Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings.
Joshua 7:11 NLT<\/p>\n
It’s easy to think that I can hide a sin, cover it up and pretend that it’s not there. But that doesn’t work – it’s just denial. I might hide it from the people around me, but I’m a fool to think I can hide it from God! Even when I’m committing the sin I’m in denial and being a fool and blind to the truth. There is no such thing as a secret sin.<\/p>\n
This whole chapter shows something else. Sin isn’t a one-off. It doesn’t just affect the sinner. In this case it affected a whole nation, men died and then the man’s family suffered as he did.<\/p>\n
If I think that my sin is harmless or only affects me, I really am in denial. My sin costs me God’s blessing and that has an effect on my family. It might also affect my community and even my nation. How can I be so foolish? More importantly, how can I be so selfish? And this is on top of the hurt that I cause my Lord!<\/p>\n
If I sin, I need to be open about it, honestly admit what I have done. But it is far more important that I am obedient in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings.Joshua 7:11 NLT It’s easy to think that I can hide a sin,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian","category-5","description-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfWaLo-VK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3915,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2018\/02\/compared-to-others-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3580,"position":0},"title":"Compared to Others (2)","author":"Robert Pender","date":"22\/02\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Hands up anyone who is imperfect \u2026\u2026. Of course, anyone who didn\u2019t put a hand up is full of pride and has therefore fallen from a state of perfection, so you can put your hand up too! Now that we all have our hands up, I thought we would just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christianity"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/christian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4636,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2019\/09\/lies-lies-lies\/","url_meta":{"origin":3580,"position":1},"title":"Lies, lies, lies!","author":"Robert Pender","date":"16\/09\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"4638\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][vc_column_text]Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever been told a lie? Have you ever known that you were being lied to? 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The thing is, though, that it's not what's on the head\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christianity"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/christian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7072,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/09\/just-thinking-what\/","url_meta":{"origin":3580,"position":3},"title":"3 – Just thinking what?","author":"Robert Pender","date":"30\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7073\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" style=\"vc_box_shadow_3d\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Most of the time, all is calm, then I'm in a bit of a storm. I was never a great fan of big dippers and so I always kept away from them. The trouble with this big dipper is that it comes to get me! I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7242,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/12\/14-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":3580,"position":4},"title":"14 – Plans","author":"Robert Pender","date":"16\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7243\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I have always been a great believer in making plans, especially when we are doing something special or going away somewhere. It is best to get it right and not miss anything out. Be in control! 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