Bob Carlisle, best known for a song played at too many weddings about a Daddy's remembering his little girl's "Butterfly Kisses," wrote another song that isn't so sentimental called "We Fall Down." In it he describes a man who envies the monks who he imagines to live above the sins he experiences until he meets one of them outside of the monastery one day. The man tells him that monks are tempted and fall, too. "We fall down, we get up. 'Cause the saints are just the sinners who get up!"
Living 'in Christ' is not a life for those looking for the easy road! One of the Enemy's more effective lies is the one of comparison. "Look at him. He is so much better than you, he does not even struggle with sin any longer!" It is never true! There is no place and no one that has acheived sinless perfection this side of Heaven. A disciple who is growing in Christ will always deal with temptation, often severe, always deeply personal. For one it may be lust, for another greed, for another pride. As the Holy Spirit leads us along the Way, we do conquer temptations, but evil conspires to find another way to neutralize us. I do not wrestle with the same temptations today that I did 15 years ago! But, temptation is ever present and the war continues - sometimes raging, sometimes just a skirmish!
The Word reminds us that "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." (1 Corinthians 10:13, NLT) After all my years as a disciple and as a Pastor, I am very suspicious of the authenticity of anyone who claims they have found 'the secret' that allows them to live without any struggles with sin and/or temptation! Either they are self-deceived, lying, or they want to sell you something. The Word reminds us that "sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:7, NIV)
We defeat Self, Satan, and Systems of this World - not by our cleverness, nor by escape to some utopia - but by standing in the Truth of God's amazing grace in the middle of the war! -We know His love is deeper than our sin.
-We know that the Spirit is at work in us giving us the strength to stand.
-If we fall, we reach for Jesus' hand and get up, learning and growing from our failure.
Are you struggling today?
Is some temptation dancing in your mind?
Stand in Christ! Here's a word from the Word. It's the Truth. Hold onto it today."That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time- (remember, you've been raised from the dead!) - into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God." (Romans 6:12-14, The Message)
Listen to "We Fall Down" on YouTube. Click here! http://www.youtube.com/v/AXlfELlcdRM&hl
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