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Have You Done What You Know to Do?  Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
James 4:17

It is never a minor thing to know God’s will and not do it. God calls this sin. We can make excuses for our lack of obedience: "I’m just not ready yet" or "I’ll do it later!" or "I don’t think it will make a difference" or "I can’t afford to!" We rationalize, we procrastinate; yet, in God’s eyes, rationalization and procrastination are nothing more than disobedience. At times we deceive ourselves into thinking that good intentions equal obedient actions. They do not. A good intention without corresponding activity is disobedience. When we encounter God and He gives us a direction, it is not enough to write down the date in our spiritual journal, or even to tell our friends of our "decision." God’s call is not to "make a decision" but to obey! Deciding to obey is not equal to obeying! (Matthew 21:28-31). Loudly affirming the necessity of obedience is not the same as obeying (Luke 6:46). Making commitments, even publicly, is not the same as obeying.

God told King Saul to wait until the prophet Samuel arrived. Instead of waiting, Saul took matters into his own hands and offered a sacrifice. Saul discovered, to his deep dismay, that other acts of supposed piety do not take the place of obeying a clear command from God (1st Samuel 15:22). As with Saul, God expects you to obey everything exactly as He tells you. Only obedience satisfies God’s desire for obedience!

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day

One reason why a dog is such a loveable creature is that his tail wags instead of his tongue.

James 3:3-6
3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Grace and peace be with you

"Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted."
Matthew 5:4

God wants us to experience His joy (John 15:11). Yet we cannot experience His joy until we have mourned over our sin. If we do not grieve over the weight of our sin, we have no concept of sin’s devastating power. If we treat our sin lightly, we demonstrate that we have no sense of the enormity of our offense against almighty God. Our sin caused the death of God’s Son. It causes us to fall short of what God intends (Romans 3:23). It brings pain and sorrow to others, as well as to ourselves.

The Bible says that those who grieve over their sin will draw near to God (James 4:8-10). Those who  mourn and weep over their sin are in a position to repent (Luke 4:18-19). There cannot be repentance without the realization of the gravity of sin. Regret for sin’s consequences is not the same as sorrow for sinning against holy God. Confession of sin is not necessarily an indication of repentance. Repentance comes only when we acknowledge that our transgression has come from a heart that is far from God, and we are brokenhearted over our grievous offenses against holy God.

Jesus said that those who are heartbroken over their sin will find comfort. They will experience new dimensions of God’s love and forgiveness. His infinite grace is sufficient for the most terrible sin. Do not try and skip the grieving process of repentance in order to move on to experience joy. God will not leave you to weep over your sin but will forgive you, comfort you, and fill you with His joy.

Experiencing God Day-by-Day
Henry T. and Richard Blackaby

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Text: Nehemiah 5:1-19

I.  Nehemiah’s situation (Nehemiah 5:1-8)

1. What are some of the problems that Nehemiah faced?
   (high taxes,high interest rates against his countrymen, countrymen became indentured slaves) READ Nehemiah 5:1-5
2. How did Nehemiah react?
   (with anger, he thought about the situation,assessed the people who were guilty & addressed the issue promptly) READ Nehemiah 5:6-8
3. What was Nehemiah’s example? (Nehemiah 5:1-5)
   (dealt with living a life that was absolutely beyond reproach)

II.  Nehemiah’s example.

1. Be true to God’s Word.
2. Avoid worldliness
3. Moral standards.

III.  Nehemiah’s motives.
Nehemiah feared God more than he feared man. See: Hebrews 10:13 & James 1:22

Conclusion
Read: 2nd Corinthians 12:7-10

1. Have the proper attitude toward God.
2. Have the right motive to remain faithful to God.
3. Rely upon the power of God to help us overcome our weaknesses.