WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE Part 3

In February of 2005, Bill made an impulsive decision to leave his career, sell his home, cash in his retirement and move to Cozumel, Mexico to start a business. He said; “I knew if things didn’t get better there I wasn’t coming back, I’d just die there.” He went to Mexico alone, or so he thought. God protected him through hallucinations and hurricanes. He was in a drug induced state of paranoia and schizophrenia. After the destruction of his home and nearly his life, two men named Gabriel and Michael brought Bill through the jungles of Mexico and back to the U.S. border. He made it back and began again trying to control his addictions on his own. He also began attending another church oriented to the gay lifestyle.

Matthew 7, 21-28; “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Therefore whoever hears these saying of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

After yet another suicide attempt his mother’s church helped him find his way to the Colony of Mercy. Once here, he did not want to discuss his homosexuality, only to be freed from drugs. But God was about to begin a “special education” in Bill’s life. He was assigned to Chaplain Jim. And the first order of business that Bill had in mind was to make sure Jim understood that he was here to get clean…of drugs. As far as his homosexuality, that topic was off limits, he told Chaplain Jim that there was NO WAY! that God hadn’t created him a gay man. And he wasn’t going to listen to anyone who said differently. While he was laying down the law or should I say the lawlessness, Chaplain Jim was silently praying for God to help him minister the truth to Bill. He gave Bill a bible and simply asked him to begin studying it. God directed Chaplain Jim to let the Spirit do His work in Bill, as 2nd Timothy 2:24-26 so instructs; “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

Bill said that had his counselor fought with him or been in his face so to speak, he would have left. Instead he says: “Keswick created an environment where I could study the scriptures myself and my heart could hear the truth of God. It wasn’t quarrelsome but gentle and kind instruction that allowed God to lead me to repentance. It was safe, calm, quiet and away from the distractions of the world. I’ve learned how to have godly friendships with other men of God. There have been some intense conversations and I admire the leadership of the men here.
I want people who are hurting like I was, to know there is hope. To be continued . . .

This week’s Freedom Fighter has been written by staff writer, Dina Seaton.

Great Quote: We need at times, some of us at most times, that Charity from others which, being Love Himself in them, loves the unlovable. But this, though a sort of love we need, is not the sort we want. We want to be loved for our cleverness, beauty, generosity, fairness, usefulness.
The first hint that anyone is offering us the highest love of all is a terrible shock. This is so well recognized that spiteful people will pretend to be loving us with Charity precisely because they know that it will wound us. To say to one who expects a renewal of Affection, Friendship, or Eros, “I forgive you as a Christian” is merely a way of continuing the quarrel. Those who say it are of course lying. But the thing would not be falsely said in order to wound unless, if it were true, it would be wounding. (Clive Staples) C. S. Lewis

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE Part 2

The need for some type of spiritual direction led Bill to a large church in Dallas that as he put it; “explained away the bible. They aided me in believing that my lifestyle was okay in the eyes of God and I found comfort in this.” Bill shared that they presented strong arguments conforming God’s word to justify their sins. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was explained something like this: “the men trying to force themselves on the others were rapes; it was an act of lust, that’s not what we are doing. We’re people in committed monogamous relationships, families; it’s not the same at all.” He wound up meeting and entering into a long term relationship with another man at the church in whom he began to idolize.

Someone in Bill’s situation wanted to hear their version of the truth. If they were wrong then his whole life would be wrong and to Bill that just wasn’t an option. Bill knows he was deceived and that so are they. He shared this portion of scripture from 2nd Thessalonians 2 vs. 9-12 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

While living in Texas he began to build a successful career as well. He and the man he was involved with had many things the world would consider to be “everything.” This relationship was to them “beautiful”, they traveled together, had cars and a home with all the bells and whistles. He showed me a picture of a room with a piano in it, and when I said; “oh, I didn’t know you could play the piano”. He replied; “I can’t, the piano played itself.” Sounds like they had what they thought was a wonderful life.

So why did Bill still want to die? He was trying to fill his loneliness with possessions, drugs, sex and people. He felt he had to move fast to stay in front of his thoughts of depression and death. He took medications to help him with the depression and anxiety but to no avail. One night after a party at his home he overdosed on drugs and stopped breathing. After CPR he woke up in great pain and confusion, this was what normal looked like in his life. He spent that Thanksgiving unable to move or talk and being fed by a stranger God put in his path. Everyone else ran in fear of his dying. Yet four days later Bill continued to abuse himself . . . to be continued

Today’s Freedom Fighter has been written by Keswick Staff writer, Dina Seaton.

Great quote: After a hard day scrambling to find your way around in the world, it’s assuring to come home to a place you know. God can be equally familiar to you. With time you can learn where to go for nourishment, where to hide for protection, where to turn for guidance.Just as your earthly house is a place of refuge, so God’s house is a place of peace. Max Lucado The fall semester of the Keswick Institute of Biblical Studies will begin the end of September. Join us for eight weeks of classes co-sponsored by Lancaster Bible College and earn CEU’s transferrable to LBC or PBU. Call today for our brochure or download from our website:http://www.americaskeswick.org/documents/AK7003KIBSBrochure082207.pdf

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE (PART 1)

This week we are sharing the testimony of one of our Colony grads who has recently joined our Keswick staff.

Forty-two years ago in Memphis, Tennessee a baby was born. “Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Pruitt you have a beautiful, gay, baby boy!” Well… that wasn’t quite the way it happened. They did have a beautiful baby boy but he wasn’t born gay. That was a desire he chose to follow some years later. Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Bill Pruitt, currently a full-time intern here at America’s KESWICK.

Bill came to the Colony of Mercy at the urging of his mom and her church. Bill was raised in a Christian home and his mom saw to it that he and his three brothers attended church regularly. His dad was a good provider but worked long hours and wasn’t as much a part of Bill’s daily life.

At the age of twelve Bill says he was saved by Christ but didn’t walk with Him for long. He was longing for intimacy, belonging and love from men. He found himself falling into a homosexual lifestyle early in his teens. Bill made it very clear that he didn’t want to be gay; “the only time I felt comfortable in this sin was when I was high or drunk, this allowed me to tune God out of my life.” He quickly became addicted to drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. While talking with Bill he named more than one substance he abused that I had never even heard of. They were lethal substances and could have killed him, or so he hoped.

Bill was suicidal most of his life. On one hand he had his church and family telling him that his life was all wrong yet the desires inside caused great conflict because he felt that surely a loving God wouldn’t have created him this way and given him such strong desires only to deny him the fulfillment of them. Bill couldn’t handle living a double life any longer. He fled Memphis in an effort to live his life the way he wanted without opposition. He moved to Dallas and continued living exactly as he had in Tennessee. You would think he’d found it peaceful with no one to tell him how wrong it was or how much better God had intended for him. Only, there is no real peace for anyone unless they first have peace with God. The constant inner turmoil and conflict inside of him continued relentlessly.

At the age of 23 he found himself praying to God that he would allow him to go to sleep and never wake up. I asked Bill what he felt at the time that would have accomplished. Would he then be out of this horrific turmoil and mental torture and find peace? Or was it that final choice he would make to kill himself would be the last thing he’d ever have to decide? Or did he even care? He’d be dead. No one there to say; “this is wrong”. I was surprised by his answer, he said; “All I wanted was for the pain to end, I thought it would be a release.”

I have to admit that statement alone, more than anything else he said, gave me the shivers.
What a horrible lie he had been living under. There wouldn’t have been any release from his bondage…not ever. He said he had never thought of where he would be after he died. The destination of his eternal soul wasn’t a real concern to him. He grew up hearing as he put it; “hell, fire and brimstone preaching.” But without the love, compassion and mercy that is also God’s truth. He said; “people need to hear the truth, but they also desperately need to hear about the hope. Jesus said speak the truth in love.”

God answered no to Bill’s prayer that night and would not allow him to die. He found himself attending AA meetings and tried to get his addictions under control himself. He was failing. To be continued… (Written by Keswick staff writer, Dina Seaton)

Great quote: If we do anything to further the kingdom of God, we may expect to find what Christ found on that road – abuse, indifference, injustice, misunderstanding, trouble of some kind. Take it. Why not? To that you were called. In Latin America someone who feels sorry for himself is said to look like a donkey in a downpour. If we think of the glorious fact that we are on the same path with Jesus, we might see a rainbow. Elisabeth Elliot

TEMPTATION Part 5

Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation.

I will wrap up the study on temptation. I am not trying to beat a dead horse, so to speak. But the reality is that the last couple of days I have heard and witnessed numerous horror stories of men and women who have watched and PLAYED with temptation, and now are facing the horrific consequences of bad choices.

Here are some insights from the book TEMPTATION on the subject of HELP IN WATICH AGAINST TEMPTATION:

1. Beware of relying on your OWN counsel, understanding, and reason. Though they seem very plausible in your defense, they will leave and betray you. When the temptation come to ANY height, they will turn on you and take the side of your enemy. They will please as much in support of temptation, whatever it is, as they did against it before.

2. Beware of relying even on your most strenuous efforts in such methods as prayer and fasting against a particular lust or temptation. These will not help you if, in the meantime, you are negligent in other areas. A man may wrestle, cry, and struggle over a particular temptation, and then immediately give way to worldly ways, worldly conformity, looseness and neglect in other things. It would only be right if the Lord Jesus Christ were to leave such a person in the hour of temptation.

3. Remember that you are always under the eye of Christ, the great captain of our salvation, who has told us to watch and pray that we enter not into temptation.

4. Consider that if you neglect this duty, and so fall into temptation, which you assuredly will, when you are entangled in it, God may bring with it some heavy affliction or judgment on you which, because of your entanglement, you will be forced to look on as evidence of his anger and hatred of sin.

Let us strive to keep our spirit unentangled. Let us avoid all appearance of evil and all the ways leading to it. Let us particularly beware of all the courses of life, business, society, and employment that we have already found to our disadvantage.” Adapted from TEMPTATION – Resisted and Pulsed.

I am pleading with you, men: Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. I encourage you to order this book from the KESWICK Book and Gift Shop (732-350-1187 ext. 31)

Great quote: Many times I like to think of God’s Word as God’s pocket for His work. God put all His work into His Word. If God were standing among us today, and He wanted to show us His Son’s work and the proof of this work, how could He do it? He put the work of His Son’s cross in his Word. He also put the proof of His Son’s resurrection in His Word. Today God communicates all these things to us through His Word. When we receive His Word, we receive the proof of His work. Behind the Word are the facts. If there were no facts behind the words, the words would be empty. Behind the words there surely are the facts. God has placed the work of His Son in the Word and has communicated this Word to us. When we believe in His Word, we are believing in Him. Watchman Nee

TEMPTATION #4

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Matthew 6:13

I plan to share just one or two more days on this topic, but I feel that it is important for us as men to look at this area of our lives if we are going to be thinking victory. May the reality of this truth hits home because we see the AFFECTS of sin every day in the lives of the men who are in the Colony of Mercy.

But even more tragically, are the number of calls I get each week from men who have been in leadership in the church who have yielded to temptation and now have had their lives destroyed because they have ignored the warning signs and plunged deep into sin, some losing everything including their jobs and families.

Listen to the warning John Owen gives: “The folly of the hearts of men is nowhere shown more openly in the days in which we live than by a cursed boldness and neglect of the warnings of God, and by a lack of consideration of so many that have already fallen into such a sad estate. Yet men run into and put themselves under the power of temptation. They will risk anything, not considering their own weakness, or the concerns of their poor souls. They will walk over the dead and slain who have fallen on this path. They see others fall before their eyes, but on they go without regard or trembling. Through this snare hundreds and thousands of professors have fallen within just a few short years.

We need to remember that we have no strength or power to withstand apart from what Christ can do in and through us. Some of us are not only weak, but we have bought into the lie of deception, which is the worst kind of weakness. If a castle is very strong and well fortified, and yet there is a traitor on the inside who is ready to betray it at the first opportunity, that castle is not secure from the enemy. We have traitors in our very heart that are already there to take part and unite against us at every temptation. They will argue for us to give up in the assault; they will even solicit and bribe the temptation to do its work, just as a traitor incites the enemy.

Do not flatter yourself that you can hold out. There are secret lusts that lie dormant, lurking in your hearts, temporarily quiet, waiting for the opportunity of temptation to befall you. They will then rise, argue, cry, disquiet seduce, with perseverance, until either they are killed or satisfied. He who promises himself that the frame of his heart will be the same under the power of temptation as it was before is woefully mistaken!

He whose heart currently abhors the thoughts of a particular sin will be powerfully inflamed towards it when he enters into temptation. All contrary reasonings and objections will be overpowered and silenced. He will deride his former fears, cast aside his scruples, and condemn his former convictions. Little did Peter ever think he could so easily deny His Master as soon as he was pressed to admit he knew him. When the hour of temptation came, all resolutions were forgotten and all love to Christ was buried. The current temptation united with Peter’s carnal fear and carried all before.” Adapted from TEMPTATION – RESISTED & REPULSED by John Owen.

And by the way – this was written in 1658! The book is available in the Keswick Book and Gift Shop. I highly recommend it to you: 732-350-1187 ext. 31.

Great quote: The real conflict is inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the catacombs of concentration camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are victories on the battle-field if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves? Maximilian Kolbe

TEMPTATION PART #3

“Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation.” Matthew 26:41

We all face temptations in our lives. Sometimes the temptations are greater than others. In fact, if we are honest, there are times when the temptation we face is very intense. If we are honest with ourselves, we know this is a dangerous place to be in. The danger comes when we begin to toy with the temptation in our minds or try to see how far we can go without crossing that imaginary line.

John Owen says that this is when temptation has reached its hour. Here are several observations he makes in his book, TEMPTATION … RESISTED AND REPULSED:

1. Temptation obtains its hour by long solicitation, causing the mind to frequently converse with the evil. Frequent temptations promote further thoughts about the evil.

2. Temptation has reached its hour when our souk is not filled with dislike and abhorrence of it and its ways, not with pity and prayer for deliverance.

3. Temptation has reached its hour when we have allowed our minds to conclude that this is not absolutely evil.

4. Temptation has reached its hour when it is restless, urgent, and argumentative. It is a time of battle, and sin will give no rest for the soul. Satan sees his advantage, the convergence of his forces, and knows that he must now prevail, or be hopeless forever. Satan pushes this opportunity and time of advantage with special pleas and promises. He has taken some ground in his arguments so far, and seeks to extend his ground further. He reminds you of a full pardon after sin. He realizes that if he does not win now, he will lose the opportunity. When a temptation presses in upon us through our imagination and reason, and when opportunities, solicitations, and advantages press us from outside, let your soul know that the hour of temptation’s power has come. The glory of God depends upon the victory of this trial.

5. Temptation has reached its hour when it brings both fear and allurement. Men sometimes are carried into sin just by the love of it, but they often persist and remain in it because of the fear of the consequences that might follow repentance and full disclosure. When our reasoning’s run between our lust and our fear, and are ready to entangle us, we know it is the hour of temptation.

The Savior teaches us how to avoid entering into temptation: WATCH AND PRAY. To watch means to be on guard, take heed, and to consider all the ways and means that the enemy might use to approach us (See 1 Corinthians 16:13; Revelation 3:2) Everyone needs to pay close attention to the ways and means provided by God to keep our hearts from getting entangled in the allurements and subtleties of Satan, and the occasions and advantages of sin in the world.

The second direction is to PRAY. This important duty is known to all. These two duties are the whole endeavor of faith to preserve us from temptation and reaching its hour!” Adapted from TEMPTATION – RESISTED AND REPULSED (Banner of Truth)

Are you at a dangerous point in how you are dealing with temptation? If so, purpose today to do what Jesus instructed you to do: WATCH AND PRAY!

Great quote: “The connection between Christ’s death and the Christian’s call to self-abnegating service is made quite explicit in such teaching of the Gospels as ‘if any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ (Mark 8:34) and ‘Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple’ (Luke 14). The Cross, then, stands for the entire Christian way of looking at and living life. It is the real crux of decision for or against Christ. One can do three things with the Cross-and only three. One can deny that it happened because if acknowledged, it would make nonsense of life; one can acknowledge it and decide in consequence that life is meaningless; or one can find in it a clue to a deeper meaning in life than otherwise appears. There are no other possibilities.” John Knox, The Death of Christ

ENTERING INTO TEMPTATION – Part 2

“The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations.” 2 Peter 2:9

The past couple days have been discouraging to hear stories of guys who have thrown in the towel and given up on their desire to be more than a conqueror. I’m not talking about grads from the Colony – I am talking about men who have served in leadership positions in ministry. Men we must be vigilant in terms of guarding our hearts!

Understanding temptation and its power is one of the ways that we will develop a THINK VICTORY! mindset that will help us move from victory to victory rather than living from defeat to defeat.

Listen to what Puritan John Owen’s says about entering into temptation:

“Satan attacks us with greater force than his ordinary solicitation to sin. He uses fears, allurements, persecutions, seductions, by himself or by others. He takes advantage of a lust or corruption and by his instigation it approaches us to provoke us or terrify us with a much greater disturbance than usual. When we enter into temptation there has been a special activity of Satan to take particular advantage of us. Our heart must be entangled enough in the temptation to cause it to rise up in its own defense, yet not be wholly able to eject or cast out the poison or leaven that has been injected.

Every great and pressing temptation has its hour, a season in which it grows to its greatest force, when it is most vigorous, active, operative, and prevalent. It may take a while to get to this point, but given the right circumstances, outward or inward, temptation arrives at this very dangerous hour. The outcome is that the temptation has power over a man and carries him quite away before it, when at other times it has little or no power over him. Then he can despise it, laugh at its expression, and easily resist it. But temptation at other times is supported by other circumstances and occurrences that give it new strength and effectiveness. The man is weakened; the hour has come, he has entered into it, and it prevails.

All will experience a season in which their temptations will be more urgent, sin’s reasoning’s more plausible, its pretensions more glorious, hopes of recovery seemingly clearer, opportunities broader and more open, the doors of evil more beautiful than ever they have been before.
Blessed is he who is prepared for such a season! There is no escape without this preparation. If we maintain preparation, we are safe.” Adapted from TEMPTATION … Resisted and Repulsed (Banner of Truth) This powerful little book is available in the Keswick Book and Gift Shop
(732-350-1187 ext. 31)

People in Mexico are either taking precautions for safety or saying, “It won’t ever happen to me!” We can do the same in our lives. We can be vigilant about THINKING VICTORY! and PREPARE or we can play this game of “I am invincible! I would never _____________ — well you fill in the blank. In my short lifetime, I have seen way too many casualties on the battlefield – not because they were laying down their lives for King Jesus, but because they have allowed sin to reign supreme in their lives. Don’t be a statistic! Prepare! THINK VICTORY!

Great quote: Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless. Oswald Chambers

ENTERING INTO TEMPTATION

“The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation.” 2 Peter 2:9

On Friday I began to share with you some insights from the Puritan, John Owen’s book, TEMPTATION. It is a must read for every Christian man.

“Entering into temptation is not merely being tempted. We will never be free from temptation while Satan continues in his power and malice, and while the world and lust continue. There is not promise in Scripture that we shall not be tempted at all. There is no occasion to pray for an absolute freedom from temptation, since there is no scriptural promise to claim concerning it. The direction that we do have is, ‘Lead us not into temptation’ (Matthew 6:13) It is ENTERING INTO TEMPTATION that we are to pray against.

It is possible to be tempted, yet not ENTER INTO temptation. More is intended by the express, ‘Lead us not into temptation,’ than the ordinary work of Satan and our own lusts which will be sure to tempt us every day. There is something specific in entering into temptation that is not the saint’s everyday work. It is something that befalls them particularly in reference to sin’s SEDUCTION on one account or another. It is an entrance into a powerful or frightening allurement.

Entering into temptation does not mean that you have been conquered by it. It does not mean that you commit sin or evil. A man may ‘enter into temptation; and yet not fall UNDER temptation. God CAN make a way of escape. When a man has entered into temptation, God can break the snare, tread down Satan, and make the soul MORE THAN A CONQUEROR. Christ, our example, entered INTO temptation, but was not foiled by it.

The apostle calls it it ‘fall into temptation’ (1 Timothy 6:9) as a man falls into a pit or deep place where there are traps and snares with which he might be entangled. The man is not instantly killed or destroyed, but he is entangled and detained. He does not know how to get free or be at liberty …

“The Lord knows how to deliver the godly OUT OF temptations.” If they are entangled with them, God knows how to deliver them out of them. When we allow a temptation to enter us, then we ‘enter temptation.’ When sin knocks at the door, we are at liberty; but when a temptation comes in and we allow it to speak with our heart, reason with our mind, entice and allure our affections, for a long or short time, then sin subtly and almost imperceptibly draws our soul to take particular notice of it; we ‘enter into temptation.”

How about you this morning? Can you relate to what John Owen has shared about entering into temptation? Remember: “The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation.” Is there an area that you are dabbling in? Playing with fire thinking you won’t be burned? Cry out to Him today and allow Him to provide YOUR way of escape.

Great thought: “Always be alert, so that you may discover your temptations early and recognize them for what they are! Most men do not perceive their enemy until they have already been wounded.” – John Owen

TEMPTATION – A RE-VISIT

“Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation …” Mark 14:38

Several years ago I was impacted by Bruce Wilkinson’s book, PERSONAL HOLINESS IN TIMES OF TEMPTATION. So much so that we made it a part of the curriculum that we teach at the Colony of Mercy.

One of the things that Bruce teaches is that when we are faced with temptation, God always provides us with a “way of escape” uniquely crafted by our Father (See 1 Corinthians 10:13) That principle has been a big help to me when facing temptation.

This summer I read a book that I have wanted to read for several years but just couldn’t get through it. Puritan John Owen has a huge work on temptation, but our friends at Banner of Truth recently released an abridged edition. IT IS A MUST READ!!! For the next several days, I want to share with you some nuggets that I have gleaned from the book that I believe we all need to hear in regards to temptation.

It was helpful for me to understand the definition of temptation:

“A temptation, in general, is anything that, for any reason, exerts a force or influence to seduce and draw the mind and heart of man from the obedience which God requires of him to any kind of sin.

In particular, it is a temptation if it causes a man to sin, gives him opportunity to do so, or causes him to neglect his duty. Temptation may suggest evil to heart, or draw out the evil that is already there! It is also a temptation to a man if something is by any means able to distract him from his communion with God, or the consistent universal obedience that is required of him.

To clarify, I am considering temptation not just as the active force of seduction to sin, but also the thing itself by which we are tempted. Whatever it is, within us or without us, that hinders us from duty or provides an occasion for sin, this should be considered temptation. It could be business, employment, the course of one’s life, company, affections, nature, corrupt purposes, relations, delights, honor, reputation, esteem, position, abilities, gifts, etc., that provide the opportunity to sin or neglect duty. These are true temptations just as much as the most violent solicitations of Satan or allurements of the world. Whoever does not realize this in on the brink of ruin.” Temptation – Resisted and Repulsed by John Owen

Think through your particular temptations through the lens of this powerful definition of temptation. My guess is that you never thought about it that way – well I hope you will now.

Great quote: The desire of love is to give. The desire of lust is to get. Ed Cole

I have ordered copies of the book and they are available through the Keswick Book & Gift Shop. Call and purchase your copy today: 732-350-1187 ext. 31.

WAIT

“I waited patiently for the Lord!” (Psalm 40:1)

Two words in this verse go hand in hand – wait and patience. Two words that I am really not too good at doing. I am a fixer. If there is a problem, by mind jumps in and wants to immediately try and figure out how to fix it. It becomes a challenge!

Have you found yourself asking the Lord to do something and then find that He isn’t quite moving at the pace you thought He should? That’s where I am. I am being honest. I’ve shared about the women’s ministry property and how cool this potential location would be for us to get started.

But we are at a standstill with the seller. I spoke with one of our speakers who also is a fixer and he gave me an idea. I was already to run with it this morning … until I had my quiet time! I was pretty excited about MY plan and MY fix for this delay – then God spoke to my heart through this verse and the words of Mrs. Cowman from Streams in the Desert …

“Waiting is much more difficult than walking, for waiting requires patience, and patience is a rare virtue … God has a purpose in all of HIS delays. ‘The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.’ (Psalm 37:23).

Next to this verse, in the margin of his Bible, George Mueller made this note: ‘And the STOPS too!’ It is a vital principle of the Lord’s guidance for a Christian never to move from the spot where he is sure God has placed him, until the ‘pillar of cloud’ (Exodus 13:21) moves.

Once we learn to wait for the Lord’s leading in EVERYTHING, we will know the strength that finds its highest point in an even and steady walk. Many of us are lacking the strength we so desire, but God gives complete power for every task He calls us to perform. Waiting – keeping yourself faithful to His leading – this is the secret of strength. And anything that does not align with obedience to Him is a waste of time and energy. Watch and wait for HIS leading.

Must life be considered a failure for someone compelled to stand still, forced into inaction and required to watch the great, roaring tides of life from shore? No – victory is then to be won by standing still and quietly waiting. Yet this is a thousand times harder to do than in the past, when you rushed headlong into the busyness of life. It requires much more courage to stand and wait and still not lose heart or lose hope, to submit to the will of God, to give up opportunities for work and leave honors to others, and to be quiet, confident and rejoicing while the busy multitude goes happily along their way. The greatest life is: ‘after you have done everything, to stand!’ (Ephesians 6:13)

Well that is where I am today: Wait, stand still, be patient – I can’t do that on my own, but through Him – I can! How about you? Is there something in your life that he is saying “Wait patiently on me?”

Great quote: To pray is to desire; but it is to desire what God would have us desire.

Francois Fenelon