The Serpent's Lies

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Genesis 3:1

Pythons like to slither into holes. A young Portland woman discovered this when her pet BART crawled into the gauge hole of her earlobe. She reported that before she knew what was happening, he was halfway through. After the fire department was unsuccessful in removing BART, the hospital emergency room coaxed him to freedom.

This story reminded me why I don’t like snakes. But more importantly, it cautioned me how vulnerable we humans are. We have an enemy, Satan, who constantly looks for an opening. He knows our vulnerabilities and tailors his attacks accordingly.

How can we withstand his temptations?

Don’t let him near your ear. As soon as you hear his familiar lies, walk away. Get out of that situation as quickly as you can. His “trap” words are different for all of us, but when we hear them, we need to flee. Pray. Call a friend to pray. Go for a walk and turn on your phone audio Bible app. Have an escape plan.

Next, fill your ears with His Truth. Every day. Multiple times a day. Memorize verses that will strengthen you. Listen to God’s Words while you exercise or do housework. Stream podcast sermons as you commute. A mind filled with God’s Word is less likely to be deceived by the enemy’s lies.

Address those weak places in your life. Ask God to show you those “holes” that need extra attention and prayer. If you need counseling, seek it out. Find a friend to hold you accountable in a susceptible area. Join a support group. Locate Bible passages that speak to your need and write them out. Fortify those weak places so that the snake cannot get in.

Father, help me depend on You and Your powerful Word to resist the devil’s attacks.

Whitney

The Bear That Came to Town

Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.          

Proverbs 4:26

Last fall my husband and I spent a week in Avon, Colorado. One day while we were in a restaurant, we saw a crowd gathering outside around a crabapple tree. They were pointing toward the top of the tree and snapping pictures.

Squinting through the window, I saw the outline of something big and brown among the leaves and fruit. With the next the breeze, I got a clear view of the dark shape. It was a bear eating crabapples.

That's no Teddy Bear, folks! I thought with a jolt of fear. The people below the bear were much too close.

Apparently they thought a bear that came into town was harmless, but I have heard park rangers preach the opposite. They repeatedly warn that wild animals are always unpredictable and dangerous. I was relieved when a policeman arrived a few minutes later and moved the crowd back.

The situation with the bear reminded me of the careless way we often approach sin. We think we can cozy up to it for a while and safely back away when we're ready to leave. Not so.

An old saying sums up the reality of sin's power this way. It states: "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost more than you're willing to pay." Whoever said that knew the truth about sin.

God wants us to take sin seriously and be thoughtful as we make our choices. Proverbs 4: 26 admonishes us, Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.

We've been warned and know the danger. We should be mindful of it. 

A wise woman would.

Father, may we apply Your Word in our lives and honor You.

Carol

Buttons and Triggers

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 

Galatians 6:1 

We talk about having our “buttons” pushed when someone says or does something that ignites powerful emotions. An array of ugly feelings burst forth when a sensitive spot in our souls is suddenly triggered. We all know at least one difficult person who provides opportunities for us to do the things we don’t want to do (Romans 7:15).

The word “caught” in Galatians 6:1 does not mean the act of being “found out” in a sin. Instead, it’s the idea of being trapped or ensnared by a sin after we’ve been tempted. “Buttons” and “triggers” spur us toward entrapment. We react to the trigger or button being pushed and then spiral out-of-control into a tenacious web of deceit. Once we are caught we repeat destructive thoughts and behaviors.

Buttons will be pushed. Triggers will be pulled. They launch our weaknesses and when left unchecked we are caught. Our hope is that we don’t have to snap under pressure or remain trapped.

Do you know a loved one who is caught in a harmful lifestyle? I do. At times we are the ones ensnared. Pride prompts us to believe we are able to escape on our own, but we aren’t. We need each other! God created us to depend on the community of believers who live by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit indwelling us has gifted and charged us with the amazing responsibility to restore others to harmony with God.

When we are the one trapped, we can choose to respond in humility and allow a fellow Christ-follower whom we trust, to free us of the net we’re entangled in. We come alongside each other, recognizing our comparable condition.

Holy Spirit, fill me moment by moment with your power, so that I may gently help restore those who may be caught in sin.

Karen Sims

When Tempted

Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 2:18

Rain and darkness obscured my vision as I drove cautiously on the highway towards the restaurant where my husband and I planned to meet that evening.

Suddenly, a loud thump in the rear of the vehicle jolted me. I continued on. Not too many more miles and I’d be at my destination.

I parked in front of the restaurant door. I stepped out into the drizzle and was assaulted—by a wall of gasoline vapors. Spontaneously, I bent down to look under the car, and sure enough, gas poured out of a gaping hole from the mostly full gas tank, flowing unhindered across the parking lot. My husband sauntered over, still unaware, until his gaze locked on mine in disbelief. We stood frozen by shock. Then we leapt into action: called the fire department, informed the restaurant management, and redirected people and vehicles away from the river of gas.

Twenty minutes later, the gas tank had completely drained; firemen had the parking lot closed off and hosed down. We thanked God that no one was harmed.

The next morning I contemplated what I would tell our auto insurance company. I was tempted to alter the details to get the best insurance benefits.

I wrestled with conflicting thoughts. Should I enhance the story or should I tell the simple truth? Jesus, You understand. Help me. God’s love constrained me. I told the truth. After I explained the incident the agent was undecided on how to proceed. He conferred with his manager for a final decision. I waited a few days. It didn’t matter. I was at peace with God. Yes! This time I had represented Jesus well.

The decision arrived. It was favorable for the lesser deductible.  Gratitude welled up in my spirit. Yes! Win, win. My faith was strengthened and God had honored my decision to not give into temptation.

Father, keep my spirit sensitive to Yours and remind me that Jesus helps me when I’m tempted.

Karen Sims

The Bear That Came to Town

Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.          

Proverbs 4:26

Last fall my husband and I spent a week in Avon, Colorado. One day while we were in a restaurant, we saw a crowd gathering outside around a crabapple tree. They were pointing toward the top of the tree and snapping pictures.

Squinting through the window, I saw the outline of something big and brown among the leaves and fruit. With the next the breeze, I got a clear view of the dark shape. It was a bear eating crabapples.

That's no Teddy Bear, folks! I thought with a jolt of fear. The people below the bear were much too close.

Apparently they thought a bear that came into town was harmless, but I have heard park rangers preach the opposite. They repeatedly warn that wild animals are always unpredictable and dangerous. I was relieved when a policeman arrived a few minutes later and moved the crowd back.

The situation with the bear reminded me of the careless way we often approach sin. We think we can cozy up to it for a while and safely back away when we're ready to leave. Not so.

An old saying sums up the reality of sin's power this way. It states: "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost more than you're willing to pay." Whoever said that knew the truth about sin.

God wants us to take sin seriously and be thoughtful as we make our choices. Proverbs 4: 26 admonishes us, Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.

We've been warned and know the danger. We should be mindful of it. 

A wise woman would.

Father, may we apply Your Word in our lives and honor You.

Carol

How Much Can You Endure?

Do not be misled:  Bad company corrupts good character.

1 Corinthians 15:33

As Christians, we have a tough calling.

We are to reach out to others but not let their sin corrupt us. That’s easier said than done.

I saw this firsthand with my two boys this week. They had friends over who are not believers and live in a household that operates much differently than ours.

My husband and I talked with our boys before the visit about how they should behave and show these friends Jesus. Our boys are typically well-behaved and follow our rules most of the time.

We have a treadmill in our playroom. The treadmill is off limits to our boys unless they are supervised and it’s being used for exercise. They know this. They don’t get on the treadmill without permission.

Also, the treadmill has a safety mechanism that won’t allow it to be turned on – unless you know exactly what to do (which is not intuitive). 

I can’t tell you how many times I heard the treadmill going. Each time, I went back and explained to the boys our rules. The cycle didn’t end until my 11-year-old flipped over and landed on the pile of Legos and toy trucks near the treadmill. Ouch!

We learned two lessons here:

1) Our boys didn’t hold up well under peer pressure. We have work to do in this area – especially with our oldest headed to middle school.

2) Pain was the only thing that stopped the disobedience. I instructed. They listened but did not heed the warnings. 

The same is often true with us as adults. We may cave under pressure and continue down the slimy slope until we hit pain. I don’t know about you, but I’m much more likely to go along with the crowd if I’m not in the Word daily.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Dear Lord, Help me to meditate on your instructions and obey them. Show me where I’m compromising. Help me to teach my boys to obey you and stand strong. Thank you for your mercy.

Stacy

It's For Your Own Good: Day 3

(Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.) When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment.

John 16:7-9

“World” as used here does not refer to our planet, but to the kosmos, the world system. In other words, the way the world looks at sin, righteousness and judgment is wrong. Jesus had come to provide a thundering rebuke to its grievous error.

The root of sin is not found in an outward action, but an inward attitude. Murder, for example, is the outward result of the inward sin of anger. The root of the sin of adultery is found in the inward sins of lust and covetousness (Matthew 5:21, 27).

Sin is not something we do, but something we are. It is as much a part of our DNA as our eye color. Sin entered the world when the first man and woman chose to disobey God and has been part of human nature since. (Do we need to train our children to disobey?)

If the sin problem begins with inner attitudes, so must the solution. However, the righteousness offered by the scribes and Pharisees was comprised of rituals and rules that measured righteousness by one’s own outward performance, but had no ability to change the heart.

Naturally, any judgments about right and wrong that followed from such a superficial, subjective foundation would be way off course.

BTW: It occurred to me as I was writing this that there might be a lesson here for us who inhabit a truth-starved, 21st century kosmos. When we are attempting to understand where an individual or group really stands spiritually, instead of asking, “What do you believe?”, a better question might be, “What is your definition of sin?”.

Nancy Shirah       

Same Old Pits

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us…

Hebrews 12:1

Yesterday we focused on how sin crouches at our door desiring to have us. Today I want to take a deeper look. I recently decided to make a timeline of the seasons in which I stumbled into pits of sin. I marked them on a timeline with a dot, and then I decided to examine what was going on in my life right before I stumbled, in order to help me see any patterns. I thought that it would help me understand why I ended up in the same old pits. I don’t mind telling you that I learned something very interesting about myself. 

As I looked at that timeline, I noticed a pattern. Right before jumping into each pit of sin, I had wrestled with a deep wound of rejection. I realized that every time I had been emotionally wounded by rejection. And that wound sent me down the same path which landed me in the same pit. I recognized that each time I experienced that all-too-familiar wound of rejection; sin was always crouching at my door tempting to bring comfort to my pain (see Genesis 4:7). What a lie!

Today I want to encourage you to make a timeline and record any seasons with sin that you have encountered. Then look at each of those and evaluate any major wounds that may have happened in your life around the time. Perhaps it was the death of a loved one, or maybe you were abandoned by someone close to you. Maybe it was the loss of a close friendship or a job. Whatever it may be, record it on your timeline. Look to see if there are any patterns that you notice before you found yourself entangled in sin. Sin looks different for everyone. Some are inward struggles like anger or unforgivness. Others are more outwardly noticeable like alcohol or drug abuse.

Ask God to begin to reveal to you any patterns in your life that need to be uprooted so that you may be free of the sin that so easily entangles. I am tired of being entangled in the sticky web of sin, aren’t you? Let’s make freedom in Christ a reality!

Carrie Wright

Sin Awaits At Your Door

Sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you, but you must master it.

Genesis 4:7

I wonder how many times it will take for me to finally ignore sin as it crouches at my door desiring to come in. I don’t know about you, but I have seasons of great victory over sin. However, there are times that I do not. During times of failure, its grip on me is so strong, I feel I cannot break free. As I have begun to evaluate why I have found myself traveling down the same beaten path towards certain pits of sin, I realized what it is that sends me on that path:  rejection.

I have two dogs that have created a beaten, dusty path in my backyard through my beautiful green grass. I find it interesting that every time they hear a noise they take off running towards the gate on the exact same path every single time. As I look at that trail of dust that they run along every day, it reminds me of something in my own life:  When I experience a deep emotional wound of rejection, I take the same beaten path towards sin each time. If you think about someone crouching at your door, he would not be in clear view if you were to look out. He would be hovering down low, so as not to be seen. 

Sin crouches at our doors hoping to quietly slip into our lives. It entices us down the same beaten path every time hoping we open the door to it. I encourage you today to begin thinking about what triggers you to open the door to sin. What is it that sends you down that same path each time only to land you in the same familiar pit? It looks different for each of us. If we can begin to notice what triggers us, we can begin to take the necessary steps to avoid it and not open that door.

Father, Your Word says in Genesis 4:7 that sin desires to have us, but we must master it.  Help us recognize why we even head down the path that opens the door to the sin that desires to master us.

Carrie Wright