That was almost six years ago to the day as I write this. A lot has changed in my life since then. I’ve since quit working for the Department of Corrections. I’ve been divorced and remarried. I’ve been addicted to methamphetamine, been arrested for theft, forgery, and identity theft, spent thirty days in a hillbilly jail in Mt. Home, Idaho, and most significantly, out of everything in the last six years, I’ve become a Christ follower.

I’ve also told that story often. How I became a Christian. At this time, it’s not about how I was lead to the Lord, but what changes I made in my life when I made that decision. I made decisions that started to change the way I thought. I quit listening to all music that was not “Christian” music. Bands like Alice in Chains, Tool, AC/DC, etc. I quit watching horror movies and violent movies. Even the television shows that I watched were limited to those that did not involve sex, violence, drugs, or other images or actions contrary to the Christian lifestyle. For almost three years, my mind went through a complete “brainwashing.” It was a much needed washing because my mind was dirty. The things I’d done and the things I’d seen with my eyes all contributed to a warped way of thinking. A way of thinking that degraded women. A way of thinking that distorted my view of every situation and every person.

I shared with Debbie the other night that I could call up any image or sexual act that I’ve ever witnessed or been a part of if I so chose. I spent much of my life viewing pornography and then living those fantasies out in the flesh. It’s been proven by medical science that viewing pornography causes physical brain damage. Brain damage that is only now being shown to be able to be reversed. It was through my faith in Christ that my brain damage began to be reversed. My mind began to be transformed by God rather than being conformed to the ways of the world.

Then, something terrible began happening to me. I had spent so much time learning the Christian way and giving up so many things, that it has taken me almost two years to recognize what has happened. I have slipped into a spiritual slump. My attitude has been poor. I fail to read the Word of God. I rarely listen to Christian music and can easily give you many reasons why. The words that come out of my mouth are often reminiscent of my days in the Marine Corps and my life as an alcoholic drug addict. My dreams are often filled with violence and death. My mind has slipped into old patterns and has slowly been conformed to the ways of the world.

There must be an answer why.

I was at a bible study a few nights ago. Normally, I would love to go to bible studies, never being able to learn enough about God’s Word. This night though, I felt like I was on my way to be locked in prison for a life term. I so badly did not want to go. God used that bible study that night to show me the errors of my way. As we were ending, it was time for prayer. I bowed my head, closed my eyes, and as the first person began praying, my mind was filled with images of violence and hatred. I opened my eyes, then closed them. Again, terrible images filled my mind. It was then that God showed me that I had given the enemy a foothold in my life. I had replaced my bible with television.

Shows like Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, CSI, Dexter, NCIS, 48 Hours, Snapped, and the list goes on. Each of these shows portray death, rape, murder, violence, anger, degradation, and the utter depravity of man. Out of curiosity, I searched online and found the ratings for the most recent season. This is what I found; eight of the shows that I watch on a regular basis is in the top 20. What this says to me is that this is what America is watching. Shows that make their money on the stories of rape and murder. We often wonder why America is in the condition that it is in. Could it not be because of what we watch in our living rooms every night of the week? Could it not be because these shows have a very negative effect on our minds and this begins to affect our daily dealings with others? I can’t answer that for every American. I can answer for myself. Yes. Yes. Yes. These shows are affecting how I think, how I act, how I view the outside world. Most importantly, it is dimming the light that is Christ in me. The evil that I view on a daily basis is doing to my mind what cheeseburgers do to my veins. It’s stopping the flow of the Holy Spirit. It’s giving Satan a foothold.

I know, dude, you are taking this a little too far. If you think this, I disagree with you. Casting Crowns wrote a song called “Slow Fade.” Some of the verses go like this:

Be careful little eyes what you see

It’s the second glance that ties your hands

As darkness pulls the strings

Be careful little feet where you go

For it’s the little feet behind you

That are sure to follow

Be careful little ears what you hear

When flattering leads to compromises

The end is always near

Be careful little lips what you say

For empty words and promises

Leave broken hearts astray

The journey from your mind to your hands

Is shorter than you’re thinking

Be careful if you think you stand

You just might be sinking 1

Focus on that last verse, “The journey from your mind to your hands is shorter than you’re thinking, Be careful if you think you stand, You just might be sinking.” That is the truth. Straight from the Word of God. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”2

Throughout the New Testament, we the church are told this. Be holy. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”3

“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”4

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”5

“That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”6

“But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate.”7

“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”8

What does it mean to be holy? It means to be separated. Separated from sin, separated from the world. Set apart for God’s purpose for your life. How can we be holy when we are witnessing the very works of the flesh right in our own living rooms?

I want to be holy as He is holy. This means that I need to start changing things in my life. Music, television, events, people…all of these things need to be filtered. Would I be ashamed to do or watch any of these things if Jesus were in the flesh sitting next to me? If the answer is yes, then I better examine myself to see whether I be in the faith. I will fail during this attempt. I will give into fleshly desires at times. My hope is that as I call out to Christ to make me more like Him, that I will stop being more like me. I want to fill my mind with things of God, not with things of this world. I want to get to a point that when somebody asks me if I saw some episode on some television show, that I will be so far separated that I won’t recognize the name of the show. I have a friend like that. I used to think he was crazy. That he was “extreme.” I bet he doesn’t bow his head and close his eyes to pray and have his mind filled with visions of murder. I bet he envisions great and glorious things of God.

Praise the Lord for His Mightiness!

1 Casting Crowns “Slow Fade” 

2 1 Corinthians 10:12 KJV

3 Romans 12:1 KJV

4 1 Corinthians 3:17 KJV

5 Ephesians 1:4 KJV

6 Ephesians 5:27 KJV

7 Titus 1:8 KJV 

8 1 Peter 1:16 KJV

I’ve been thinking a lot about where I am, what I’m doing, where I’m going. I was thinking this morning about the three years that Christ was in ministry. Then, I was reading Galatians, and thought how Paul took off for three years after his Damascus experience. There isn’t much information about this time. John MacArthur suspects that he was under the instruction of the Lord at this time. I suppose it could have been a type of “on the job training”. I think again how it’s been a little over three years since my own conversion. My Damascus Road Experience so to speak. During this time, the Lord lead me to the church that I attend, He lead me to my mentors, He lead me in His Word. He placed me under Godly supervisors at my job. All this in preparation to do His work.

God just reached down, grabbed me by the hand, and said to me, “NO MORE, MY CHILD! YOU WILL NOT AND CANNOT LIVE THIS WAY ANYMORE! IT IS GRIEVING MY HEART AND THIS IS NO LIFE FOR ONE OF MY CREATION! BELIEVE ON THE NAME OF MY SON AND BE SAVED!” So I did. My life has not been the same since.

Now, God is again reaching down to me, grabbing me by my hand, and saying to me, “NO MORE MY CHILD! YOU WILL NOT AND CANNOT LIVE THIS WAY ANYMORE! IT IS GRIEVING MY HEART AND THIS IS NO LIFE FOR ONE OF MY CHILDREN! SURRENDER TO ME AND I WILL CONTINUE TO SAVE YOU!”

God delivered me from the wicked life of alcoholism and drug addiction. I was on fire and I was doing so well. Now, I’ve traded these addictions in for more “socially acceptable” sins. I over eat. Everyday, I over eat. It’s time to surrender. It’s time for me to recognize that this body is His temple and He dwells within. I wouldn’t put methamphetamine inside of my body again, why do I put this abundance of food and fat inside of my body?

Debbie is constantly on me about my food choices. Not because she likes to harp on me. It’s because she loves me. She’d like to see me stick around for awhile. Well, doesn’t it make since that if I love my Lord, and I love my wife, I should maybe listen to them? It makes sense to me.

I think that God is going to use me. I think that He just has a few more things to fine tune. So, I will ask you to pray for me, and I will begin to surrender. Oh to live only for the Lord, this is my desire. Praise the Lord for His Mightiness!

When we read the gospel accounts, we read that Jesus was always moving. He never seemed to stay in one place very long because there were places to go, people to see, and things to do. He was always out moving. The times that He was still, He was alone and praying. That’s the body I want to be a part of. The body that is moving and doing. A body of action. A body of prayer.

Most people that know me, understand that I’ve only been a follower of Jesus Christ for 3 years and 7 months. We all have our own stories of how we finally came to be His disciple. It seems like I was doing more the first few years than I am doing now. I felt like there was direction in my life. I felt like He was moving me in one direction and if I stayed focus on Him, I would arrive. Now, I’m just not sure.

I know that ultimately, I will be with Him, and the direction He’s moving me in is to follow His path so that I will live with Him in the Heavens. I’m just not sure what that direction on earth is. Before I was busy all of the time. Maybe, He’s just giving me a break. A time to rest. A time to regroup. Maybe, being busy isn’t where it’s at. A friend of mine, Jerry, always says that busy stands for Bound Under Satan’s Yoke. Well, if that’s the case, who wants to be busy?!

Debbie and I are starting a new bible study together. It’s a marriage study. I think, that I’m going to focus on that study, let God continue to work and grow us in our relationship with Him and with each other, and see what He has in store for us. Waiting. Wait upon the Lord. That’s the hardest part isn’t it?

My wife and I were shocked when our friend called and confirmed that for us. She was doing so well. We’d all been praying for her. We gave her a support system. How could this have happened? This why the recovery ministry is so hard. People still have the choice to continue on a path of righteousness or a path of destruction. WE STILL HAVE THE CHOICE TO SIN.

I’m writing simply to vent and to give a shout out to the “RECON” team. They didn’t have a clue what to do, but they did what the bible says. They provided food, clothing, comfort, love, and they prayed. That’s all we can do. They also wore the clothes of righteousness and that girl saw Jesus Christ for the two days she spent with them. She saw His Grace, His Mercy, His Unconditional Love for her. The seed that was planted in her youth, had some water poured on it. The bible tells us that when we plant and water, the Holy Spirit will do the growing. I believe that she had some growth in her life. I believe that an impact was made. I believe that one day, she will make the decision to stop sinning through drug abuse, and the Lord will deliver her from this addiction.

If you are reading this, you can help. You can pray. Pray for Debbie and I, pray for “RECON”, pray for the girl (God knows who she is even if you do not), pray that we can reach just one person today with the Gospel message. With the message of hope and freedom. Pray for everybody that devotes so much time and energy to so many different recovery ministries. It’s a battle. Not against flesh and blood, that would be easy. We are in a battle that has already been won. However, the enemy wants to try to squash our hope and wants to take our eyes off of our Savior. Pray for us. Drugs really do suck.

“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”

“Sticks and stones, may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!” You’ve heard it before, maybe as a young child on the playground. Possibly, you’ve even spoken these words to others when they have used negative words against you. Whether we have heard it or have spoken it, it doesn’t change the fact that the statement itself is a falsity. Words most definitely can and will hurt me, and you! On the other side of that coin, words also have the ability to build you and I up.

King Solomon, the son of King David, and the author of the above proverb, was most definitely a wise man. In I Kings chapter 4 starting at verse 29, we read that God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. Further on we read that he was wiser than all men. This man, wiser than all men, wrote that as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. What he is saying is that through moral support and positive, intelligent conversation, one can make keen the intellect of his brother, building each other up, and making each other stronger. As the striking of iron upon iron, we can hone each other into stronger and more productive servants of God.

There was a time in my life when I was not a Christian. In fact, that time in my life was not very long ago and is still fresh in my mind. As I ponder this idea of iron sharpening iron and how the concept of intelligent and encouraging conversation can build one another up, it causes me to think how unintelligent and discouraging conversation can tear one another down. I used to be a man that used filthy and unclean words as a part of my regular everyday conversation. I thought nothing of it at the time. I had always used this type of language and after high school upon joining the military, it was simply the “norm.” I used these words mostly as adjectives and verbs and occasionally even as a noun. When the Lord reached down to me while I sat in a jail cell and saved me, I quit using these words in my everyday conversation. What I realized at that time wasn’t so much that this was no way for a Christian to talk, but rather, as I listened to others talk in this manner, God showed me how utterly unintelligent they sounded. These words had no purpose other than to tear down. These words hurt me, and they hurt others.

Conversation with one another, whether it be intelligent or unintelligent conversation is contagious. When we immerse ourselves with people of like mind, we tend to be more like these people. When I was in the criminal world, I talked and acted like a criminal. Now, after being saved by the Lord and being in the Kingdom of God, I talk more and act more like a child of God. Don’t get me wrong! There are times when that old man comes out and in the words of my mentor, I “flesh out.” The difference today is that I realize the mistake I have made and I am immediately convicted of my fleshly moment and I commence to repent and ask God for the strength to continue on His path and to stay off of the worldly path. As Christians, it is important that we separate being in the world from being of the world. When in conversation with a fellow believer or albeit a non-believer, we must always be aware that we are living in the Kingdom of God, and our conversation should reflect that status. As much as the temptation may be  to fall into wicked conversation while at work, or school, or among others that do not follow The Way, we must keep our focus on the Lord Jesus and remember that as iron sharpens iron, we have the power through God to sharpen the countenance of our friend, or classmate, or co-worker.

When given the opportunity to sit and have an intelligent conversation with a friend or watch a mindless television program, I believe that God would have us choose the intelligent conversation. When given the opportunity for intelligent conversation or reading a magazine with the most recent Hollywood gossip, I believe God would have us choose the intelligent conversation. It is through the study of God’s Word and intelligent conversation that we grow and learn and our minds become sharper. When our minds are sharp, we are more alert, and sober-minded and more able to defend the faith that has been delivered once unto the saints. Like the honing of the edge of a sword, we become stronger and sharper, prepared for battle in this world that we live in. As Christians, we must never forget the fact that we are in a war. We cannot allow our minds to become dull, so I urge you, brothers and sisters in Christ, to take these words that King Solomon wrote, and be as iron upon iron, and sharpen one another’s minds through intelligent conversation and in doing so, spark that fire inside of you that will cause you to fulfill the Great Commission as Jesus commanded and to do as Paul told Timothy to do, “Preach the Word.”

Praise the Lord for His Mightiness!

©D. Ficek June 14, 2009

]]> http://dananddeb.org/2009/06/14/as-iron-sharpens-iron/feed/ 1 dananddeb http://dananddeb.org/2009/02/23/77/ http://dananddeb.org/2009/02/23/77/#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:25:09 +0000 dananddeb http://dananddeb.org/?p=77 ]]>           Hello. It has been a little bit of time since I have written anything. That doesn’t mean that I have any less to say. Anybody that chooses to engage me in conversation can vouch for that! I was told the other day that I have put a spotlight on myself openly declaring my decision for Jesus Christ. That’s not a direct quote, but you get the gist. It made me think, am I doing something wrong? Should I not be so open about my discipleship? Am I putting a big sign on my back that says “Kick Me”? There is a song by DC Talk, “What if I Stumble?” The chorus says,

“What if I stumble, what if I fall?
What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all?
Will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl?
What if I stumble, and what if I fall?

          We put ourselves out there when we openly live for Christ don’t we? I don’t know about you, but in my life it’s not so much the “What if’s”, but more like the, “When’s”. As much as I want to live my life fully for God, I simply fall very short of the target. And as Christians that declare the truth, our shortcomings are often magnified so that every little misstep we take, oftentimes, makes fools of us all. So, when I fall, what kind of damage does that do to my witness? I mean, I know that my Father has forgiven me for the sin that I will commit tomorrow. I know that I’m held safely in His hand and that He will never leave me. I know that I have eternal life. But when I slip and I stumble, my witness is damaged, regardless of how quickly I stand up and get back in the race. Our witness has enormous effects on others. Our witness, in all actuality, can be a stumbling block to others. As much as I want to say, “Look at Christ, Look at Christ, Look at Christ!” I have to face the facts. People are looking at me. And if you are a disciple of the Lord Jesus, they are looking at you too! I simply want to live for Christ. That though, is fantasy. There is no simplicity in this Christian life. There is no “easy road”. The road is narrow and straight, and few find it. My prayer is that my life as a Christian does not stop an unbeliever from coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and that to the believer, I do not become a stumbling block. In the twelfth chapter of Romans, Paul tells us how to live the Christian life. Read it, learn it, love it, and LIVE IT.

Everyday throughout the world, Christians are being slaughtered for their faith in Christ. A state prosecutor in western Algeria demanded two-year jail sentences and large fines for six Muslim converts to Christianity in one of two trials against Christians that have caught the North African nation’s attention recently. The same court in Tiaret city delayed the verdict of a Christian woman facing three years in prison for “practicing non-Muslim religious rites without a license” on the same day. Assailants slit the throats of three employees of a publishing house that distributes Bibles, the latest in a series of attacks targeting Turkey’s small Christian minority. Five Afghan men who had converted to Christianity have been killed in separate incidents near the borders of eastern Afghanistan. All five men were stabbed or beaten to death in summary executions by Taliban adherents who accused them of abandoning Islam and then “spreading Christianity” in their communities.

            In the United States, Christians are blessed in the fact that we are not being persecuted in the same ways as the majority of the world. According to the US Census Bureau, 76.5% of Americans claim to be Bible-believing Christians. This means that 232,819,377 people are claiming to be followers of Christ. You would think that all is well with numbers like this. Unfortunately, the numbers show a terrible truth. Thirty-three million people residing in the United States including 13 million children live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger. Violence in America is at a staggering rate of approximately one suicide every 40 seconds, one murder every 60 seconds, and 1.3 rapes every minute. The average divorce rate is 40-50%. Almost half of every marriage partnership will end in divorce. According to Gallup, 92% of Americans own at least one Bible. The same poll shows that 37% of that number read their Bible on a weekly basis. WEEKLY. This means that 279,991,930 people own a Bible, and only 103,597,014 people actually read it. Do you remember how many Americans claim to be Christians? 232,819,377. These numbers show that 129,222,363 self-proclaimed Christians do not read their Bibles! This staggers my mind and causes me to ask, what has happened to Christians in America? Has the fact that we are not persecuted as others in the world made us a nation of “Comfortable Christians?” In order to answer this question we’re going to one, look at some model conversions, with our primary focus being on Saul’s conversion while he journeyed on the road to Damascus, two, we’re going to examine what takes place spiritually at the time of a true conversion, three, what we need to do in order to experience this conversion for ourselves, and fourth, we’re going to look at ways to avoid becoming a “Comfortable Christian.”

PRAY

CONVERSION 1: But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH. IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY, WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH. The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

CONVERSION 2: One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

CONVERSION 3: When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

FOCUS CONVERSION: Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.[1]

As we read about these conversion, I want to expand on what is actually occurring during a conversion. It’s not just a word we say to sound “religious”; there is an actual spiritual rebirth that is taking place inside of us. Our Lord taught that unless a person is born again, he is unable to ever see the Kingdom of God.[2] We must be born-again, or in other words, we must receive from a God a new spiritual life. As we examine Paul’s conversion, keep in mind your own rebirth and look for the similarities between yourself and Paul. The first thing we notice is that Paul was called by God. Verse 4 says, and then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”[3] Jesus tells us “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”[4] After Paul was called, he then submitted to God. “So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”[5] In order for us to be born again, we must submit to God. The same Paul that asked God, “what do You want me to do?” tells us in his epistle to the Romans, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”[6] The next step he took was a step of obedience. “Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.”[7] We too must be obedient. “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”[8] Paul’s final part in his conversion was to receive God’s grace and the Holy Spirit. “And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.”[9] We too must accept His loving gift of grace, and receive the Holy Spirit. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”[10]

The entire process of conversion is due to us being made cooperative through God’s grace and His act of imparting spiritual life to us, thus bring us under the authority of righteousness. By turning away from sin and turning towards God we become “converted.” In the Greek this word is “stephos” and means, to turn into something, turn in mind, become another kind of person. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”[11] Do you remember what we read earlier? “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord…”[12] Then, Saul has this encounter with Jesus, and then we read, “Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.”[13] It is through the divine grace that Paul writes that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.[14] This holy act of being born-again and coming to repentance is the beginning of our journey of being sanctified, conformed to the image of Christ Jesus.

Go back to our statistics. 76.5% of Americans claim to be born-again Christians. If this is the case, what has happened to Christianity in this country? Besides the fact that the majority of these people have probably never truly made Christ their Lord, I believe that the remaining number have simply gotten comfortable in their Christianity. We have become a people desensitized to the world conditions. Media has bombarded every second of our day with the worst of the worst in news reports. I remember when I worked for the Department of Corrections. After four years, I had become absolutely desensitized to crimes because of the people that I worked with on a daily basis. The absolute evil that I saw in some people caused me to become insensitive to the world I live in. It seems we’ve become stuck in this type of limbo, a space between where we were when we cried out to God for Him to save us and where we are going to be when He returns for us. Christians in America have become confused as to what our true identity is. At what point does the person with the drinking problem quit being an alcoholic? The person addicted to drugs calls themselves an addict. A gambler. An overeater. On and on the list can go. When do we stop identifying ourselves by our problems and recognize who we truly are?

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become sons of God, to those who believe in His name:”[15] Sons of God! This church, is who we are! “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”[16] Joint-heirs with Jesus! One day, when Christ returns for us, His bride, we will be glorified together! “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”[17] Because of this inheritance that we share in, we will see Jesus as He is because we shall be like Him! Glorified in eternity!

We have to ensure that we do not become “Comfortable Christians”. We do this by picking up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God and reading it for ourselves. Studying it. Learning it. We do as it tells us. “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-unless indeed you are disqualified.”[18] Examine yourselves daily! We should always strive to keep our priorities straight, with God taking first place over all. We need to examine our relationship with the world. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”[19] “”If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”[20] “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”[21]

We need to remember where our hope is. “If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.” [22] Our hope in Christ is for eternity, not in this life only! We need not waste time dwelling on our past mistakes and that former creature, but be wise in remembering, as Paul did, who we were before the saving grace of our Lord. “Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” Always keeping in mind that we should strive to fight a good fight, striving to finish our course, and keeping our faith! Allowing God to finish the good work that He has begun in us so that on that glorious day when we must all stand before Him, we hear the blessed words of our King saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

[2] John 3:3

[3] Acts 9:4

[4] John 6:44

[5] Acts 9:6

[6] Romans 10:9-10

[7] Acts 9:8

[8] John 14:15

[9] Acts 9:17-18

[10] Acts 1:8

[11] II Corinthians 5:17

[12] Acts 9:1

[13] Acts 9:20

[14] Romans 2:4

[15] John 1:12

[16] Romans 8:16-17

[17] I John 3:2

[18] II Corinthians 13:5

[19] John 16:33

[20] John 15:18

[21] James 4:4

[22] 1 Corinthians 15:16-20

There are times though that things are much more difficult. I think back when I had a well paying job, a  house, cars, etc. The biggest thing I didn’t have was a personal relationship with Christ. Therefore, I was no threat to the enemy of our souls. Now, things are quite different.

My personal possessions are very limited and the devil is constantly at me, or at the very least sending those wily foxes into my vineyard. Why? The answer is quite simple. I’m a Christian. Not just a “go to church on Christmas and Easter” Christian or even a “go to church on Sunday” Christian. No, I’m an active warrior in Christ’s Army. An active duty warrior.

The enemy hates the work I’m doing, and I’m learning, so does the world we live in. I was struggling with this as of late. I was trying to figure out why certain people in positions of authority fail to acknowledge the good works that I’m doing in the name of Jesus. It finally came to me that the reason is because these people are of the world.

It would be like trying to explain God to an atheist by using the bible. The bible has no authoritive power to an atheist, therefore, you are not as likely to prove your point. The world can’t see the good works we as Christians are doing because the accuser of the bretheren makes it that way.

I spent time in worship tonight asking God to help me trust Him, and not be afraid. He’s God, Creator of the stars and heavens. He knows the beginning and the end because He is the Beginning and the End. He is Alpha and Omega. He is the great I AM. He’s certainly trustworthy. So I ask, what is keeping me from fully trusting Him in all things?

God is my Refuge, my Strongtower, my Rock. He is my Salvation. He is my All in All. I want to trust Him with an unshakable trust. The kind of trust that says, “I will not fear man or what man can do to me because I come in the name of the Lord of Hosts.” The kind of trust that says, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.” The kind of trust that says, “Abba, Father, hold me.”

That’s my prayer. That I learn to fully trust God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”

            As I sat in prayer this evening, I began going over my day. It didn’t take me long to come to the realization that although I’m a saint, I’m still a sinner. I sin in my thought life. I sin with my words. I sin in my actions. As I prayed, I thought about this verse in Jude and began to think about the first part in which we are told that He is able to keep us from falling. If you, like me, are a believer, then this comes as no surprise. God is able to do all things! If God is able to keep me from falling, why then do I continue to fall?

            Certainly, by the shed blood of Christ, He indeed has kept me from falling into the eternal pit of hell. It is my belief that the Holy Spirit seals me and that nothing can separate me from the love of God. Saying this, I do not believe that this gives me a ticket to sin at no expense because I also believe that the Lord chastises His children as a loving Father in order to bring us back in line with His will.

            Tonight however, in prayer, I found myself focusing on the daily stumbles that I have. The thought of getting back at somebody that has harmed me. Or maybe it’s a curse word that flowed from my mouth. Maybe, it was the joking and entering into conversation with coworkers that only focused on things of the world. Whatever it was, this action caused me to fall and this thought was displeasing to the Lord and in it’s simplest form, was an act of sin.

            If God is able to keep me from falling, why do I continue to fall? The easy answer is to say that I have free will. Oops, there’s that old free will messing things up again. I must be honest, as I thought about it that was my first answer. I’m choosing to fall. I’m choosing to not call out to the Lord to rescue me. Choice. Free will.

            That answer didn’t satisfy me however. The more I thought on this, the more I realized that it has to go deeper than that. I believe this because I want to be more like Jesus. I really do. When I accepted His virgin birth, His earthly ministry, His work on the cross unto death, and His resurrection, I gave my life to Him. I decided that I wanted to live for Jesus. That was my choice, my decision. If this is true, why then do I continue to sin?

          Paul sums this concern up very well in his letter to the Romans and provides an answer as to why, we continue to sin. Paul writes, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.“[1]

          Two times it is written, “…but sin that dwells within me.” The Spirit dwells inside of me so I ask, how can sin dwell within me? Let’s take a look at the beginning. “…God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.[2]…she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened…”[3]

          Through one man sin did enter into mankind. We are fallen and sinful by our very nature. The hope we have is in Jesus Christ. The hope we have is that He will take us from glory to glory. As we study the Word and listen to the Word and absorb the Word, we will become more and more like Him.

          It is a sad fact that we are going to continue sinning until the day Christ returns for His church. But John tells us in his epistle, that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.[4] Have hope, for if we cry out to Him, He is able and more than willing to keep us from falling. 

Praise the Lord for His Mightiness!

[2] Genesis 3:3

[3] Genesis 3:6,7

[4] 1 John 1:9