Be Strong in the Lord

Be Strong in the Lord

"Finally, be strong in the Lord." Ephesians 6:10

I am not telling you anything new, brothers. We are in a battle. There's no way of getting around it. We can chose to bury our heads in the sand and try to ignore it, hoping it goes away, or to what Paul says, and BE STRONG IN THE LORD.

Puritan Preacher, John Gibbon, penned these powerful and straight forward words:

What methods should a Christian use in the battle of spiritual warfare to defy the enemy and vanquish him? Bring your lusts under the rule of your reason. Will you let your silly lust abuse and become a traitor to your own soul? Will you allow your passion to rise in arms and grow unruly?

Let your reason arise and take its place as master. What a silly thing is man in a passion. Nothing is more ridiculous and contemptible. If your must overcomes reason, bid your conscience to do its work, and look to SCRIPTURE for support. If the love of God's commands will not restrain you, let the terrors and the thunders of His threats persuade you.

Draw the curtain of your heart open, and show it God's majesty and ask if it realizes that He is looking on. Tell your heart again and again that God will not be mocked. Seek to draw the stream of your lusts in a different direction. If it is vain-glory in the applause of men, think how ridiculous it would be for a criminal to please himself in the esteem of his fellow prisoners, and forget how guilty he is before the judge.

If these means do not help, fall instantly to prayer. Throw yourself at His feet. Tell Him you will not rise until He has given you a token for good. Perhaps sometimes you might add fasting with your prayer. When you have done this, rise up and buckle on the shield of faith. Clothe your soul with a heroic confidence in the power and faithfulness of your God, and in the name and majesty of the Lord of hosts to make battle with your lusts.

God never fails the eyes of them that look to Him. His people will never be ashamed to hope in Him. His name a strong tower. Cast your care upon Him and expect the same pity that Jabesh-Gilead found from Saul: "Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance." (1 Samuel 11:9) -- Voices From the Past -- Puritan Devotional Readings (Banner of Truth)

Are you battling an area in your life that is out of control? Are you tired of battling this sin pattern in your life? Then take the steps and do business with HIM today. Don't wait -- today is the day!!! -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 27; Judges 1-3; Luke 4:1-30

Dig This Quote: Our hearts beat excitedly over stories of people like Abraham and Moses, yet we fail to recognize that they were as frail and nervous as we are. We stand in awe of Moses at the burning bush: Now there is a bush that burns, we say. I would like to be a bush like that, but I'm just a heap of ashes. And that's as far as we get. We discuss the phenomenon of what God can do in a life, tell amazing stories about it, praise it - but then resign ourselves to being nothing more than what we think we are, a mere bystander, resigned to sitting in the balcony among the spectators. But it is not the bush that sustains the flame. It is God in the bush, and so, any old bush will do! Tim Hansel

Determined Digging: Level 1 -- Psalm 78:28; Level 2 -- Psalm 46:8-11