SECRETS CANNOT BE KEPT FROM GOD!
While shopping, have you ever put something into your pocket? I was shopping at
K Mart. Jim was pushing the cart and I picked up an eye liner. If I put it in the cart it was going to roll right out so I put it into my pocket and asked Jim to remind me when we were at the check out. Well, we checked out and were getting into the car when I put my hand into my pocket and there was the eye liner. Of course I blamed Jim. Before he could say anything, I told him I would go back in to take care of this. I went up to the clerk and told her what had happened and paid her the two dollars. She watched me as I walked out and I thought to myself; I suppose that doesn’t happen to often. To me it was a matter of my integrity!

I cannot keep a secret! When someone says to me; "don’t tell anyone", the first thing for me is to say; "I am not good at keeping secrets"! Many times if I had bought something early for a loved one, I found myself giving it to them long before Christmas or the birthday. I have kept secrets but it is so hard for me. When I do something I shouldn’t do and no one is around, I find myself compelled to tell Jim.

Heaven knows that I am not perfect! My sister Joyce and my brother Larry, both younger than I, were discussing sin and how sinful they were. They turned towards me and I jumped into their conversation with; "we are all sinners!" They laughed! Joyce turned to Larry and said; "If she is a sinner, then what does that make us." The sad thing in life is, we will always feel guilty of our sins, if we do not learn to bring them before the Lord. We cannot pull ourselves up out of the muck and mire, but God can!

God wants us to understand that the secret things must stop because He knows they are there. Because God is pure, He desires for us to be pure, even in secret. Sometimes we are afraid of what others will think when we reveal our mistakes. I have found, they will get over it! But God desires us to be clean before Him and He doesn’t get over it until we confess it. God does not refuse to hear our prayers because we are guilty of sin, but He would so much love to have us approach Him with confidence and peace. When we do not confess our sin it causes us to hide. We think God will not see our sin. It keeps us from being personal. It causes us to separate ourselves from God and His people. When we begin to practice sin again, we have a tendency to stop participating in Christian fellowship and even attending worship.

In 1 John 1:8-10 the scriptures are pretty direct. If we say we do not sin, we actually do two things. We lie and we call God a liar. In verse 9 it says we must confess our sin. When we do God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Sometimes we are not comfortable in prayer because we have not gotten rid of the sin. Oh we have confessed but we are still sinning. John says we are to stop doing that! Guilt is one of God’s gifts to us! If we do not feel guilty we don’t feel the need to repent. The Holy Spirit shows us our guilt and causes us to feel it. What a gift! Without the gift of guilt we will die in our sin!

David shows us in Psalm 51:10-12 how devastated he was when he sinned. He felt unclean! He also felt that the Lord would leave him. He begged God; "don’t leave me and don’t take thy Holy Spirit from me". He wanted his salvation restored and he wanted a willing Spirit. The Holy Spirit had come upon David and could be taken away. Jesus promised that when we believe in Him and obey His commandments, the Holy Spirit will dwell within us. The Holy Spirit will not leave us! It is said; "confession is good for the Soul"! It has also been said; "the Soul longs for peace"! Can you have one without the other? Come before the Lord with praise and thanksgiving because He is always there, ready to pick up the pieces when we fall. Nothing we do is a secret to God! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 5/2/08