Beloved Believer

Chapter 2

Church Revive

Misplaced desires:

God has graciously given His people a written standard and revelation
of His character. Let us look intently into His word and bow before Him. Let
us be willing to have our hearts revealed so that we may be revived. Having
found ourselves weary in running after the things of this world, let us seek
the only real help there is available to us; the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
Having found ourselves empty and unhappy in our state of lukewarm, let us
seek the Spirit of God to make us red hot in our hearts for Him. We, the
children of God, are slaves of righteousness. There will be no compromise on
God’s part as to His commitment to glorifying His Son in us. Compromise on
our part does not change God’s commitment. It grieves the Spirit and
dampens our enjoyment of Jesus. We have been purchased for obedience to
Him so Jesus has every right and responsibility to chastise us when necessary.
There is no peace or satisfaction away from Jesus Christ and it will be done
His way, not ours.

Rev. 3:15-17
“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you
were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither
hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I
have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are
wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked.”

Jesus mercifully spoke these words to His church, His bride. These
harsh words are words of warning, words of mercy. As he wept over
Jerusalem, it would seem that He weeps for us, His own, to have our needs
met in Him, to be in love with Him. Jesus has given his very life for us and
intercedes for us continually. He is at this moment preparing a place for us to
be with Him for eternity. He does not plan to accommodate our lukewarm
attitudes toward Him. He is demanding, in mercy, that we see how bad off
we are in our comfortable lives.
Why does He continue in His mercy when He can plainly see that our
hearts have so little interest in Him? He continues with us because He is able
to revive our hearts in love and adoration of Himself. He continues because
He is able to care for His bride in every way and has great plans for her even
though things look bleak at times. He continues because all things are
possible with God and Jesus just happens to be God so His mercy and love for
us never fails. He also continues because we will reign with Him in power and
delight in Him forever just as He said we would.
 Let these words of admonition and recognition pierce our hearts and
cause us to mourn over the state of our real poverty before God. May we see
the true state of our hearts when we turn from the life in Jesus to other
things. Let us also be greatly encouraged in the fact that they were spoken
for our benefit. Jesus knows our hearts this moment and has known from the
beginning of time where we would be at each moment. We have not
surprised Him with our lack of loyalty; rather He meets us at this place for His
glory and purpose. I urge you brother, I urge you sister to let these words in
the book of Revelation search you out.
If there is any truth here that applies to you today, do not run. Do not seek to
place this “letter to the church” on others. I find it hard to believe that this
estimation of Jesus’ own does not apply to every believer at some time. I
know it has applied to me and as much as I hope it never does again, I can
take comfort in knowing that Jesus will come for me. If you see yourself in
this picture, do not seek to hide your shame in pride and justify yourself.
Embrace the opportunity to be naked before the one who cares for you and
let Him clothe you with His honor and love. He did not speak these words to
cast us out but to draw us near. Many times Jesus spoke harshly to the
Pharisees when He walked the earth. We can plainly see the pride in their
hearts as they turned from Him. Did he love them less than others He spoke
to because He spoke harshly? I do not think so. He told them what they
needed to hear and they were unable to receive it from Him. We are able to
receive his rebuke because we belong to Him and have His Holy Spirit.

Rev 3:19
“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and
repent.”

Rev. 3:18
“I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may
be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the
shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your
eyes, so that you may see.”

In Christ alone is there answer to our aching hearts that long to be one
with Him (because He has caused us to long) but can’t seem to get there. He
desires to make us rich! It is His plan to clothe us and to make us see! We
can remain stubborn in our pride and “be happy” with what we have, and
have nothing or we can admit our nothing to God and open our hands and
lives for Him to fill.

James 4:6-10
But he gives more grace, Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God,
and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and
purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and
weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to
gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Lord, revive our hearts. Breathe new life into your people, God, and cause us
to desire to run after you. Forgive us gracious God. We call upon your great
mercy and long suffering character. We have wandered from the true
treasure and have been an adulterous people. Pour out your abundant grace
on your people now.

Pulling away from the world:

For many, sleep is a luxury. When the chance comes to really sleep in on a
given morning, we want to make the most of it. The problem is that the
longer one stays in bed, the lazier one gets. If we have made our bed in the
world it takes some effort to pull ourselves away from the so-called
attraction. The longer we have been sleeping, the harder it is to get moving
and get something done. If you have happily found yourself convicted by
God of your lukewarm state, He will revive your heart. His call to repent is a
call to turn from what is evil and turn to what is not, namely Jesus.
If we have been captivated by the world, we must, by God’s grace, turn from
the world and its promises and pleasures and turn to God. Asking God to
change our heart with regard to our desires and going on about our business
as usual is like crying out in thirst but not getting up to turn on the faucet.
We at times are like children in our appetite for godliness. We long and
hunger but are too weak or lazy to get what we need. We want someone to
hand it to us. We are grateful when God convicts our hearts and reveals
himself to us but often, like children, we skip merrily on our away with the
treat we have received. We settle for mere morsels and snacks when God
offers us a banquet. We barely remain alive when God tells us He has given
us all that we ask for in Jesus Christ. A spark of the Holy Spirit makes us so
giddy we want to tell all our friends but too often it is never fanned into
flames. The evil one pours water on our fire and we sit back and let him. We
accept the lie that the joy of the Lord is momentary and we fail to pursue it.
Soon we wander back to our old ways of looking to the world to make us
happy. It is worse than ceasing to fight, for many of us, we never even
engage in battle.

Isaiah 35:3
Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.

Neh. 8:10
The joy of the Lord is your strength.

We have a promise from Jesus himself that He will give us his own joy.
It is an evil thing that our thinking trumps His promise in our lives. Let the joy
that comes with God’s conviction as He reveals himself to us become a
starting point to a continuous search for God’s activity in and around us. How
dare we settle for the lie that God’s joy is temporary when it is the world that
is temporary? The joy of the Lord is not to be treated as candy, an
occasional sweetness, but as a staple for our spirits to survive. Let the desire
to be happy in Jesus send you to your knees as often as need be until you
obtain what He has promised. If there is no joy to be had in Jesus, what is the
point of following Him? Nobility? It will never last. Salvation? Are we
seeking only an escape from hell? Or is there more to be saved TO? Guilt? It
didn’t work for the Pharisees and it won’t work for us.
We are a people desperate for joy. A Christian is eager for and willing
to strive for joy in a way the unbeliever will never attain to without Christ.
Those who do not know the Lord can try to resign themselves to a joyless life
surrounded by all kinds of philosophies and sacrificial living and pride in their
works on earth. But now, those who have met our Lord Jesus have known a
joy that will never let go of them. Our hearts cannot shake the peace we
know to be in Him. We just get confused and off track and we seek His joy in
other places. Of course, we come up empty, but we know it is there so we
eagerly look all our days.
I do not mean to oversimplify the Christian life but I think we would do
well to take a break from analyzing ourselves and trying to analyze God and
just be who He created us to be. We need to be a people who can’t get
enough of Jesus and who will go to great lengths to be with Him. We get so
wrapped up in our “maturity”, that we dare not be caught being so silly as to
just want to be in the Joy of the Lord. There are people to be saved, how can
we just want joy? There is work to be done, how can we just seek God for our
own benefit? The joy of the Lord is our strength. We can do nothing if we
aren’t abiding in Christ. And we will not abide if we keep denying our desire
for joy because we will continue to seek it elsewhere, weather we admit it or
not.

Phil. 3:1
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to
you is not trouble to me and is safe for you.

Phil. 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

I’m not just talking about the joy that comes with pleasing
circumstances or the joy that comes when we seek the Lord in trials and find
Him to be faithful. I am talking about the joy that we are to seek ALWAYS.
The joy that Jesus offers is for the everyday. It is not to be hoarded and saved
up for a rainy day but to be sought anew whenever we desire or need. I am
talking about the joy that lifts us up in the tediousness of our jobs,
encourages us when we have prayed for the same person for years. This is
the kind of joy that makes us able to drive by the mall and the new car lot
because we already have what we crave. This is the joy that keeps our
marriages alive because we already have our needs met in Jesus. It is the
same joy that reminds us that this home is temporary when we are just plain
tired. This is the joy we need when we have sinned and hurt others, and
have made mistakes and wish we could do things over. We need it everyday,
not just in trials. Our lives here are in themselves continuous trials. It is a
trial to fight against the desires of the flesh constantly. If you are fighting you
will get tired and discouraged. You need the Joy of the Lord for the task of
living.
One of the temptations in this pursuit is our desire for glory. God, in
His mercy, shows us we have not been focused on Him and our gratitude and
humility refreshes us and others, for a time. Often, we quickly fall prey to the
lie of the enemy and our own pride that tells us we ought to get busy doing
something for God. We are ashamed at our lack of service for him. We are
regretful over the time we have wasted, daydreaming about the world and all
it has for us. We equate Gods call on our hearts to a call to work. Certainly,
works are always involved when one’s heart abides in Christ but we too
quickly jump to “do” for God as if we have been away from our workplace.
Isn’t it more like we have been away from the love of our life? If you are
away from your spouse for a time, what is it you do first? Do you rush to do
the laundry or mow the lawn? No, you delight in the arms of the one you
love. You fill yourself with their company and reconnect with their hearts.
You don’t apologize for just wanting to be with them. You want to catch up on
your relationship. Then you get busy with the things that have been left
undone.
We are mere servants, undeserving of even a look from the Lord Jesus;
but we are also His bride. He is our commander and chief, our King; but He is
also the lover of our souls. We rob ourselves of needed joy when we report
for duty flushed in the face because we have ignored our post. When we
busy ourselves of our own direction out of guilt and pride, we miss what
we’ve missed all along; a love for Jesus that will keep us awake when the
world and our flesh attempt to lull us to sleep. God does not need to catch
up on what’s been happening with us. He already knows. Somehow He has
kept the world turning without us. We would do well to allow ourselves the
luxury of His tenderness and love. When we know one well we are better
able to discern their desires and thoughts. When we have been inattentive to
our relationship with the Lord we need to get personal with Him again. If He
is able to get our attention when we have been sleepy in our faith, He is well
able to show us what He would have us do and where and when to do it. We
really need to stop trying to impress each other and embrace a “love sick”
attitude with our Lord Jesus.
I remember as a new believer the fervor I had to seek the Lord. Many
days I just thought I could not go on if I could not meet with Jesus. I did not
necessarily have an agenda or know of a specific need, I just wanted His love.
Somewhere along the way I began to take myself more seriously than I ought.
Knowledge seemed more dignified than zeal. My heart wandered from my
first love. Many times I would wonder why the fervor had left my heart. I
tried to tell myself that the zeal I had known was for a short time. The
honeymoon was over, so to speak. But there were those I saw who had
unstoppable passion for Jesus that kept me wanting to be childlike before
Him. God’s word continually showed me how He pours out His power on mere
men. Wasn’t I also one of them? Now I know that I was wrong to let that
desire dwindle without a fight. We expect desires and emotions to fade and
die out with time because this is so often our experience with earthly things
and relationships. Jesus is not of this earth and His Spirit is able to sustain us
with adoration for Himself and give us wisdom from heaven.
Eat of God’s Word:

When we desire to be physically healthy, one of the first things we

examine is our diet. Those who wish to be healthy will consistently eat
healthy foods. When God awakens our hearts to Him and gives us a fresh
desire for His will, we need to alter our habits to accommodate a more
healthy appetite. If we didn’t stuff our mouths with unhealthy food we most
likely wouldn’t get fat and sick. I know that is a radical statement these days
but bear with me. So it is with our souls that crave to be filled with
something. We are never still; we are always busy stuffing our minds with
something. Filling our minds with the things of this world contributes to the
decline of our spiritual awareness. We are not sharp spiritually speaking after
watching hours of TV or meditating on how to best grow a healthy lawn or
retirement account.

Prov. 6:10
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an
armed man.

What an awesome place we are in on this earth that we may go before

the one who created it on a regular basis. Anytime, anywhere, the living
word of the one and only God almighty is at our disposal. How unwise we are
to disregard it. We all know that we will benefit if we read our bibles instead
of watching TV. We know it like we know that eating ice cream before
bedtime will make us fat. And we often respond to that knowledge in the
same way. We have fits of good intentions that are based on us giving up
something. We take our guilty pleasures and never realize what we are
forfeiting.

Rom 1:22-23
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of
the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and
animals and reptiles.

Dare we live like the unrighteous? Why would we give up our precious
time with our beloved for time in the world? Maybe it is that we don’t see
Jesus as our beloved but as a spoiler or taskmaster. This is blasphemy. If our
hearts have at all been kindled to desire Jesus, we have to develop an
appetite for the things of God. If God’s word is to be a lamp unto our feet, we
have to pick it up and carry it with us in our hearts. If God’s word is to guard
our hearts it has to get in there! We seem to be a society that wants
everything for nothing.
Surely we have salvation from nothing that we have contributed, but if we are
to know God we have to listen to what He says. It is so unpopular to tell
people that they have to work and spend time to attain to something. If we
want to be physically fit, we have to spend time and effort changing our diets
and maybe exercising. Most of us know that the ads for products to lose 100
pounds in 10 days (I exaggerate) are false. We can even hear these types of
“ads” in our Christian circles. They say something like this, “For just 15
minutes a day you can have a Spirit filled life.” I am not about to declare that
the fullness of the Spirit is in proportion to the minutes spent in God’s word.
My point is that we all cry that we just don’t have the time it takes to get
God’s word into our minds and hearts as if it is unfair for God to expect us to
do such a thing. If you don’t have time to spend in God’s word, you don’t
need more time but less of something else. It is God who made the day and
night so we have the time He gives us. We sometimes act as if spending time
in God’s word is the least practical thing we could be doing. Here is yet
another lie from the enemy. We are so careful to not put “burdens” on one
another that we fail to encourage each other to make the time to be with
God. We are eager to try to make each other feel better by saying it is not
about the time spent. Can somebody tell me how you can read God’s word
without taking time to do it? To say one can store up God’s word in mere
moments with one eye one completing a duty not only is misleading but
lends to the overall attitude that it is O.K. to take the minimum of our day to
sit at the feet of Our Lord.
We need to exchange the glory of worldly pleasures back for the glory
of God in our lives. There is no way around it; building an appetite for the
things of God takes time in His word. The fact that we continually try to find
a way around that is an indication of what our hearts are set on. We may
have mistaken freedom for arrogance and laziness. We are eager to show
that Jesus does the work in us by doing nothing to contribute to our spiritual
health. Time must be spent with God, taking in His word. The time needed is
a beautiful privilege, not a dutiful sacrifice. Possibly, if time is really an issue;
something must go. There are things that need to go because they are idols.
Some are distractions and some simply will not fit into our lives. We usually
are proud that we have “given up” things or we are proud that we have not.
We are so strapped in by our accomplishments that it may seem impossible
to make any room for time to read God’s word and pray to Him. What a pity
that we can’t trust Him with our minutes when He is the one who keeps our
hearts beating in each one that we enjoy. May our Most Holy God give us a
perspective of the freedom that He has purchased for us and purchased us to
enjoy. I certainly don’t want to discourage anyone. I realize that there are
times when we can feel far from our Lord and we easily build up expectations
of spiritual disciplines that we feel we cannot keep so we just keep away. Like
any change in appetite, these things do not always shift into place
immediately but there must be a shift in priority. It would be foolish to
encourage anyone to try to hold on to their earthly expectations when God is
calling on their hearts. If God is giving you a desire to be with Him then drop
what you have going on and spend time with Him. He is able to take care of
all that is in your schedule until you get back. Yes, take by faith that five
minutes will be better than none. But don’t settle for that as your regular
diet. Rather, take by faith that the benefits of following God’s leading, not
your schedule, will be worth whatever may have been set-aside in the
process. The idea is that we change our attitude toward the investment that
we make when we set our minds on God’s written word. He has given it to us
for our benefit. Let us see it as a great benefit and know the truth that we
cannot survive without it. If we do not change our appetite for the worldly to
an appetite for the godly, we will only go forward with duty and soon be back
to our flabby selves; wondering why we are so disinterested in God.

Let us heed the book of proverbs to seek out wisdom, to search for it
as for silver. We are also encouraged to remember God’s wonderful works
(psalm 105:5). The wonderful things that God does for us personally are
magnified when we reflect on the written history of His wonderful works.
We cannot rely on our memories of what God’s word says. We are
much too self focused and selective in what we want to remember. God
knows exactly what we need to hear and when. If we are in a regular habit of
searching His word we will better experience how He ministers to our hearts
at every turn. And we will praise Him all the more. To be loved by God is a
wonderful thing. To be loved in such a way that you can read about your
specific need or situation is really something to talk about. Our faith is built
when we see our lives in the context of the Bible. As we see the reality of
God’s word unfold daily before us, we are encouraged and equipped to
encourage others. We desire God more as we see how desirable He is. We
long to be with Him and to be like Him more and more when His living and
active word is working in us. It is not a list of what to do and/or not do but it
is God’s very own hand of love that He has given to shape us. The Bible is
God’s whisper in our ear, His wind in our souls, His heat in the cold, comfort
in the pain, and joy in the victory. It can never be exhausted or totally
understood by any man but is able to touch even the most timid in heart. It
doesn’t matter if one doesn’t care to read, or if one doesn’t feel he knows
enough to dive in to God’s word. His written word is for all of His children and
He knows exactly how to bring us to understand what He is speaking to us
personally. It is for YOU! Stop waiting for someone to tell you what to think so
you have someone to blame if it doesn’t pan out the way you want. Lay it on
the Lord Almighty. He is able to stand behind His word. Stop worrying over
what is God’s will for the rest of your life you and do what He tells you today.
If it doesn’t work out like you want, take it to the Lord; take your grievances
to Him.

James 1:25
But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and
perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will
be blessed in his doing.

The creator of the universe has something to say to you. He has given
us His Spirit and has let His intent toward us be known. Open up the wonder
of His word today; let it hold you, scold you, love and cover you, encourage
you, direct and teach you, guide you into all truth as He has promised.
God’s written word is the only stable thing we have on this earth. His
Spirit is mighty in us. His Spirit operates within His word. We are open to all
kinds of foolish thinking when we ignore God’s word and say we are just living
by His Spirit. It isn’t possible. So many professing believers live in sin and
say they know God wants this or that for them but don’t ever read His word.
How then can they know what is God’s intent for them? They make up their
own version. That is called idolatry. Every one of us is susceptible to the sin
of idolatry. If we ignore God’s word, we are guaranteed to fall into that sin
and many others. We simply cannot be relied upon to accurately retain God’s
character, desire and design for long and so will be left to our own thinking.
God is more than able to keep us even if we were unable to read or hear His
word. Being unable and being unwilling are different things. I am not talking
about those who are unable or who do not have it available to them. I am
talking about the majority of us who have God’s word at our disposal but see
it as unimportant in our Christian life.
One more point on God’s word. We must read God’s word as an actual
report and actually relative to us. It is not a collection of stories. It is not a
study manual. Let us look into the eyes of our beloved and expect a word
from Him into our lives today.

Mighty God, move us in desire for you. In your great patience, remember our
many weaknesses and help us to change the way we spend the time you give
us. We are utterly at your mercy. Give your people a hunger and thirst for a
knowledge of you that must be met in your Words of Life.

Revel in His conviction; Drink up His forgiveness

There is a sweet flavor to coming to terms with our own frailty and
sinfulness. When we are before God and He has taken from us our filthy
garments, we celebrate in relief. We no longer have to keep up the pretense.
We no longer have to wade through the continual accusations of the enemy
that have us running in circles. When God shines His light on our sin, we can
say “aha, I hadn’t seen it like that until now, Thank You.” And with God’s
conviction is the promise that He will show us His way and help us from our
destructive thinking and habits. He has taken responsibility for us and we are
glad to give it over.
We need to daily ask God to point out our sins with His Spirit of Light.
It is our nature to try to cover them up and this habit will keep us from
holding onto the faith God has given us. We forfeit precious grace from God
when we see our sin as something to be hidden from God and others. We
must not let the dread of others knowing who we really are keep us from
gaining more of Christ. Pride will have us think much more of ourselves than
we have any right to. Are you really surprised at the sin God reveals in you?
Do you really think you can control it with determination? Do you really think
God is impressed with your efforts?

1Cor 10:12
Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he
fall.

Psalm 19:12
Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
 Every man, woman and child ever born is capable of any sin that was
ever conceived and more. The fact that God keeps us from sinning more
than we are capable of is reason to praise His great and merciful name, Jesus!
You, who were raised in a loving, Christian home, who barely spoke a harsh
word to your parents, are no less evil in the intent of your heart than he who
was rescued by Christ in a prison cell. For those who have been kept from
great damage and open sin, you have all the more reason to glory in God’s
mercy. Let us not think for a moment that our nature is capable of improving.
Man’s nature is evil. Praise God, we have been given a new nature but we
must hold closely to it because we have not yet been made perfect. We
should not be deceived into thinking that our days of being tempted are over
and it’s all about keeping up appearances and staying busy now. Satan will
have us fall into that deadly trap if he can.
We need to be vigilant in prayer, ever watchful for the old man who
continuously tries to reclaim his territory.

Yet another trap of the enemy is that as soon as we begin to be

watchful, we are tempted to be the watchers over our own souls. Beating
ourselves over the head with every mistake and flaw we see in our lives and
personalities. Not only is this discouraging but it is unproductive to our
progress in our faith and it breeds false humility. Our pride quickly brings us
to the lie that serving Christ is about getting it all right as if we will somehow
arrive at His perfection on this earth. God’s conviction brings hope and peace
and joy. When we try to be our own authors of our faith we are left with a
sour taste in our mouths and ironically, more pride. Seeking God’s conviction
is simply part of seeking Him. When you are in His presence He can be
trusted to bring up the sins for which you need to repent. He is quite aware
and quite capable of showing us what we need to confess and only the Holy
Spirit will bring the gift of repentance for our sins. Without true repentance,
there will be no real hatred for sin and so no real change. Clearly there are
times when we can see practices or thought patterns that we know are sinful
because we have become students of God’s word. When we see the
discrepancy between our lives and God’s word, let us bring those things to
God and ask for his mercy and seek humility before Him. Let us not be
deceived, man has no power to refrain from sinning. Only in Christ is there
power to avoid and run from temptation so we can have freedom from the
rule of sin. We have been given very great and precious promises and God’s
word declares that we are NOT slaves to sin. That does not mean we are
expected to somehow “manage” it on our own but that God provides the way
for us to recognize temptation, before it becomes sin and He gives us the
power to run from or bear up under the temptation.
Every command and each time our hearts are convicted of violating
God’s glory, is underlined with the promise of God for our hearts to be
changed. Would God point out our sins and shortcomings without giving us
the grace to do things His way? He would not and does not. Let us seek to
know the places in us that do not line up with who we see Him to be in His
word. What great mercy we see when we begin to love as He loves us and
live the lives He has made for us because we have heeded His word and
humbled ourselves before Him.
Get harsh with sin:

God brings us a new desire for Him when we sincerely ask Him to.
With a fresh desire comes the conviction of sin that is necessary for us to
grow closer to Him. Sin must not be taken lightly!

Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we
esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was
wounded for our transgressions; upon him was the chastisement
that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

God does not take our sins lightly and we error greatly when we do.
Jesus has paid a dear price for us to walk in freedom to glorify Him. Sin
seems to be such a small matter to many these days. It’s as if some have
declared defeat without even fighting. We have become so much like the
world, that like the Pharisees, we have sifted out of God’s word those things
we don’t understand or don’t want to accept and so miss out on fellowship
with God.

2 Peter 1:3 – 4
His divine power has granted to us ALL things that pertain to life
and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his
own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious
and very great promises, so that THROUGH THEM you may become
partakers of the divine nature, having ESCAPED from the corruption
that is in the world because of sinful desire. (caps mine)

God gives us very great promises. Many of them are conditional.

Often we don’t walk in faith, using God’s promises as footholds, because we
are not sure or don’t believe the conditions are met. When we are slack in
our fight against the desires of the flesh; when we put up with sinful
attitudes, we rob ourselves of assurance of God’s promises. We too easily
accept bitterness, anger, slander, worry, self-dependence, disrespect and
many other evils as part of everyday life. “After all, we are only human.” We
tell each other and ourselves. We can’t have a clear conscience if these are
allowed to hang around. Our hearts are full of evil all the time. (Gen 8:21)
We can’t know all that is in our hearts but God sheds His light on certain evils
in His timing. We can’t be our own surgeons; we can’t purge and cleanse our
own hearts. It is God’s business to show us the things within that defile His
glory and eat away at our joy. It is our business to resist temptation and fight
when we see it. Running to God for mercy and strength in the time of
conviction is fighting the battle. Saying it is a small thing, “everyone has a
problem with that”, is losing the battle. It’s not even taking a stand. So
when you come upon one of God’s wonderful promises (like John 15:7 where
Jesus says “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you
wish, and it will be done for you.”) you can’t take it as your own if you’re not
fighting because your conscience is not clear.

James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to
all without reproach and it will be given him. But let him ask in
faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the
sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not
suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-
minded man, unstable in all his ways.

When we see the times to ask God for great things, doubt will kill our
prayers. To be able to say, “the sin I know about has been dealt with in the
presence of God” is to know a clear conscience. Then we can have assurance
of God’s will to know what to pray for and to know that we have what we ask.

1 John 3:20-22
For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart,
and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn
us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive
from him, because we keep his commandments and so what pleases
him.

Fight:

John 16:33c
“But take heart; I have overcome the world”

There are many exhortations in scripture to not despair, not be

discouraged, be of good cheer, do not give up. What are they talking about?
One of the things they refer to is NOT SINNING! What is there to be of good
cheer about?
Well, among other things, we can be of good cheer about God’s power on our
behalf to abstain from sinful desires and run from temptation. God is able to
help us to not sin so that we don’t have to be harassed by our accuser and
then be tempted to discouragement and unbelief. We need not get caught up
in arguments about weather a person can be sinless. We each have an
abundance of evil thoughts and intentions to fight and run from every day
without getting sidetracked by the idea that we will probably just sin again.
Satan is having an easy time discouraging believers with thoughts that we
will always have areas of re-occurring sins. He tells us we will never truly be
free of them while we are on this earth. It is easier to believe that than it is
to get seriously humble before God in fighting those sins. Along with this lie
is the notion that God is somehow understanding and O.K. with those “little”
sins that are really just part of who we are. After all, He made us right? Do
we not always find a way to blame others, even God? If your personality is
bold, that is a gift from God and to be used for God; not an excuse to press
your opinions on others. If your personality is more on the reserved side, that
is a gift from God for God; not an excuse to withhold yourself from others.
There isn’t a person born whose personality makes them more inclined to be
Jesus-like. God is not partial to race, sex, circumstance or personality. His
power is sufficient to overcome every hindrance to His glory. We have that
same power available to us to live the lives he commands us to.
Fight with faith in the freedom to not sin that Jesus gave his blood for
us to obtain. The Holy Spirit provides power to keep from sin. We readily
admit that we are sinners, sometimes in false humility. But there is no
humility in denying God’s power given to His children to not sin. It does no
good to hide from our sin but we cannot live with it either if we want to walk
in the light of Jesus Christ and draw ever nearer to Him.

Romans 6:6
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the
body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer
be enslaved to sin.

Galatians 5:1
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not
submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Our freedom to obey God is a fact. That may not be popular to believe
or maybe we feel we are more approachable as those who walk around
moaning about our sins as if we have no choice, proud of how much we hate
them yet not willing to give them up. It is not arrogance to claim that you will
defeat a sin in your life by God’s power in Jesus Christ. Receiving provided
grace to not sin is taking God at His word and believing Jesus Christ. It is
banking everything on His ability to make you able to walk as He commands
you to and on His willingness to get you past what is holding you from Him.
Our hearts are broken when the Holy Spirit reveals our true thoughts and
intentions. Let us not turn that into an occasion for Satan to gloat over us by
focusing our attention on our unworthiness. We are absolutely unworthy!
That is the point. If we were worthy we would not need Jesus. Let us
proclaim to ourselves that we have been purchased for greater things than
the petty acts and thoughts of our flesh and throw ourselves at the feet of
Jesus expecting Him to lift us and teach us how to overcome. He has made
us free. It has been done already. If we cannot believe that we have freedom
from sin, how can we believe anything God says?
The fight is on always. We must be serious about listening to The Holy
Spirit when He says to go this way or that. We must be consistent in seeking
God’s grace to see our sin and in applying His word to that sin. We must be
persistent. The enemy will not let go of anything in us that he thinks he can
rule.

We must not give up even when the same temptation comes every day, even
if we fall every day. We will have victory over that sin if we persist in asking
God to show us the way out of the temptation and believe that He will be
there when it come. Temptations may take us by surprise, but they never
take God by surprise. There is no place or time in our lives we will ever get to
that He has not gone ahead of us. Take heart in knowing that God is in
control of every circumstance and that He has made a way for you to walk in
the righteousness that He has provided in Christ.

Phil. 3:8
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

The desire to know Christ and to gain Him cannot be underestimated in

the fight of faith. When we desire to be in the presence of Jesus and to walk
closely with Him, we will do (or not do) anything to get near Him. The next
time a particular sin seems to hang on and you don’t know if you have the
energy to fight, ask yourself, “Am I going to let that come between me and
Jesus?” Whatever has been hounding you will always seem small in the light
of knowing Jesus more and will never be worth missing out on seeing His
greatness.
Be greedy about the desire to see more of God’s greatness in everyday
life. Look for His answer to your prayer. Guard your time with Him and ask
Him to open your eyes to how great and mighty and merciful He is. God will
answer a prayer like that. The more valuable we see Him; the less valuable is
anything that comes in the way of us getting to Him. Gaining Jesus has to be
the driving force in our lives if we are to know His power to not sin. We can’t
live to pay Him back, or gain a better life or even to serve Him faithfully. Our
lives must be centered on having more of Jesus; whatever the cost. The only
cost to us is the things that aren’t worth having, like our self-centered ways
and all types of harmful attitudes.
We are a people who have been declared free. We are free from sin,
free from own nature, free from the world. Our position is clear; we are free
to God in Christ. We are free and yet we are slaves. We are slaves to
righteousness and, slaves to the love of God in our hearts that will never let
us go. God made a great mess of Egypt before he brought out the Israelites.
He made a great mess for the purpose of Making His Name Known! Today,
He picks up great messes like you and I and shows His power to create and
re-create for the purpose of Making His Name Known.

Great God of all the earth and heavens, make your name known among all
people. Open our eyes to your greatness. We are in desperate need of the
joy you have given us in Jesus. We fall depressingly short of believing you.
God have mercy on your people; let your long suffering be known among us.
Take from us those things and thoughts that hinder our belief in you that your
name may be known intimately. We depend on your great faithfulness, for
Jesus’ sake and in His name. Amen.