FAITH TEST

Nobody wants any of those things, but the thoughts that are generated by them are what make problems grow. Your problems aren’t all caused by a sin that you committed, although some may be. Let me remind you, it’s whether or not you choose to entertain the problem that determines if it becomes sin. If you believe it is, that’s why our Savior Jesus Christ died for us, because not a single one of us is immune from sin.

Sometimes, it seems like trouble follows us wherever we go. And friend, nothing could be closer to the TRUTH. You DO have an enemy of your soul following you around watching and waiting for you to be vulnerable as to be able to try and overtake you.

This Psalm describes it well ...

This does not mean the enemy of our soul can just do so at will ...

We would have to choose to turn over the leash of our mind and spirit to him for him to be able to do so whether it be willingly or not or even known that we are doing so or not.

This is why you must defend your soul (mind) from taking in any foul or unwanted thoughts and deal with any weeds (bad thoughts) that do pop up from time to time.

You have just weeded out your garden, and it looks just beautiful. As your friend, I’ll remind you again, you must protect it. I can’t explain it better than Jesus did:

Yes, you read that right ... Evil Spirits have and will seek to destroy your garden.

Now would you believe there’s an upside to this? If your life is void of being presented with trial and tribulation, what do you think that means? It means that the devil isn’t concerned about you anymore. He doesn’t think you’re a threat to his cause. A Christian's trial and tribulation is something to rejoice about. Peter explains:

The rejoicing that Peter is talking about is that we get to prove our faith by conquering trial and tribulation. The trying of your faith establishes PATIENCE within. I will share this Scripture again due to the importance of the message.

And you will need this patience to receive the PROMISE of God.

It’s not that we are to welcome the problems, so much as it is that we welcome the opportunity to show the Lord our faith, by overcoming them.

Now, don’t get me wrong my dear friend, overcoming sin IS NOT easy.

REMEMBER ...

You inherited sin, just like you inherited your hair color and the color of your eyes.

Remember ... You were born with it.

FAITH TEST PURPOSE
THE TRYING OF YOUR FAITH ESTABLISHES PATIENCE

We’re going on another field trip now, to visit the Epistle (Of Paul the Apostle) to the Romans.

If there was ever anybody who can testify of trial and tribulation, it would have to be the Apostle Paul. In the letter that he wrote to the Romans, he explains our “humanity,” that we sometimes refer to as “human nature.”

Okay, this gets kinda deep, so let’s look at this closely. How could satan make sin even more sinful? By using something holy to deceivingly bring evil to people.

This is an interesting phrase that Paul uses “sold under sin.” It means that we as humans, inherited sin, because Adam and Eve sold their purity for it. We inherently do it. Now, I encourage you to read the next part ever so slowly, because it can be hard to understand if you don't digest it little by little. Paul explains original sin so well, that you may just be speechless when you’re through reading it, because you’ve probably felt this way many times before, but were never able to put it into words. Get ready for more TRUTH.

Are you at a loss for words? That’s because Paul took them right out of your mouth! My dear friend, this is something that we all feel, often, and yet we think that nobody understands us because we think that we are the ONLY ONES that feel that way. When really, everyone is that way, they just don’t know how to explain it either.

In other words, often ties when you try to do good, when you have only good intentions at heart, evil comes a calling. If this is still a little difficult to understand, think of it this way, let's say you are in good health and you take precautionary measures to stay in good health, but you still catch a cold. You didn't ask for the cold but it was introduced into you by one means or another. Once you have the cold, you don't take each and every measure you can to heal from it, maybe because you don't have medication at hand or you have responsibilities that keep you from bed rest and chicken soup and a vaporizer etc, so you suffer from it longer than necessary. Now, you can substitute sin for the cold and see how it is not your fault that sin is introduced into your life, but if you allow it to stay by entertaining it or by not dismissing it, it will hang around longer and very likely grow in proportion.

Sooooooo, the next time you’re beating yourself up and saying in your mind, Why did I do that!? You can recall what Paul said, O wretched man that I am! Who can rescue me from this misery? And then, remember the answer that he gave.

He’s the only one that can save us.

Knowing this TRUTH prepares you for the inevitable trials that you will face as you begin to walk the Path of TRUTH. Whenever you know that potential danger awaits, prepare yourself.

You must protect your mind ...

Thoughts are seeds. You may think they’re harmless, because nobody can see or hear them except you and the Lord.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE ...

Have you ever been doing something, and a thought pops into your head about something that happened some time ago? Then you think about it for a little while and your spirit changes? And you think about it some more, and you find other reasons why it makes you mad. And the more you think about it, the madder you get! Pretty soon, you’re thinking about things that happened years ago that are done and over with that you’re still mad about, and getting madder!

See how a seed can grow with THOUGHT?

WHAT IF YOU WATERED GOOD SEEDS WITH THOUGHT?

FAITH TEST CHART REVISITED
THE TRYING OF YOUR FAITH NEEDS TO BE DEFENDED

The chart I shared with you in the last step is an excellent way to do so, and could and should be done every day until it becomes a habit. It takes up your time. When you are doing God business, the chances of the enemy tempting you lessen. Perhaps you've heard the saying, idle hands are the devil's workshop.

You can’t stop the devil from tempting you with thoughts, but you CAN choose whether or not to accept the thoughts and whether you will ponder on them by using that chart until it becomes your natural reaction.

You have to train yourself to recognize bad thoughts and arrest them immediately. As you’ve learned, your first line of defense is to tell the TRUTH. If the thought doesn’t leave, there are many things you can do to change your thoughts.

Here are a few examples:

Sing a spiritual song in your mind, or out loud, that reinforces righteousness.

Concentrate, on the words that you’re singing, because you can sing and be thinking of something else at the same time. It happens while you read and do other things all the time.

How many times have you had to start a paragraph over again because you read it while your mind was on something else, and when your thoughts returned to what you were reading, you couldn’t remember one single word you read but you are halfway down the page.

I DO hope you are not experiencing this now ... 😬

These are some other ideas of how to chase undesirable thoughts away:

Recite the 23^rd Psalm.

Listen to some awesome Christian music.

Recite the books of the Bible in order.

Write in your Journal.

Do a MIRACLE GROW activity.

Have some Christian Fellowship.

Do anything that replaces the bad with good.

BUT ... DO ADDRESS THE LIE.

To do nothing is still having made a choice.

FAITH TEST BY TEMPTATIONS
THE TRYING OF YOUR FAITH IS COMMON FOR ALL CHRISTIANS

My friend, let us be real ... You are trying to live a Godly life in an ungodly world. Temptation is inevitable and everywhere. You can't turn on a television without the enemy trying to lure you with the trends of worldly ways. You’ll have to work hard at it. It won’t be easy at first, but you’ll soon get the hang of it.

Anything that’s worthwhile, takes time. Focus on positive things. Think good thoughts.

Here’s an excuse that might pop into your mind, that we’re going to attack with TRUTH.

I’M ONLY HUMAN

Is that so? I mean, is that really true? ONLY human?

Remember, the Spirit of God lives in you.

After reading what Paul wrote just now, it should make you cringe to believe that you’re only human. Don’t believe the lies that the devil plants that say it’s human nature to feel this way or that.

Don’t let him CON-vince you into using excuses that allow certain behavior or thoughts that are not righteous. As a Christian, you don’t follow human nature, but a Spiritual nature. Paul said, the carnal mind is enmity against God.

I encourage you to look those two words up in the dictionary. Let me do it for you:

carnal = temporal - worldly - fleshly

enmity = rejection - hostility - hatred

Prayer is another fantastic way to control your thoughts. Evil cannot contend with God.