Perhaps you think in this day and age that Exodus 20:15 (KJV) "Thou shalt not steal" doesn't really apply to us or our daily lives. After all, Christ died for our sins and we're forgiven right? I'm here to confess to you that this assumption is incorrect. Yes Jesus Christ suffered immensely and died on the cross for our sins, all of them ... for the whole world, and yes if we confess Him our Lord & Savior and believe he lived and died for us, and arose from the dead and is now with God our Father in heaven ... we are saved ... no disputing that! But that does not mean that we can sin without consideration or repentance.

        Just yesterday I watched a sermon on TV in which the minister was talking about listening to the *still, small voice within*. He was speaking of the Holy Spirit of course, the Spirit that inhabits all those who give their lives to Jesus Christ. So often we know we're doing wrong and when that small voice points out our sin in a soft, loving tone ... we respond by pushing it aside ... perhaps making excuses on how we'll fix it later, or we'll repent tomorrow, or just push it aside with no further consideration at all. That doubles your sin in my opinion. After all, you were the one that invited the Spirit into your life ... but when it points at your gaping unholiness you ignore it. This was the case for me yesterday ... in spite of hearing that sermon, in spite of hearing that small, still voice within saying *don't do it* ... I did it anyway! What did I do?

        I surfed on in to a certain christian website that has a particular sermon on the end times that I really, really, really liked and I wanted to download that sermon, and another one on health, to my own computer. They'd created the video in such a way that it's practically impossible to get it ... notice I said *practically*. I'm pretty web savvy, I know my way around, I know how to find the tools I need to get what I want. I persisted, not to be outdone because I'm web savvy! I downloaded a particular program that would allow me to rip (copy) the file to my harddrive. WHILE this minister on TV was preaching that we should listen to the still, small voice within ... here I am *stealing*!

        My Lord, what kind of person am I? Yes, the Holy Spirit was speaking to me ... yes so was the minister on TV ... as a matter of a fact, while I was downloading (I actually was in the process of stealing two video sermons) I lost my connection to the internet ... about three or four times in all. Not to be deterred I kept right on downloading each time my connection was restored. I got all of the first sermon (end times one), and a good 97% of the second but I could not get ALL of the second sermon (health one) ... nope, no way ... no how ... connection GONE. Well ... that gave me time to *listen* and *hear* and *obey* the prompting of the Holy Spirit didn't it? Thankfully He is more persistant than I! He knew exactly what He needed to do to get me to listen too! He pretty much stopped me dead in my tracks, literally!

        I laugh now. I finally let the Holy Spirit give me my *spiritual spanking*, and as a result I deleted both video downloads completely. I repented, I asked forgiveness, and I intend to not perform that particular sin again.

        You might be thinking, what's so bad about that? You just downloaded them for your own personal use, you didn't intend to sell them or anything. You know, justify as I may, and oh yes ... I could (and did) justify on a human level ... the truth is that I am bound by the Holy Spirit within to live a holy life and as difficult as that is to do, I must at least continually strive for that goal. If I could so blatantly say that I wasn't really trying to steal that which was not mine to take, for they went to a great deal of trouble to keep people like me from doing what I was doing, and that which I had a great deal of trouble getting at ... I'd be a liar too! Not that I haven't lied, but that's another testimonial, or two, or three, amen? One *known* sin for the day is bad enough thanks!!!

        If we are striving to be holy then the only thing showing us when we aren't holy is SIN, SIN comes to us through the Law, the 10 Commandments, for which we are to reflect those commandments within us to *see where the darkness within is*. If we don't root out the darkness within, how can we expect the Holy Spirit to stay where darkness is since He is Light? One of His jobs is to shine Himself ON that sin, that darkness within, so that we see it from our outward self. Once we can see it we can then repent of it and remove it from our lives.

        Do you know WHY the Holy Spirit is a still, small voice within? I know! It's because He prompts, He prods, He encourages Godly behavior in a very faint, gentle, loving way. He is exactly the epitomy of 1 Corinthians 13 ... the Love Chapter of the Bible. Flip to that chapter and have a read, and think about the Holy Spirit within you. It's much more loving to suggest, and hope you will listen and allow yourself to make the change, than it would be to bang you over the head with a loud thundering voice. Remember, the Hebrews were afraid of the thundering voice of God when Moses had assembled them before him back in days of old, because His presence and voice rocked them to their cores. So He, in His loving kindness, gave us the gentle Holy Spirit. May I also suggest you refresh your memory of the 10 Commandments, you will find them in Exodus 20 & Deuteronomy 5. Too *old school* for ya? Check out these New Testament passages: Matthew 19:18 & Romans 13:9! There are more places they're mentioned but these are testimony enough that the 10 Commandments are alive and relevant today!

        Part of my repentence will be to BUY the CD/video set, it's the least I can do for them, my tithe to their ministry so to speak. Perhaps I'll include a copy of this testimonial eh? LOL Hopefully, they'll be able to forgive my sin as the Lord has :o} Update {11/07/06}: I have bought both of the CD sets :o} Praise the Lord! No testimonial included though, since I bought them online and there was no room for confession ... I am assured that as long as I have confessed to God and made right my wrong, and more importantly learned from the error of my ways, all is forgiven and forgotten! Thank God for His mercies to me, a sinner!

        It is my prayer and hope that by sharing my sin, my repentence thereof, and pointing out to you to *listen to the still, small voice within you* ... that the result will be that God blesses you and draws you closer to Himself, in the name of Jesus. Thank you for taking the time to read this testimonial. Stay tuned, there's lots more sin in my life that needs revealing ... Amen!?

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