The Weight We Carry by Brother Duke Hansen

         The scripture we are going to start out in will be Hebrews chapter 12 and the first verse.

        Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

        In the span of recorded history there is one thing that is true. God moves fast and man moves slow. God has expectations for his people to meet. The author of Hebrews is writing about faith and of the Holy Spirit. We are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. We are surrounded by God, even right now.

        When you grow older and mature, you realize that you don't need the dozens and dozens of people you claim to be your friend in life. Effective lives are lived with two or three confidants or close friends. The rest in life are merely acquaintances who pass through your life for good or bad. If you have a core group or a circle that supports you, a lot of unnecessary drama and distractions you could find yourself on are eliminated in your life. When you are able to admit your sin in your circle, you have moved into a rare class. The honest sinner. The weights we carry in our life are from the sin we have not purged from it. When you love God and truly are sold out for him, it is going to cost you your flesh.

        The word admission carries many definitions. One definition sticks out and that's the removal of obstacles. As James says in chapter 5 and verse 16, Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed.  A hard truth believers don't like to realize is that a sinner can have faith. You can have faith and be ungodly. The believer does not have the only license to faith.

        There is a race we are all in today, and it is against ourselves. Our actions and obedience can lengthen or shorten our time on earth. Scripture reference of weights and sin. Sin is a weight in our life. God might do a new thing, but he will never change. He has remained the same today as he did yesterday and will tomorrow. God will never accept sin. In Paul's letter to Timothy, 2 Timothy 2:15, he writes Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needed not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The idea of unity will occur when two people agree on something.

        Take a minute and think on this question. What are weights on us? A short list here are hinderances, grudges, personal goals, fear, financial concerns, among many others. A good reveal on how someone is not really fighting their sin is when it is someone else's fault. When the victim mindset has become the default thought process. It is your job to do and to know what to do. Pressure is a weight. There are so many different things which can weigh us down and burden us. Cares can weigh us down. Look at Ephesians 2 or 1 Timothy 3:3 for things to strive for and things to avoid. Here are some things to be aware of in life. Covetousness, anger, strife, your tongue, curses, slander, backbiting, gossip, pride of life, lust of the flesh, murder, abomination. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 6:16-19 a list of things God hates. Yes, you didn't hear it wrong and it may clash with the soft and deluded church culture you may be in where they promote that God loves everything. 

        These six things doth the LORD hate: yea seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and he that south discord among brethren.

        The term diligence means a constant and earnest effort. Understand that you will still fall and still mess up. You have to get back up from your failure and press on. Carnal fear will diminish faith and faith can diminish fear. 

        Let us go back to Hebrews 12 the second verse; Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God. Because of us he endured the cross. We in turn need to set down our weights and our sins in service to it. In God's two hands are power and judgement.

        If you love God, you will keep his commandments. A reminder that there are no honest sinners in heaven. Your love has never been measured by your church attendance, your tithes and offerings, your bible study or prayers. Our flesh is so good in holding God accountable. That's why there are so many backsliders, agnostics and atheists today. We want to have God move at our convenience. We need to run our race with patience. To truly experience the fullness of God, we need to be honest with ourself. God wants a people who will walk holy before him. As Peter declares in 1 Peter 4:17-18  For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? How you live in the spirit dictates how well you live in the flesh.