Tripp starts his devotion with a list of “I wish I could say:”
- Sin always appears horribly ugly and destructive.
- All the time and in every way I hate what God hates.
- I always lose to do what’s right.
- I never think my way is better than God’s way.
- My heart was forever settled with staying inside God’s boundaries.
- My war with sin is over.
With each statement He said, “I can’t” or “It’s not” or some form of that. In the margin I wrote, “Yeah. Me 2.” And that’s the crux of the matter. Sin doesn’t always look ugly. Sometimes sin looks really appealing. Really good. Really acceptable. And that’s the problem. It would be easy to turn away from sin if it was horribly ugly, deformed, or the consequences projected in bold on a screen before I gave in. But it’s not. A man doesn’t lust after an ugly woman. A woman doesn’t desire an ugly wardrobe. No person craves worm and roach-encrusted food. No person is lured by foul-tasting liquid death or a drug with no effect. Sin looks good. Incites our cravings.
I need help. So God comes to the rescue in the person of the Holy Spirit. He is not extra help, as though He is a stand-by. No. He is my help. He is my strength. He battles for me. I am not left on my own. Titus 2:11-12 really come into play. He supplies and provides all I need to win by giving me the One who battles for me.
“Father, thank you for the reminder of how sin entices. Thanks you for Your Spirit, the strength within who battles for me. Help me to rely on His strength and not try to win this battle with sin on my own.”
This devotion could not have come at a more appropriate time for me.
There is a war… it is going to last my entire life.
God is relentless in His pursuit to eradicate the enemy within.
So much so, He sent His own son to smash through the gates of my heart and sent in the His special forces called the Holy Spirit to battle from within.
We have a busy next couple of weeks and with my kids work schedules and with house guests coming and staying over Christmas… We decided last minute to exchange our family’s gifts last night.
We started at around 10:45 P.M. and I wasn’t in bed until nearly 2:00
We had a good time of exchanging and it was neat to see my kids who have spent the money they have earned and the joy they got when others opened the gifts that they had given.
I got something special for my boys… now young men.
I had each of them made a battle ready Gladius. A replica roman style sword. On it I had engraved…
“Every man is a warrior inside.
But the choice to fight is his own.”
Along with that, Amanda and I gave them their own copy of “Wild at Heart” and the accompanying field guide…
That is where I heard the quote…
Bottom line…
I needed to be reminded of the war I need to fight, but more importantly the war God fights on my behalf even when I don’t.
Not only did I like the book I absolutely loved the field guide. It taught me so much. Your bottom line is absolutely correct Ryan.
Without the help of the Spirit, we can never hope to win this battle with sin. Great reminder, too, Bill, that sin is so often disguised as something all too appealing to our senses.
Blessings!
Without a doubt Martha. never win. As for me: I wish sin wasn’t so appealing.
Yep. There is no living above this flesh without the help of our Savior.
Agreed Floyd.