Secret Faults & Presumptuous Sins-from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Psalms 19:12-14

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless,
and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…

Wow, can you believe Thanksgiving is around the corner? Whew, grab your coffee and come on in before it gets here! We are going to move on to the joyful reward of our WOW!

Oh, how thankful I am that God is a God of great mercy, forgiveness and recognizes Godly sorrow, a contrite heart empty of pride. For so many years, because of the way I was loved as a child, the example I had of an earthly dad, I projected those ways onto my Heavenly Father, and those projections worked like clogs in my pipe leading to my heart. It was definitely a process that unclogged the pipe and has given me a healthier perspective of just how unconditional, unchanging His love for you and for me is!

That’s what this last part of our WOW talks about, being accounted as blameless and free from transgressing, in other words going back to those secret faults and presumptuous sins. Sounds easy, huh? But do you see David’s words before he talks of what the victory looks like?
Let them not have dominion over me … then …. But what does “dominion” mean? It means domain and supreme authority. In other words, let these secret faults and presumptuous sins not take up all this space in my head for then they travel to the heart and pick up speed and power to rule our life!

In David’s case, his presumptuous sin led to another and another, so they were leading his life so how does one break free? It didn’t just happen with a snap of his fingers, and poof, his tendencies were gone! He sought the Lord over and over again and we read in Psalm 51 one of the most beautiful writings of Godly sorrow and repentance. It took him over nine months to push back the soil of his heart that had covered up his secret faults and presumptuous sins, but then, when the un-rooting took place, he was free … blameless.

I must say, though that up to this major detour that he took, and after his repenting, he was and continues to be known as a man after God’s heart! Could that be why his process to freedom was only nine to ten months?

Life has revealed and proven, and not just in my case, that the more unhealthy and dysfunctional things heaped upon us as children, the longer we keep God at a distance; therefore, the more confused and blind we become to the reality of the necessity of God. It stands to reason, therefore, that the process can take longer because the lies we buy into for all those years have blinded us to truths that He sends our way through others, through circumstances, through the Bride of Christ … His hands and feet. In other words, for many, it is a process because that which we’ve learned needs to be burned in the Refiner’s Fire!

Godly sorrow releases us from blaming others for our secret faults and presumptuous sins and casts light on the why, freeing us to move on to the how to not allow them to have dominion … to be blameless!

Cheering you on in the journey toward freedom in Christ …trusting and knowing with my whole heart that He who begun that work in you, and in me, is gonna be faithful to complete it … until we see Him face to face!

That’s a wrap for this month’s WOW!
Love,

Evinda

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Secret Faults & Presumptuous Sins from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Psalms 19:12-14

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless,
and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…

Thank you so much for stopping by for our Coffee Hour and what I hope to be the wrap up of our WOW – well maybe not the wrap-up, but certainly the conclusion to the whole presumptuous sins context! Grab your coffee and come on in.

Now that we’ve summed up what the Hebrew translations are for presumptuous, let me share an emphatic truth about presumptuous sins: They more often than not lead to disastrous consequences!
Have you ever done something you knew you shouldn’t and in the end the one that was left stunned was you?

Okay, so let me share an example with you and tell on myself; then it will be your turn to search your heart and who knows, the search may help prevent a disastrous consequence!
So when I was just eleven years old, I remember being so ticked off at my mom; funny thing is I don’t remember what I was mad about. I just remember being really mad, going to her pack of cigarettes and stealing a few and then going into the bathroom to smoke them while taking my nightly bath. I had this arrogant attitude that was just oozing out of my 11-year-old bones and spewing out of my heart. “I’ll fix her,” I thought as I lit up, the smoke blending with the steam of the hot water, or at least I thought it did!

There I was sitting in the tub like I was all that, puffing on a cigarette as if I’d done it my whole life -- and inhaling too just like I watched her do!!!! -- when all of a sudden the door burst open, and there in the doorway stood my angry mother. “Kimberly Evinda, what in the ^&* are you doing?”
I slammed the cigarette into my bath water, cringing at the loss of my new friend!
“I’m taking a bath,” I replied.
“Are you smoking?” Her veins were nearly popping out of her neck!
“What?” I asked, pretending complete stupidity!
Bam! The door slammed shut and I was left with a drenched cigarette and tobacco floaties in my water! Were there any other consequences? Absodarnlutely! I stayed stuck in that addiction for 38 years under the delusion that it was my companion, my go-to, my coping mechanism for just about every emotion, but especially anger!

Who wound up hurting the most; me or her? Of course it was me!

That’s what a presumptuous sin does: it entices, bates, then captures but often doesn’t release … unless we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and cry out to the one Who is able to set us free and lift us up and out of our presumptuous sins. [1^st Peter 5:6]

Now let’s get back to David and his secret faults and presumptuous sins. See, King David knew that what he was tempted to do with Bathsheba was a sin against God, but he did it anyway, after bating himself over and over again by going out on the balcony where he could view her in secret!
How often have we, like David, gone ahead and listened to our fleshly desires and sought after something we know we shouldn’t have?

In this case, his presumptuous sin brought a series of painful and tragic consequences; here are just a few with some scripture references: (by the way, if you click on the scripture, it will take you to the actual reference via Bible Gateway!)

• In order to cover up the first sin, David went further and plotted the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. (2 Sam. 11:14-15)
• He suffered a very, very long period of painful conviction, which means he was not at peace, which many of the Psalms reflect. (Ps. 32:9-10; 38:1-8; 51:3, 8, 12)
• He received a stinging rebuke from the prophet Nathan – but I truly believe God used that in the process to repentance. (2 Sam. 12:1-14)
• He lost his son from that adulterous union. You talk about a life-long reminder! (2 Sam. 12:14-18)
• It caused others to stumble! Ouch! (2 Sam. 12:14)

There were other consequences, but I’m sure you get the hint! It’s your turn: think of a hurt which developed a habit which is now either a physical, emotional or spiritual hang-up – with the understanding that an unhealthy habit, hurt and/or hang-up can actually harm all three parts of us, physical, emotional/mind and spiritual/soul.

He loves you right where you are, in it or out of it … and longs to turn your hurt, habit and hang-up into healing, to free you from secret faults and presumptuous sins. He’s such a gentleman about it, too. He doesn’t come in with a Shop-Vac and clean it all out at once, at least not for most of us; instead, He who began this good/new work of uprooting those hurts, habits and hang-ups by gently pushing back the soil in the heart to reveal them, will be faithful to complete the process until the time of Christ … [Philippians 1:6] so don’t leave the process!

Join us tomorrow for the promise: to be blameless and innocent of secret faults and presumptuous sins!
In the grip of His grace,

Evinda

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Secret Faults & Presumptuous Sins from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Psalms 19:12-14

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless,
and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

It’s great to be sipping coffee and writing from my heart to yours. Let’s get back to this series and see where we land before our Coffee Hour is complete!
Oh, that’s right; we need to wrap up the whole presumptuous sins context.

We’ve checked out the Merriam Webster’s definition; now let’s look at my favorite study tool, the Hebrew/Greek concordance.

The first definition is arrogance, so that confirms that. Hold on; there’s more.

It goes on to say “proceeding from excess of confidence; applied to things such as hope! Now that’s interesting! Sorry, but that’s about as clear as mud so let me do some research. Don’t you just love Google!

I just plugged in how an excess of confidence differs from hope and here’s what I found so far: “The theological virtue defined as the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help.”

I’m dancing in my seat like a little kid bursting with excitement, just screaming silently by raising my hand because I think I got it without having to dig and delve deeper: My Teacher said "go ahead," so my hand is coming down to write what I’ve realized, from my heart to yours, of course.
See, hope in Christianity includes God’s help when the follower – not the fan – calls upon the Author of Hope, whereas an excess confidence puts self first in that hope! Does that make sense?

Let me give you a very simplistic example. I just asked Him for one. Let’s take a toddler, for example, our little Bryden, or you can put one of yours in this example, too. His famous words about this very thing squeeze my heart with a giggle any time I remember the many instances where I was doing something for him – often out of love but also out of convenience for time’s sake, if you know what I mean – and he would stop me in my tracks and say emphatically: “I’ll do it myself!”
So I’d step back and allow him to do it himself … until he would get so frustrated that his frustration drove him to either get mad, or finally give in and ask for help.

Watching him struggle was symbolic to us as adults when we venture to attempt to do something, go somewhere, or even communicate with someone with the attitude of doing it ourselves and our way! It’s only when we let go and remember Who and Why we do what we do that we can grab hold of the hand of the Author of Hope, and the tendency towards a presumptuous sin leaves …

Let’s continue for just a bit more through the Hebrew concordance for another facet of presumptuous: “Unduly confident, irreverent with respect to reverent things.”

STOP!

Wow, I just thought of another example: can’t ritualistic things that we do in the church fall into this category if we’re not careful? I hear you asking for an example, so at the risk of stepping on toes, let’s tread lightly:

How do we approach communion? Is it ritualistically or relationally? How do we participate in the worship part of the service? Is it with our whole hearts, or just our minds? And when it ‘s time for the message, are we listening with our whole hearts, taking notes, or using whatever learning style that helps us to absorb the most, or are we tuning out, on our cell phones, on Facebook, or any other form of social media?

Wow, I had no idea a presumptuous sin could be so …. You fill in that last word! Join me tomorrow for more. :)
Writing from my heart to yours,

Nana Holds!

Evinda

Secret Faults & Presumptuous Sins-from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Psalms 19:12-14

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless,
and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…

Thanks for joining me for Coffee Hour and more of our November’s WOW! I certainly hope and pray we can chew through the rest of it before the end of November flies right by! Grab your coffee and come on in.

We were almost done with the Webster’s Dictionary definition for presumptuous: “right, or good reason.”
Well, what in the world does that mean? I’m sorry but that kind of muddied the waters! Let’s go explore and see what we find out!

Oh, em, gee! I found some good stuff on this KJV Page of the Web and they are really putting this word “presumptuous” in perspective: “Bold and confident to excess; adventuring without reasonable ground of success; hazarding safety on too slight grounds; rash; applied to persons; as a presumptuous commander.”

Okay, I have to find out something that’s just been whispering, albeit loudly, in the tiny recesses of my brain and that is, did this confession and pleading have anything to do with his adultery committed with Bathsheba, and the sin he committed after that to cover it up, namely the murder of Uriah? Talk about a thick plot! I’ve got to research this.

Wow, I’ve been to all sorts of sites, commentaries and there seems to be a bit of theological tug-of-war on this very subject: on one side they reference error – the good news is the majority of resources contribute “ignorance “to errors – and on the other is the presumptive or presumptuous sins.

Ah-ha, and yes, every resource I looked at mentions David’s affair and the murder he committed to get what he wanted! He committed every one of the oppositions to the 10 Commandments all in one sin that begat another which begat another and the aftermath was horrible. Oops, let’s stay on track. I was just tempted to defend God, as if He needs me to – for those who say, see, He’s an angry, cause-and-effect God! NOT SO!

What happened back in Old Testament days to those who committed presumptuous sins? Well, in Numbers 15:30, they were cut off from the community AND “his guilt would be upon him.” In other words, end of story, to hell with them; no hope of heaven for you! Wow!

So you may be wondering, why in the world are you staying parked in this presumptuous sin reference? I’m glad you asked! See, I don’t think I’m supposed to just sugarcoat this subject by saying “Hey, we’re living in New Testament times now; we don’t need to worry about those presumptuous sins anymore because of the truth of God’s grace. We can’t just say we’re all good; don’t worry about it. See, there is another theological tug-of-war regarding this very issue as well, meaning some are stuck on Old Testament thinking, minimizing the power and reality of the necessity of the grace of God and on the other side is the knowledge that His grace does help us with and free us from those presumptuous sins.

Wow, there’s that reminder again: for years, I was caught up in a web of presumptuous sins due to sin heaped upon me in my childhood. Now, through the love and grace of Christ, He has granted me forgiveness of and freedom from these presumptuous sins and filled my heart with a desire to help others recognize and dig up their presumptuous sins, also deemed a hurt, habit and hang-up!

Oh, Father, I am blown away by the leading of your Spirit that is taking me through the pages of your Word, revealing the mysteries of your ways so that we may be free from our presumptuous sins! May I never, ever sin with the presumption that you’ll cover it!

I promise to wrap this up next week! But join me tomorrow for a very special day with a new friend of CPM, Debbie Croley, an amazing woman of God who has been in ministry for years and has agreed to partner with CPM in using the gift of writing. You’re going to love her, and by all means, scroll down and share our coffee hour with others!

Evinda

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Secret Sins & Presumptuous Faults from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Psalms 19:12-14

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless,
and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…

Thanks so much for stopping by to have coffee with me and to read a bit more of our November’s WOW! It’s a lot of meat to eat, so I’m trying to give you just a bit more than a mouthful each time. I hope you are getting the sweet rewards from applying knowledge to your life so your spiritual fruit may be experienced! Grab your coffee and let’s wrap up the wrap-up of David’s conversation found in these three verses.

David then moves from cleansing him from his secret faults to a more assertive action, and I truly believe the reason for that is the presumptuous sins had a bigger hold on his heart so it’s like you can just hear him groaning as he says: “Keep back Your servant also from” – in other words, in addition to these secret faults of mine, Lord, can you literally pull me back from these –”presumptuous sins.”

Now I have a confession for you: I thought I knew what presumptuous meant, but I wasn’t completely right. I just had a little tiny piece of it so I did some research. The Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines presumptuous in this way: too confident, especially in a way that is rude. That makes sense, but here’s where the definition gets a bit tricky: “Done or made without permission.”

Ah-ha, so could that mean that if I do something without asking the Lord’s permission, presuming it is okay, and it’s not, then that’s a presumptuous sin? Well, the simple answer is why would I do something without my Father’s permission? Oops, I just answered a question with a question. Let me see if I can clear this up somehow by explaining what a presumptuous sin is not!

Have you ever misinterpreted, misheard or misjudged what you thought to be the right thing to do after seeking God in prayer? Oh, friend, I have, and more than once. I think spiritual disillusionment as a result of thinking something was right according to His will for my/our life is one of the most emotionally and spiritually challenging humps to climb up and over. And why is that? The answer is found in one word …. Drum roll… P R I D E!

Isn’t it hard enough to admit you were wrong in any given situation, i.e. a disagreement with your spouse, or a friend, a mistake in the way you parented your child, or a financial blunder wherein you spent something you shouldn’t have? Oh, how I remember it being so difficult to admit that I was wrong, had made a mistake. I mean, old cement melting would be easier than me admitting my faults, errors and bad judgments.

But I’ve learned something very, very freeing when it comes to making a mistake while erring on the side of faith: We are covered! As long as I invite Him into it, to guide me through it, even when my flesh fails, or if I do it wrong, hear it incorrectly, plan it wrong, make a wrong decision, this is not a presumptuous sin!

I think of this whole ministry journey that began with a desire to write ONE book … I have made so many mistakes in so many areas despite thinking I was doing the right thing and He was there to pick me up, and clean up the mess and teach me to listen a bit closer, granting me wisdom and more discernment and spurring me on … in writing, in event planning, in office administration, in conducting board meetings, in teaching, in ridding me of me so there can be more of Him and less of me! So I’m thinking that what distinguishes between a presumptuous sin and a mistake is the heart.
Have you had your heart checked today?
Oh, Abba, rid me of anything that will lead me to a secret fault and a presumptuous sin!
Join us tomorrow for more of this ten-course meal of scripture!
Love,

Evinda

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Secret Faults & Presumptuous Sins from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Psalms 19:12-14

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless,
and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…

Thanks so much for stopping by for our Coffee Hour today! I love knowing we share coffee hour you and that He brought you here so I can share from my heart to yours these diamonds that will hopefully shed brilliant light in your journey, especially in times of darkness. Oh, but His Word is a lamp unto our feet; don’t you agree? Grab your coffee and come with me back into our WOW, Secret Faults and Presumptuous Sins.
Just to recap, David is having this earnest talk with God, exclaiming the wonders of God, confirming who God is to him in his life and the necessity of God’s laws and precepts. And then all of a sudden, he changes the subject! Have you ever been in the midst of a conversation, following along and all of a sudden, they switch gears on you and go a completely different direction? Oh, I do that too many times to admit! Well, David has done just that; going from God’s glory, greatness, goodness to his own errors, confessing to God that only God can understand why he does what he does.

I can so relate! I mean, I know there have been many times where I’ve done something and then nearly hit myself upside the head, wondering why in the world did I do that, or say that! Oh, yeah, especially when it comes to speaking, teaching, sharing, there are times when words just can come spilling out of my mouth, overflowing onto the wrong person at the wrong time. And this hormonal tug-of-war doesn’t help me any!

Oh, the emotional aftermath after a blunder like that is enough to send me to my knees, but sometimes, I behave as if His forgiveness isn’t enough and I continue to beat myself up and continue to perpetuate the original mess and my ignorance! I’m sure between us, we can come up with a whole host of “errors” we commit daily, things that point us to our need for grace which frees us, but we better move on for the sake of not losing you! Let’s get back to David.

He then confesses that he knows that he knows who cleanses him from his secret faults, and we learned that oftentimes, an error is based on ignorance and a secret fault on arrogance because a secret fault is something we knowingly do knowing its depravity! STOP!

Oh, dear, sorry! I just felt the reigns pull my fingers off the keyboard. He keeps bringing up the same thing He brought to my attention at the beginning of this series and I don’t dare just write right by it!
See, secret faults and presumptuous sins are why He’s called me into the trenches; to join willing warriors who want help in digging up and dealing with those very things they wonder why they do! It blows my mind when I look back, because I was just going to write a book, just ONE book … five books and one curriculum later, here we are, in the trenches helping others to thrive IN their relationships and OUT of their hurts, habits and hang-ups … out of their secret faults and presumptuous sins.
So I guess before we can move on, I’m supposed to give you an explanation of why we want to expose these secret faults and presumptuous sins … Oh, Lord, really? Why can’t I just write about something light? Why does it always have to be so heavy? Ughhhhh!
Shhhh, I just heard Him drop some words in my heart: “You write light-heartedly about heavy things!”
Whew! Okay! So please don’t turn off your computer now or refuse to read on and return for more of this series. See, in our culture, we have learned to cover up our stuff and when we’re asked how we are, especially within the church, what do we answer? Unfortunately, we usually hide behind our secret fault and presumptuous sins, and allow fear, guilt and shame, despair, rage – to name a few – to keep them hidden; we say we’re fine. Sometimes we even comment: “We’re blessed.”
The truth is, there are so many of us, in the church and out, who suffer silently with and in these secret faults and presumptuous sins which keep us from the freedom that God’s sacrifice paid for. The sooner we grab on to the truth that what we can’t see can hurt us, the sooner we can bend our hearts towards transparency and expose those secret faults and presumptuous sins that are deeply rooted in our soul, tripping us up in the journey of life.
If you are a gardener, maybe you can appreciate this analogy: Weeds lurk in and around your plants, threatening to destroy their growth. When you go out to pull those weeds, do you pull a weed merely from the top or do you bend down, so you can dig down to find its root? We know if we don’t get that weed at the root, it will be back, and with a vengeance. So it is with secret faults and presumptuous sins. We must allow the Heavenly Gardener to walk in the halls of our soul and soften the soil within our hearts and loosen it up, revealing the roots that keep us in our secret faults and presumptuous sins. And then …. Freedom, glorious freedom that goes beyond the experience of first accepting Him as our Savior will be yours for all the days of your life.
Join me tomorrow for more of this scrumptious scripture!
Joyfully,

Evinda

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Secret Faults & Presumptuous Sins-from Coffee Hour @ ChicklitPower

Psalms 19:12-14

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…

Welcome to Chicklit Power and our Coffee Hour. If you’re new to our blog, you’ve come right in the midst of our November’s WOW, which stands for weapons of warfare and words of wisdom. It’s a time of month where we take a verse, or two, of scripture and really chew on it. So that being said, this is the third part of it so you may want to scroll up to Tuesday’s blog so you don’t feel like you are jumping in the midst of a pool of confusion! Grab your coffee and come on in. We are about to get to the presumptuous sins but we have to finish up with secret faults! And no, this isn’t a steamy chapter out of an R rated book!
So now to answer this question: Is there a big jump between errors and secret faults? Was David distinguishing between the two? Let’s check out the Hebrew translation for errors and then we can get to the wrap-up of the whole “secret faults” context.
So I found a “Biblical Study of Sin” on this very issue and after confirming definitions in the Hebrew concordance, I just have to take a couple of excerpts out of it to hopefully shed some light on the ever so slight difference(s):
Error, translated to “shigiah” refers to “sins of ignorance under the Mosaic law.” The author of this study goes on to say, and I’ll paraphrase for clarity’s sake — that while there may be a lot of middle ground between complete ignorance and absolute arrogance in our own experiences and from our own point of view, in God’s perfect way of looking at things, there is no gray area at all. Either we are essentially deceived in our sinning as Eve was – and he distinguishes hers as a sin of ignorance — or we sin in full knowledge that what we are doing is wrong as Adam did – and he refers to Adam’s sin as one of arrogance. Oh, dear, we best not go there, because that sounds like an opinion that we could really get lost in for a while. One thing for sure is this: whether a sin of ignorance or arrogance, the result is guilt.
He goes on to describe that the word “errors” refers to sins which are on the impulsive side and which are not crimes or willful violations of God’s known will.
Well to me, that wasn’t very clear, but I continued to read:
“That is to say, it” – the “error” – “is more than an ‘honest mistake’ – but it is a sin.” And I love the example he gives: “like a lie of no great consequence that you didn’t have to tell but you let slip out for convenience sake or the like and immediately forgot about.
What it comes down to is that whether an error or a secret fault, they both required the death of Jesus for atonement. They both beg for the reality of the necessity of the love and grace of Christ!
We will move on to “presumptuous sins” next week! For now, think on this thought and answer this question: When Godly people do ungodly things, do you compound it with an error or a secret fault?
Transparently,

Evinda