The Devotional – 1437 – God hates sin; but He loves the sinner.

The Devotional – 1437 – God hates sin; but He loves the sinner.

Proverbs 19:23 – The fear of the LORD leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil.

Comments and challenges

The LORD God is approachable; to have fear (in the wrong use of the word) we would never draw near to God as the apostle James encourages us to do in his epistle. It would seem that from just a quick reading of Proverbs 19:23 that James may have had it in mind that the devil cannot interfere with the heart of any person that is drawn to God by the awesome power associated with God’s Character and His love for them.

I was reminded of a trip that my wife and I took down a river in Connecticut and the respect that we both gained from being in an environment where we had little control over our destiny. The excitement of being on the river itself was overwhelming and the fear of the strength and power surrounding us seemed at any moment was ready to take our lives. The proper fear of God is to understand that His power is to protect; while the proper fear of the devil is to understand that his power is to destroy.

Isaiah 6:1-5

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts." 

Unlike Isaiah, we do not have literal sightings of God, but that does not mean that we should not be overwhelmed when we draw near to Him. In fact; this overwhelming fear of God is more than just imagination as some might believe, it is protection from the one whom we should be afraid of and that would be the devil, we do not have literal sightings of him either, but if death is nearby so is he.

James 4:7-9 – Therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double minded. lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the LORD, and He will lift you up.

As a child of God in the land of the enemy, we need to be close to God our Father, if not we become stained with the sin of the world and I do not have to tell you this do I! We know those “pet” sins in our lives and it seems as if those sins find us out as soon as we step out the door or place our foot in the river. If we do not go directly to God our hands and hearts will become sinful and our mind will become double minded. Knowing what we ought to do becomes difficult and as the torrent of sin increases the pull of the rapids draws us away from God.

Then the fight in the flesh to do well and the persistent aggression of evil causes poor health and poor evaluation or assessment of our position in Christ. The power struggle will cause mourning and weeping, our joy and laughter is nothing more than a whimper of gloom. And yet; if God is your Father and you submit (humble) yourself in the SIGHT of the LORD (Recall the Isaiah passage above) He will lift you up and in His renewed strength you will hear His voice saying; “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” and your response will be like that of Isaiah; “Here am I! Send me.”