Ephesians 2 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
God has been so rich in his mercy and grace toward us. The problem that we most deal with in life is faith. It is our failure to believe in God’s promises that lead us to see the lies of sin as compelling. We must continually bathe in the word of God so that light shines deep into our hearts to illuminate those items we wish to cling to. The lies of sin become so embedded within the dark recesses of our hearts so that we have a hard time letting go sometimes until the light of God’s Word is able to shine deep within us and break them apart. We may think, "to succeed and pass this difficult course, I need to cheat on this one test." In order to attract that guy over there, I need to dress provocatively" "If I don’t compromise my principles, I may lose that guy who makes me feel so loved and so it will be ok to compromise this once" "My marriage is so miserable, I will just get a divorce or I am justified to have an affair, my happiness depends on it." "You are a fool to forgive that person, revenge is what you need." "Only a fool would tithe, after all, God understands you cannot afford to on your salary" So go the lies of sin. We have, by nature so much darkness within our own hearts that Satan could take a vacation and we would continue on in our own pride, jealousy, revenge and disbelief. John Piper gave a great illustration which I would like to share. In the dark recesses, we may pick up a black, shiny object and cherish it for ebony. We admire it and cherish it. We put it in our pocket so that we might feel it close to us and cherish it–or place it on a chain around our neck. We begin to read the word of God, light begins to shine into those dark places and we pull out that cherished object to see it clearly in the brightness and suddenly realize that instead of a piece of ebony we are holding in our hands a cockroach. We begin to shake our hand to through away that object as quickly as possible (that violent disgust and rejection of the object once cherished–that is repentance). Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword. God’s mercy is to shed so much light through His word so that we do not cling to cockroaches and believe them to be cherished items; instead, he wishes to fill our hands with His Brilliant diamonds of truth to guide us and to provide us His rest. We should savor and seek out His promises by reading the word of God. "I will up hold you, I will love you, I will provide for you, I have removed your transgressions, I will strengthen you, and I will transform you into the Glorious likeness of my son. I will give you my water of life, my joy, and my rest." As you seek the Word and the light shines into the depth of your heart, what cockroaches are revealed and suddenly repulse you into throwing them away to no more be a part of your life.