Weekly Devotional: Gems from Pastor Jim 4/4/2022

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by Jim Hughes

CrossMatt. 18:6-7 “How terrible it will be for anyone who causes others to sin. Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but how terrible it will be for the person who does the temptation.”

The world is full of people who make it their life to tempt others to sin. We cannot escape them. They infiltrate every area of our lives. They have become such a part of living that we scarcely recognize them anymore and don’t seem to care. We accept their presence and allow them to influence our thinking and living.

Think about it. Take note of everyone today who offers you some way to sin. Listen to the lyrics of the songs you hear. Pay attention to what you read. Look around you at work and take note of how things are being done. Pay attention to the ads on TV and the content of the shows you watch. Listen to what others are saying to you. If you take note of these things, you will discover just how much temptation to sin you encounter each day of your life.

It takes great determination to resist the temptations to sin. It takes a lot of prayer and exposure to God and His Word to have the willpower to say no. It takes staying close to the Lord to even recognize much of the temptations we encounter to lure us away from God.

It is a terrible thing to fall into sin. But it is even worse to be the one who leads others into sin. Stay alert and don’t let sin have a foothold in your life. And, make sure that you don’t cause others to sin along the way. There are people watching you. They notice how you live and talk. If they respect you, they will conclude that if it’s okay for you then they can do it, too. If you are a believer, then it is obvious how you can influence others to sin.

Guard your soul and strive to live a godly life always. Sin is a big deal to God as is being the cause of another person falling into sin. Terrible is the fate of those who lead others into sin. Terrible is the fate of those who fall into sin and do not repent. How we live does matter to God.

About the Author:

Jim Hughes

Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one’s self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn’t broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.

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