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“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” – 1 Peter 1:24-25

It seems of late, much of my time is tied up in trying to convince some Christians, who find it difficult to walk the straight road, just how short our stay here in this world is compared to eternity. As the Apostle Peter penned above, “all flesh is as grass”. What happens to grass every spring? The rain comes and the grass begins to grow and turn green. Then in just a few short months it begins to wither, turns brown, and dies. Peter is trying to get us to come to an understanding of just how fleeting our lives are. He then goes on to describe the glory of man and how man’s glory runs an even shorter life span. The glory of man speaks of man’s accomplishments, but man’s glory is short lived and soon forgotten after his passing. God’s word, on the other hand, is everlasting.

I know how hard it is to walk the path God has set and how easy it is to wander. Even after becoming a born again believer staying on track is very difficult. Sometimes we fail and head off on some adventure of sin that comes close to destroying us. I would love to say this doesn’t happen to believers but it does and all too often. As believers, we have a personal Savior who is always with us no matter where we wander. This should be very convicting, and it is if we are truly born again.
 
When we wander into the presence of evil and continue there for a season, we must understand that our Savior is standing just beside us, beckoning us back. “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”, Hebrews 13:5b
 
There’s a joy that only believers have that transcends all worldly joys, but there are times as we become complacent in our walk we begin to lose sight of our joy. As this happens we begin looking for a substitute for that joy, and this my friends, is where we fail. There is no substitute for the joy our Lord Jesus provides. Search as we might we will never find the joy of this world sufficient to sustain us, and we cannot divide ourselves between the world and Christ. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon,” Matthew 6:24.
 
Sin in our society is so prevalent that a large number of folks no longer look at evil as they should, as the Bible tells us to. Many today feel there is nothing sinful as long as it feels good and seems right in our own eyes. Contrary to what our Bibles teach us, and even contrary to many laws of our land, many now have a different perception of what was once acknowledged as a universal sin. They now tend to give credence to evil and immoral lifestyles by accepting them as legitimate. Christians are also susceptible to these trends and tendencies, which is why we must always be on guard.
 
Staying on the strait and narrow takes discipline and courage, courage even when faced with a loved one who might disagree with our position on the Bible; discipline to stay the course instead of faltering because of the influence of that loved one. This is especially true when it comes to our relationship with our spouses. Consequently, we may bend to the desires of our spouse instead of holding onto the joy of our Lord. Anytime we place a loved one in front of or before God we are in error. As believers we know that no one or no thing should come before Jesus Christ in our life. “If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple,” Luke 14:26.
 
We exist here on earth in these mortal bodies for what can only be described as a very miniscule period of time, and in many cases these lives are cut short due to some unforeseen circumstance. Nothing of this world is everlasting. Many Christians, though, aren’t able to cope because they allow too many distractions to permeate their lives and they allow those distractions to defeat their Christian walk. This truth is evident as we watch our fellow brothers and sisters being defeated daily by obvious distractions, ultimately affecting their fellowship with our Lord. We remove ourselves from fellowship with God because we desire alternatives to His Joy. Many times we see Christians desiring what the world has, instead of basking in the contentment of knowing our inheritance of God’s Kingdom is secure.
 
It’s very easy to get distracted. Just leave your Bibles lay around collecting dust and abstain from fellowshipping with likeminded believers and you’ll come to realize just how simple it is to follow the wide road that leads to destruction. I find it quite impossible to go even one day without reading scripture verses or speaking with my Lord. Quite frankly, for me speaking with God is a constant, as it should be for all believers.
 
When we’re born we live through a period of time in which we aren’t responsible for our actions, this is referred to as the age of pre-accountability. As we grow and learn and are able to discern the difference between truth and lies, between good and evil, and right and wrong we become accountable to the authorities for our actions. But even more so we are accountable to God, because God is the one who will ultimately judge our decisions in this life. God is who we look to for our salvation. Our salvation is secure in Christ, but our fellowship with God is always at risk. Not because God moves away from us, but because we move away from Him. Be careful of worldly distractions.
 
When we become born from above we are even more accountable to God than we were previously because we are given the knowledge of God’s truth. We will be held accountable for living a life that reflects Christ. Wrong decisions are not only detrimental to a healthy Christian’s walk but are an abomination in God’s eyes. We are in rebellion to the very truth we are to be promoting through our lives. This failure in our lives is all too common, and speaking with a sense of reluctance, the failed lives of Christians are becoming more and more frequent and open.
 
Some very simple ways to combat this failure in a believer’s life are to put Jesus back at the top of the priority list that determines your daily routine. Jesus desires to be first in your life and will not take second place to anything you mistakenly determine, even subconsciously, to be superior to Him. Materialistic desires and desires of lust can and will become a constant craving that can, sooner or later, replace God in your life.
 
Secondly get rid of anything, in or around your home that can be determined to be a hindrance to your daily walk with Jesus. Here’s the one that always bothers the majority of my brothers and sisters in Christ, turn off the TV. Television is Satan’s distraction of choice followed closely by the internet. Both are huge distractions and your choice for watching becomes his good pleasure to display all the evil and immoral filth possible. Putting ourselves in harm’s way seems somewhat irresponsible. Let me put it this way, if your children, being young and not yet able to see the danger, were about to enter into a den occupied by ferocious lions wouldn’t you rush to their rescue? Well then, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” 1 Peter 5:8. Christians are being devoured everyday because they won’t protect themselves. They just don’t see the dangers until, in many cases, it’s too late.
 
Strongholds are always exploited by the enemy. A stronghold can be anything that distracts you and moves you away from God. Speaking with various believers I’ve come to realize these strongholds can be subtly subjugated as well as under the enemy’s blatantly obvious control, i.e. TV and the internet.
 
It’s been said that one out of every two Christians view pornography on a daily basis. Where is it easier to view than on the internet? If this is something that has a hold on you that means it’s a stronghold belonging to the enemy. Immediate and sometimes drastic steps must be taken to rid yourself and your family of the source attributed to this distraction. The enemy languishes in his ability to exploit strongholds and as born again believers in Christ we can’t possibly bask in Christ’s joy as long as the enemy is entrenched upon his perch continually bombarding us with his evils. Getting rid of the strongholds gets rid of the enemy’s battleground. No battleground no battle, the victory belongs to the Lord, always. However, by eliminating one stronghold, we can be assured the enemy will come at us from another direction. He will never stop and so we can never let down our guard. “Be sober, be vigilant.”
 
The things that become a hindrance in our walk with Jesus are things we can get control over. Through a real and sincere relationship with our Lord Jesus, these hindrances become a slight almost unnoticeable distraction instead of a huge stumbling block.
 
The next time you feel yourself being led down the wrong path, and you know which one that is, go to your Bible and read through Proverbs. In one way or another, Solomon hits on just about every distraction known to man. If that doesn’t help, get yourself an accountability partner. Brothers or sisters in Christ can be a great help when it comes to being accountable. Tell them what is distracting you and affecting your walk, they’ll understand. You never know, they may be suffering through the same distractions as you. Set up a way that you as partners can interact and become aware when the other is slipping. It becomes an exhortation and will be profitable for both of you.
 
Lastly, don’t give up and never stop praying. Remember, we have an advocate with God the Father which is Christ Jesus our Lord. Even though the enemy is always railing against us, Jesus is always there standing up for us. “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,” 1John 4:4.
God bless you all,
 
Ron Graham

 

  

 

Email:  twotug@embarqmail.com