Sure or Unsure?

The deodorant, "Sure" had a series of commercials that showed people raising their arms high in the air because they were sure that their deodorant was doing its job.  They did have a second guess it.  There would be others who were "unsure" and so they would only raise their arms half way.  The commercial was trying to show that with "Sure" deodorant you you could be confident in what it was supposed to do.  Today it is advertised as the world's number one antiperspirant.  The message it is trying to convey is that you can be confident when wearing "Sure" deodorant.

As Christians, God has given us a series of questions that we can answer to be sure of our relationship with Him and others.  1 John 5 will help us ascertain an answer to see our relationship with Him.

Questions:

1. Do you love God?                                            Y or N 

2. Do you love your brother?                               Y or N 

3. Do you keep God's commandments?               Y or N 

4. Have you been born of God?                           Y or N 

5. Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?  Y or N 

According to 1 John 5 if you answered "yes" to all of these questions, then you can have confidence in your relationship with Him.  If you answered a "no" then you need to reconsider what you need to do to be in a right relationship with God.  God wants us to be sure of His promises, know who we are and where we are going.  Be the person who strives in every way to love God and keep His commandments.  Search the scriptures daily so you can serve Him properly! May God bless you as you serve Him! 

Running Up an Icy Hill

Have you every tries running up an icy hill?  Your feet are moving and you are getting tired, but you are going nowhere.  Do you ever feel this way spiritually?  We seem to be trying our best, but our best doesn't seem good enough.  We feel that we are running as fast as we can but are not getting anywhere and we get tired.  In your spiritual life, a lot is demanded of you, not counting all the demands of your physical daily life.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians and reminded the Christians how they were to "walk" or live.  Walk in Unity (Eph. 4:1-6); Walk as the New Man (Eph. 4:17-24); Walk in Love (Eph. 5:1-7); Walk in Light (Eph. 5:8-14); and Walk in Wisdom (Eph. 5:15-21).  Paul comes to chapter six and tells the Christians to "finally" be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
No matter how tired you get, you must be strong.  When you are weak, you will not have unity among the brethren.  When you are weak you will revert back to the old man and old ways/habits.  When you are weak you won't love as you should, walk in the light, or be careful to use wisdom in decision making.  Paul urges the church the be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.  It is the Lord who provides the strength.  It is God who will help you to stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:11).  When you put on the armor that God has given you, you can stand tall and withstand in the day of evil.

Pray for God's strength (Eph. 1:19).  Let that strength/power work within you (Eph. 3:20).  Be strong in the Lord and in His power and overcome the schemes of the devil (Eph. 6:10).  Even though you feel like you may be running up an icy hill, keep running.  It will be God who gets you to the top!  May God bless you as you serve Him!

Renew, Remind, & Recharge

You are in the middle of the week and you have had stress pulling at you, maybe some discouragement, or possibly just down right struggles.  That's okay because God is on your side.  Satan can use all of his fancy tactics but you can overcome!  Today I want you to renew your mind and think on godly things.  I want you to remind yourself that you can live righteously before your creator.  I want you to recharge your batteries and give a strong effort for the end of week to live as God has called you to live.  Here are four ways to resist temptation:

1.  Pray - Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 6:13 how to pray.  Part of that prayer was, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  If we want to resist temptation, pray specifically for that.

2. Read/Study Your Bible - If you are constantly in the word, you will recognize temptation when it is headed toward you.  You will find godly counsel in how to help overcome specific struggles in your life.  We must be a people who know the word!  Hosea 4:6 - "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge."

3. Voice It - There is something to saying things out loud.  It means something to others when you voice that "You love them," or "you appreciate them."  When it comes to temptation, "Voice it."  Tell Satan to leave you, ask for God's help, tell someone you are struggling, Voice it.

4. Flee (Don't Flirt) - James 4:7 says, "Therefore submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you."  Flee the sight of temptation!  I literally mean you might need to run the opposite direction.  Don't flirt with the possibility that you might get lured in. When Potiphar's wife tried to get Joseph to sleep with her, he ran out of the house.  We need to have this type of approach to temptation.

You can do it.  You can resist temptation because God can help.  Get rid of excuses because we all have one.  Renew your mind, Remind righteous living, and recharge your batteries.  We are traveling down a narrow road, don't let Satan drift you off course.

You have been fighting a spiritual battle for a few days and now it is time to RECHARGE yourself to continue to keep pressing toward the goal. 

Spiritual Vitality is important!

2 Corinthians 4:16 - "Therefore we do not loose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day."

Remember: Keep on keeping on.  We struggle, we have hard days, but Paul reminds us to not lose heart.  Don’t give up.  There is help.  There is hope.  There is strength to help keep you going.  He tells us that the inward man is being renewed.  How does that happen?  1) Feeding on the word of God.  This will renew our strength and courage to fight life’s struggles that lie ahead.  2) Spirit Working – We let God’s spirit work within us that when we think we have nothing left, we have a helper.  3) Promises – We remember the promises made by God to never leave us nor forsake us.   4) Remember this life is only temporary.  We are working for something better that is eternal.