Category: . . . Resisting Temptation

The Chains of Habit

The chains of habit are often too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken. This old saying has been quoted and adapted by many writers and speakers over the years. No one is completely sure who should get original credit for...

What if You Fall Back in Love With This Present Age?

One man always comes to my mind when I think about people I’ve seen fall away from the Lord. He was so zealous for Jesus when I baptized him. His fervor lasted for several years. But then he started to “run with the wrong crowd.” He...

The God Who Rescues the Godly

Do you ever feel surrounded, outnumbered, overwhelmed by the ungodliness of our culture? Do you ever find yourself complaining about how difficult it is to consistently pursue holiness in the midst of such corruption? If you were completely honest with yourself, would you admit that you...

Sports Resolutions for the New Year

Whether you play, coach, or just watch, sports are a means of both glorifying God and sinning against Him. Choose the resolutions below that you are prepared to follow, tell the Lord what you are committing to, and ask Him for the strength to succeed. You...

Spiritual Drift

“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Hebrews 2:1 NASB). Some time ago, I spent a day on a Florida beach with my family. Nestled in my inner tube (not the one I...

Serious Bible Readers Are Not Serious Sinners

I’ll start by making a bold assertion: The true Christian who becomes absorbed in the study of God’s word, who spends the largest percentage of his otherwise unallocated time in serious, concentrated and thoughtful Bible reading, who orders his life around this pursuit and the behaviors...

Pulling Up Stakes, Putting Down Tyrants

The apostle Paul speaks of our helplessness before the tyrant Sin. It reigns over our lives, he teaches in Romans 6. He speaks of it as a slavery that cannot be broken. If a man without Christ attempts, through sheer will power, to correct himself, he...

Doubting Jesus

Do believers ever have doubts about Jesus? John the Baptist did, which might be surprising because he had a stellar start as a preacher of the gospel. For example, he declared, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier...

35 Reasons Not To Sin

Because a little sin leads to more sin. Because my sin invites the discipline of God. Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted. Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me. Because my sin places a greater burden on my...