful about judging. The secret to being careful about judging is to have mercy. And here's the key. The key to having mercy is to remember, what if it were you?Many people, and I don't want to mention names, but people even in our own state have been quick to judge other people. And yet, they've done the very same thing and worse. I'll tell you, they had no mercy. I'm asking you to have mercy with people. Can you give people mercy? Can you give people the benefit of the doubt? Can you reserve judgment on those motive things and those unsure things? I'm not saying reserve judgment for clear wrongs and clear rights. I'm talking about the in-between. Have mercy. And how do you have mercy? Remember, you're going to be judged by that very same law that you exercise toward others. Remember, it could be you.

So let's pray. Father, forgive us for being judgmental. We all do it. We all fail. We all say things that just are not true about other people. Help us to remember to be more merciful and less judgmental. As James tells us, we'll be better off, our world would be a better place, and we'll be able to get along without having to cancel each other for things that were done many years ago. Thank you for helping us model this, in Jesus' name. Amen.

By Pastor Vince DiPaola

Mar 22 8:56 AM

Short Accounts

Mar 22 8:56 AM

Monday, March 22, 2021

Sometimes when I have a really crazy day at work, or a challenging day, or people problems, etc., I tell myself this, "if it wasn't for sin, I wouldn't have a job."

Monday, March 22, 2021

James 1:13-15

Sometimes when I have a really crazy day at work, or a challenging day, or people problems, etc., I tell myself this, "if it wasn't for sin, I wouldn't have a job." I don't like thinking that, but sometimes the stuff I have to deal with in my own life and in working with other people just reminds me that sin is a reality in life. I would love to just preach a sermon and say, "if you sin, stop. Amen." That would be great! But here's the problem: it's hard to tell a person who has a sin nature and sometimes chooses to sin, even when they're Christians, to stop sinning. So what I want to do is tell you that sin is bad, and you shouldn't sin. But today, I want to focus a little differently. I want to focus on this idea that if you sin, have a short account with it. I don't encourage sin, but unfortunately, being who we are, it's inevitable. So, have a short account with sin, and I will unpack how to do that.

In James 1:13-15, James says, 'When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." When James says that God does not tempt anyone, that means you can't say, "God made me do it," or, "God put me in a position where I had to sin." That's not what you can say. You can say the devil made you do it you, but you're still pawning off and making excuses. That's what Adam and Eve basically said. But then James goes on to say that each one is tempted by his own evil desire. And he's speaking to Christians, which means Christians still have evil desires. He says, "he is dragged away and enticed," so he's talking about sin dragging us away. Unfortunately, we've all been caught and dragged away by sin. But watch this. Here he talks about the danger of having a longer account with sin. If you engage a sin, and you continue in the sin, here's the process. He says that after the desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. That means desire is a sin too. If you desire something wrong, that desire is a sin as much as sin itself. Because he says when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. The moment desire conceives that's a sin and sin when it is full-grown gives birth to death. What does this say? The longer you hang on to sin, the more destructive it is in your life. Let me be clear, I highly encourage you not to sin. Let me also be clear, we all sin.

So here's the rub. When you sin, cut it off quickly. Have a short account with sin. If you don't, sin will give birth to death. You might say, "will I die?" Listen, I don't know. I'll let God be the judge that. I know in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 Paul said "hand that man over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit might be saved in a day of the Lord." In other words, what's he saying there? He's saying, take this guy out physically. So it could happen. But I'm saying it could lead to other kinds of death, perhaps death of a relationship, of peace, of satisfaction, of contentment. Do you want that? Remember that when you sin, that it has long-term implications. So have a short account with sin, apologize where needed, stop looking at what you're looking at, if it's sinful, and stop doing what you're doing. Whatever it is, stop it, before it leads to further damage, destruction, and death.

Father, we all sin, forgive us of that. And also give us the power to have a short account with sin. To repent of it, to turn from it, to stop it, so that it doesn't lead to further damage in our life. Help us have the power to do this, and we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Shorter accounts with sin. That's the goal of life. Thanks and have a great day.

By Pastor Vince DiPaola

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