TOPIC: GOD’S PRESENCE IS KEY TO GODLY LIVING
Bible Reading: Esther 1-3; Acts 5:1-16
“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:” – 1 John 5:14
Confidence is very key in approaching and receiving from God. We need ‘confidence’ to boldly take every promises from God that is in His will for us.
But sometimes what breaks the believer’s confidence is lasciviousness which is a lifestyle of sin. Whenever the scriptures warn the believer against a lifestyle of sin, it is not because sin affects God, it is because it affects our confidence before the Father and our testimony before men. Undeniably, your lifestyle could either encourage or discourage someone from accepting the gospel. The truth is the sacrifice of Jesus has sufficed and satisfied God’s heart where sin is concerned so sin doesn’t affect God but it affects our hearts and conscience which is the doorway into our lives.
As believers, we may sometimes fall and stumble but a ‘lifestyle’ of sin is not in the nature of a born-again child of God rather God’s nature will cause us to always seek to please Him.
The cure for a lifestyle of sin is to constantly stay full of God’s presence instead of self-effort. When you are conscious of Jesus – talking to Him in prayer and hearing about Him from His Word – you will not engage in a lifestyle of sin because God’s word is the righteous seed that abides in you. Galatians 5:16 says, “…WALK in the Spirit, and you SHALL NOT fulfill the lust of the flesh” and John 6:63 establishes God’s word as Spirit and Life. Even if you falter and fall, don’t condemn yourself, get back up and go boldly before the throne of grace and you will obtain mercy and find more grace to return to God (Hebrews 4:16).
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” – Titus 2:11-12. Allow the grace of God to teach you how to live above sin and lead you in the paths of righteousness so you can confidently approach your Father in prayers anytime in Jesus’ Name.
Prayer: Father, engrace me to live above sin as I confidently approach You in faith everyday of my life.
Pastor Alfred Samuel