Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: Living for Jesus

Watch And Pray

Encouragement, Trust

Watch And Pray

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41

 

The Spirit vs. The Flesh

Jesus warned Peter, James, and John to watch and pray as He went into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray to the Father.  He had just celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples and was about to be betrayed by Judas.  The guards were seeking to arrest Him and He knew He only had a couple of hours to prepare Himself for the worst suffering and torture known to man. Three times Jesus went away to pray and three times He returned and found the three men slumbering.

Jesus tried warning the three disciples but they let their guard down.  Little did they know that they were about to be tested and tempted more than ever before.  They didn’t think all of this would happen on that night because it was a time of Jewish celebration.  In verse 33 Peter exhaust himself and exclaimed that he would never deny Him even if he were to die.  Three times Peter denied Jesus before the rooster crowed.

We all fall into similar slumbering.  We think all is well and life couldn’t be any better.  That is when Satan prowls like a lion to devour.  We must never let our guard down.  We must always be alert to the temptations of sin.  Jesus said the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  We all have high regards to what we strive to do for Christ but in the end we each fall into the same category as Peter.  Good intentions are not good enough.

We can all relate to Paul and his dilemma in Romans 7:15-20.  He sums it up in verse 19, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

Prayer

Pray for the Lord to help you to stay alert keep you from the temptation of sin.

A Good Conscience

Encouragement, Faith

A Good Conscience

Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”
Acts 23:1

A Clean Slate

If you remember the life of Saul before the Lord changed his name to Paul, you will remember how he was persecuting the church and killing Christians.  He was not considered a good person in our perspective.  But here in this verse Paul says to the Sanhedrin council, “I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”  How could he say such a profound statement?

Paul knew his past was not good.  But he also knew that he had received God’s forgiveness and grace.   Even though he had previously acted out violent persecutions against Christians, he was a new person in Christ.  He always used his testimony to show people how Jesus changed his life.  So Paul could honestly stand before the council and declare that he had a good and clear conscience before God.  His slate was clean and he was cleared from all unrighteousness.

That is a great way to live.  We should all seek to live before God with a good conscience.  The only way you can effectively do so is to confess your sins and turn from all evil.  A problem occurs when we confess our sin but keep doing the same sinful things.  We are to confess, repent, and turn away from repeating the same sins.  The only way to receive a good conscience before God is to be clean and free from sin.  Paul was able to let the past stay in the past and live in the present for the Lord.  Is there any sin in your life that is troubling your soul and keeping you from having peace with God? Confess and repent today.

Prayer

Pray and ask God to reveal any unconfessed sin and repent from it today.

I Am With You

Encouragement, Trust

I Am With You

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41:10‬

His Presence Is Everything

This is a verse we all should memorize and keep close to our hearts.  Whenever you feel that God may not be listening, remember this promise.  Or when you feel you just can’t make it another day, know that God is still there.  When you just cannot do it, He will.  He holds everything together in the palm of His hand.

The truth of this great verse is found in the promise of His presence. We never know what we may encounter from day to day, but we can count on God being right here with us.  If we have fear, His presence is all we need.  If we are without understanding, His wisdom surrounds us.  When we are lacking, He fills us with His love.  The power of His presence is overwhelming when we realize how close He is.  God is not far away.  As a Christian, He is living inside of you.  He wants to be part of your life.

We should seek and desire His presence everyday.  Moses said to God in Exodus 33:15, “If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.”  Moses didn’t want to make a move until he knew God was going with them.  Moses was so use to seeking His presence that He would be lost without it. That should be our same attitude and desire.  God’s presence is the most important thing we know.  The Holy Spirit is God’s presence.

Prayer

Praise Him out loud by saying or singing, “You are my strength, You are my help, You are my God!”