Are you ready for what may come?...it is better to face it head on!Today's Scripture:
Control yourselves and be careful! The devil, your enemy, goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat.
1 Peter 5:8
Toddlers can be fun, whether they're your own or someone else's. I read about Ruth who is a typical eighteen-month-old. You can easily entertain her by saying, "Where's Ruthie?" Immediately she slaps both chubby hands over her bright blue eyes and hysterically giggles until you cry, "There she is." Ruth much like my own children Maddie and Luke when they were small thinks that as long as she has here eyes covered and can't see you, that you can't see here either.
Sometimes men and women take this attitude about wrong things happening in the world.
Some men and women tend to think if they ignore problems-such as the wrong things people do in society-that those problems will not touch their lives.
Unfortunately, that's not true. The bible says that wrongdoing, hatred, racism, and so many other wrongs are real. We can't just cover our eyes and make them go away! Satan may not be a character with a tail and a pitchfork as we see the Halloween costumes make him appear at our local Wal-Mart, but he exists on a spiritual level and encourages humans to disobey God and act with bad intent. For me as a football player and now a mixed martial artist...when you have to hit another person their is a part of you spiritually that tells you that is not right and you have to flip the switch that allows you to hit with "Bad intentions" to get the job done as a warrior. Like little Ruthie shutting her eyes, you and I can pretend such spiritual enemies in our life don't exist and don't have an influence in the world, but when you do that, that's usually when you're the most vulnerable to temptations to do wrong.
No one is above being tempted. Unlike the combat or contact sports your "Bad intentions" will not get you ahead and there will not be a handshake or pat on the back waiting for you when the damage is done. In fact, everyone of us has areas in our lives which are more likely to succumb. Take an honest look at the areas of temptation you face. Set ways to guard yourself from giving in to temptation.
Selah people' and friends you can rise above temptation and evil. Start by looking it square in the face and acknowledging that it's there.
"Don't get blind side or hide your eyes to what is trying to bring you down. Let us be ready for the "Eye opener" and lower our shoulders ready to hit whatever stands in our way between us and Christ."
Your pastor,
Rev Patrick Muston ~ Via Mobile: Mount Olive, NC 28365
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