By Lance Stevens
As we look at the world, it’s easy to see how people can get depressed, or how anxiety can infiltrate the human heart. Never in my life have I seen so many signs being fulfilled from God’s Word right before my eyes.
Each morning I have learned to give him praise and honor, and to pray and read his precious Bible as I start my day. It has never ceased to amaze me how one Scripture can turn sadness to joy!
The Psalmist wrote, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105). Another Scripture tells us, “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee (Psalm 119:11).
In times like these we must draw nearer and nearer to God, not drift away. Oh, we may go through the motions of Christendom: attend church periodically, give an offering and sing “Oh how I love Jesus” at the top of our lungs … but do we really?
Some live in a way that you couldn’t tell a believer from an unbeliever.
Praying in public has become almost non-existent. Jesus Christ was beaten, humiliated, spat upon, whipped, stripped and nailed to a cross publicly to take all my sins and all your sins upon himself — one who had never sinned, so there could be a way for us to be forgiven, cleansed, saved and to be given eternal life. Then we can’t take one minute to thank him in public?
Friend, a single phone call can change life forever, yet we live as though it will never happen. You and I are not promised tomorrow.
Temptation comes at us daily: a simple meeting with a married co-worker, a quick glance or stroke of a key on the internet, a thought that this one time won’t hurt.
But the Bible says every man (or woman) is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.
“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14-15).
Sin will take you deeper than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and make you pay more than you want to pay! Many do not deliberately turn against God; they just drift away, becoming lukewarm.
When we become Christians we should be drawing closer and closer to the Lord, not drifting away. When someone is swimming in a river they cannot stay stationary. We continue to swim upstream, or we stop and drift downstream.
It’s the same in our Christian walk as we (if one is truly saved) will have a strong desire to stay close to God and keep pressing closer and closer to Jesus Christ. Born-again believers should be able to see what is happening in this sinful world and be bold in their faith.
In Ephesians 6, Paul tells us to “stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; with our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:14-17).
When we read the Word of God, the Lord will give us direction. We need the Holy Spirit that Christ spoke of to comfort us and give us understanding. We receive the Holy Spirit the very second we are born again.
Jesus told a Jewish priest, Nicodemus, that except a man be born again he could not see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). A person has absolutely no hope of forgiveness or eternal life unless they see that they have sinned against God, confess their sins and trust in Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6).
Have you been born again? If not, cry out to the Lord Jesus and trust him! Then stand firm in him!
Lance Stevens pastors at Huntsville Evangelical Community Church in Pendleton. He and his wife, Judy, are formerly of Greenfield. This weekly column is written by local clergy members. Send comments to dr-editorial@greenfield reporter.com.
