Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Deal with It
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. —Matthew 5:30
The film, 127 Hours, tells the true story of Aron Ralston, who was climbing in Utah when a boulder shifted, pinning his arm against a canyon wall. He tried everything to remove the boulder. A couple of days passed. He was cold. He was out of water. No one was coming to his aid. He knew the only way he would make it out of there was to free himself. So he decided to cut off his arm. He used a pocketknife, and it took a long time. Amazingly, after doing such a thing, he rappelled 65 feet to the canyon floor and walked out. That is a crazy story. But better to be alive and have one arm than to have two arms and be dead.
Is there an area in your life that you need to cut off—that you need to deal with? Maybe right now as you are reading these words, you are thinking about it. God sees it, just as though it were written over your head. You have rationalized it and have somehow managed to find a way to live with it. But right now it has come to the forefront of your mind. That could be the compromise in your life. That could be the thing that will bring you down.
The psalmist said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). That means if we hang on to sin in our lives, God will not hear our prayers.
Do you believe your sin is a secret? Do you think you have covered your steps? Secret sin on earth is open scandal in heaven. The Bible says, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). There are no secrets with God. He is aware of our sin.
Copyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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SPECIAL OFFER
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Have you ever doubted the Bible? Have you ever had questions about how the Bible came into being? Have you wondered about the historical reliability of the Bible? Listen. Don't feel bad about that. Let us help you. Here is a great resource that will bolster your faith and help you to defend your beliefs. This book is called Seven Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible. It is written by Greg's friend, Dr. Erwin Lutzer, who is the pastor of the famed Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, Illinois.
You can have your own copy of Seven Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible in appreciation for your gift to Harvest Ministries this month. 
