132. BE VERY CAREFUL. 1 Corinthians 10:12.

Life is a series of choices, and and some of these choices become battles. Battles of conscience verses freedom. “I am who I am, so why can’t I do as I please. I’m a strong Christian, I go to church most weeks, I tithe regularly, sing in the choir and even read my Bible. most days” In (1Corinthians 10:12) we read “If you think you’re standing firm be careful that you don’t fall.” What does that mean? It doesn’t mean that we can deliberately choose to do as we please, No, It means that we are often prone to think we are better than we really are; but, Scripture tells us, “no one is good, not even one.” and again Paul tells us, (Paraphrased) “The things that we are doing, are right, but they are what we should be doing anyway.” so, although doing what God requires of us, pleases Him, it does not qualify you or me for The Grace of God which has brought us into His Kingdom; in fact, It’s the other way around. It’s God’s Grace alone that has qualified us for being in His Kingdom. There is absolutely nothing that you or I have done, can do or will ever be able to do, that will qualify us for being a member of God’s Kingdom. It is by His Grace and His Grace alone that we are where we are to day with God. He chose you and me, He put His finger on us even before we were born. Now, one of the ways of staying in God’s Kingdom is that we have to be very aware of Satan’s wilds and ways, because his greatest ambition is to get us out of there. And he will use any means he can to do that. These wilds and ways usually consist not only of lies and half-truths, but of sweet temptations, which appear to be quite harmless and innocent ideas, but will compromise our value system or conscience just a little bit. and we think it’s not worth getting into a tizzy over so , we let it go. But in letting it go, you let it grow and pretty soon you have big situations on your plate that you hadn’t planned on and you certainly don’t know where they’ve come from. That’s when you find you are in a ”Battle” with Satan. which you are not sure you are strong enough to deal with. When this happens, (and it will) don’t panic, get upset or intimidated pray and ask for God’s Holy Spirit help and watch Him take over your case. You will find there are three crucial parts in every battle, and the easiest part is sometimes the fight itself. Then it is the period of indecision just before the conflict – Whether to stand and fight, or run away.- is often difficult. But by far the most dangerous period of a Battle is the aftermath. After you have reached your goals and are celebrating your victories.. With your resources spent and your guard down, you need to watch for things like overconfidence, dulled reactions and and faulty judgement. Do you remember David’s story? (2 Samuel 1-4) In the Spring of the year, at the time when Kings go out to battle…David remained at Jerusalem. Why? Who knows “Angry, Lazy or tired. (first little temptation) Then it \happened... Satan saw his opportunity and jumped right in; he caused David to see a woman bathing, then the king sent messengers and took her. Pay attention to the phrase “Then it happened.” David chose to stay home rather than go to battle Why? He hadn’t seen Bathsheba yet, but Satan knew where David should have been so he was ready to take advantage of any situation that may present itself and he was delighted to find one. Even Bathsheba didn’t know. She would have seen all the troops marching off to war and decided quite innocently to go have a bath in comparative safety. But No. somebody was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And in that short period of time David got soft, careless or arrogant. It was only a brief affair, but it changed everything, His peace vanished, his character was ruined and his family life was destroyed. Don’t fall prey to the perils of past victories. Keep in mind this H.A.L.T. sign. When you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. You are in a vulnerable place and need to be extra careful. Resting on your laurels is synonymous with flirting with potential disaster. “Trouble awaits the man or woman who dwells in the land of comfort and accomplished dreams. SO take a bit of advice and keep the H.A.L.T. rule. Or as my Dad used to say “Never sign important documents at night, in fact if you can, wait 24 hours before signing and talk to God about it and give Him a chance to reply. Thank you for once again reading my thoughts on this matter. May the Spirit be your guiding light. God Bless. Phaline. ----------------------