Isaiah 33:14 The sinners in Zion are terrified;
trembling grips the godless:
“Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?
Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”

Sinners are always trying to run and/or hide from God, when that is a physical and logical impossibility. They recognize on a subconscious level that their actions destine them for an eternally blazing furnace, yet too often they aren’t willing to repent of their actions in order to avoid that furnace. From the very next verse Isaiah describes a lifestyle that will guarantee blessing, but too often, people love their sin too much to change to such a lifestyle. That is abundantly obvious in the uproar over homosexuality in the US today. The Bible says nothing about condemning homosexual attraction, but it is very clearly against homosexual activity. The thing is, society in general is dead set against celibacy, so anyone with homosexual feelings thinks they are compelled to act on them. That’s the great lie. The devil twists the truth that Jesus spoke about adultery of the heart (Matthew 5:25) to say that sinful impulses must be acted on, whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. I am frequently reminded of the great advice D. L. Moody gave to a young seminarian who was protesting that he couldn’t avoid impure thoughts: “You can’t keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building nests in your hair.” It is when we dwell on and nurture thoughts of sin that they become spiritual adultery, and sinful indeed. The devil doesn’t much care which sins he traps you in, he just wants to hide from you the possibility and necessity of repentance.

I will never forget the release I experienced from a particular sin when I accepted the reality that in Christ I was forgiven. If I was forgiven, I could put it behind me and didn’t have to dwell on it any more. The more I had dwelt on what I had done, the more likely I was to do it again! (2 Peter 1:9) God indeed calls us to holiness, (1 Peter 1:15-16) but the only way we can walk in it is by keeping our repentance up to date. We all stumble! 1 John 1:9 is written more to believers than it is to unbelievers, because the biggest thing unbelievers have to repent of is their unbelief. The thing is, if we do walk in repentance, then the sins of the past will just drop away from us and we will be able to walk in glorious fellowship with our Creator. This has been my experience, yet I often have great difficulty getting people to believe it is possible for them. They see it in me and might even be envious, but they are blinded to the reality that it is as available to them as it is to me. All I can do is pray for them and be faithful to speak the truth in love to them.

Father, You know who came to mind as I wrote that, and You know the many more that aren’t so sharply on my mind. I ask Your grace and mercy for us all, that Christ’s victory might be manifested and the lying traps of the enemy be destroyed, and multitudes be set free to repent and believe, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!