I see many people that finally make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their savior and they seem to think that since they are saved, now, everything is going to change in their life. All of their problems are gone. They are now going to become debt free. Their job is going to be better and they can finally get along with their bosses. All of their family squabbles will go away and now their family is going to love them for who they are.

Since I have been saved I’ve had really good things happen to me and I have had some really bad things happen to me. I have been addicted to drugs, smoking and alcohol. Yes, I lived a party life. There were times during that time when I thought things were going really great (at least for me) and then the fun was gone. The problem with that kind of lifestyle is that every thing that you do ends up having a negative effect on you – both mentally and physically. Some of my indiscretions, I feel, I still pay for today both mentally and physically.

The wild times seemed really great at the time (in the back of my mind, I knew that what I was doing was wrong and God was not happy with me and sometimes I even dared Him to strike me dead if I was such a bad person and He didn’t like me anymore – notice He never did) but the fun was only for a while – it could have been a few hours or even a few years, and anything in between.

Some might think that it might be fun for me to go into detail about all of the things I’ve done that was bad, but the only thing that that would do is possibly titillate your senses and bring things back up in my memories that I would rather not think about because those things are “under the blood” of Jesus Christ – He has forgiven me of those things and I am done with them now. I’m sorry to tell you that I am not going into detail regarding my sins. I will suffice it to say that I kind of feel like the Apostle Paul when he said that he was the “Chief of sinners”. If there was anyone that really didn’t deserve to go to Heaven, it would be me!

When we get saved, we are supposed to be changed into a new creation, old things are supposed to be passed away and the best thing is that He replaces those old dead things with new interests (2 Corinthians 5:17). I may be making this sound like it is a walk in the park right here – but it isn’t. Some of those old dead things like to hang on for a while and make our lives miserable for a while longer.

The great thing about it all is that Jesus is right there with us to hold our hands to make the transition easier and so that you can experience the true love of God (1 Corinthians 10:13), from Him and also from others that share your new-found faith that may have gone through something similar. It pays to check with your local church to see if there might be someone in particular that you could get together with that might be able to give you some help. “The help” may be someone, doing anything from just hanging out and having a strong shoulder for you to cry on or it could be someone that feels that the best comfort would be in the pages of God’s Word – in His promises and the things that Jesus did while He was walking on the earth.

The bottom line is that once you become a Christian, life is not going to be a walk in the park – if it is, you are doing something wrong. The thing is that if things are just “peaches and cream”, then you probably aren’t working for God! You see, when we are doing the right thing, the devil is going to do anything and everything to try to keep you from getting your job done for God. If you are NOT working for Christ, the devil is cheering you along on the sidelines because you are doing NOTHING for Christ and therefore you aren’t any threat to him.

Christians, I’m trying to tell you, without pulling punches, that the best thing that you could be doing right now is serving God in everything that you do. How do you do that? Well, you have to examine your life and get rid of those things in your life that don’t have any value in serving the Lord and get them out of your life. In place of those things you MUST replace them with good things that God would approve of in your life, that would make you a better Christian. It will seem at times that the whole situation isn’t worth it for you to do these things.

I’ll tell you this right now, we are made for God’s use not for our own pleasure. If what you are doing is for yourself, you need to rethink it and probably change it. If it serves the flesh, and especially in a sexual manner, that would be unpleasing to the Lord, you need to get rid of it. Break off that relationship that you shouldn’t be in. Yes, it will be hard at first. Anything worth having is worth working for and worth sacrificing for. Sacrifice means that you have to give something up or change something.

Listen to what the Bible says about it all:

Jesus said this:
Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
Your reward is going to be in heaven. I know it is hard to equate what you are doing when you don’t see immediate reward for it, but please do it anyway.

Paul said this, starting out talking about some of the Jews that were out in the wilderness after leaving Egypt:
1 Corinthians 10:5 “But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
1 Corinthians 10:6 “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
1 Corinthians 10:7 “Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. [Exodus 32:6]
1 Corinthians 10:8 “Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
1 Corinthians 10:9 “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
1 Corinthians 10:10 “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1 Corinthians 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:14 “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10:15 “I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.”
Paul is assuming that he is talking to wise people. To people that are intelligent and will take what he is talking about and apply it to their lives to make themselves better in the sight of God.

Remember that, in verse 13 of 1 Corinthians 10, Paul tells us that when we are tempted of the devil (and all temptation is of the devil) that God is faithful and will provide, at the same time of temptation, a way to escape the temptation. As Jesus said above, in Matthew 5:12, our reward may not be evident and obvious here on earth but we will definitely be rewarded in heaven.

You are not the only one that goes through these situations and feelings. You aren’t the first to go through any situation. You CAN get through it! You NEED the help of Jesus to get you through. Just call on Him to help you. He wants you to ask Him for help. Don’t take this lightly. This is a very serious matter. This is a matter that will affect your eternal future and, as a result, it is not something that you should be messing around with. Face this head on with Jesus and kick this temptation to the curb and let the devil know that, with God’s help, you are nothing for him to mess with. He will fail every time if you truly trust in God to help you get through the situation.

As I said before, you are not alone, not only do you have God’s help, but you can contact a pastor at your local church and he will be more than willing to help you get through it as well. We all need to have mentor friends around us to keep us accountable as a support net.

Brother or Sister, I pray with you right now that you will look to Jesus for His help. Call your church or your mentor friend for support. Do NOT let this slip away without facing and defeating your problem.

©2013 Mark Davis

Continued Reading:

• What To Do Next…?
• Top 10 Bible Truths
• WHY Do I NOT See The Blessings of God In My Life?
• What is God’s Will For My Life?
• Personal Accountabilities
• Armed To Be Dangerous
• You’re Spiritual Wages
• How Can Adversity Be Good?
• I Am Second – Live Second #1 – Lies
• What does your mouth say about you?
• The Unhappy, Ungodly

Related Links:

• Why Me? (UnshakableHope.wordpress.com)