Tired of Losing? Winning Tastes Sweeter!
For those who have been keeping up with the last two weeks of the 52 Week Plan and those who haven’t, our young friend is now an older man or senior citizen or mature adult. When older folks reminisce about the “good old days”, they may conclude that these current times may be better.
Let’s review the three truths I asked you to consider regarding “walking in the Light”:
- Jesus is the Light of the World – John 8:12; 12:35-36
- God’s Word, The Bible, is a Light to our Path – Psalm 119:105
- You and Other Believers are Lights too – Matthew 5:14-16
Last week, I encouraged you and reminded myself of how important it is to have “fresh encounters with Jesus Christ”. Whatever we do as Christians, we must stay aware of God’s presence. Prayer is key to our being focused on His abilities versus our weaknesses . The world we live in today, as it is most of the time, contains so many uncertainties. We need Jesus to stabilize us, center us, and give us His peace….the peace that passes all understanding. If we focus only on the problems and our history of failures or inadequacies, we will worry and be down. However focusing on truth, Jesus’ is the truth, we taste the sweetness of fellowship with Him and see His power rather than our anemic-ness. (Is that a word?)
This morning, early, as my wife and I walked the neighborhood, we noted how many stars were visible and how brightly they shone. It was beautiful. It was also a beautiful reminder of God’s glory, greatness, and authority. Have frequent encounters in prayer, worship, and simply think in a focused way on Him – especially on how He has shown love to you and others. Let God have the time to remind you of His love and power.
I want to suggest another way to have encounters with God. Read His book – the Bible. Use a devotional or a reading plan from YouVersion or find another source, but some way, any way, every day look and listen to His Word. Here is a simple place to start: As a couple, we used to each read the Proverb of the day. Proverbs has 31 chapters. On the 8th of the month, we’d each read Proverbs 8, then we’d talk about it together later in the day or at night. If it happened to be the 22nd, then we’d read Proverbs 22. You get the idea. The basic idea was that we were individually looking into God’s Word then doing the 3rd truth we are considering. (see above) We actually had “real fellowship” with each other. This gave us new ways to “Do the Book” after reading and discussing truths.
To finish the story of our “young friend”, let me tell you that he began to use the truth he’d learned in his encounter with God; namely, that “Jesus died on the cross so that he would not have to be a slave to that sin.” Remember? This guy began to use that truth immediately when tempted. He ran to Jesus in his heart and mind rather than lingering on lust or porn. He began to win. He got so excited about winning that he found other verses to add to his “truth weapons” to use against the lies of the enemy. He memorized Psalm 119:9, 11; 2 Timothy 2:22; Matthew 5:27-28! He began to Do the Book. He read it – yes. He memorized verses – yes. But most importantly he did it.
This young man was so tired of eating the garbage of defeat, that he responded to the grace God offered and was set free. It has been a really long time for sure, but even in his “mature years”, he is still tasting the sweetness of victory over sin and the fruits of loving relationships that may have been destroyed had the sin taken over his life. God knows what He is doing. Let’s give Him glory and praise by doing what He says to do.
James 1:22 sums it up for us: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.