Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Do you know how to pronounce that word, "No!" to temptation? The "grace of God" will teach you! It teaches us to be the boss, the king: and none of the enemy's most alluring temptations can stand up against that word "No!"
And how does "the grace of God" succeed in teaching us backward mortals such a marvelous skill? By providing the dual motivation of (a) an appreciation of how Christ "gave Himself for us," and (b) the delightful anticipation of letting Him "purify for Himself a people" ready to honor Him at His "glorious appearing." It works!
Is choosing hard? When you fall in love with someone, is it hard to "forsake all others" and "cleave" to that loved one? The constraint of the love of Christ makes all the allurements of the world seem as pale as a streetlight glowing in comparison with the pure brilliance of the sun. Also, when we are yoked up with Christ, we find that He bears the weight.
This is what it means to "live by the Spirit" or to "walk in the Spirit." It is a constant choosing to say "No!" to temptation, and "Yes!" to the Holy Spirit. He never forsakes us, night or day, twenty-four hours a day. He is the One called to come and sit down beside us; He is with us constantly. "Whether you turn to the right or to the left," it is His voice that you hear "behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" (Isa. 30:21, NIV).
--Robert J. Wieland
From: Gold Tried In the Fire, 1983.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."
