Sin-Free

Love you all, praying for you.
 
Are you leading a sin-free life?  Or does sin have a hold on you in an area of your life?  If you give it an inch, it will take a mile.  It won’t let you go.  Most people can’t even imagine what a sin-free life would look like or feel like.  Sin has a powerful attraction, a powerful pull.  Most people want enough Jesus to get them out of trouble when they need him, but not enough Jesus to take up their cross every day.  Some people don’t even know what a sin-free life is.  Some think it’s finally some level you reach in religion that you somehow are immune to temptation, or the devil stops trying to tempt you.  That’s a mirage… sin is always crouching at your door, wanting to control you, if you let it.  If you do not resist the devil, he will take advantage.  A sin-free life is not a sinless life.  Only One had that, that’s why He’s our Savior.  But the grace that raised Christ from the dead, that secures you for eternity with God in heaven, instead of outer darkness and separation, that same grace that gives you a new name and a new family in the Kingdom of God, that grace is the power to say “No” to any temptation you face.  God promised He will never allow the devil to tempt you beyond what you can bear.  So temptation – that invitation to sin, or fall short of God’s holiness or God’s best, is also an invitation to choose victory.  A sin-free life is not a life that never sinned, or never made a wrong choice… It’s a life that is no longer controlled by sin.  It’s a life of freedom, not bondage.  It’s a life that has learned to habitually choose God’s readily available grace to overcome sin.  A life that resists the devil – until he flees from you (He has to – God’s Word says it).  It’s a life that knows the joy of choosing right instead of wrong, and the more you do it, the more anything else becomes distasteful.  Momentum is huge.  If you dabble in sin, it will control you, but if your reject it before it starts, the devil cannot even get a foothold.  The keys to a sin-free life?  #1 God’s Presence – that time of personal worship – If you start there and come back there as many times a day as you can – His presences purifies you – it heightens your desire for Him above the things of the world.  Stay in that place of worship, the more you see His face the more the attraction of the world will fade.    #2 God’s Word – if you get the mind of Christ – that transforms yours, you will think like He thinks, and you will gain the fear of the LORD, and wisdom which will keep you from the path of sin.  PRISM puts you in position daily for your mind to be transformed.   #3 Obey the first thing – PiVAT is so important.  God has plans for you today, including this hour.  And sin is not one of them… Just get busy doing what He told you to do in this hour, and you won’t have time for sin, you’ll be too busy walking in His path for your good, in victory, and blessing, and abundance.  Doesn’t mean you’ll always have stuff, but your life will be abundantly blessed.  #4 Do not hang out with sinners, do not choose their path.  Some people are always sinning, and if you are with them, you will too.  Choose better company, and you’ll choose better character.  Invest your friendship in obeyers.   And #5 Give your testimony.  It is your overcoming!   Your Daily Call is key to overcoming the enemy.  That’s why the devil wants to keep you from it!  Your testimony will help you overcome and you will be encouraged by their obedience, to grow in yours.  Praying that you will learn to Praise like David, Pray Like Daniel, Believe like Abraham, and Run like Joseph.  If you Praise – that’s His presence, He’ll come and live in your praises.  If you pray – God will help you avoid the pitfalls of the enemy, If you believe, you will know that God’s ways are infinitely better than any lesser choice.  And If you are ever confronted with a temptation – right in your face.  Run like Joseph, leave your coat behind if you have to.  Not only was Joseph totally opposite of the foolish young man, at dusk walking down the road toward her house… He flat out ran away when the temptation found him.  He did it because He would never dishonor God.  He knew it wasn’t about sin, it was about relationship – and nothing the world could offer was worth a broken relationship with God.  Praying that God’s Presence will fill you, that His Word will sustain you, that your obedience will distance you from any sin, that you would only associate with obeyers, and avoid others, that your Daily Call would be the first of many overcoming testimonies each day.  That you would praise and pray and believe and run if you need to.  That you would value your relationship with God far more than the cheap thrill and temporary pleasure of sin – that it would never have a grip on you - not even a foothold.  Praying that you will love God, and hate sin, and run your race, sin-free, and full of the fruit of wisdom and righteousness; that your life will be marked with the distinction that God makes between the wicked and the righteous, those who choose sin, and those who walk with Him in the fear of the LORD, and all the blessing that goes with it.    
 
Love you all,
dad