Matthew 6: 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Potential (def) - having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future.
What we see can lead us astray. I get calls quite often from a source that comes up on my phone as ”Potential Scam,” When I see that on my iPhone 13, I immediately delete it. I know that the call has the potential to be a scam or fake call, and someone wants to sell me something I don't need, and for sure, don’t want! I am glad my phone picks up on the “Potential Scams” and I get a warning about it. It is imperative for each of us to pick up on the Potential Sin that is being offered in front of us and reject it. Our best move as believers is to deny that call because satan is the biggest scammer of all time. Adam and Eve answered satan’s call and look where it got humanity. A wonderful, glorious relationship with our heavenly Father turned sour and evil because of answering satan’s scam call.
I get Facebook messages quite often where a friend will say, “Don’t receive any friend requests from me. I have been hacked!” Satan is not our friend and we shouldn’t be receiving any messages from him or he will hack our life!! Scripture tells us what to do when we have a Potential Sin that is being offered to us and James 4:7 says 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The first thing is to Submit to God. Then Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
I went on a trip to Ireland with my son and part of the tour was going to the Cliff of Moher and they are over 700 high. When we got up to the top I noticed some yellow barrier tape was put up to keep people from getting too close to the edge. And yet I saw a guy lean inside the tape and closer to the edge to get the “ultimate” selfie. I called out to him and said “that is not a good idea” to which he shrugged his shoulders and continued taking his “selfie.” As we got back to the welcome center we heard of people who were blown off the cliffs because they got too close to the edge and the wind picked them up and they fell to their death. NOT SMART! We are no different. We flirt with sin and only think of ourselves and that “selfie” thinking has all kinds of excuses for the questionable behavior. We come up with reasons to get closer to the edge. Just like Adam and Eve, we hedge on God’s warnings and spiritual death becomes a reality. Pride is at the heart of this whole thing. We think it will never happen to us and then BOOM it does. Potential Sin becomes a reality and we could have avoided it!!
Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman told of a distinguished minister, Dr. Howard, from Australia who preached very strongly on the subject of sin. After the service, one of the church officers came to counsel him in the study. "Dr. Howard," he said, "we don't want you to talk as openly as you do about man's guilt and corruption, because if our boys and girls hear you discussing that subject they will more easily become sinners. Call it a mistake if you will, but do not speak so plainly about sin. "The minister took down a small bottle and showing it to the visitor said, "You see that label? It says strychnine -- and underneath in bold, red letters the word 'Poison!' Do you know, man, what you are asking me to do? You are suggesting that I change the label. Suppose I do and paste over it the words, 'Essence of Peppermint; don't you see what might happen? Someone would use it, not knowing the danger involved, and would certainly die. So it is, too, with the matter of sin. The milder you make your label, the more dangerous you make your poison!"
So many “questionable” things are accepted now by believers and we must learn to resist the devil at every turn. The best way to resist him is to not let any “potential sin” be accepted in our life and the devil will flee from us. Jesus spoke to the source of our “Potential Sin” in Mark 7 where He says 20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
Make sure your heart is right and let God’s Word keep it in check. Don’t just read the Bible to say you read the Bible. Let it speak to you at your heart level and God will show you great and mighty truths and they will enable you to keep potential sin at bay. Don’t make excuses for evil or potential sin. Pursue God and you will find Him and you will find your answers and the strength to live your life in Him.
James 1: 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. 16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.
The Pilgrimage Continues….
David Warren
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