God promises
to rescue His children from temptations, which are greater than we can bear.
His grace gives us a way of escape from them (1 Corinthians 10:13). We simply
need to look for His help in our time of need.
If we live
by the Spirit, we will never fulfill the lusts of our flesh (Galatians 5:16).
We are crucified with Christ. We are dead, and He is living within us
(Galatians 2:20).
Living a
life of holiness is our tribute to Christ for the sacrifice He paid by becoming
a man and dying in our place on the cross. We give Him the honor due His name
by following in His footsteps of sinless perfection (2 Corinthians 7:1).
Therefore,
we trust in Christ’s grace to give us the wisdom and the strength to stand
strong and to overcome the desire for depravity, so that we shall come forth as
pure gold (Job 23:10; Philippians 2:12-13).
We persevere
in holy living until we come to the place of complete maturity in Christ (James
1:4). By God’s abounding grace it is possible to live one minute without
sinning. If one minute, then we can go five minutes.
If five
minutes, then we can live one hour without depraved behavior. If one hour, then
we can live one whole day for the glory of God. If one day, then one lifetime
can be lived in the perfection of Jesus Christ, who lives His life in and
through us, if we dare to get out of His way.
Living in
perfection is only possible, however, if we choose to live by the Spirit every
moment of the day. Enoch walked with God and God took Him (Genesis 5:24;
Hebrews 11:5). I want to follow Enoch’s example.
Prayer:
Father God, let there be peace in the world, and let it begin with Your
Saints. Remind us that we are free from the law of sin and death by the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1-2). We no longer live
a lifestyle of sin, although we do fail to hit the mark of Your perfection once
in a while.
As long as we humble our
self, admit our failings and desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus (2
Timothy 3:12), we remain in Your Spirit and follow His guidance to live in Your
will each moment of our day. Thank You for empowering us by Your Spirit to live
as Your ambassadors while we remain on this earth.
Thought for
the Day:
Trials and
temptations are opportunities to honor Christ with our life, and to prove that
we can live by our convictions; we cannot take our faithfulness for granted,
however, because our adversary the devil is a roaring lion, roaming the earth
and looking for people to devour.
- 1 Peter
1:7, 5:8; Romans 5:1-5
