THE LAMB OF GOD

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  (John 1:19b ESV)

Remember this, “your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3b). When God looks at you, He sees Jesus first. In the Chinese language the word for righteousness is a combination of two characters, the figure of a lamb and a person. The lamb is on top, covering the person. Whenever God looks down at you, this is what He sees: the perfect Lamb of God covering you. 

-- Max Lucado in “Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine”

#6350

“IT IS FINISHED”

“When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”  (John 19:30)

Good Friday brings us to the foot of the cross, where the final words of Jesus ring out with earth‑shaking power: “It is finished.” In Greek, the word is tetelestai -- a single word that carries the weight of eternity.

In the ancient world, tetelestai was written on receipts to mean “paid in full.” It was spoken by servants reporting a completed task, by artists stepping back from a masterpiece, by priests announcing that a sacrifice had been offered without blemish. It was a word of completion, fulfillment, and victory.

And Jesus chose that word. Not “I am finished,” as if His life were slipping away. But “It is finished” -- a declaration, not of defeat, but of triumph.

At that moment: The debt of sin was paid in full. The long‑awaited sacrifice was complete. The work the Father gave Him to do was accomplished. The barrier between God and humanity cause by our sin was torn down. The serpent’s claim on humanity was shattered. What began in a garden with a forbidden tree ends on a hill with a rugged cross. What sin broke, Christ restored. What we could never do, He did perfectly. And He did it willingly.

When Jesus cried tetelestai, He wasn’t whispering resignation, He was proclaiming redemption. The Lamb of God was not overcome by death, He was offering Himself in love. The cross was not a tragedy to endure but a mission to complete.

Good Friday reminds us that our salvation does not rest on our striving, our goodness, or our spiritual performance. It rests entirely on the finished work of Christ. We don’t add to it. We don’t improve it. We simply receive it.

Because of tetelestai, you can rest.  The work that saves you is done. The grace that holds you is secure. The love that claimed you is complete. It is finished! 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6341

REALLY, LORD?

“Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but He died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but He was raised to life in the Spirit.”  (1 Peter 3:18 NLT)

Really now, Lord Jesus, is our sin so serious as to necessitate the sort of ugly drama we are forced to behold on Good Friday? Why should the noon sky turn toward midnight and the earth heave and the heavens be rent for our mere peccadilloes? To be sure, we’ve made our mistakes. Things didn’t turn out as we intended. There were unforeseen complications, factors beyond our control. But we meant well. We didn’t intend for anyone to get hurt. We’re only human, and is that so wrong?

Really now, Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, we may not be the very best people who ever lived, but surely we are not the worst. Others have committed more serious wrong. Ought we to be held responsible for the ignorance of our grandparents? They, like we, were doing the best they could, within the parameters of their time and place. We’ve always been forced to work with limited information. There’s always been a huge gap between our intentions and our results.

Please, Lord Jesus, die for someone else, someone whose sin is more spectacular, more deserving of such supreme sacrifice. We don’t want the responsibility. Really, Lord, is our unrighteousness so very serious? Are we such sinners that You should need to die for us?

Really, if You look at the larger picture, our sin, at least my sin, is so inconsequential. You are making too big a deal out of such meager rebellion. We don’t want Your blood on our hands. We don’t want our lives in any way to bear the burden of Your death. Really. Amen. 

-- Will Willimon in “The Best of Will Willimon”

#6339

CHOOSING REPENTANCE – Part 3 of 3

If you are tired of the physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences of guilt, these five steps of action will help you develop an attitude of repentance.

1.    Identify areas of your life where you have failed to meet God’s standards. The first step in repentance is an honest evaluation of every part of your life. The Psalmist prayed, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV)

2.    Acknowledge your failure to God. To humble yourself before God means to sincerely acknowledge your failure and your need for forgiveness.

3.    Accept God’s forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 declares, “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

4.    Make restitution where necessary. If we have wronged another person, it is necessary for us to seek that person’s forgiveness. And, like Zacheus, monetary restitution might also be in order. Such an action is a sign of genuine repentance.

5.    Turn away from known sin in your life. It is possible to follow the first steps without truly repenting. The word repent carries the idea of turning around… turning from sin to God

You may have been traveling down the road of unresolved guilt for a long time. Don’t be discouraged. There is a way out. Decide you are tired of going in that direction; ask for God’s forgiveness, make any necessary restitution, and turn around.

-- Adapted from “Choose Your Attitude, Change Your Life” (1992) by Robert Jeffress

#6311

A LEADERSHIP IMPASSE

“I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me.”  (Jeremiah 35:15 NKJV)

There are numerous definitions of sin that have, at best, a partial basis in Scripture. A church that has an incomplete understanding of sin won’t understand sin to be a leadership or kingdom issue. Without the prophets’ perspective on sin as intentional rebellion and disobedience [to God’s leadership], the kingdom message of Jesus doesn’t make sense. And without the kingdom message, repentance doesn’t make sense.

This is where the leadership issue is so clearly visible. If there is something in my life that I feel I must maintain control over, I won’t give the helm of my heart to God. Take, for example, the person who refuses to forgive. Jesus knew that this kind of leadership impasse holds many outside His kingdom. He specifically said, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins“ (Matthew 6:14-15). Refusing to trust God with justice and judgment means that I think I can do a better job of it than He can. 

-- Jan David Hettinga in “Follow Me: Experience the Loving Leadership of Jesus”

#6228

THE GOSPEL OF FORGIVENESS – Part 3 of 3

“I will make a new covenant with My people Israel. I will write My law on their hearts. They will all know Me from the least to the greatest. And I will forgive their iniquity. And I will remember their sin no more.”  (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

The choice is yours. You can continue to carry the burden of your sins, or you can allow the Lord to take it from you and set you free, as He wants to do.

Some of you live in grace, not really struggling with past sins. You have given them to God and don’t think about them. You may just need to say, “Lord, for the things I did this past week that took me from the path, and for ways I failed to do what you wanted me to do, please forgive me.” Then simply trust in His grace.

But others of you are carrying heavy burdens from the past. God knows them. Christ has already suffered for them. He stands there, longing to take you into His arms. He’s saying to you, “Please let them go. Please give them to Me.”…

Know that you can come away from the encounter with joy in your heart and a spring in your step – loved, forgiven, and free. And then, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

After all, that is the good news of the Christian gospel of forgiveness.

-- Adapted from “Forgiveness: Finding Peace Through Letting Go” by Adam Hamilton

#6219

“HE GETS US”

I’m used to commercials for beer and pickup trucks during football games. Another product has entered the advertising lineup: Jesus. The tagline is, “He gets us.” Jesus invited everyone to His table, we are told. Jesus was misunderstood. Jesus could handle disagreement. Jesus was a refugee. None of these claims is untrue on its face. The problem here is what these commercials leave out…

Misunderstood by his family, accused of demonic sorcery, betrayed by one of His closest followers, hung upon a Roman cross…. Yes, Jesus gets us all right. He gets that we are sinful, willful creatures bent on our own destruction. He gets that, left to our own devices, we will rebel against our created nature and, hence, against God. He gets us, and He loves us anyway. That is why He came to save us…

To reach people for Christ is a noble task, but who is this Christ? Most will agree that He was a wise teacher, a friend to sinners, a misunderstood prophet, a refugee. But He is also God-made-flesh, the embodiment of perfect humanity, the bearer of new life, and, yes, a judge. He gets us. After all, He became one of us, though not for free hugs and vague sentimentality, but to save us. Sin and death abound. The devil is loose in the land. What Western culture needs is not another bearer of its common values with a bit of religious window dressing, but a savior.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”  (Ephesians 1:7 NIV)

-- Excerpted from an article entitled “He Gets Us” by David F. Watson, Lead Editor of Firebrand Online Magazine

#6194

BEING RECONCILED TO GOD

I asked people in our congregation about their struggles with forgiveness… I had a conversation with a woman in her fifties who said to me, “I’ve never told anyone this before, but when I was in my twenties I got pregnant. I was scared and decided to have an abortion. But after the abortion, I calculated the date the child would have been born, and every year for the last thirty years during that month, I think about the child I might have had.”

It was clear that this woman still carried a burden, even thirty years later. It was not wrong for her to remember the baby she aborted, but even in that case, God longs for the woman to know His grace and forgiveness. Each of us has done things we regret and cannot change. We cringe or even cry when we think of them. And yet often we carry these burdens unnecessarily. We fail to trust that God “is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Psalm 103:8), and that “as far as the east is from the west, so far shall He remove our sins from us” (Psalm 103:12). Through it all, God’s message to us remains the same: Stop carrying the burden yourself. Let Me take it. Be reconciled to Me.

This is the thing to remember: God has already agreed to that reconciliation. Paul Tillich, in one of his sermons, said that the bottom line of faith is accepting God’s acceptance of you. When you turn to God and long to be with Him, He is already reaching out, waiting for you with open arms. God has done everything necessary for your forgiveness, and He offers that forgiveness freely. All you have to do to gain this grace -- grace that came at such a terrific price -- is to accept it. 

-- Adapted from “Forgiveness: Finding Peace Through Letting Go” by Adam Hamilton

#6189

GRACE REDEFINED PETER’S IDENTITY

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ Peter said, ‘You know that I love You.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed My lambs.’ Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter answered, ‘Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of My sheep.’ The third time He said to Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ He said, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed My sheep.’” (John 21:15-17)

Right there, Jesus did more for Peter -- and more for us -- than we can imagine. Jesus was telling Peter that he wasn’t finished. Peter was going to be the rock on which the mission of God would be established and carried forward. Jesus was telling Peter that his identity wasn’t going to be a denier of Jesus. (See Luke 22:54-62 for Peter’s denial of Jesus.) He was going to be a hero of faith and a legend in the church. In fact, Peter would one day very soon preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, and three thousand people would be saved that day (Acts 2:14-42).

Sure, there were consequences to Peter’s denial of Jesus. Two thousand years later, we’re still studying the story. Peter’s denial didn’t get swept under the rug or erased from the memory bank of humanity. There were consequences for Peter, just like there are consequences to your decisions and my decisions, too.
 
Yet Jesus never focused on the failure. He focused on the restoration. Grace removed Peter’s guilt, and grace also removed Peter’s shame. Peter’s identity was no longer wrapped up in the denial. Peter failed, but he wasn’t a failure. He wasn’t useless. Peter’s life was no longer marked by shame. Grace redefined Peter as a friend and family member of God Almighty.
 
That’s what the grace of God does for you and me, too.
 
 -- Louie Giglio in “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table” 

#6188

OUR NEED FOR REPENTANCE

“Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me… The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”  (Psalm 51:11,17)

Several qualities are no doubt missing from a good deal of religious experience as it is commonly known in our day, but perhaps nothing is more serious than our failure to see our need for repentance. I think this is partly because we don’t understand the nature of sin. If, as some contemporaries say, other generations were guilt obsessed, our generation today is expert in avoiding the sense of guilt. This is because we have so limited a theology of sin. We define sin by tabloid headlines, which give most of us a degree of comfort, since our sins are only occasionally dramatic. We don’t realize that sin, even as we experience it in its most pedestrian forms, is a violation of the very nature of our universe, a universe whose original core is utterly right because it is of God. We have a further handicap in that our theology of God is inadequate. Popular theology has made God so cozy and so accessible that we can’t understand why the Eternal One should be troubled by our erratic ways.

But above all, we fail at repentance because our friendship with God has so little passion. The Scriptures say that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That’s the language of passion, the language we generally reserve for moments of compelling romance or consuming friendship. It is only when God becomes such a friend -- yes, and far more, because the element of eternity enters into our friendship -- that we are struck with terror at the thought of losing this friendship. It is in such a mood that godly repentance is born. 

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas (1923-2015) in “Longing to Pray: How the Psalms Teach Us to Talk with God”

#6182

SINS OF THE TONGUE

“Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats. Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues.”  (Psalm 10:7 NLT)

In the summer of 2012, northeastern Oklahoma was a tinderbox after weeks of drought and triple digit temperatures. On August 2 a devastating wildfire in Creek County burned 58,500 acres, destroyed 376 homes, and left hundreds of people homeless. As it turned out, the fire was started by a single cigarette. A wicked person’s words are like a spark that ignites violence.

In fact, sins of the tongue are the most common kind of violence in the Psalms. C. S. Lewis noted, “I think that when I began to read it these surprised me a little; I had half expected that in a simpler and more violent age when more evil was done with the knife, the big stick, and the firebrand, less would be done by talk. But in reality the Psalmists mention hardly any kind of evil more often than this one, which the most civilized societies share.... It is all over the Psalter. One almost hears the incessant whispering, tattling, lying, scolding, flattery, and circulation of rumors. No historical readjustments are here required, we are in the world we know.” 

-- James Johnston in an article entitled “The Marks of a Truly Wicked Person”

#6176

WHAT’S SO GOOD ABOUT THE GOOD NEWS?

“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’”  (Luke 2:10-11 ESV)

We toss around the phrase “Good News” often in Christian circles. But pause for a moment -- what makes it good? The Greek word for gospel, euangelion, literally means “good news.” But this isn’t a feel-good headline or inspirational quote. It’s life-altering truth.

The Good News declares that the distance between God and humanity -- caused by our sin -- is bridged not by merit, but by mercy. It's good because… we were dead, and now we’re alive in Christ. It's good because… we were lost, and now we’re found. It's good because… we were slaves to sin, and now we’re called children of God.

In a world that promises much and delivers little, the gospel offers everything for free -- but at the cost of Christ’s blood. That’s not just good... it’s breathtaking.

Whether you’re on the mountaintop or trudging through the valley, the Good News doesn’t change -- it chases you, covers you, and calls you home.    

And it is Good News that must be shared. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…"  (Romans 1:16 NIV) 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™, compiled from a variety of sources 

#6157

GOD’S EVERLASTING LOVE

“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence]. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  (Psalm 103:11-12 AMP)

The big news of the Bible is not that you love God but that God loves you; not that you can know God but that God already knows you! He tattooed your name on the palm of His hand. His thoughts of you outnumber the sand on the shore. You never leave His mind, escape His sight, flee His thoughts. He sees the worst of you and loves you still. Your sins of tomorrow and failings of the future will not surprise Him; He sees them now. Every day and deed of your life has passed before His eyes and been calculated in His decision. He knows you better than you know you and He has reached His verdict: He loves you still. No discovery will disillusion Him; no rebellion will dissuade Him. He loves you with an everlasting love. 

-- Max Lucado in “Come Thirsty: No Heart Too Dry for His Touch”

#6148

DON’T GIVE THE ENEMY A SEAT AT YOUR TABLE – Part 2 of 2

“But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation -- but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.”  (Romans 8:10-12 NIV)

Allowing the Enemy to have a say in our lives should not be normal. In Jesus’ name, we can refuse him and all his ways. We don’t need to accept them. He leads us to sins that are harming us and choking the life out of this generation, but they don’t have to stay in our lives. Romans 8:10-12 says the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of us. This same resurrection power is available to us. Jesus Christ has broken the power of sin, and God’s invitation to us is to embrace a new mindset and a new way of living. In Jesus’ name we don’t have to let the voice of the Enemy control the way we live. In Jesus’ name we don’t have to give in to sinful desires; we can win the battle for our minds. Thanks to Jesus, we are no longer slaves [to sin]. We are set free. We are alive. We are children of God. 

-- Louie Giglio in “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table”

#6141

A DIFFERENT KIND OF KING

“They took palm branches and went out to meet [Jesus], shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’ At first His disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about Him and that these things had been done to Him.” (John 12:13-16 NIV)

This is the kind of King we follow, a King whose standard is the cross. Many look at the cross and see Christ's suffering and death for them, a "full and perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world," and indeed this is one of the profound and powerful truths of the cross. But there is more.

When I look at the cross, I see a divine love story centered on a God who suffered to save the human race, a King who died for His people. This love is selfless and sacrificial -- a parent dying for a child, a lover dying for the beloved. Ultimately, the cross is a sign of the lengths to which God will go to save us from sin and brokenness. It reminds us that forgiveness came at a great price.

Luke includes the words Jesus prayed from the cross, words that I find utterly astounding, a prayer transcending space and time, offered on Calvary for all people everywhere: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34) 

-- Adapted from Adam Hamilton in “The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus”

#6093

HONEST TO GOD

“When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long. Day and night You punished me. My strength was gone as in the summer heat. Then I confessed my sins to You and didn’t hide my guilt. I said, ‘I will confess my sins to the Lord,’ and You forgave my guilt.”  (Psalm 32:3-5 NCV)

I made a mistake in high school. Our baseball coach had a firm rule against chewing tobacco. We had a couple of players who were known to sneak a chew, and he wanted to call it to our attention.

He got our attention, all right. Before long we’d all tried it. A sure test of manhood was to take a chew when the pouch was passed down the bench. I had barely made the team; I sure wasn’t going to fail the test of manhood.

One day I’d just popped a plug in my mouth when one of the players warned, “Here comes the coach!” Not wanting to get caught, I did what came naturally, I swallowed. Gulp.

I added new meaning to the scripture, “I felt weak deep inside me. I mourned all day long… My strength was gone as in the summer heat.” I paid the price for hiding my disobedience.

My body was not made to ingest tobacco. Your soul was not made to ingest sin.

May I ask a frank question? Are you keeping any secrets from God? Any parts of your life off limits? Any cellars boarded up or attics locked? Any parts of your past or present that you hope you and God never discuss?

Take a pointer from a nauseated third baseman. You’ll feel better if you get it out. 

 -- Max Lucado in “In the Grip of Grace”

#6078

OVERRUN WITH GARBAGE

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”  (Acts 3:19 NIV)

If the process of repentance is worthy of the name, we engage in the deepest kind of soul-searching, and in the process we rid ourselves of a great deal of garbage. Environmental experts tell us that our nation’s metropolitan areas are in danger of being overrun with rubbish. What is physically true of our cities is still more painfully and eternally true of our souls. Unconfessed sin, whatever its form -- bitter memories, resentments, thoughtless words, moral and ethical betrayals -- will eventually stifle the soul unless it is dealt with. The human soul can endure only so much garbage; repentance consumes it in a merciful conflagration. 

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas in “Longing to Pray: How the Psalms Teach Us to Talk with God “

#6075

JESUS IS CALLING YOU OUT OF YOUR TOMB

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb [of Lazarus]. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ‘Take away the stone,’ He said. ‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone… Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’”  (Excerpts from John 11:38-44 NIV)

This miracle doesn’t just foreshadow Jesus’ own resurrection. It foreshadows yours! It’s not just something Jesus did for Lazarus. It’s a snapshot of what Jesus wants to do in your life right here, right now. When we sin, it’s like the enemy of our soul wraps us up in graveclothes. Sin buries us alive and makes a mummy out of us. We become shadows of the person we were meant to be. And if you keep on sinning, it’ll weight you down like a hundred pounds of graveclothes. But Jesus is calling you out of your tomb.

I’ve found that one of the best ways to personalize the promises of Scripture is to take out the original name and insert your own. And I think it’s okay to do that. After all, every promise God has made is yes in Christ. So take out Lazarus’s name and insert your own: Mark, come out!

Can you hear Him call your name? He’s calling you out of sin. He’s calling you out of death. He’s calling you out of your tomb. 

-- Mark Batterson in “The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible” 

#6073

THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS

“[The Lord] does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”  (Psalm 103:10-12 ESV)

There are few who will believe in and accept the forgiveness of God so completely as to let God bury their sins in God's forgiving mercy; or who, having once accepted that forgiveness, will leave their sin with God forever. They are always reopening the vault where they have deposited their sin, and are forever asking to have it back in order to fondle it; reconstruct, query, or worry over it; wear it inwardly. Thus their sin ties them to the past and finally dooms their lives in both the present and the future…

Forgiveness… can only be received by those who will accept its conditions.

To be cleansed and to accept the cleansing, then to move on into the present and the future as a forgiven and restored one, is the gift of the deepest prayer. 

-- Douglas V. Steere in “Dimensions of Prayer” published by The Upper Room, Nashville, TN.   Used with permission.

#6071

BESETTING SINS

[Jesus said,] "All who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."  (John 3:20-21 NRSV)

Lent is a time for self-examination and honest self-evaluation.... The ancient fathers spoke of "besetting sins," taking their terminology from Hebrews 12:1, which speaks of "laying aside the sins which ... beset us" (KJV) (literally, "the sins that stick to us like clothing"). By these they meant those traits within an individual's personality or those habits which were the weak spot in a person's spiritual life.... Each person [has] his or her weak point, the point where each [is] most vulnerable to spiritual attack by evil....

Picture Christ with a searchlight, turning it on your life and lighting up the corners of darkness where the "snakes and toads and monsters" are lurking. Let the light shine. It will burn away the darkness and whatever lives in it.

Remember that the light of Christ can never hurt you. It can only destroy what is harmful in you. It may feel painful if you have become deeply attached to your besetting sins, but it will be the pain that a surgeon causes while performing a lifesaving operation. 

-- Larry R. Kalajainen in “A Lenten Journey”

#6066