Daily Devotional #1,844

I get a lot of calls on my cell phone. It isn’t because I’m a popular guy, it's because my cell phone is connected  with anything we publish about our church. But the saving thing for me is that so often when I’m being pursued  by people who we have no relationship with but who want to get us to buy or invest in something, the words  “Potential Scam” pop up in the caller identification portion of the screen. And when it does…I just hit that  button that says, “end call”. I still get the calls, but I’m not letting them invade my life and capture my  attention. I got one the other night and as I purposely shut down the call, I thought about what the Bible says  how we ought to deal with sin. Sin only has power over us because it hits something in us that is attractive to us  in some way. And you and I are going to be bombarded all day long with all kinds of invitations to open  ourselves to sin. But like those calls that are labeled “Potential Scam” on my phone, you and I need to just “end  that call”. Sure, we can answer, listen and entertain that sin, but God has given us the power and the ability to  just shut it down. I know…we won’t do that every time. That’s why we need to have repentance and  forgiveness in our lives. But don’t give sin a free pass to take your time, your attention and possibly even your  heart. The Apostle Paul wrote that we should not let sin control the way we live and to not give in to those  sinful desires. And the easiest way to do that…is to just not answer when sin comes calling. This Jesus of the  Bible died to break the power of sin over us. So, recognize what is happening and purpose to just hang up when  sin comes calling. As a follower of this Jesus, sin no longer is your master. Don’t give it the power over  yourself that Jesus crushed on that cross. Because sin, like so many of those calls that come to my phone…is  always a potential scam! Here’s our Bible verse for today…  
Romans 6:10-12 NLT When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for  the glory of God. (11) So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God  through Christ Jesus. (12) Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 
Remember I’m praying for you!  
With love, PJ