Years ago, I was at a conference in a huge church. During a break I was looking at books in their bookstore. I picked up one and was stopped in my tracks. The title was something like this: Living Your Full Potential: how to die without regrets. It so stunned me I burst into tears. Why? I lived in regrets. I didn’t begin my heart-healing journey until 1983. I’m still in this journey, because it is part of my progressive sanctification to be more like Jesus.

What are regrets? Here are two truths to keep in mind. 1. They are in your past. 2. You can’t change your past. However, you can change your attitude towards the root of the regret. Regret has to do with shame and disgrace. Jesus bore the shame and disgrace of all our sins. Here is a question to ask: do I regret the consequences, or the reproach my action or inaction brought on the Lord?

We repurpose our regret by changing the way we view it, and how it affects us. The past is passed. There is no ‘redo’ button. There is no pass or fail in God’s economy. Use your regret as a reminder of God’s resurrection power that is within you. Walk forward in His grace through confession of your hidden sin. We are fully known in God’s sight. All pretense is stripped away. David knew this truth. He wrote Psalm 69. Verse 19 says, “You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; my adversaries are all before You.”

As I read this last night, my mind inserted ‘adversaries’ as David’s reproach, shame, and dishonor. Verse 20 says, “Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.” Remaining in regret is a means of self-protection. We put up emotional walls. We run behind them as our default comfort zone.

Regret is also self-punishment. Emotionally castigating yourself, over and over until you are grooved in it, is another trap of the enemy. Castigate means to reprimand someone severely. Have you ever called yourself derogatory names? The enemy of our soul wants to keep us in oppressive bondage. God’s eternal truth says that we are free. However, it is up to us to maintain heart freedom, and not allow the enemy to bind us with his controlling lies!

Regret plays back into reluctance. Holding onto regret enforces the feelings of unworthiness. Therefore we hesitate when the Lord calls us out of our comfort zone. Doubt and fear swoop in to deter us. When Isaiah realized that his iniquity was taken away and his sin purged, there was no hesitation. He joyfully seized the opportunity the Lord had set before him.

Could it be that Moses lived in regret of killing the Egyptian and hiding him? Just a thought. 2 Corinthians 4:2 says, “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Renounce means to disown. If you are still carrying the emotional burden of regret, confess it, renounce it, and release it to the Lord. Walk away and remember that regret is satan’s weapon to hold us back from God’s purposes for our lives.

Yesterday I left out one word in my prayer. I typed my comfort zone.  It is: lead me out of my default comfort zone. What is your default comfort zone? It is something to think about. Whatever our default is, it is fueled by our flesh. Since our flesh profits nothing, anything we do in our flesh is futile. We have to train our heart to respond to what God asks. It will always be for our benefit and His glory.

Eli taught young Samuel how to respond. Samuel heard a voice. 1 Samuel 3:7 says, “(Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord revealed to him.)” Eli’s instruction was in verse 9, “…if He calls you, that you must say, Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.” Our flesh does not hear what the Lord is saying. Think of our flesh as noisy, like cymbals on a drum. 

We respond to the Lord’s words because we are ready to hear. We demonstrate our love to Him through obedience. 1 Corinthians 13:1 says, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…”

Quick obedience comes from a prepared heart. One that is trained in listening to act quickly. Proverbs 2:2 says, “So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and lift up your voice to understanding.” Incline means to listen favorably. Samuel inclined his ear. He was ready the moment the Lord spoke.

When the Lord calls us to do something, He desires that our heart was listening so that we could quickly obey. Jeremiah 29:13 Amplified says, “Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me (as a vital necessity) and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” All means without exception. Beware. Our flesh looks for the loopholes of exceptions or contrived excuses.

We need to keep our inner man strong. Ephesians 3:16 Amplified says, “May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the innerman by the (Holy) Spirit (Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality).”

Last night I was thinking of regrets. Is there anything in your life that you regret? Regret has to do with the past. We can’t go back and fix it. However, we can use it as a springboard for the present. It will be as a post it note to remind us to not miss any opportunity the Lord sets before us.

I was also thinking about the shame that comes with regret. This is what the Holy Spirit brought to my attention. The Lord does not hold anything against us. Romans 8:33-34 says, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

Regret brings shame which results in self-condemnation. It’s a lie that we have believed. I encourage you to take this before the Holy Spirit and ask Him to reveal your hidden self-condemnation that is linked to your regrets.

Jesus did nothing on His own. He heard what the Father was speaking and spoke it. He saw what the Father was doing and did it. John 5:19 says, “…Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” John 3:32 says, “And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies…” Verse 34 is our criteria also. It says, “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God…”

Moses could not have used his natural rod in a supernatural way without the Lord. Neither can we. What is in our hand will only be used by Him when we throw down our agenda. That is what Moses failed to do when God told him to speak to the rock. His hidden anger fueled his agenda. Numbers 20:8 says, “Take the rod…Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water…” Moses did as he was told. Verse 9 says, “So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.”

Watch what happened. Something in the past triggered Moses. He then acted in anger. Verse 10 says, “…Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Notice the ‘we’ leaving God out. He stuck the rock and water came out. Verse 12 says, “…Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

Hidden sin defiles our heart. It hardens it so that we cannot hear distinctly. It also slows down our response to the Lord’s voice, giving time for our flesh to take over. There is a prayer in Daniel that I use frequently. Daniel 9:19 says, “O Lord hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

We want the Lord to act on our behalf. However, do we immediately act on His behalf when He calls? Moses was reluctant, but Isiah acted immediately. John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

The word the Lord speaks to our heart contains the Spirit-empowerment that we need to do what He has said. There is no way Moses could speak to a rock and have it give water. Without God’s word there is no empowerment. Our flesh is our way and our will which opposes the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another…” Contrary: think of two magnets. No matter how hard we try, we cannot get them to connect.

I have this prayer on a card on my kitchen cabinet: Lord, in every decision, circumstance, and interaction ~ lead me out of my comfort zone. I want to glorify You above all else. I started praying this July 4, 2021. This morning I realized that our comfort zone is comfortable to our flesh. No waves. Hmm. That is an eye opener for me.

Though the Lord had told Moses He would be with his mouth, Moses came up with another deflection. Exodus 4:13 says, “…O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” Disobedience is part of our sin nature. Obedience is a choice to step beyond our arguing flesh. 

Here is a question to ask the Holy Spirit. What have I forfeited through my reluctance? Reluctance means an unwillingness or disinclination to do something. That also greatly defines procrastination. Putting off today what we should have done yesterday.

Years ago my pastor wrote a little note to me: Seize the opportunity in the moment of the opportunity. I want to take us to Isaiah 6. This is pre-cross. Isaiah saw the Lord. He was enveloped in His Presence. He heard the Seraphim cry out to each other in verse 3. It says, “…Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” Think of what Isaiah saw and felt. Verse 4 says, “And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.”

In such majesty and power, Isaiah recognized and acknowledged his uncleanness. A seraphim took a live coal from the altar. Notice that he used tongs. He touched Isaiah’s mouth and told him that his iniquity was taken away and his sin purged. Then he heard a voice. Verse 8 says, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Isaiah immediately replied, “…Here am I! Send me.”

Did you notice the contrast between Moses’ reluctance, and Isaiah seizing the opportunity the moment it was presented? Both had to do with their mouth. We are post-cross. Our iniquity was laid on Jesus. Isaiah 53:3 says that He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. Peter reiterates that eternal truth for every believer. 1 Peter 1:15-16 says, “But as He who called you holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy.”

2 Timothy 1:9 says, “Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” No matter what the Lord calls us to do, His grace is abundantly supplied. Therefore we do not answer according to our ability, but because He bestows His power. It is in us according to Ephesians 3:20. It says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” That power is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead.

Of course we will argue in our flesh if we look to ourselves as the one who will do what He has called us to do. Moses argued in his flesh, because he failed to believe what God had said. Exodus 4:12 says, “Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” What has the Lord asked you to do with what is in your hand? John 3:34 says, “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.”

Moses backpedaled with excuses when God told him that He would send him to speak to the ruler over Egypt. Exodus 3:18 clearly said, “Then they will heed your voice…” Moses imagined how things might go. Notice his rebuttal to God’s word to him. Verse 1 says, “…But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, The Lord has not appeared to you.”

God did not answer his ‘supposed’ imaginations. Instead He asked him what was in his hand. God wanted to demonstrate to Moses how He would reveal His power through something natural. He turned Moses’ shepherd’s rod into a snake. Then He had him put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out it was leprous. He had him put his hand back into his bosom. When he pulled it out the leprosy was gone. He gave him one more affirmation of how He would use Moses.

Verse 9 says, “And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice…” Twice the Lord spoke of Moses’ voice. Verse 10 was more backpedaling. He explained his view of himself to the Lord. He said, “…I am not eloquent…but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Let me jump to what Stephen said about Moses. Acts 7:22 says, “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.”

How many times have you presented excuses to the Lord when He called you to do something? Here is the definition I use for an excuse. It is a skin of reason wrapped around a lie. I present to you that it is a lie that you have believed about yourself, that can be refuted through God’s word. Why do I say this? I know from my own experiences, and experiences of those I have counseled. When we believe a lie it controls our lives.

The philosophy of a hypothesis is: a proposition made as a basis for reasoning, without any assumption of its truth. Moses used hypothetical scenes. They were not based on truth, but on his assumptions. Ferreting out lies is not our job. They are usually hidden very deep. They are holed up in the dark dungeon of our heart. The Holy Spirit will expose them, and help us acknowledge them for what they are WHEN He knows that we are ready to face them.

I encourage you to write down what is in your hand. It may be areas where you are naturally gifted. It may be a special interest, or something that you are trained in. It may be a desire that the Lord placed in your heart. Present your list to the Lord. Ask Him: what is in my hand that you want to use in a supernatural way? When He tells you, don’t offer excuses based on your past performances. He is ready to do a new thing. 

Isaiah 43:19 Amplified says, “Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” It is time to get free of our mind entanglements based on lies that we have believed about ourselves!

I woke up with the chorus to Calvary Covers It All: Calvary covers it all, My past with its sin and stain; My guilt and despair Jesus took on Him there, And Calvary covers it all. How does guilt affect our thoughts? Joseph’s brothers are a great example. Genesis 42:21 says, “Then they said to one another, We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.”

Joseph was 17 when his brother sold him to the Ishmaelites. He was 30 when they faced him as the second in command in Egypt . For 23 years they bore their guilt. They ‘saw’ his anguish, but they would not ‘hear’ his pleading. Sin blocks our sensitivity. James 4:17 revealed the root. It says, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” 

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. Matthew 23:23 says, “…These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” What have you not done that you should have? What have you ignored in your life that lines your heart with guilt? You see, unresolved guilt becomes an internal stronghold, erected by the enemy because of your disobedience to God’s instructions through His word.

Romans 2:15 says that God”s law is written in our heart. We are born with a conscience. Our conscience tells us when we are right or wrong through sensory signals in our nervous system. When guilt first hits what do we do? There is a cringe inside, because the guilt just hit our conscience. 1 Timothy 1:5 says, “The purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.”

Paul then explained to Timothy what he meant if he digressed. In verse 6 it says, “From which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk.” The Strong’s defines ‘idle’ as futile talk, worthless, empty, meaningless babble, and idle prattle.” What a perfect description of negative dialogue that brings entanglement in our thought processes. A guilty person does everything to skirt the issue. They use lies or ways to deflect. That is hypocrisy.

The truth is in the cross. Jesus paid for ALL our sins. All means our past, present, and future sins. 2 Peter 1:9 says, “For he who lacks these things…” What things? Verses 5-7 give us a list of things that we are to add to our faith: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Verse 8 says, “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren for unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

However, if we lack these things, verse 9 goes on to say, that we are shortsighted, “…even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” Before we were born, before we ever had a chance to sin, Jesus bore our sins on the cross. He took our place. He paid our full debt so that we might become partakers of His nature.

Buried guilt is a stressor that can destroy your health. Guilt is one consequence of disobedience. When the Lord says ‘do’ and we ‘don’t’ that is disobedience. May we all be sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The first pang of guilt is like the red light on your vehicle’s dashboard. It means that something is wrong and you need to check it out. Guilt is the ‘warning light’ that we have sinned against God. Instead of ignoring the Holy Spirit’s conviction through our conscience, we need to heed Him. A sound mind is free of entanglements.

We are soldiers in God’s army! 2 Timothy 2:3-4 says, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him.”

The affairs of this life are aptly described in James 4:4 says, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Wow. What a line of demarcation! When we are entangled in the godless systems of this world, we cannot effectively fight in God’s kingdom. Nor, according to Hebrews 12:1, can we run with the kind of endurance we need to resist the magnetic pull of the world’s entrapments.

Here is my personal illustration of entanglements. Several years ago I was walking towards the house from my garden. My arms were loaded with veggies. I took a step off the lawn onto the cement walkway that leads to the stairs. As I stepped down, I felt something around my ankle. I looked down. Remember I don’t DO snakes. There was a snake right where I stepped (it wasn’t in my sight as I approached the house). I was instantly entangled. I worked frantically to get away from it as much as it worked to get away from me.

What has entangled you? What are you trapped in emotionally? What do you turn to when you are stressed? In the wee hours of this morning I had a great experience. I think I was awake, but I might have been dreaming. I rode on waves of His love as I sang His character to Him. It wasn’t me. I was being led by the Holy Spirit. The whole experience caused my body to relax in a deeper way, without me doing anything.

That is the power of being still in His Presence. I want to encourage you (and me) that the next time we feel stressed, we stop and acknowledge He is there. Right now our nation is in danger. We are soldiers, so this is a call to arms. Our greatest weapon is through ambush praying. I invite you to join me and countless others who are praying 2 Chronicles 7:14 at 7:14 PM. That is a strategic ambush.

Joshua 8 is the fall of the city Ai. How did it happen? Joshua, their commanding officer, sent 30,000 mighty men of valor to lie in ambush. They had to be very attentive. They could not afford to be distracted by anything that would entangle them. They had to be ready to move out at Joshua’s silent signal. Can you just imagine their attentiveness? 

Verse 18 the Lord told Joshua to stretch out his spear toward Ai. The second he did that, verse 19 says, “So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place…” They entered Ai, took it, and set it on fire. Note that they were watching their leader for when to act, so that they could carry out the assignment he gave them.

We have a strategic assignment. 2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season…” We are in a season of unprecedented war. The only hope of this nation is through the gospel. Pray for opportunities to share the truth of the cross. Pray for revival, not only for our nation but worldwide. 

Nahum 2:1 says, “He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily.” Our fortifying strength comes from our intimate communion with the Lord. It is in our quiet time that He speaks to our heart. He reveals our hidden entanglements so that we can be free to serve our Commanding Officer.

I was thinking about the full circle of Joseph’s life. He was Rachel’s first son but Jacob’s eleventh. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin his twelfth. Joseph loved Benjamin, but they were separated for years. Though God showed Joseph his future ministry, His word was tested through Joseph’s trials. Every adverse situation Joseph went through was divinely orchestrated. God’s timing is always impeccable. What He speaks to your heart today will be tested. 

I want you to picture a circle. Start at the top, go around the circle to your right, then come back to the top. Now picture the circle of your life through Philippians 1:6. It says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Let’s compare this word to us through the eyes of Joseph’s life’s trials.

In Genesis 50:20 we see the full circle of Joseph’s life. It says, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” Joseph was united with his family, and closed his father’s eyes when he died. Just before Joseph died he gave the children of Israel a promise. Verse 25 says, “…God will surely visit you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”

Our nation is in a fiery trial. We must remember that He began a good work when He brought the folks in the Mayflower. He established the foundation of one nation under God. What He has begun He will complete. We must keep our eyes on Him. Hebrews 12:1 says that as we run our race, we must cast off all entanglements and hindrances. We do that through focus. Verse 2 says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The Author (what He has begun), and Finisher (completed) of our faith. Our faith is being tested right now. Will we continue to believe that what God has begun He will complete? What is warring against your faith? Is it what you hear or see? 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not be sight.” 1 Peter 1:8 says, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”

Jesus endured the cross because His focus was on the joy set before Him. His joy are those who were redeemed through His shed blood. The moment we first believed unto salvation, we entered into this proving of our faith. Think back to when you were first saved. What was your first trial? It was designed to expose any hidden dross that would undermine your confession. He still purifies His words to us through our trials. He doesn’t change even though our circumstances do. He remains the same. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” We only waver when the hidden dross of doubt, fear, or unbelief rises to cloud our vision of Him.

Our heart is our belief center. What we believe affects our health. I want to take you back to the story of Jacob and his sons. When his sons presented Joseph’s coat of many colors to him, he made a wrong assumption. Here are his words in Genesis 37:35, “…I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning…”

Fast forward to when the sons told Jacob that Joseph was alive. Genesis 45:26 Amplified says, “…And Jacob’s heart began to stop beating and (he almost) fainted, for he did not believe them.”

Verse 27 Amplified says, “…the spirit of Jacob their father revived (and warmth and life returned).” Bad news and good news, both caused  emotional upheaval that affected Jacob’s physical heart.

Now let’s go to the story of Nabal and his wife Abigail. You can read the whole story in 1 Samuel 25:2-42. Verse 3 says that Nabal was harsh and evil in his doings. Verse 36 says that Nabal was holding a feast in his house, and that his heart was merry because he was very drunk. When Abigail told Nabal the next morning what she had done, verse 37 says, “…that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.” Ten days later the Lord killed him.

Here is a true account, which I have permission to share. It took place in 1991. I lived in community with two married couples and another single. Dave was an angry man. He kept every offense in his heart. He could recount every detail, and he was full of bitterness.

Our pastor had met with Dave and his wife to talk to Dave about his unforgiveness. Dave left that meeting saying that he would think about it. We had a house meeting, and Dave was told that they would have to move because his anger was out of control. 

Ten days after that meeting, this is what happened. It was early in the morning before any of us were up. Dave asked his wife if he woke her up. He said that he was having chest pains. She turned to ask if he wanted her to call an ambulance, and his last breath whooshed out of him.

The ER doctor asked me about Dave’s health. I told him that the week before they had gone on a long hike, and that he was very strong and healthy. I’ll never forget his words. He said, “His veins are like cement.”

I bring you back to Nabal and Abigail. Verse 2 said of Abigail, “…And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance…” Abigail did not let Nabal’s evil character affect her heart.

This is so key for all of us. We are responsible for our thoughts, and we alone are in control of them. Negative thoughts against yourself, others, or your circumstances affect your physical heart.

This passage does not use the word heart. It described the inner defilement from sinful thoughts. Acts 8:22 says, “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.” Peter further disclosed this man’s hidden sin. Verse 23 says, “For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” 

My friend Dave was poisoned by years of bitterness. He was so full of bitterness, there was no room for any more, and his heart turned to stone. The next morning after Dave died, we were clearing out his things. There by his side of the bed was a stack. His shoes were on the bottom, and his clean underwear and socks were on the top. When he went to bed that night, he expected to get up and dress as usual. Let his story be a lesson to all of us to deal with heart-issues as they come up.

Joseph was 17 when the Lord gave him two dreams. Each spoke about something that would happen 13 years later. Psalm 105:17-19 says, “He sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.”

Joseph was imprisoned because of a false accusation. He paid the penalty of another’s sin against him. Joseph is a type of Jesus, as He who knew no sin, took our place.

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” An archer who misses the bulls eye ‘falls short’ of the target. Sin is missing the mark.

At salvation, we are set free from sin’s condemnation. We are forgiven  all of our past, present, and future sins. Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

I want to remind you that our thoughts precede our actions. We have the opportunity to turn away sinful thoughts before we actually take that step into sin.

Isaiah 5:13 says, “Therefore My people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge…” Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” 

There are consequences when we resist the law of gravity. There are also consequences when we resist God’s law, by not making personal application. Exodus 15:26 says, “…If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”

Here are seven sin-areas that affect our health if we engage in them: envy, guilt, lust, anger, bitterness, fear, and greed. God’s word speaks to each of these issues. All seven are spiritual roots to disease.

We are created to fully function from birth to death so that we might glorify the Lord. Isaiah 43:7 says, “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

The burden of health lies within us—our heart’s reservoir. It is not our circumstances, nor our genes, but our choices in our thought processes. Our choices in how we engage or resist each temptation to sin, affects every aspect of our lives.

John 8:36 says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” That is our positional standing in Christ. However, our state is a work in progress through our sanctification which is a process!