Point of View:
So on Tuesday, we talked about being a committed friend and showing our friends the tough love they need when they are making unwise decisions, but what if they are causing you to sin? If you can search the scriptures for wisdom on there specific struggles, stand strong and encourage them, and continually pray for them without feeling the need to “adopt their lifestyle”, that’s great, and I want to challenge you to keep on doing so. But what about when our intentions don’t match our actions? What do I mean? Well, it's great to want to encourage your friends to “straighten up and fly right”, but what if you start to “adopt their lifestyle” and different habits as you are trying to minister to them? What do you do then? What if they are causing you to be Luke-warm, and not on fire for God like you where when you originally wanted to encourage them? Do we just keep hanging out with them and keep on sinning because God will forgive us? (Romans 6:1-2) NO WAY! That’s abusing God’s grace. Mathew 18:6 even goes as far to say that those who tempt us should put mill stones (a heavy old grinding stone) around there neck and jump in to the depths of the sea! That’s CRAZY! But that verse is trying to let us know the seriousness of causing Christians to stumble. So what does that mean? That means I am going to be selling millstones for $100 dollars a piece for all your tempting friends. NOOO!!! I’m just kidding! That means that if this verse is saying that they should drowned themselves for causing Christians to stumble, we shouldn’t be around them then, right? So then what do we do? Well, we distance ourselves from those who are causing us to stumble, or sin to fit in, and grow closer to God when we are apart from them. Does that mean that we should never talk to them again? No, but for a more in-depth look at when to mend a relationship, check out next Tuesdays devotional.
The Challenge:
I want to challenge you to grow close to God and learn how to put on the full armor of God. If we learn to do so, the Devil will still launch his “flaming arrows” (which are things that cause you to stumble), but fully equipped, we will be able to extinguish them with our shield of faith. If you want to learn more about how to put on the armor of God, I have written a series on it, and you can find it at http://solomonsporticoln.blogspot.com/. Just type “The Armor of God” into the search window at the top left of the page.
Prayer Points:
• Thank God for his grace as He is constantly forgiving us of our sins.
• Ask that we would not abuse God’s grace, but learn our lesson, and choose to glorify Him.
• Pray for strength, as it is tough to distance ourselves from temptation sometimes, but remember that through Christ, all things are possible. It may be tough, but it’s worth it!
The Word:
So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
- Revelation 3:16
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
- Romans 6:1-2
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
- Mathew 18: 6-9
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