Good question.
Posted with permission.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY APRIL 18, 2006
( 1 Corinthians 10:12 )
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." ( 1
Corinthians 10:12)
Falling off the wagon. You have a battle with alcohol and promise the Lord
you will stop drinking, 12 days later you drink. You have a battle with
prescription drugs and promise the Lord you will quit, 4 days later you take
some more. You have a battle with pornography and vow to the Lord you won't
look at porn any more, 17 days later you are looking at porn. You have a
battle with your weight and tell the Lord no more sweets, 2 nights later you
are sitting at your kitchen table eating a quart of Haagen Dazs. You have a
battle with smoking and finally tell the Lord you won't smoke again, 24 days
later you are having a cigarette. What do you do when you decide once and
for all to take a stand over whatever bondage you may be battling in your
life, to start living in victory over that bondage, and then fall off the
wagon?
When you fall off the wagon, you feel like a failure. You are consumed with
guilt and shame. You can't believe after you did so good you fell. You are
disgusted with yourself for being so weak. You know in your heart you not
only let the Lord down, but broke your promise to Him. On top of all of
those feelings and emotions, here comes your old buddy the devil to pour
salt in the fresh wound. He reemphasizes what a failure you are, how you
lied to Jesus and now He wants nothing to do with you, that whatever goes
wrong in your life is God punishing you for falling, how the Bible is lie
otherwise you would have been delivered from this bondage, that it is OK to
give in to your carnal urges, God really doesn't expect you to be perfect,
and oh yes the best of all, you aren't really saved or you wouldn't sin like
that.
WOW, are you still with me or did you stop reading and delete this already?
The fact is, EVERYONE needs to hang in there and get through this message
today since EVERYONE has bondages that we fight throughout the course of our
life. Just so you know, lying is as much of a bondage as drugs. Gossiping
is as much of a bondage as homosexuality. Anger is as much of a bondage as
alcohol. Being mean to people is as much of a bondage as pornography. The
fact is, we all have bondages in our life. Some people may not be fighting
the more visible and popular bondages, but anything that is keeping you from
being like Jesus and living in obedience to God's Word is a bondage!
Since we all fight different bondages during our life, it is critical to
talk about what happens when we fall off the wagon or fail since that is
part of the battle. Let me say right up front, when you fail it doesn't
mean you don't love the Lord or aren't really saved, it simply means your
flesh is weak. Paul summed up this classic battle between our flesh and the
Spirit in Romans 7 when he stated that, "He did the things he didn't want
to do and didn't do the things he wanted to do." My friend, we are men and
women of flesh and blood. Our flesh is weak. Failure is part of the human
experience.
Does that make is OK to sin? OF COURSE NOT! Is it an excuse to sin? OF
COURSE NOT! Does it mean we are doomed to failure? OF COURSE NOT! It
simply means that in the course of battling with whatever bondage you may be
dealing with, you may have a moment of weakness and fail God. What I want
to do today is share with you how to respond to your failure. What do you
do when you fall off the wagon?
The first thing you do is go to God and ask Him to forgive you. 1 John 1:9
tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us
and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. After you go to God and confess your
sins, asking Him to forgive you, the next step is to go back to living in
victory over your bondage as you were before you fell. It is the old adage
of when you fall off a horse get right back on. Don't ever forget, you have
an enemy that wants to see you fail, that takes delight when you fail. If
you do fall off the wagon, ask the Lord's forgiveness and then get right
back to living in victory and freedom over your bondage.
This is where your faith has to take over and becomes so important. You
have to realize that even though your bondage is in the natural, what you
are really fighting is a spiritual battle. While you need to have the
practical day-to-day pieces in place to live in victory, things like being
accountable to others, staying away from people, places, or things that
could cause you to fall, working hard to keep from being in a position to be
tempted, you also have to work on the spiritual aspects of walking in
victory. The Bible tells us that our battles are NOT against flesh and
blood, but they are spiritual.
That is why we have to be praying every day, all throughout the day. We
have to be in the Word of God every day, taking time to study and meditate
on His Truth. We have to be part of a local church to be fed and grow
spiritually, to have fellowship with other Believers, to serve the Lord.
These are the basics we have to be doing to stay connected to the Lord each
day and stay strong spiritually. We already know our flesh is weak, so we
can never lose sight that it is a constant daily battle to live in victory.
We can never take for granted that we have won and are safe, since the
second we stop doing the things necessary to keep our faith strong, that is
when we will fall.
Today's anchor verse from 1 Corinthians is the key. We can never stop doing
the things we must do to stay strong spiritually or we will fail God. I
know in my own life as I have worked to overcome different bondages in my
life, to try to become more like Jesus each day, when I am not praying as
hard as I should, or when I am not reading and studying the Word like I
should, or when I am not doing all the things to stay strong spiritually
that I should, that is when I fail God. When you stop doing all the things
you need to do each day to stay strong spiritually, that is when you will
fall off the wagon.
I love you and care about you so much. Everyone reading these words today
knows what it is like to fight some bondage in your life, get victory for a
period of time, then fail. That is part of life my friend. The Book of
First John was written to Believers and tells us that if we say we don't sin
then we are a liar. God doesn't stop loving you or caring about you. His
promises didn't change, they are still true. YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR
IN CHRIST JESUS! My word for you today is that when you are in the battle
over some bondage in your life and fall off the wagon, go to God and tell
Him you are sorry and then get back on that road to victory!
Don't waste precious time having a pity party and being discouraged. Don't
sit there and listen to satan lie to you. Get back to doing the practical
and spiritual things you need to do in your life each day and start enjoying
the great feeling it is to live your life in obedience to God and His Word
and in victory over those weaknesses in your life. God has much work for
you to do, so the quicker you get back to walking on the road of victory,
the quicker you can get back to fulfilling your purpose in this life which
is to serve and glorify Him!
I will be praying for you today. Praying especially for those who have
fallen off the wagon. God is a God of restoration and He wants to restore
you today so that you can not only live in victory over your bondage, but
know the peace and joy of your relationship with Him. We all wish we could
go back and do things different in our life but that is not reality. The
reality is if you have fallen off the wagon it is time to get up, dust
yourself off, and get back into that close, intimate daily walk with the
Lord so that you are operating in His strenght and not your own. In your
strength it is only a matter of time before you fail. In His strength, you
will not fail but live in VICTORY!!!
In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller
***If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com
***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY? The fact is you will
die one day. At that moment, you will either spend eternity with the Lord
or be cast into everlasting darkness forever separated from God your
creator. To know for certain you will be forever with Jesus, go to:
http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html
(C) Copyright 2006, Bill Keller Ministries. All rights reserved