Day 263: A Way Out

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

We all know what temptation feels like, and we know the struggle of resisting, but we also know the feeling of giving in. As Christians we are constantly tempted, there are always things calling us to sin, whether it be our past, someone asking to be told off or throat punched in a very non-christian way. We can only flip tables so many times when trying to go the, “What Would Jesus Do” method. Whether it be sins that we struggle with and people we are trying to let go of, or the big one, sex. Even those of us waiting for marriage know what the temptations of premarital sex look and feel like. However, I believe that in these moments, God is giving us a way out. Take a look that the scriptures above it literally tells us that God will show us a way out. He will not allow us to be tempted more than we can stand, even though it’s hard God knows we can stand it. I feel like He believes in us more than we do ourselves. He knows us more than we know ourselves, that’s why He’s God. While we’re battling with our flesh and going crazy, God is giving us a way out, looking at us a having faith that we will choose Him over our flesh. Many times we can choose Him because we are deeply rooted in Him and we know that He will always provide a way out, but for those moments of weakness. Those moments when we just decide to give in, when we let our fleshly desires, and urges take over. Those are the moments we tend to always be brought back to. We often find ourselves feeling like Paul when he said, in Romans 7:15, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” I have heard time and time again, “if God knows everything why does He allow us to sin?” I’ve even had that question before. Uhm, excuse me but God is not telling us to sin, nor is He leading us to sin, He has in fact provided a way out of it. When we sin it’s our own doing. We make a choice, not God, He gave us freewill so when we sin it is our choice. The same way it was Adam and Eve’s choice to eat the fruit from the tree. They made a choice on their own. God did not tempt them, He told them what not to do, they decided to go against what he said.

You ever try to blame your decision to sin on something or someone else? Like Adam and Eve, God deliberately told them not to eat from one specific tree, one tree they couldn’t eat from. Out of all the trees in the Garden of Eden there was one they were not allowed to eat of. The serpent came and tempted Eve, but the serpent did not force Eve to do anything, Eve decided to listen and decided to sin against God on her own, and so did Adam. But when God questioned them, they blamed everyone and everything but themselves, Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the servant. I believe that even in the Garden of Eden God had a way out, there were countless other trees they could have eaten off of, why go to the forbidden one. Then blame anything or anyone else to take the heat off themselves.

*confession time* For a long time, since I was fifteen I have struggled with pornography. I was a seed that was planted at a very young age and took root around the age of fifteen and began to grow. It stopped when I became a Christian, but I always felt myself struggling with it, going back and forth with it. Wanting to let it go but sometimes finding myself going back whenever I had a moment of weakness, I tried to get help and the person I tried to confess to did nothing but judge me and throw it in my face every chance they got. However every time I found myself viewing pornography or something similar, I would find myself trying to justify it. ‘Well, I’m having a hard day’ or ‘I’m weak right now’. I realized that it was something that I never needed or had to do, it was something I chose to do. God always provided a way out, I just chose to ignore it. I had to learn to own up to my desire to please my flesh and when I learned to confess and be honest with myself that’s when things started to change. When I started being honest with God and saying, this is me, this is my flesh wanting to do the very thing I know I am not supposed to do. That’s when things started to change, because I began to realize that there is always a way out, no matter how hard it may be to take the road out, it’s so rewarding.

All this to say, there is always a way out. God will not allow us to be tempted pass what we can stand. I know it’s hard, this is something we can all agree on, but whatever you are struggling with, whatever is holding you back from God let it go. You are much stronger than you think, because your strength is found in the Lord. In those moments of weakness call on the Lord, stop and pray even when your flesh is telling you not to. Who you are in Christ is much stronger than you flesh and it’s worldly desires. Another thing, sometimes we fall, sometimes we are weak and we allow ourselves to fall into that temptation. But you get up, confess your sins to God, go to a brother or sister in Christ for prayer, trust that God has forgiven you and you move on. There’s no use of dwelling on it, or beating yourself up about it, move on. You can change the past but you can learn so you won’t make the same mistakes in the future. While you’re at it, make sure you forgive yourselves, A lot of times we condemn ourselves when God Himself doesn’t do it. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Proverbs 24:16 tells us that a just man falls seven times but he gets back up. So get back up and get walking, don’t dwell on your past or you shortcomings.

Reflection

1. Can you relate to anything that we discussed today?
2. Is there something that you have been struggling with that you need to confess to God and maybe a brother or sister in Christ?
3. Can you confess it to yourself first, meaning can you own up to it and be honest with yourself and God?
4. What is it? (this is not something you need to tell me, if you’d like to respond to me go ahead and I will pray with you, but confess to yourself, God, and someone you trust who can strengthen you spiritually).
5. This is very hard, I know it is, but if it is tugging on your heart and keeping you from fully giving yourself to God, release it, seek help, prayer and ask God to deliver you. This is serious.

Prayer Time

Allow your answers and responses to the above questions guide your prayer today. Just talk to God and confess everything to Him. Seek out someone to pray with and for you, if you’d like to reach out to me, please do not hesitate.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening, b sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 264!

Day 165: We Don't Have Forver

Psalms 146: 2

I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Psalms 146:4

When His breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.

Some of the best advice I have ever received was to live every day like it’s your last. Live like today is the last day or the last chance you have. We have to make sure we live in the moment and live it to the fullest, not putting things off because we don’t have forever, and we don’t want to leave this earth not completing the thing we set out to do because we put it off for tomorrow. While at the same time not worrying about what tomorrow will bring.

There is a thing called procrastination and it’s plaguing college students, especially myself, everywhere. We say what we’re going to do but wait until the last minute to get it done. Like fifteen-page research papers. Time is very interesting, it stops for no one, it slows down for nothing, and no matter what every day we are growing older. It seems like there is no time to do anything, but it also seems there is time to everything. One thing for sure is that we don’t have forever here on earth, so while we’re here, make it matter.

Our generation is great at making plans, and eventually, we get to them. I’m a firm believer that if you want something you go out and get it, make it happen. We must realize that yes, we’re young now but one day we will get old and it’s creeping up on us. The 90’s baby reign is over. Now I’m not telling you to speed up or rush through life, just don’t waste the time you have. It’s precious.

This scripture is also a reminder that not everything lasts forever, and not everything is meant to last forever. We must enjoy what we have while we have it. This happens a lot in our twenties as we grow older and start to mature. We start to grow apart from people we thought we would spend forever with. We start to find ourselves and we start to realize that a lot of things are coming to an end. But that doesn’t mean the end of the world, it means that there is more room for a new beginning. We don’t have to look at the end as something bad, it’s not always a bad thing, or at least it doesn’t have to be. As we grow as people in this world and as people of faith we will start to change and we will start to grow apart from things and people. Our mindset and opinions with start to change. We transform into a completely new person. This isn’t something to be feared or pushed away but rather embraced.   

Everything has an end, nothing lasts forever. I believe that God places us where we are for a reason. Where we are is exactly where He wants us to be. He has us where we are whether it’s for a season or a lifetime. It’s his plan. While we’re there we must make the most of it. Cherish the time we have because like I said, and I can’t stress enough, it doesn’t last forever. Don’t let that get in the way of you living life to the fullest. Sometimes we anticipate that things in our life won’t last so we refrain from engaging. Even if it’s not for forever, at the moment it’s worth hanging on to.

Reflection/Prayer Time

How do you relate to what we talked about today? Do you have things in your life worth holding on to? What are they? Write it down and pray about it, talk to God about the changes in your life and learning to live in the moment but also embrace the things that don’t last forever.

I love you and I hope you have a great day or evening, be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 166, and hit the follow button on the blog.

Day 164: When Fear is Good...

Psalms 56:3

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Anybody have something that scares the crap out of you? Like one thing that you will just say no to and not look back or regret it? I know we all want to be brave and walk around like we aren’t afraid of anything, but we all have at least one fear. There’s something out there, besides God, that shakes us to our core. For me that thing is needles, I am terrified of needles, and I’m not talking about not liking needles. I mean it’s bad, I’m worse than a two-year-old. There are tears, kicking and screaming, bribing, running, multiple explanations, and eventually, my mom has to hold me down. All of this for a split second of pain, and it happens every time I go to the doctor. It got so bad to the point where I would send myself into an asthma attack and the doctors would have the machines ready because they knew that Dyamond was going to act a fool. And I never let them down. The thing about this it is that each time I went to the doctor I had to face and overcome this fear, and I knew that I would come out alright because my mom or dad would be there holding my hand through it. It took a couple of decades but I’m not as afraid as I used to be. Fear is a temporary thing, we won’t always be afraid. We won’t be scared forever.  sometimes we’re afraid to do something and then we realize that it’s not that bad after all. I truly believe that facing our fears head on is how we overcome them. The same way my mother and father was there holding my hand or holding me down is the same way God leads us to overcome our fears. God is there holding our hands and walking with us through these valleys of fear.

Fear turns us to God. Fear moves us to act. Fear does something to us that bravery can’t, it reveals our weakness, and therefore our need for God, in whom we get our strength and courage. When I’m scared the first thing I do is scream Jesus. You don’t even have to be Christian to understand me on this one. When we’re afraid, it doesn't matter if we haven’t talked to God in years, we start praying like we are trying to call down every angel in heaven. This is why I say fear can be a good thing and can be used to bring us closer to God. Fear is scary and uncomfortable and it pushes us to act. Recently my two-year-old nephew was choking on an apple. My sister was trying to get him-him to spit it up. His face started turning red and before I knew it I jumped out my seat like a superhero to save him. The fear that went through my body when I saw his little face turning red as he was trying to breathe is indescribable. It was almost as if I flew out of my seat to get to him. He’s fine now, we got him to spit it up. But it was my fear of losing him in those few moments that pushed me out of my seat to get that apple out of his mouth. This is the type of fear that drives us to trust God and lean on Him. Even when we are afraid of things, and life we can put our trust in Him and know that whatever happens, we will be okay.

We all want to be fearless but we don’t start out that way. We don’t come out the womb brave and taking on the world unless you’re Wonder Woman. We learn over time to be courageous, we are taught not to fear things as we get older. God gives us courage as we grow in Him every day. I know we all want to claim to be superhuman and unafraid but we’re just human and there are some scary things in this world. However, it is overcoming them through Christ that gives us courage. If we’re never afraid we will never know what it’s like to have courage. Now when I talk about fear in this context I’m not talking about the crippling fear that stops you, I’m talking about the type of fear that moves you. The type of fear that keeps you going. The type of fear that motivates you. This is fear that doesn’t stop your life or cause you to have panic attacks. No, this is godly fear. That’s how we fear God, this type of fear is driven by love, This type of fear is good. This is the type of fear that is birthed from love and respect. This is the type of fear that says, Lord, I love you so much I don’t want to lose you. I’m going to keep going in life because my fear of losing you is greater than my fear of anything else.

Fear can be a good thing, but don’t let it paralyze you or stop you. It’s okay to be afraid we’re human, it happens that that moment is when we turn to God. We cannot let fear stop us, let it motivate us and push us. Fear drives faith when you're afraid just lean on Him, turn to God.

Reflection

1. What are you afraid of?
2. Do you believe that God is bigger than your fears?
3. When is fear a good thing?
4. Can you tell the difference from when fear is good and when fear is bad?
5. What is it?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Ask good to show you the difference between godly fear and worldly fear.

I love you, I hope you have a magnificent day or evening, be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 165, and follow the blog!

Day 120: The Courage to Act

1 Chronicles 28:20

David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Joshua 1:6,9

Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them...Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Sometimes we are tasked with something that seems overwhelming, and the broadness of the task makes it look impossible. Sometimes the things we are meant to conquer does not seem conquerable. These are the moments God tells us to be strong and courageous. Even though we are afraid and we have no clue what the outcome will be we have to approach as if we know with every ounce of our being that we will be alright.

Courage-the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty,danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.

My favorite part about this definition is it says that is the the quality of the mind or spirit that enables a person. It is the quality of our mind and spirit that allows us to face difficulty, danger, fear, or whatever it may be. The simple definition of quality is how good or bad something is. Our mind has to be focused on God and our spirits in tune with Him, only then can we find the courage to face the things in life that nearly paralyzes us with fear. It is faith in knowing that God goes before us, that He is bigger than what seems to be the biggest mountain in our lives. He’s there to help us climb even when we think we can’t. When we think we can’t do something, we look to God and see just how great He is. How he equips us to do the very things we think we are incapable of doing. The thing about God is that He is capable of everything and anything.

This brings me back to the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17), but also Goliath and Israel. Goliath was a champion and by the way he talked he thought he was untouchable, and up until this point he probably was. The way he was described, he’s the guy that you don’t want to mess with. He comes and calls out the army of Israel, they were all there for a battle. Then Goliath comes and basically says, “Try me.” He tells them to send someone and if that person is able to kill him then they will be servants to the Israelites. Saul and the Israelites were shaking in their boots, they were scared. David comes and he’s like, do not be afraid, I got this. Saul is like, no you're too young, this man has been fighting wars since his youth. David was like, I’ve taken down lions and bears, I can take him down too.  

Then David says, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” David knew that it was God who would equip him with whatever he needed to defeat Goliath. He wasn’t out there fighting lions and bears alone, he knew that it was God delivered him from the hands of these beasts, that could have ripped him to pieces.

*It’s about to get crazy. *

They go to put armour on David and it wasn’t good for him. He hadn’t tested the armour so he said he could not fight with it. He took the armour off,

*pause, he took off his armour to go fight Goliath, a war champion. WHAT!?!*

Not only does he take of the armour he goes and picks out five rocks, puts it in his pouch and heads toward Goliath.

*Okay pause for another second.

Now if I were there I would have been afraid for David, Just like, what are you doing David! You need this armour. What are you going to do with rocks! Have you seen him?! I would have been having a melt down.* But David doesn’t, he courageously walked into the face of danger carrying five rocks in a pouch. The Philistine sees David’s size and starts trash talking, and David is #unbothered. He tells the Philistine that he comes in the name of the Lord, and that God will deliver him (Goliath) into his heads. David then proceeds to tell Him, not only will I kill you but I will cut off your head. By this point you just kind of start rooting for David, like I don’t know how you are going to do it, but I know you are.  

*Here’s where it gets intense.*

David ran towards the battle line as the Philistine started approaching. He ran confidently with five rocks in a pouch up against a fully armed war champion. David took a rock and slung it and hit the Philistine in the forehead. the scripture says, “The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.” Then he cut off his head with his own sword.  

All that to say, that if david can defeat Goliath with a rock, then we can conquer every giant in our lives. We have to have faith in God, and know that apart from him we can do nothing. I know it’s scary and sometimes we have to put ourselves directly in the crossfire. Sometimes we have to run straight into the face of danger in order to defeat it. We have to be strong and courageous, as God tells Joshua.  Courage gives us strength even when we are afraid.

God is calling us to do things that might scare the crap out of us, but He is there with us every step of the way. We just have to act, do it. Even if you’re trembling, do it, and do it courageously. Fear does not belong to us, and it will not stop us from conquering these giants and mountains in our lives. Courage will enable us to do the things we thought we could never do. We find this courage in the Lord, we have it through him. Our spirits are fed by God and His word, and that is where we get courage from. Know that you are capable and you cannot do it alone. God’s got your back, if He tells you to step forward, don’t back down.

Reflection

1. Is there a Goliath in your life?

Prayer Time

Allow your answer to the above question guide your prayer today. Whatever struggles or fears you have give it to God. Talk to God about whatever is on your heart today, whatever stood out to you talk to God about it. Have a conversation with God.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Share this with someone and be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 121! Enjoy you weekend, and if you are going into finals week, you are in my prayers.

Day 113: Dare to Fail

Let’s talk about life. We as a generation love the idea of success, we want to ‘be something’ so bad. We want to be better or do more than our parents, or be more than the generation before us. We are dreamers, we have so many visions and dreams that we want to accomplish or that we want to come to past. However, because we are so passionate, and because we want success so bad we are afraid of failure. We are afraid to take the real steps to get to where we want to be because, “What if it doesn’t work?” “What if we fall flat on our face?” What if this, and what if that.

Proverbs 24:16

For the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

When we think about failing at something we often think that it is the end of the world, that it was our last chance. That is not so, the scripture tells us that a righteous person falls seven times, seven times, but they get back up again. We can fall seven times but we must make sure that we get up eight. As cliche as it sounds, it’s not about falling but it’s about getting back up again some falls are easier to get up from than others. I understand that, but we have to get back up, even if it takes a little longer, we have to get up. I wonder how many times Jesus was knocked down as He was carrying that cross to calvary. How many people walked up to Him and spit in His face, hit him and knocked him and the cross down. If He had stayed down, where would we be? If He decided that it was too much to handle, who would we be?

Galatians 1:10, Does this sound as if I am trying to win human approval? No indeed! What I want is God's approval! Am I trying to be popular with people? If I were still trying to do so, I would not be a servant of Christ.

The mistake we make is trying to prove our success to others, or prove ourselves to other people, who are most likely facing the same struggles we are. Sometimes we are so caught up in what people think of us and how we will be letting them down that we don’t even try. When we are living for Christ, we don’t have to worry about impressing Him, He knows who we are. He knows where we are going, He sculpted the path that we are traveling on.

Just because we fail does not mean we are failures. This is something that we must constantly remind ourselves of. I have found that this generation is particularly hard on themselves. We are perfectionist and sometimes that is our greatest asset as well as our biggest flaw. We have to appreciate the parts of our lives that are far less than perfect. It gives us a chance to allow the perfection of Christ make up for what we are not and could never be. He completes us. Failure isn’t always bad, we learn from these things, we find light in the dark places, because we have to. We grow in the valleys, so when we get to the mountain tops we understand what it took for us to be here. Failure is a part of life, it is also a part of success. Some of the greatest people in the bible and the most successful people today fell before they got to where they were then or are now. David and Moses are two of them, Moses killed a man and fled. David, killed a man because he wanted His wife. Peter denied Jesus three times. Paul persecuted Christians. But we do not remember these men for what they did that was less than perfect, but how it led them to Christ. We know them for the great men of God they were.

We have to atleast try, we cannot live afraid to fall. With all of this being said, we have to give ourselves a chance. God has given us this life and we are not to live in fear.

2 Timothy 1:7,  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

We serve an unfailing God, and He did not give us a spirit of fear so we will not walk in fear. If we fail it will not be because we were too afraid to try. If we fail at least we know that we gave it a chance. Sometimes life can leave you shook, and scared, but it is in those moments where we put our trust in God and jump. Things won’t always go the way we plan or the way we think they should go, but God uses every moment, every fall, to His glory.

“It is better to make a thousand failures than to be too cowardly to ever undertake anything.” -Clovis G. Chappell

“Just jump afraid. Dare to do it, and maybe you land, maybe it’ll be perfect. “ - Viola Davis

We never know what can happen if we don’t take a chance. Jesus is calling us out on the water, we have to step and have faith that we won’t fall, and even if we do, He is right there to pick us up.

Reflection

1. Are you afraid of failure?
2. Are you a perfectionist?
3. What is the main thing stopping you from stepping out on faith and taking a chance.
4. Is it fear?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Pray through every answer, whatever it is on your heart today bring it to God.

I love you, take a chance and have faith in God. Share this with someone. Have an amazing day or evening, and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 114!

Day 83: Comfort Zones

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear”

- Jack Canfield

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We as people love our comfort zones, we love routine, we love knowing what is going to happen and when it’s going to happen. We can rest knowing that something is certain, we find peace in our contentment. We get so complacent in these comfortable places  that stepping outside of them is frightening. We are so wrapped up in our own comfort that we get stuck there. It’s like we’re closing ourselves off to a world of opportunity. Comfort is sometimes crippling, because we don’t know how to have faith, we don’t know how to trust someone other than ourselves, we lack the ability to take risks. We are at an age where we are stepping out of the comfort zones we have been in our entire lives and taking a risk to live the life we are destined to live. If you’re an artist you probably feel this a bit more. We must learn to take risks, and sacrifice, especially as Christians. We have to be willing to give everything up before we see a replacement, that is where faith comes in. We have to get out of our own circle of stagnation. It is only when we step outside of what we know that we start to learn, it is only when we take away the comfort that we grow. Last week we talked about taking a leap of faith. Well in order to take that leap of faith we have to step outside of our comfort zones. We all have to go through a time when life is uncomfortable, and that may look different to each of us, but as we grow we start to find comfort in the Lord. As we grow in Him we start to live fearlessly and courageously. It says it right there in the scripture be courageous, have no fear, don’t be dismayed. God is with us every step of the way. He commanding us to be courageous and strong.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

What keeps us from stepping outside of those comfort zones many times is fear.... Most of the time it’s fear... All of the time it’s fear. We are afraid of what will happen, where we will go next. But we must know that God is on the other side of fear. As long as we have faith in Him, as long as we have a relationship with God there is nothing to fear.

I can tell you from experience that God has done more for me outside of my comfort zones than I could ever imagine. I just had to stop fearing and step out on faith, and He was there and has been there guiding my steps every since. God has taken me places I never thought I’d go. Done things that I could never imagine. All because I decided to step out of my comfort zone. I stopped looking at what seemed certain. I let go of the plan that would allow me to live a comfortable and trouble free life. Being in an uncomfortable position pushed me to not only trust Him, but dive deeper into my relationship with Him. It allowed me to see and understand God in a completely different and new way. It allowed me to see my need for Him. It allowed me to understand that God is in control, He has always been in control and will always be in control.

-Dyamond

Comfort zones are detrimental to our spiritual health, and growth.

Reflection

1. Are you afraid to step outside of your comfort zones?
2. What are you afraid of?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about your fears and then give them over to Him. Find comfort in knowing that He did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 84!

Day 36: Slaves to Our Desires

We all have that one thing that trips us up, and it can be anything but whatever it is, whenever we encounter it, we have to pray long and hard so we do not give in to it. This one thing is usually bad for us, it’s our guilty pleasure, it’s so wrong but it feels so right.

One of the biggest challenges we face when we become Christians is giving up our desire to do whatever we want, and giving up the things we used to do. Why does the wrong thing feel so right and why is it so hard to do what is right? I think Paul said it best in Romans 7:14-15:

So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

Paul hits the nail right on the head in this scripture, we all know what this feels like, we all know the feeling of fighting our desires, I think he is speaking to the entire human race here, everyone can identify and understand this scripture. We know what is right, so why don’t we do it? We know what is wrong, so why do we do it? We are sinners saved by grace, we live in a fallen world, we were born into sin, But there is a way out, sin can no longer control us, it cannot overtake us, sin has no power over us, because Jesus holds the power over sin. Jesus defeated sin, and due to His sacrifice we can live a full, pure, and righteous life. We know this, we know all about it. We know that sin can’t control us, But it’s that one thing that always seems to get the best of us, there's that one battle that we continue to fight everyday. Just because we give our lives to Christ, doesn’t mean our sinful desires will cease immediately.  We are human, we have unholy desires, we make mistakes we screw up a lot, but we don't have to be slaves to our own desires. We’re not perfect by no means, but when Jesus died on that cross He broke the bondage of sin. We no longer have to live that life, we will face temptation but Christ gives us the strength to get through it.

James 4:7

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

We have to resist, resist that devil, don’t give in, not even a little. Resist! Sometimes we get to points where we kind of give in to our flesh but not all at once. We start to compromise saying, ‘oh it’s okay if I do this’ ‘Technically I’m not sinning.’ ‘It’s just a small sin’. Somehow we have learned how to convince ourselves that what we are doing is right when we know it’s wrong. I remember growing up and my mom would say two things to us: 1. “A lie is a lie, no matter how big or small, because you have to keep lying to keep the original lie going and eventually that small lie will turn into a big lie.” 2. “I gave you an inch and you took a mile.”

Eventually those small things, and small sins we give in to will become bigger and bigger. If we keep taking inches eventually we’re going to get to a mile. We have to resist, a moment of pleasure or satisfaction is not worth it, it’s so not worth it. Pray, resist and repeat, until the devil flees. God has given us the strength to do it. Stand firm, don’t give in. I know it’s hard but it is so worth it.

Luke 12:34

Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

What do we treasure most? Is it what we have here on earth or are our treasures stored up in heaven. The synonym to treasure is cherish. Something we hold on to tighter than anything else, what is it? Is what we cherish or desire more important than God. Is it worth the trouble and the sacrifice. I know we all have things that we cherish and that is okay, but Christ should be number one on that list. When Christ becomes what we desire most we will find ourselves falling into temptation and giving in less. Because we don’t like putting the things and people we love in place where we can possibly lose them. When we learn to treasure Christ above all, that is where our heart will remain.  

Reflection/ Prayer Time

As you reflect on the passages today and answer the questions proposed, begin to talk to God about your desires. Talk to Him about the things you know are making you slip, ask God to help you and give you the strength to resist the temptation. It is imperative that we are completely honest with God, show Him every part of your heart, especially the parts you tend to hide. Rest in His love, and strength.

Have an amazing day, I Love You! Share this with someone. Make sure you come back tomorrow for day 37! Enjoy this song