Sin causes Christians to become cowards and live in defeat. Some once knew what it was like to live victoriously and experience the power, courage, and blessing that comes from obedience to the Lord. But a besetting sin has robbed them of their spiritual vitality and the enemy raises one battle after another.
Growing numbers of Christians are at the breaking point. Young people, especially, are giving up in defeat. They feel they cannot live up to the image of a happy-go-lucky, rich, successful, always positive-thinking Christian. Their world is not that idealistic. They live with intense peer pressure, heartbreak, hour-by-hour crises, and horrible family problems. Their friends are hooked on drugs and too many are dying by suicide. They look into the uncertain future, frightened and worried; loneliness, fear and depression hound them daily.
“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8). As God’s children, we are to resign ourselves to His care in everything. This is true freedom! Resigning yourself into God’s care is an act of faith. It means putting yourself completely under his power, wisdom and mercy. And it means being led according to his will. God promises to be totally responsible for us — to feed, clothe and shelter us, and to guard our hearts from all evil.
Jesus ordered his disciples into a boat that was headed for a collision. The Bible said, “Jesus made His disciples get into the boat” (Matthew 14:22) — which was headed for troubled waters. It would be tossed about like a bobbing cork and Jesus knew it all along.
Many Christians joyfully tell others of the love of Jesus and his power to forgive their sin, and yet they find it difficult to fully accept that same forgiveness. They commit sin and seem to want to pay for their failure. “Lord,” argues the Christian, “I shook off the conviction of the Holy Spirit and went ahead stubbornly and committed sin.”
Our Lord has an almost insurmountable problem of communicating with those who claim to love him so. We come into his gates with thanksgiving and enter his courts with praise. We praise him with instruments, with song, with uplifted hands, with tears and loud hosannas — but it is still only one-way communication.
We rush into his presence in the secret closet with worship and requests and then rush out again. How many times has he been ready and anxious to open his heart and speak, but lo and behold, no one was there.
Temptation is an invitation or an enticement to commit an immoral act. Right now Satan is raging over the earth as a roaring lion trying to entice Christians toward immorality. No one is immune and the closer to God you get, the more Satan will desire to sift you.
If we live by faith, we will not fear for the future of God’s church. “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). This pledge from Jesus has emboldened the faith of generations and it is meant to sustain us now in this generation.
The apostle Paul wrote, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). The phrase “children of God” is often used to describe believers but the words may be used too flippantly, with little understanding of the power and depth of their true meaning.
To be a child of God means simply to be God’s dependent; that is, “one who is unable to exist or function without help.” The child of God knows he cannot control his own life without the Lord’s daily help.
In the midst of a time of volatility and upheaval, how are God’s people to respond? If you have confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you need never fear. Those who are in Christ are forever sheltered by the blood that Jesus shed for them and this truth is the cornerstone of our faith. It will determine everything we think and all we do regardless of what is going on around us.