Let No Sin Rule Over me

Direct my footsteps according to your word;

let no sin rule over me. Psalm 119:113

As I thought about this, I think back to the time when I was going to church and living in sin. Sin was ruling over me. I think of the times I divorced when God intended marriage to be one man / one woman for life. I think of the marriage stats that tell us divorce is as common inside the church as it is outside. I see imperfect Christians or those claiming to be Christian and I wonder, is their a sin that is ruling over them? We should look different. It is not something we put on every Sunday morning and take it off when we walk back out the doors on Sunday morning. God's word is intended to change us. There have been a lot of changes in my life over the last thirty years. I have not lived a perfect life. Even sometimes today as I pray, I ask God to search my heart and see if there be any wicked way in me. 

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to  his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 2 Peter 1:3-9

2 Peter tells us how to live. When we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, he gives us everything we need to over come sin. Make every effort add virtue to our lives by following God, his precepts, his laws, his commandments, his word. How do we add knowledge? By reading and meditating on his word. Feeding ourselves daily from God's word. Make every effort, it takes effort, develop a habit of praying and reading his word. Self control, sometime we need to make a decision to do or not do things because of what we read in God's word. Steadfast, everyday, a life long commitment to God and his ways. We go on to godliness which is obeying God's commandments, brotherly affection, and last it says to love. By thins shall all men know you are my disciples if you have love for one another. These are qualities we need in our life. These qualities will keep us from being unfruitful and ineffective. I believe sin ruling over us keeps us from being effective. We need to check our hearts and ask god to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  It has been a long journey and I look back I see times when sin ruled over me. I continue to press toward God and his ways. Ephesians 5:26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,  I continue to wash my life with his word. We can partake of the divine nature by pressing in, learning and obeying God's ways, his word, his precepts, his commandments. Over and over again, Psalms 119 talks about loving God's ways, his precepts, his laws, his commands. Some times I am amazed at what I find in God's word, as I daily try to feed myself from his word. We are spiritual creatures and let us not neglect the spiritual side of life.  God bless, LVZ.