Sin has become a dirty word in our culture. People are pretending to be righteous while trying to cover up their mess. This episode is designed to help you identify those sins that we have become accused to, rationalized why we do it, and yet it is what is holding us back from moving forward in our growth with Christ. Sin is defined in examples and practice time is included, not your usual way, on letting go. After listening, you may want to use this as a tool to help your youth better understand the importance of standing against sin and not "practicing sin". Also check out lyvitabrooks.com/blog on "parasitic sin". Sin maybe the problem but for believers Christ Jesus is the answer.
Thanks for listening. I pray this episode was a blessing to you. Leave a comment or rate this episode . Then pass it on. Share this link: https://lyvitabrooks.com/
Sin has become a dirty word in our culture. People are pretending to be righteous while trying to cover up their mess. This episode is designed to help you identify those sins that we have become accused to, rationalized why we do it, and yet it is what is holding us back from moving forward in our growth with Christ. Sin is defined in examples and practice time is included, not your usual way, on letting go. After listening, you may want to use this as a tool to help your youth better understand the importance of standing against sin and not "practicing sin". Also check out lyvitabrooks.com/blog on "parasitic sin". Sin maybe the problem but for believers Christ Jesus is the answer.
Thanks for listening. I pray this episode was a blessing to you. Leave a comment or rate this episode . Then pass it on. Share this link: https://lyvitabrooks.com/
Episode # 24 Title: Do You Have The Guts To Confess Your Sin?
Theme: Spiritual Discipline is Confession and Self-Examination
Host: Lyvita Brooks
Publication Date: Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 11:30 am
Please enjoy this podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Although efforts were made in editing, this transcript may include a few typos. It’s difficult to catch some minor errors. Enjoy!
You will need a Bible for this episode, your journal, something to write with or a highlighter and of course a comfy place to sit, cry or get mad, hopefully not with me. I’m just a messenger, who had to do some confessing of her own in order to get this right. God loves us that’s why He sent his Son to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. Take the penalty for sin. This is podcast number 23, On to the intro…
Welcome to the Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast where we equip and encourage Believers to commune with God through practicing spiritual disciplines which help create space for growing in love with God, your neighbor and yourself.
Hi, I’m Lyvita Brooks, teacher, author and spiritual discipline equipper and encourager. Bringing you practice time, demonstration, inspiration, interviews and guidance on practicing spiritual disciplines. For more information, check out my blog at lyvitabrooks.com. If you are new consider subscribing to this podcast so you will receive notifications of new releases. If it’s a blessing, write a review and rate it, and don’t forget to invite others to join us.
Now, come walk with me, where we intentionally practice being in the presence of God. So stop what you are doing. ‘Cause it’s time to Hang Out With Jesus, and me, Lyvita. Let’s pray…
3:15 - Our Father and Our God, forgive us because we have sinned and come short of your glory. Help us to accept what we have done or am doing wrong, then confess it, and repent turning from it. Encourage us to not condemn ourselves or give way to the enemy in this area of our lives. but help us to see our faults for what it is – a stepping stone to growing in righteousness- to learn from it and let it go. Lord, we need your guidance, protection and assurance as we navigate through being equipped to tackle those sins we find hard to accept and get rid of. In Jesus name, Amen
4:15 - Confession and self-examination are disciplines that’s hard to do at times, but in the end, it releases a lot of burdens, stress, worries, lies and fears. Confession allows for many things to happen within you.
For one - forgiveness. You can begin to forgive God, others, and yourself for deep wounds caused by hurts which were physically, emotionally, spiritually, and/or mentally contrived or naturally inflicted.
5:00 - Jesus tells us to cast our cares upon Him for He cares for us. Jesus is the Savior of the world because He is the one who endured the punishment of our sins on the cross and the veil in the temple was ripped from top to bottom. Jesus is the one making intercessions for us, seated at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is our High Priest. Therefore, it is He who I make my confessions, aloud. So I saw to the enemy, satan, so now you know that I know that’s a sin I am not going to commit again I confessed it and Holy Spirit is working with me to annihilate the temptation. But if I do, Praise God I know that my redeemer will not condemn me but gather me up, broken, and mend me back together cause I am not alone in this struggle. So get to stepping! Because I am a servant of God Almighty and according to James 4:7 time for you to flee from me. Be gone! In Jesus name. Ya’ll just had to get that out and some day you will to if you haven’t already.
6:35 - Secondly, Confession allows A cleansing of the soul. A renewing of your spirit. A burdened less body.
6:45 - Open your Bible cause I am going to read 5 scriptures from the ESV Bible that you need to see, as I am reading but make sure you record the scripture for later reference during this episode practice time:
1. Recognize that you still sin. Romans 3:23-24 says for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Does that mean that Christians can still sin even though they are saved? Yes. But the difference is now you know who to go to for forgiveness and release of the penalty from that sin whereas those that aren’t saved can’t because they haven’t acknowledge or given allegiance to Christ Jesus. Versus 24 of Romans chapter 3 says “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” Did you notice that there are two “ands” between verses 23 & 24? “And” is a word used to state a connection and that the two ideas are words are to be taken jointly. Therefore, having sinned and fallen short are two ideas that are to be taken jointly. They are connected. Therefore when you have sinned you have also fallen short of the glory of God. But it doesn’t stop there because vs 24 starts with the word “and” letting us know that having sin and falling short also means you have redemption. Therefore, when we do sin and fall short, Jesus Christ has redeemed us. Now, this is what I like, the rest of 24 says, “we are justified by his grace as a gift”. Yall hear that? This is Christ Jesus gift to us, justification through the redemption of our sin. You are forgiven but you need to confess it. Say it! “I have sinned, fallen short and redeemed by the confession of faith in Christ Jesus.”
2. Why do we need to confess our sin, our faults? Turn to 1 John 1: 8 - 10 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. That’s why? Verses 6-7 says 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. Acts 3:19 says, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,”.
11:00 - Also I need to say this, some think, “I’ve been sinning this long and nothing has happened to me.” Well, you do know that God is long-suffering, right? This is His way of giving you opportunities to repent. Right now is one of them. Your choice. But a good example is Haman from the book of Esther. God gave him several times to repent, but he was so engrossed with Mordecai not respecting him, by not bowing down to Haman when the king sent out an edict/rule to do so. Haman missed even the warning coming from his wife and others. Remember we sow what we reap. Let’s move on.
12:10 - 3. Turn to Psalm 32: 1-5 which shows the reward of confessed sin versus the burden of unconfessed sin.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up[b] as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
13:30 - 4. You need to confess your specific sin aloud to the Lord. And if offended another, confess to them first, if you can, like Saul did and then go to the Lord. Turn to James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” You see when you have confessed your faults to the one you offended or even to a confidant, they are to pray for you.
14:25 - 5. Turn to 1 Samuel 15:24, listen to Saul’s confession, “Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” How many times have we sinned because we wanted to look “holy” or “a good person” or “not guilty” or “like everyone else in the group” just to be accepted or validated?
15:25 - Now that was easy… But this is where it gets interesting because when you really want a deep relationship with the Lord, not a legalistic one or one you can lay down when you need to get nasty. No, what I’m about to talk about is for those believers that are real laborers in the body of Christ. You know God. You are a Proverbs 1:7 beleiver, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
16:10 - You fear the Lord, more than anything because you love Him more than anything. And you are like Esther who said, “If I perish, I perish.” Because she was definitely going to do what God asked her to do.
16;25 - Let’s be clear sin is not making a mistake. It is doing something, willfully or not, that is contrary to the Word of God. It’s the breaking of God’s law, commandments, percepts found in the Bible. You see sin produces something that separated, put a division between you and God. Where as living a righteous life produces fruit and brings you closer to God.
17:00 - I like how Galatians 5:16-25 puts it, “16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
18:35 - These are sins but God didn’t leave you to guessing what the opposite to sin is. The Bible tells you/I that the flesh, our sinful desires are in opposition, fighting against, struggling with the Spirit, our new nature which is guided by the Holy Spirit. Here you have what sin is and the fruit of the Spirit when you walk and live by the Spirit.
19:15 - So when you break God’s laws, sin, it is produced in the forms of what? Galatians 5: 19:21 - gives us a few: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
Did you see any sin or sins you need to confess?
19:35 - I have a question. Aren’t there some sins that are considered acceptable in our society, culture, Christianity? (pause) Some of you are probably saying, “No Way” while others are saying, “Yes, that’s why I have problems with Christians. They are hypocrites.”
12:35 - So let’s get down to business. Let’s start looking at ourselves. Not me, not the person next to you. It’s time for self-examination. Look at what you are doing.
Is marriage a sin? (pause)No.
Is being engaged a sin? (pause) No.
What about fornification? (pause) Yeah. Some Christians believe it’s OK to live together, especially if you are going to get married, while other believe it’s OK to live together.
12:30 - Turn with me to Matthew 15: 8 – 19, I’m reading from the KJV 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications (some versions say sexual immorality), thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Now turn with me to 1Corinthians 6:18, this is where Paul is warning against believers committing sexual immoralities, things that defile a person. 1 Corinthians 6:18,
Let’s start at verse 12, instead:
12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”[b] 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.[c]
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
So I ask you is fornification a sin? Is this something you need to confess and repent? Or are you going to continue to do it? Your choice. Think about how that makes your God feel. It doesn’t matter if both of you are saved or not. The point is both of you are sinning against your own bodies and dishonoring your God.
I like how Christianity.doc defines sexual immorality. “In simple terms, sexual immorality is essentially the engagement in sexual acts outside of the sanctity of marriage, the divine union of creating and fostering life.”
26,50 - Let’s look at some other sexual immoral sins that have become, in some Christian arenas OK. The topic of gender, the right to have sex with whomever or whatever you choice. Therefore is having sex with the same gender sin? What about having sex between a human and an animal called bestiality is that sin? I have no idea why that last one is here, because it’s not common in Christian arenas that I know of. But anyway, they are all sin. Is this something you need to confess and repent?
27:43 - Saints, we have to make no occasion for the devil. I know sin runs deep. Cause we are born into it. It hangs out with us and pesters us from the time we are born until we go home to be with the Lord. It’s a constant fight that’s why self-examination is important and confess it to getting you right with God, others and yourself.
28:10 - Timothy 4:3-4 says “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
Is that you? Do you have an “itching ears”? Are you refusing to accept the definition of sexual immorality? Then talk to God, He wrote a couple different sections in the Bible about that one sin, sexual immorality. Even gave people over to a reprobate mind because they refused to do right. Look at Romans 1. I’ll talk more about that later.
29:15 - But sexual immorality isn’t the only sin that has been accepted into our Christian culture by some. What about cussing, cursing using profanity? Some say it’s OK when you don’t use it a lot. I’ve heard older people, strong believers who got older and started saying a curse word here or there. Is that sin?
Here are a few scriptures that help us understand that it is sin”:
Matthew 12:36 - I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
1 Timothy 2:16 - But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
The point of all this is to recognize our sin, confess it and repent so that the enemy has no occasion, reason to condemn us for a sinful act nor will there be any unconfessed, I or you know of standing between us.
30:50 - Lastly, confession brings about a healthy understanding of what sin is and what it can do to you.
First 1 John 3:4-10 “4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's[b] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” So what is sin the Bible calls it lawlessness, in other words disobedient to God’s laws, commandments, precepts, principles.
32:55 - Saints, we are not to practice sin, when we know its sin. We confess it and repent. Now if you are still practicing a sin or sins God has warned you about then you are being disobedient to God’s laws and the result is not to your advantage but has set you up for reaping what you sow. Sin produces sin and Righteousness produces righteousness. There is no half and half and definitely no “Cause I accepted Christ, I can keep doing this one sin because He forgave me for it.” Seriously, you better read 1 John 3”4-10 again because that’s practicing sin.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 makes it clear:
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
And Colossians 3:4-10 says:
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. ..
36:15 - I’m not trying to depress you, but bring you to a knowledge of the truth. We have allowed the world to twist the truth and make a lie the truth. My goal is to help you see the truth and come from out of it. My goal is and always will be, Ephesians 4: 12-16
2 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,[a] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love
37:35 - My hope is that I am building you up in love. I desire that no one is blind-sided by the lies of this world, that’s why this podcast is designed to equip and edify believers to hang out with Jesus, cause the more you know about your Savior through the Bible, the more you will know about your God and yourself.
38:30 - _Let’s practice confession and Self-Examination. God to show you where there is evident of the works of the flesh in your life and then ask God to show you where you are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in your life
Get into a comfy position that will not allow you to fall asleep. Because you will need to do some writing and focusing on a passage of scripture. (wait)
Now turn to Galatians 5: 22 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”)
Now let’s begin. With your eyes open or closed, ask God to show you where you are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in your life. I’ll give you a few minutes, to focus on communing with God about where you are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in your life.
Now stop and write down everything that comes to mind on one side of a sheet of paper
Now read Galatians 5: 19 – 21 “19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. “
Now let’s get quiet before the Lord again this time asking, “God, open your eyes to show you where you are not exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in your life.”
Now stop and write down everything that comes to mind on that same sheet of paper but the other side.
Now take some time to look over what you wrote and ask the Holy Spirit what sin do you need to confess. Revisit Galatians 5:19-21 or some of the other scriptures you wrote down for assistance. This way you can record the specific sin, areas you have fallen short and will seek forgiveness. Remember sin, fallen short, and redemption are joined together by the word “and” therefore, they are connect. No condemning of self, no being judgmental of self or critical. Ask Holy Spirit to guide you as you reflect on what was written.
Hopefully, you were able to write down, at least one. I know some of us were probably negotiating with the Holy Spirit on rather what you did was a sin or not, but rest assured, if you are negotiating, stop and listen because something needs to be confessed. Cause your flesh, the old nature, and the new nature, guided by the Holy Spirit, are warring, struggling against each other. Make sure the new nature wins because then you don’t have to be burdened with that sin.
Now it’s time for prayer. Confession continues into prayer. Turn to 1 John 1:6-10. Read it again. Then take time talking to God about this sin or sins, asking for forgiveness, repentance and guidance on how to avoid temptation when it comes. You see confession brings forgiveness. Forgiveness brings repentance. Repentance brings a desire to change so you want do that sin again. You have 3 minutes.
56:05 - So how did that go? Tag me on Instagram at hangingoutwithjesuspodcast, send your comments to lyvitabrooks.com/contact. I really want to know if this was helpful to you.
56:10 - Finally, I want you to be clear about sin because people get it twisted. Sin is not who you are. God didn’t make you to sin, you/we, are born into sin, therefore it’s been hanging around us from the day after we were conceived and the more we yield to it, the trickier it becomes in getting us to allow it to become a parasite in our lives, until we find it hard to let go. It grows as we wallow in the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life (1 John 2:16). I repeat, sin is not who you are but something you do and what you do can be changed. God didn’t make you sinful, God made you to glorify Him. Read Genesis 1-2, Ephesian 1, and Philippians 1.
Your next steps:
1. Spend time with the Lord
2. Use this as a teaching tool for helping the next generation in your house be better able to recognize sin and know what to do when they see it without becoming confused or fustrated.
Before we end I have a couple reminders:
*I have included a “Monthly Opportunity For Growth” section on the blog, at lyvitabrooks.com. It contains scriptures for the month, spiritual disciplines to practice for the month, books to read where we will share your comments with the author, bible challenges, and more depending on the month. So go to lyvitabrooks.com. Subscribe so you can receive the blog in your email box every 2nd & 4th Thursday.
*If you want to drop me a line, then contact me on Instagram @hangingoutwithjesuspodcast, links in the show notes or comment section below. Also you can follow me on Goodreads.com/lyvitabrooks.
*Thanks for your comments on how we should celebrate our 1st year together on March 25th. This month start looking for something in your email from Hanging Out With Jesus. I’d like to capture you on tape. But you must be on the email list at lyvitabrooks.com to participate. If you didn’t get an email from me send me a message at lyvitabrooks.com/contact. I’ll send you the link.
Saints, this was longer than I expected but, I pray you were blessed. You do know that God loves you unconditionally? Never give up! Always go to God in prayer, no matter how long it seems, He is taking to answer you. Don’t rush Him. Keep talking. He hears you. Take time to listen. He really loves you.
_____Let’s pray….
Father God, this was a hard episode for me to do because sin has become a “shhhush” word, a word to be avoided. And yet it must be reckoned with. If we don’t know what it is or it’s tricks how will we know we are participating in its works? Help us to freely let go of those sins that so easily grab hold of us, parasitic sins, and give us the guts to confess them and turn from those wicked ways, so we and our land can be healed. Thanks Lord for having my back again. In Jesus name, Amen.
Well Saints, thanks for hanging out with Jesus and me, again. So until we meet again over the air waves, continue to intentionally and daily hang out with Jesus.
Shalom!
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