Staying The Course 9/14/2012 (rp)

"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was." James 1:22-24

One of the saddest things in life is for those who were once enlightened to fall back into darkness. The loving Father has taken every necessary step to create a path back to Him from original sin. That path is paved with the blood of Jesus. Though many of us stumble from time to time, with the help of the Spirit, we get back up, brush ourselves off and keep moving forward. The tragedy is that there are those who wander off the path, head in the opposite direction or just wallow on the ground to which they have fallen. Sadder still, we will often rationalize our actions and decisions and somehow make God alright with the wrong we are doing because He is such a forgiving God. This is the essence of deluding ourselves.

There is a sobering bit of scripture for those who refuse to walk in the newness of life: "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame" Heb 6:4-6. Beloved can any of us imagine being the soldier that nailed Christ to the cross. In essence, we are doing just that when we leave the faith and leave the Father for the alluring yet false promises of sins pleasures.

Still not getting the message? If one decides that this is the course of action that they wish to pursue, God will grant you an assist: "For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness." 2 Thess 2:11-12

Let us all endeavor to keep our eye on the prize, our nose to the grindstone and our feet on the path to glory.


Rejoicing in the Lord,

Lee