As believers, our self worth is based on the fact that God loves us and calls us to be His children.  I John 3 v 1 tells us that we are ‘members’ of God’s family, that we are in fact ‘children of God.’  The Christian life is a process of becoming more and more like Christ.

We all have areas in our lives where temptation is strong and habits are hard to conquer.   These weaknesses give the devil a foothold, so we must deal with our areas of vulnerability.

Three steps are necessary to find victory over prevailing sin

1          Seek the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s word

2          Stay away from tempting situations

3          Seek the help of the body of Christ

After His resurrection Jesus’ body wasn’t just a figment of the imagination or the appearance of a ghost – the disciples touched Him, and He ate food.  Jesus opened peoples’ minds to understand the scriptures.  The Holy Spirit does this in our lives today when we study the Bible.  Apart from reading other commentaries and asking other people about different passages, we need to pray that the Holy Spirit will open our minds to understand God’s word.  So that we gain insight to enable us to put God’s word into action in our lives.

So to stand firm in our faith and to grow in our walk with Jesus we need to support and encourage one another.  Standing firm against sin and temptation and developing our shared lives of studying God’s word and worshipping Jesus.  Then we will flourish, blessing God as He blesses us.

 

Caroline

Rector