The Dreadful Consequences of Sin

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(Excerpted from Cheryl Gnagey's book, Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 8)

"What are the results of not driving out the inhabitants (sins) of your heart, when you willfully disobey God's command to remove them?  Two verses in the following chapter [of Numbers] show us what the consequences of our disobedience will be.  Let me warn you, though...you probably won't like what you find here any more than I did!  God spoke these words to Israel as He directed them to remove everyone from the land He had promised them.  He could not have been more clear and exact.  His words are prophetic, for this is just what happened to Israel.

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.  And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.   (Numbers 33: 55-56)

When we let our sin off of God's hook and ours, this is the result:

1. Your sins will become as pricks in your eyes.
2. Your sins will become as thorns in your side.
3. Your sins' will cause you continual trouble.
4. Your sins might cause your very destruction.

Do you see that the sin that you allow to remain in your heart, possessing God's home in you, will become the very snare that traps you in its bondage?  Our full obedience to God's commands, to His call to holiness, is critical when it comes to dispossessing our sins and gods from our hearts.  And our full obedience is critical to our spiritual growth.  God takes very seriously our following Him fully, as you can see by these stories recorded in Numbers for our instruction.  When it comes to our gods and our sin, what God intends to see destroyed in us can actually end up destroying us!  As always, it is our choice as to whether we will fully follow God's commands to take full vengeance on our sin or willfully disobey Him and ignore them.  It seems beyond ridiculous that we would choose any other way but the way of obedience!

Neil Marten, a member of the British Parliament, was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament.  During the course of the visit, a group happened to meet Lord Hailsham, then Lord Chancellor, wearing all the regalia of his office.  Hailsham recognized Marten among the group and cried, 'Neil!'  Not daring to question or disobey the 'command,' the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees!  (from Today in the Word, July 30, 1993)

Can God say that you are taking such a proactive approach to obeying His command to take full vengeance on your sins and idols?

The Deep Root System of Willful Disobedience

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"As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we should desire to make Him the only God in our lives, yet we struggle with just how to get that done.  Our hearts are filled with many sins and gods... and we know that we are commanded to take full vengeance on them.  When we look at the work ahead of us, we see that we are merely at the beginning of what could be a very long process of clearing out what keeps us from the intimacy with God that we long for and know is available to us.  In Matthew 26:41, Jesus said, 'The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.'   If we are truly honest with ourselves, we likely want to opt out of taking full vengeance on the gods in our hearts.  The result of such a choice will be that our sin will produce thick roots that will be much more difficult to cut out later.  Why do we so often make this poor choice?  At the heart of the matter is the fact that we really do not want to obey God's call to dispossess them from our hearts."

The longer a root of disobedience is allowed to go deeper and grow thicker, the harder it will be to cut it out of your life.  The more your disobedient roots grow, the more you will find great stability in your disobedient lifestyle.  Today is the day to begin to chop away at the roots that keep you distant from God's plans and purposes for your life!  What are your roots?

(Quoted from Chapter 8, "Fully Following God's Commands" in Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, available for purchase at www.cherylgnagey.com)

Taking a Closer Look

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It is always a good idea to take in information, but an even better idea to apply what you have learned to your life.  But often that will require that you slow down and take a good, close look at your life.  Below are a few questions that will help you both process and apply what you have learned about taking full vengeance on your sins and idols that are a part of your life.  This is your time to introspect.  Take a moment to look within.

1. When we don't take full vengeance on our gods and sin, we actually create an environment in which they will be allowed to grow up in us.  Are you nourishing your weeds, or are you pulling them up and destroying them?
2. What influence do your gods and sin have on your spiritual growth?
3. God wanted the Israelites to eradicate all foreign gods from their lives by taking FULL vengeance on them.  What does God want you to do with your identified gods and sin?
4. There were severe consequences for Israel when the disobeyed God and kept the foreign gods alive by sparing (giving life to) the woman who were so idolatrous.  Are you willing to find out what God's consequences will be for you if you choose to let your gods and sins live, instead of destroying them?  Do you think that you are' bullet-proof'?
5. Why does God discipline us when we disobey?  How do your gods and sin affect your holiness?

It is time to pull up the weeds in your life that are choking out Holy Spirit within you and holiness and purity He longs to bring into your life .  Weeds that are left alone will eventually take over an entire beautiful garden of flowers!

Choose Your Path: Complacency or Vengeance

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"Think back now to the Tabernacle we studied a few chapters back.  Do you remember the courts and their purposes?  If you have been hanging around in the Outer Court, comfortable enough in your salvation and baptism, yet oblivious to the victory over sin that God is calling you to, it is time for you to take a step into the Inner Court of obedience.  Are you already in the Inner court, enjoying the Holy Spirit's company and the Word of God, but still living in cyclical sin?  Then it's time for you to put shoe leather on the soles of your spiritual walking shoes!  It's time to take some serious vengeance on your sin!  Are you willing now for your heart to be laid bare before you and the Lord, so that the idols and sin can be removed?  If you are not willing, you will not be able to grow any closer to God than you currently are.  Are you satisfied with that, and satisfied with living your 'small g' god-driven life?

God sent Israel to war!  This will be no less a battle for us, and it will likely last for our entire life.  Will God find you obedient to this call, or will you take the easiest, most flesh-pleasing way out?  The first will lead yo to victory and intimacy with God; the other will eventually defeat you and keep you from drawing near to God.  The choice, ultimately, is yours.  Choose wisely.  Choose to take full vengeance on your sin.  The alternative is only  foolishness, and ultimately it reveals your complacency.  Consider these wise words that speak of this kind of complacency in your Christian walk.

Complacency is a blight that saps energy, dulls attitudes, and cases a drain on the brain.  The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are.  The second is rejection of thins as the might be.  'Good enough' becomes today's watchword and tomorrow's standard.  Complacency makes people fear the unknown, mistrust the untried, and abhor the new.  Like water, complacent people follow the easiest course--downhill.   They draw false strength from looking back."

What path have you chosen?  Do you need to change your course?

Your spiritual journey is made up of countless choices between your flesh and the Spirit who dwells inside of you. The valley of decision is often a bloody battlefield. But the Spirit CAN win each battle if you are surrendered to Him.

(Quoted from Chapter 7, "Taking Full Vengeance" from Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory by Cheryl Gnagey)

Your Sins Are NOT Invisible; You Are NOT Bullet-proof!

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Do you have trouble with temptation and falling to sin?  Are you a disobedient child of God and think that it is invisible to God's eyes or irrelevant to Him?  Consider the Israelites who were disobedient and thought God didn't care.

"Have you spared all the women?  Behold, these caused the sons of Israel . . . to trespass against the Lord . . . SO THE PLAGUE WAS AMONG THE CONGREGATION OF THE LORD."  (Numbers 31: 15-16)

"Israel's downfall was not in the keeping of the women and booty.  Their downfall was the moment that they disobeyed the words of God spoken through Moses.  Gods' commands meant very little, if anything, to them once the temptation was before their eyes.  We disobey in the exact same way, by the same process.  Can you relate to these statements?

1. We like what we see, we want it, and we grab it.
2. We like what gratifies our flesh, even when God has clearly said, 'NO!'
3. We want to be in control and not be told by God or anyone else what to do or not to do.
4. We want to please ourselves more than we want to please God.
5. We lack the desire to be in a relationship with God that will require our obedience.

When I was teaching this material in my small group, one quiet, but thoughtful man added one more thing to this list.  This was his comment:

6.  We think that we are bullet-proof and invisible.

I like that answer.  I find it to be completely true!  We tend to think that we can sin, and get away with it, because God surely wouldn't discipline us harshly, would He?  Or we think that He is paying very poor attention to His children, and we might be able to slip one more sin by Him.

Maybe these illustrations don't fit you.  Maybe they do not describe the truth about why you disobey your Lord.  If not, please take some time to identify why you do not obey God's commands, or only partially obey them.  Understanding why we continue to disobey is an important part of the process of learning to obey."

(Quoted from Chapter 7, "Taking Full Vengeance" from Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory)

Sparing Your 'gods' By Letting Them Off The Hook

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"Have you SPARED all the women?  Behold these have caused the son of Israel . . . to trespass against the Lord . . . "  (Numbers 31: 15)

So we can get a better idea of what was really being said to the Israelites (and so we can understand what God is now saying to us), let's take a closer look at the word 'spared.'  An English dictionary defines it as 'let live,' but looking at the Hebrew root of the word in order to discover its more literal meaning in its context, we can gain greater understanding as to what God meant when He said this to Israel.  To the Hebrew, 'spared' meant this:

1.  To revive

2.  To keep, leave, or make alive

3.  To give life to

4.  To nourish (feed)

5.  To preserve

6.  To repair or restore to life

You might be asking yourself,  "So what?"   I agree that it may not seem like a riveting revelation, but it will take on brand new meaning to you if you will apply these definitions to yourself and your gods! 

In light of the gods that you have dwelling in the safe harbor of your own heart, can you see what you are doing when you spare  them by letting them completely off the hook, letting them live on inside of you instead of taking full vengeance on them?  Choose one of your most prevalent sins or gods in your life and put its name in place of the the word 'god' below. 

1.  Reviving my [god] -- Bringing it back to life again and again after it has been killed by repentance

2.  Keeping, leaving, or making my [god] alive --  Giving life willingly to a new sin

3.  Nourishing my [god] -- Feeding it to keep it alive and refusing to starve it

4.  Preserving  my [god] -- Doing what it takes to keep it alive and active in my life

5.  Repairing and restoring my [god] -- Making adjustments in order to keep it alive and active, like it used to be

Can you see where you are disobeying God's call to take full vengeance on your sins and gods?  Did the light bulb just go on?  By sparing the women, Israel left the door wide open to be influenced again by false gods.  When we let our sins be spared, we open a door to the enemy to gain victory again and again in our lives.  When we walk in our sins, according to the flesh, our level of holiness is directly affected.  In actuality, our gods reveal just how un-Christlike we truly are.  Sometimes we can take some ground back from the enemy who seeks to lure us away from God, but if we don't wipe out the entire stronghold, then we are continuing to allow our sins to co-exist with the Spirit within us.  You must learn how to bring your sins to a complete death.  Then your responsibility will be to pay close attention to those areas where you have gained victory by continuing to keep that sin out of your heart.  That is how you can stand firm in not reviving or restoring your former gods.

(Excerpted from Chapter 7, "Taking Full Vengeance"  from Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory)