When Nelson looks back over his life, he sees where God was highly active, coaxing him to come closer and to lean on him for help. The Lord strengthened him against temptation and taught him the proper way to look at personal sin.
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August 30, 2022
“They [the judgments of the Lord] are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.” (Psalm 19:10-13)
This is an old favorite of mine. The progression at the end is the best. It’s one of those things God showed me, and it helped me a lot in a different time of life. It helped me with temptation.
First comes the blindness of the human heart to its own sin, that there are faults we have but cannot see, which turn from hidden to intentional or willful sins.
Then at that point, they rule me, and I live for them, even defend and try to keep them at the cost of my own life. The perspective on sin changes from the hidden secret thoughts and patterns of the heart to a large outward sin that could ruin a person.
Sin starts small and gains momentum with time, until it’s large and out of control. That’s from the reading Annso and I are doing for today. Our daily march through the Bible lands us in the Psalms.
Something else I wanted to put down. This is from Linni [a sister]. “Happy Anniversary to you both! (We love remembering your wedding. I still can’t believe we got to go all the way back to Kona for it!) We are continually encouraged by how grateful you are and how filled with FAITH, even when things have been so hard. What you guys are going through is one of the most difficult things I can imagine, but you probably love each other more than ever now! We respect you both so much and hope we will be there for each other the way you are, when it’s our turn to face health issues. From what we see, you are walking this road with humility before God, growing in love for each other, and hoping for brighter days to come! Amazing! Such a powerful testimony. We love you guys and hope you’ve had a restful weekend. ❤ ”
What a sweet message. To have Linni and Ad looking up to us is pretty amazing. I never thought they would look up to me. When someone spells it out like that, it does seem pretty amazing to me, doing what we are doing. What she says is true. We do love each other more than ever I think. Hard to tell, but our love is different than it was before.
I think what Linni said is true. Going through this hard time, the hardest for both of us, has made us stronger, not weaker. Annso amazes me every day with how she is, how she watches little Will, how she waits on and thinks about me.
We are working to buy a house together with some rental units in it. I don’t even know why, but we feel like it’s the right time, even though most people would say it’s not.
The economy would say no, too, and that the values might tank out. Maybe so, but it’s a pretty low price, and the location is good, plus, the mortgage with the money from the renters makes the payment less than what we’re paying now in rent, so it’s a win in that department alone.
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“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial.” (James 1:12)