You are those who have
continued with Me in My trials. —Luke 22:28
“Watch when God changes your
circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the
world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with
Him? “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no
more” (John 6:66). […] Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in
everything that attacks His life in us? Are you going on with Jesus? […] The
way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint
to follow— but only the voice saying, “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19).” CHAMBERS
I see it every day in others .. I experience it every day in
myself … the temptation to go our own way. When we first left the Army, we moved
to a farm. We had a herd of 20 cows. Having never been around large animals, there
was a lot to learn. How to move 20 cows
to a place of my choosing was one of the lessons. What I learned was that if I could create the
impression that where I wanted them to go is where they wanted to go, moving
them to that place was much easier. Tempting
them to go where their instincts led them.
Giving them the impression that it was better than where they were. And so we are tempted in the same way. We make choices that appear to be the best
for us, even though they are contrary to what we know is best. We see an opening and we take it. Like the cows, we have forgotten what
happened the last time. We minimize the
risk and focus on the relief .. which seldom comes .. and if it does, it is
fleeting.
Do you find yourself stuck in a cycle of making bad choices? Of going to the wrong place in life? Have you
stopped following Jesus in favor of going with the herd? Two words.
STOP IT! Easy to say you are thinking. Temptation and sin have spiritual roots that
are manifested in the natural. You can’t
be successful in changing the course of your life simply by trying harder. You know that already don’t you? It is the doing that is our challenge. Success
is dependent upon our spiritual health.
Reading the Word (Joshua 1:8) , praying (James 5:16) , interacting with
other Christians (Proverbs 27:17) do not make the temptations go away. But they are sources of spiritual strength
and do help us stand against them. ELGIN
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