A few hours in Miami
12 years ago
Saturday, January 3, 2009
My Story And My Reason For Purpose And Fulfillment
This is somewhat embarrassing to share because it is personal but if it helps even one person it's worth ditching my pride. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life but one of the greatest mistakes was overlooking something that was so precious to me, my wife, Hollie. She has stood by my side from day one and has loved me unconditionally with all that she has....something I never could have endured. She is still the most patient, selfless and loving person I’ve ever known. I pushed her away so many times because of my own selfish ways and desires. I will never forget the many times that she would sit and listen to me whine and moan about some insignificant drama I was going through. I specifically remember this one time, while Hollie and I were "broken up" in our dating years, when I drove to her house and fell apart about a broken relationship I had with another girl. This had to be killing her but she listened to me and was kind and gentle in dealing with it. Even after I had broken up with her for the millionth time, she would still treat me like I was of some value to her. It was if she knew my true heart and that she understood that I had to “experience” life without her before I could truly appreciate her. She exemplified unconditional love. She didn’t just talk about it. She showed me with her life. Hollie is a rock….very consistent…very grounded…unbelievably understanding and I thank God every day for her and the blessing she has been in my life. Looking back, I wish that I would have had the backbone to be a better example for any of you who knew me in school and may find this blog. By the time I was 12 or so, I was a committed Christian. By this I mean that I had asked Jesus into my heart and my desire was to live a life that was pleasing to Him. This was always my desire. From birth I was submerged in my local church. My parents made sure that my knowledge of Jesus Christ and my role as a Christian was learned through the study of God's word and through the fellowship and guidance of other believers. My parents led by example. By the time I was 14 years old I had tons of scriptures memorized and could rattle off any chapter or verse off the top of my head. I enjoyed learning...I loved God and my personal relationship with Him was sweet and nurturing. Up until this point I had been sheltered, educated and well protected from the world outside of church and family. Later, I would find that stepping outside of this shelter is where the boys are separated from the men. This is where your faith is tested and you'll find out where your heart is when you have to apply what you know and have learned through practicing discipline and truly walking the walk that you say you believe in. This is where my story gets ugly. The teenage years came and so did the hormones and the "me,me,me attitude...then college and a lot of highway between where I grew up and the school I attended. To make an extremely long story short, I, along with my heart, left God in Thomasville and began a slow fade towards a life full of self pleasing without a purpose. I cracked. I gave into temptation. I blew it. My desire for a close relationship with God was replaced with a desire to please myself and I gave into every temptation placed in front of me including girls, girls, girls, alcohol, nightlife, etc. I immediately became the average college student...if even that. It was as if my priorities flipped 180 degrees. You couldn't tell the difference between me and a nonbeliever. My light was very, very dim and at any moment God could have snuffed it out. Despite my internal compass tugging at me and pulling me towards my personal commitment to Jesus and my involvement in a church community, I continued down a broken road of unhealthy relationships and habits. I began to have some basic doubts about myself and God. I was haunted by questions like, Am I really saved? Does God really love me? Is there really a God, and did Jesus really die for me, or did somebody make all this up? Why would I be living this lifestyle if I really loved God? What has happened to me? I asked Jesus into my heart over and over, just in case I wasn't sincere enough the previous time. I kept hoping that the next Bible study, the next inspirational book, the next Sunday sermon would set me free from my doubts and my selfishness. I was truly in turmoil. I felt just like Paul did in the Bible in Romans 7:15 when he said, " And I do not understand what I am doing, for that which I have a mind to do, I do not, but what I have hate for, that I do." I literally began having anxiety about where I was headed. I was under great conviction about where my life choices might lead me. God was trying to get my attention. Would I listen? I didn't think that doubt and insecurity was an acceptable part of being a Christian so I never shared my doubts with anyone. As much as I wanted to trust God, my weaknesses to temptations crippled me. For this reason my doubts remained. I needed God to show me something. I needed Him to reveal himself to me and make it obvious. Was I saved? Did He really come into my heart and save me when I asked and believed at 12 years old? That was many years ago, and although I still have times when I get in the way of completely trusting God, I'm no longer haunted by doubts. What made them go away? Well, it didn't happen all at once. In fact, for me, it took years; A few of those years were unbearable due to circumstances in my life including severe anxiety, panic attacks and depression that forced me to make a decision between choosing myself and the limited strength I had or choosing God and his divine plan for my life. Did I really, truly believe God’s Word and was I willing to put it to the test in my life on a personal level? This was the beautiful work of God letting me know that he does reveal himself in many ways. I was in my mid to late twenties when I realized that I was most definitely saved at the moment of my first sincerely asking God into my heart. Doubting didn’t steal all of that away. I began to experience the vastness of God's grace, power and mercy. For me, it took those few years of unbearable circumstances to allow all of the wonderful things I had been taught as a child to become substance in my life. God had used divine discipline to get my attention. His truths and purposes were slowly being revealed to me on a very personal level. And contrary to what I'd been searching for, the solution was not in a compelling, intellectual argument, book or presentation. It was not in finding the answers to my questions. What helped me the most was experiencing God's real presence. During those years of doubting, I experienced God being with me in many ways. I remember the dark nights of crying out to God when I was lonely or afraid, and the warmth of God's presence that often came to me within minutes. I remember sensing that God was leading me as I decided to move through my fears and anxieties of past mistakes and possible future ones. I remember God beginning to heal my emotional wounds; freeing me from some codependent patterns and helping me develop healthy boundaries. And I remember many of God's personal, daily gifts to me--a hummingbird in flight, staring into my face from two feet away, or an encouraging conversation with someone I trusted, or a glimpse of something good that God was doing in a situation that had tied my stomach into knots. I remember one Christian friend, my best friend, in school who had a lifelong impact on me. He knew lots of Scripture but never used it to try to fix me or "assure" me. Instead, He lived Scripture. He listened to me. He responded with compassion. He affirmed me. I know Jesus was in him, using him to draw me closer to Him and to trust my experience of Him. I felt loved, accepted, respected, valued, comforted, nurtured, and strengthened. Later I met other supportive friends, communities of believers, who taught me how much we all need each other to survive. I also remember how God made many Bible passages come alive for me in the midst of my doubts. For example, I identified with the man who told Jesus, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24). That story told me that Jesus wanted me to be honest about my doubts and that I could ask him to help me with them. Despite my doubts, God met me in all those ways, and more. Over and over, I was invited to experience God. I experienced God's presence, God's guidance, God's compassion, God's comfort, God's nurturing, God's strength, God's love and many more aspects of God's character. I experienced God through nature, through other people, through circumstances, through words and pictures and impressions, and increasingly often through the Bible. God used those experiences to gradually vanquish my doubts. My unhealed wounds from the past had caused me to doubt God, while my conscious mind wanted to trust God. And because my doubts were on a feeling level, not on a thinking level, God addressed them emotionally, not intellectually. Hearing, reading, and thinking about God's love for me, and all that Jesus had done to demonstrate God's love, did not diminish the doubts. I needed to experience God's love for me before the doubts would subside. And as I began to experience God's love, my heart began to open to the living truths of the Bible. My experiences of God during those years of doubting taught me a few things about God. The Bible clearly communicates all these truths, but they're meant for us to experience as well as to think about. "Taste and see that the LORD is good" (Psalm 34:8) is one of the ways that David talks about experiencing God. Tasting is not primarily an intellectual exercise; it's an experience. Here are some things we can discover when we taste, or experience, God: God is kind. I was taught this at church, as many of us were, and my conscious mind believed it. So then why was I often surprised when God did kind things for me or spoke gentle, respectful words to my soul? Those of you who grew up with critical authority figures tend to brace yourselves for shame, put-downs, guilt, mistrust, impossible demands, performance reviews, and other harsh treatment from God. But that is not God's way. God surprises us with kindness. God's love has no strings attached. God's love has no "if" clause ("I will love you if you please me" or "I will love you if I feel like it"). God's love is not a smothering love ("I love you because you make me feel good"). And God's love is not a controlling love ("I love you because you are my property"). God simply loves us--unconditionally, eternally. God wants us even more than we want God. In the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), Jesus compares God to the father who unashamedly hitches up his garment and runs to meet the lost son. Jesus says that while the son was still a long way off, "his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him" (v. 20). We may find this illustration of God's affection too intimate, too threatening. But God invites us to come a little closer and to experience God's compassion. God is more gracious to us than we are toward ourselves. I'm a perfectionist. I have high expectations of myself, and those like me tend to judge ourselves harshly. We fear failure, we reprimand ourselves when we fail, and we might even punish ourselves for failing. But God knows our limits even better than we do. And when we fail, God does not scold us or shame us. God always has grace for us, no matter how many times we fail. God is trustworthy. God never gives up on us, never rejects us, and never leaves us. These things are especially difficult for us to believe if we didn't grow up in an environment of trust. But God understands our mistrust and invites us to discover, through experience, how trustworthy God is. God delights in giving to us. It's God's nature to give. Unfortunately, most of us aren't very good at receiving. We find it hard even to receive from God, unless it's mainly for the purpose of serving someone else. But when we slow down, pay attention to what God might be doing in us and around us, and receive the good gifts God is offering us--especially God's love for us--we become healthier human beings. We become human beings who know we're loved. And then we're prepared to serve others out of love. We can tell God exactly how we feel. God can handle our doubts, our fears, our anger, our disappointment, our anxiety, our sadness. Unlike some people we may have known and trusted, God doesn't turn away from us or tell us to go away until we get a better attitude. Instead, God invites us to share all our feelings with him, including the unpleasant ones. If we find this hard to do, we can browse the Psalms for helpful scripts. Psalms 13, 31, and 69 are good examples, and there are many more. God wants to heal our wounds. It took me quite a few years to let this truth sink in, but God is always patient. While we may want our emotional wounds to be healed, we may avoid the healing process. We fear the pain we'll experience as we expose wounds that we buried long ago, or we fear God's responses to those wounds. However, God understands all our fears. And as we take them to God, one fear at a time, God slowly and thoroughly drives out our fears while healing our wounds. The Bible is full of stories about how people have experienced a loving God. And the Bible is full of invitations for us to experience this God. Fortunately for us, God does most of the work. Our part is to ask God to make us willing to have our wounds and fears revealed to us so that God can heal us. Our part is to ask for eyes to see and a heart to receive God's loving gifts to us each day so that we can experience and truly know this One who loves each of us beyond the telling.Where will you spend eternity?Jesus says, “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).Make sure of your future today. Commit your life to Christ with the following prayer:Being convinced that I am a sinner, and believing that You died and rose to life again for me, I now receive You as my personal Savior. I turn now from my sins and commit my life to You.
Where Is God When Disaster Strikes?
On September 11, 2001, God was exactly where He always is – in Heaven in total control of everything that happens in the universe. Why, then, would a good and loving God allow such a tragedy to happen? This is a more difficult question to answer. First, we must remember, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). It is impossible for finite human beings to understand the ways of an infinite God (Romans 11:33-35). Second, we must realize that God is not responsible for the wicked acts of evil men. The Bible tells us that humanity is desperately wicked and sinful (Romans 3:10-18, 23). God allows human beings to commit sin for His own reasons and to fulfill His own purposes. Sometimes we think we understand why God is doing something, only to find out later that it was for a different purpose than we originally thought.God looks at things from an eternal perspective. We look at things from an earthly perspective. Why did God put man on earth, knowing that Adam and Eve would sin and therefore bring evil, death, and suffering on all mankind? Why didn’t He just create us all and leave us in Heaven where we would be perfect and without suffering? It must be remembered that the purpose for all creation and all creatures is to glorify God. God is glorified when His nature and attributes are on display. If there were no sin, God would have no opportunity to display His justice and wrath as He punishes sin. Nor would He have the opportunity to show His grace, His mercy, and His love to undeserving creatures. The ultimate display of God’s grace was at the Cross where Jesus died for our sins. Here was unselfishness and obedience displayed in His Son who knew no sin but was “made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This was all to the “praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:14).When thinking of September 11, we tend to forget the thousands of miracles that occurred on that day. Hundreds of people were able to flee the buildings just in the nick of time. A small handful of firemen and one civilian survived in a tiny space in a stairwell as the one of the towers collapsed around them. The passengers on Flight 93 defeating the terrorists were a miracle in and of itself. Yes, September 11 was a terrible day. Sin reared its ugly head and caused great devastation. However, God is still in control. His sovereignty is never to be doubted. Could God have prevented what happened on September 11? Of course He could, but He chose to allow the events to unfold exactly as they did. He prevented that day from being as bad as it could have been. Since September 11, how many lives have been changed for the better? How many people have placed their faith in Christ for salvation as a result of what happened? The words of Romans 8:28 should always be in our minds when we think of 9-11, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to His purpose.”
If God Loves Us, Why Does He Allow Us To Go Through Trials And Tribulations?
One of the most difficult parts of the Christian life is the fact that becoming a disciple of Christ does not make us immune to life’s trials and tribulations. Why would a good and loving God allow us to go through such things as the death of a child, disease and injury to ourselves and our loved ones, financial hardships, worry and fear? Surely if He loved us, He would take all these things away from us. After all, doesn’t loving us mean He wants our lives to be easy and comfortable? Well, no, it doesn’t. The Bible clearly teaches that God loves those who are His children, and He “works all things together for good” for us (Romans 8:28). So that must mean that the trials and tribulations He allows in our lives are part of the working together of all things for good. Therefore, for the believer, all trials and tribulations must have a divine purpose. As in all things, God’s ultimate purpose for us is to grow more and more into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). This is the goal of the Christian, and everything in life, including the trials and tribulations, is designed to enable us to reach that goal. It is part of the process of sanctification, that is, being set apart for God’s purposes and fitted to live for His glory. The way the trials accomplish this is explained in 1 Peter 1:6-7: "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." The true believer’s faith will be made sure by the trials we experience so that we can rest in the knowledge that it is real and will last forever. Trials develop godly character and that enables us to "...rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:3-5). Jesus Christ set the perfect example. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). These verses point out aspects of His divine purpose for both Jesus Christ's trials and tribulations and ours. Persevering proves our faith. "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).At the same time, we must be careful never to make excuses for our "trials and tribulations" if they are a result of our own wrong-doing. "By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler" (1 Peter 4:15). God will forgive our sins because the eternal punishment for them has been paid by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. However, we still have to suffer the natural consequences in this life of our sins and bad choices. But God uses even those sufferings to mold and shape us for His purposes and our ultimate good. Trials and tribulations come with both a purpose and a reward. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him" (James 1:2-4,12).Through all of life’s trials and tribulations, we have the victory. "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ." These verses encourage us to see that although we are in a spiritual battle, Satan has no authority over the believer in Christ. God has given us His Word to guide us, His Holy Spirit to enable us, and the privilege of coming to Him anywhere, at any time, to pray about anything. He has also assured us that no trial will test us beyond our ability to bear it and “he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Why bad things do happen to good people is one of the difficult questions in all of theology. God is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, etc. Why should we human beings (not eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent) expect to be able to fully understand God’s ways? The book of Job deals with this issue. God had allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him. What was Job’s reaction? “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21). Job didn’t understand why God had allowed the things He did, but he knew that God was good and therefore continued to trust in Him. Ultimately, that should be our reaction as well. God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Often things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God's goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6).Perhaps a better question is, "Why do good things happen to bad people?" God is holy (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). Human beings are sinful (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Do you want to know how God views humanity? “As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-18). Every human being on this planet deserves to be thrown into hell at this very moment. Every second we spend alive is only by the grace of God. Even the most terrible misery we could experience on this planet is merciful compared to what we deserve, eternal hell in the lake of fire.“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Despite the evil, wicked, sinful nature of the people of this world, God still loved us. He loved us enough to die to take the penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23). All we have to do is believe in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; Romans 10:9) in order to be forgiven and promised a home in heaven (Romans 8:1). What we deserve = hell. What we are given = eternal life in heaven if we would just believe. It has been said, this world is the only hell believers will ever experience, and this world is the only heaven unbelievers will ever experience. The next time we ask the question, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” maybe we should be asking, “Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?”
Where Is God When It Hurts?
It seems we desire to know the answer to this question most when faced with painful trials and attacks of doubt. Even Jesus, during His crucifixion, asked, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). To the onlookers of that time, as well as to those who first read the story, it seems that God did forsake Jesus, so we obviously conclude that He will forsake us as well in our darkest moments. Yet, upon continued observation of the events that unfolded after the crucifixion, the truth was revealed that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even death (Romans 8:37-39). After Jesus was crucified, He was glorified (1 Peter 1:21, Mark 16:6,19; Romans 4:24-25). From this example alone we can be assured that even when we do not feel God’s presence in the midst of our pain, we can still believe His promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). “God sometimes permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves” (Joni Erickson Tada).We put our trust in the fact that God does not lie, He never changes, and His word stands true forever (Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, Psalm 110:4, Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 7:21, 13:8, James 1:17, 1 Peter 1:25). We do not lose heart over painful circumstances because we live by faith in every word that has proceeded from the mouth of God, not putting our hope in what is seen or perceived. We trust God that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs all the suffering that we will endure on this earth. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, because we know and believe that what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 5:7). We also trust God’s Word which says He is constantly working things together for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Even though we do not always see the good ends to which God is working things out, we can be assured that a time will come when we will understand and see more clearly.Our lives are like the illustration of a quilt. If you look at the back side of a quilt, all you see is a mess of knots and loose ends hanging out all over. It is very unattractive and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the work. Yet when you turn the quilt over, you see how the maker has craftily woven together each strand to form a beautiful creation, much like the life of a believer (Isaiah 64:8). We live with a limited understanding for the things of God, yet a day is coming when we will know and understand all things (Job 37:5, Isaiah 40:28 Ecclesiastes 11:5, 1 Corinthians 13:12, 1 John 3:2). Where is God when it hurts? The message to take with you in hard times is that when you can’t see His hand, trust His heart, and know for certain that He has not forsaken you. When you seem to have no strength of your own, that’s when you can most fully rest in His presence and know that His strength is made perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
What If I'm Not Convinced That There Is A God?
- "Everyone who is seriously interested in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe--a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble." --Albert Einstein
- "I am fascinated by some strange developments going on in astronomy,... The astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world." --Robert Jastrow, director NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies
I Found The Answer
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? Romans 7:24 (MSG)Have you figured out yet that a lot of times you are your own worst enemy? It's your own reactions, your own fears, and your own inadequacies that cause you to act in foolish ways. I know that's true for me.I need to be saved from myself because there are things I don't like about me - things I wish I had done differently, things I'd like to change. But I can't change them, not on my own power. I need an outside power source.You may be saying, "I can change." I hate to say this, but you can't. In January, you're going to make a list of New Year's resolutions. And, by the end of January, that list will be in the dumpster. Why? Because you can't change on your own; you need God's power. You need a Savior, someone who can make the changes you can't make yourself.Let me make an important point here: God never wastes energy. He doesn't waste effort on things that are unnecessary. In other words, if you didn't need a Savior, he wouldn't have sent one. The very fact that God sent a Savior means you need one.The truth is, if you are honest about it, sometimes you feel like your life is out of control. That's a pretty common feeling. Welcome to the human race!The apostle Paul felt that way 2,000 years ago. Paul says this in the Bible: "I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does" (Romans 7:24-25 MSG). That's the answer!Let me be honest with you. You may be looking for salvation in the wrong places, that's why you're frustrated. You're looking for that one thing that's going to give you fulfillment and meaning and peace in life.Some of us think that if we could just get married, or if we could just get a certain job, or a promotion, or attain a certain level of wealth, or have a baby - or if our babies would grow up and graduate! - things would be great.You're looking in the wrong places.A lot of people are looking for salvation in a self-help book. Or they're looking for it in therapy or in a fad or diet. Or they're looking for it in a vacation, "If I could just escape to Tahiti, everything would be great." The problem is that if you go to Tahiti, you're taking you with you!The answer is not in a place. It's not in a program or a pill. The answer is a person: Jesus Christ. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life is never going to make sense.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Why Is Accountability Important?
With much temptation already in the world today, Satan is working overtime to create more. We must have a brother or sister we can count on when we are facing temptations that threaten our spiritual lives. King David was alone the evening he was tempted by Satan. You may have thought it was Bathsheba that tempted him, but the Bible tells us we fight a war not of flesh but of the spirit, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). David learned a costly lesson by allowing temptation to overcome him—God struck his son with sickness and allowed him to die.Knowing we are in a battle against the spiritual forces of darkness, we should want as much help as we can gather around us. In Ephesians, Paul goes on to tell us that we must be equipped with all the power that God supplies to fight this battle: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). Notice that Paul said “so that . . . you may be able to stand your ground.” He realized that even if we equip ourselves with everything God has to offer in defense of evil, we are still human and we may not always be able to resist Satan’s temptations. So what more can we do to stand against evil and temptation? We know without a doubt that temptation will come.Satan knows our weaknesses, and he knows when we are vulnerable. He knows when a married couple is squabbling and perhaps feeling that someone else might understand them better. He knows when a child has been punished by his parents and might be feeling spiteful. He knows when things aren’t going well at work and reminds us of that bar that is on the way home. Where do we find help if we have done all we can do to fight the battle? We want to do what’s right in the sight of God, yet we are weak humans. What do we do?Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend's countenance.” A friend’s countenance is a look or expression of encouragement or moral support. When is the last time you had a friend call you just to ask how you were doing? When is the last time you called a friend and asked her if she needed to talk? Encouragement and moral support from a friend are sometimes the missing ingredients in fighting the battle against Satan.The writer of Hebrews summed it up when he said, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,” (Hebrews 10:19-26).[1] Begin each day walking with your best friend and Lord, Jesus Christ;[2] With an open, loving heart that Jesus provides, draw near to friends (your accountability team);[3] Remember your confession of faith to the One who can change lives;[4] Encourage one another (your accountability team) in love, urging each other to love and to do good to others, as you continue to meet together (with your team or church family);[5] Satisfied that you have done everything possible to avoid sin and to help your brothers and sisters to remain strong in their faith, praise God for what He is doing in your life!
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