Human nature. It's fallen, its fleshly, its sinful, and...it's continuous. We as people, especially the people of God are always in trouble--with God. When most of us come to God, it's the same sin or issue or problem that we constantly talk to God about. For some of us its one of the more obvious sins, like sexual immorality and all the various sins that are encompassed under that umbrella (premarital sex, promiscuous sex, homosexual sex, etc.) and for the most of us it's the more subtle such as bitterness, back biting, unforgiveness, prejudice, gossip, betrayal, manipulation, lying, the works! These sins always seem to get us out of whack, or what the Bible properly defines as besetting.

See the following scripture Hebrews 12: 1&2

"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,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of 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 the throne of God."

-KJV

"THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,
Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

-Amplified

"We are surrounded by a great cloud of people whose lives tell us what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God's throne."

-New Century Version

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne."

-New Living Translation

More directly beset means to:
- harass: annoy continually or chronically; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers"
- assail or attack on all sides: "The zebra was beset by leopards"
- encrust: decorate or cover lavishly (as with gems)

According to this, besetting sin is sin that harasses you continuously, while attacking you on all sides. While it's affecting you, it is attached to you EVERYWHERE as it covers you completely and lavishly. It trips you up, it keeps you from moving forward, it entangles you, and it holds you back. Yikes.

To me that may mean that sometimes this sin is engraved in your personality, or that it bothers you so much it is a major part of you. Like someone who is known as a gossiper or as someone with a serious attitude problem, their sin is besetting because it engulfs them in such a way it's a major part of them. Sometimes people do not even know that their behavior is wrong, because it's been with them in such a way for so long.

It can also be interpreted as a hidden sin that is done continuously, like the saved woman who has a hard time containing her sexuality. She's always making that mistake and sleeping with her boyfriend, or with multiple men (I pray that's none of your problems! LOL). She is ashamed of it, but she is always tempted of it. Every waking moment she has alone, someone it's trying to get into her pants, and it's hard for her because it harasses her and attacks her on all sides.

I know some of you are like Lord, help us. How can we defeat such a thing? The writer of Hebrews says we should lay this aside, but how can we?! This thing seems like it is pretty hard to fight off, and since there is so much of it, how can we really make it?! And I agree, God this is so hard! How do we really get around this, will we make it? Has anyone made it?

Today much of Christian teaching and doctrine exalts King David as a mighty man of valor. He was the worshipper, the warrior, the giant killer, the King, the writer of many of the Psalms, and out of his bloodline Jesus was born. He was awesome! He was the poster boy for the Mighty Man of Valor!

However, David had some serious besetting sins. His issues were so bad, they transferred to his sons and manifested through them in worse ways. David had sexual issues. No one woman was enough for him and although the commandments ordered him not to commit adultery, he did, and how.

According to Chronicles, he had eight known wives, plus he had concubines (women he had sex with in order to get them pregnant), and one of the wives he killed her husband so he could marry her. And we won't even get into his sons' issues, which were a gross reflection of their father (rape, wife swapping, incest, adultery, multiple lovers etc). Whoa. Today, a dude like this would have never been considered good, much less mighty or anointed. I could see G.Craig Lewis or some other preacher doing some sort of documentary exposing him as some sort of farce right now.

But God says David is a man after His own heart. How could that be?

It was very hard for me to understand a guy like him even making it into heaven after all the stuff he did. Forgiveness was not readily available as it is today (you had to perform animal sacrifice once a year), and God dealt even more harshly with sin than he ever dealt with now. People were struck with sicknesses, disease, burnt alive, holes opened up and swallowed them whole, and plagues would fall on them, the works! And how did David make it through all of that! I know if I was alive back then I don't think I would have lasted very long, so how did he?!

But David was also very aware of his sins and his issues and brought them to God because He knew he could not deal with it himself. In Psalm 51, he wrote "Create in me a clean heart Oh Lord, and renew a right spirit within me". We like David must be able to identify and admit who we really are before God. In 2 Samuel 12, Nathan the prophet called him out for murdering Uriah in order to steal his wife, Bathsheba. David was king, and could have easily ordered Nathan to be murdered or could have denied the story but he did not. He readily accepted that he committed a grave sin, and was ready to receive consequences.

When God identifies our sins or uses our brothers and sisters to identify our issues we must not resist. We have to accept what God is trying to say to us, and deal with it. Many of us remain covered in besetting sin because we never identify it and confess it truly before God. I know some of us have done this, and still struggle. Some of us may have to adhere to Mark 9:29, where Jesus identifies some issues need a little extra attention. Some of us need to really fast and pray to get rid of these issues in its entirety. Which David also did after he received word from Nathan the prophet.

After David confessed and fasted, the Bible does not record any more accounts of David committing anymore sexual sin. Praise God. God still honored him and addressed him as the man after His own heart. (1st Samuel 13)

We are more privileged than he is, because we have grace and forgiveness readily available at all times.

"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

-Romans 5:20 & 21 KJV

"The law came to make sin worse. But when sin grew worse, God's grace increased. Sin once used death to rule us, but God gave people more of his grace so that grace could rule by making people right with him. And this brings life forever through Jesus Christ our Lord."

-New Century Version

"God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God's wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

-New Living Translation

"All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life�a life that goes on and on and on, world without end"

-The Message

"But then Law came in, [only] to expand and increase the trespass [making it more apparent and exciting opposition]. But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God's unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded, So that, [just] as sin has reigned in death, [so] grace (His unearned and undeserved favor) might reign also through righteousness (right standing with God) which issues in eternal life through Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) our Lord."

-The Amplified

The grace of God covers our sin through the Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. He is able to save us, and help us strip our besetting sin that we may be able to look to Him without blame.

Praise God there is a way out.

Sometimes as Christians we may feel, or at least I have felt, that there is no way to deal with certain issues. It feels like they are going to stay here forever. I have many issues of my own that I see the Lord pointing out to me through relationships or through His own hand. sometimes I feel like they engulf me, and I am like who am I to stand before you all and represent Jesus. Sometimes or a lot of times I feel unworthy to receive any blessing from God or even to write these consecration notes. I say to God and others that I have no right. That I am messy, and there are things within me that I don't know if I can stop or control on my own that do not please God. But I say thank you to Jesus who won over sin and death, who can apply His grace to me and strip me of every besetting sin.

I am honored that He even wants to use me. Thank You Jesus.

I pray that you all allow the Lord to help you, to remove the issues that plague us all so deep within, that we may draw closer.

Help us Lord, in Jesus' Name Amen.

May You all hold on to Him as tightly as He is holding on to you.

In His Grip,

-©D