A Line in the Sand

A line in the sand is an expression that captures a definitive point where one chooses to not go beyond a fixed boundary or one chooses to proceed beyond a certain point regardless of what that decision brings.

One of the greatest weapons in Satan’s arsenal happens to attack one of the greatest weaknesses of a man. I’ve met few men (including myself) that have not acknowledged the war of sexual temptation that is waged day in and day out. It is a war of wars, it rarely takes a day off, it pursues us like a heat-seeking missile, and it is merciless when an opportunity presents itself.

After I trusted Christ as my Savior and Lord, I was amazed at how quickly my speech changed, how quickly my friends changed, and how quickly the interest to drink a 12-pack on a Friday night vanished. But one very noticeable desire remained – the desire for a woman. The war was on and even though I’m married to a wonderful bride that has not deterred my adversary one bit unfortunately. He still brings it any way he can, always looking for new angles to try and take me down. He will not stop.

God in his grace and marvelous wisdom brought me to a very key place in the war. It was a place that I believe every man MUST arrive at or he will go down extremely hard. It is the place where a man very definitively draws a line in the sand. It’s a moment where a man accepts the reality that the war will always be there therefore, there is not a moment where he arrives and says, “I’ve beat it. It’s over. I can get on with life” That is insane and is accompanied by failure. Well intentioned yes but failure lurks right around the corner.

The line in the sand moment I’m getting at here is when a man does what Daniel did in Babylon as a teenager when he was surrounded by gross paganism and ungodliness:

        Dan 1:8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

Daniel had a made-up mind that defilement was not an option for him. Paganism was not going away, ungodliness was not going away but neither was Daniel’s conviction. He had drawn a line in the sand. The late Dr. Adrian Rogers used to say, “One big decision takes care of a lot of little decisions.” A man who fails to purpose in heart that he will not defile himself, will defile himself.

There are two promises I can make regarding your tomorrow, the sun will rise and you will be sexually tempted as a man and that will be true six weeks from now as well. What it comes down to is have you drawn a line in the sand that says I WILL NOT DEFILE MYSELF? Have you determined, “It doesn’t matter what the enemy throws at me, I will not cross that line even if it kills me.”

A man who fails to do this is hopeless in his hotel room on a business trip. A man who fails to do this is a sitting duck while surfing the internet while his wife is visiting her parents for the weekend. A man who fails to do this will entertain flirtatious attention that advances to adultery.

The mind must be made up before the moment of attack arrives and when a man has drawn a line, it doesn’t not matter what/who comes his way, the response is premeditated.

Men will read this and agree but wonder how does a man draw a line like that and stick to it? The answer is fairly simple but the problem is application. Men will read the answer given and blow it off before finishing the answer but here it is nonetheless:

Psa 119:9 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

A man must feed on the Word of God. It is that simple. Listen, bondage only needs one condition to exist: REJECTION AND DISOBEDIENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD!

Jesus said, And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. So if a man is enslaved to any device of Satan, it has to be a result of not taking heed to God’s Word, hiding it in his heart which makes him free.

I’m not saying it’s easy but when that line is drawn and reinforced daily, it gets easier.

Have you drawn the line?

God's Specific Call to Strength

Huffing and puffing up and down the hills around my neighborhood, I found it challenging to keep my heart rate up tonight.  I was using one of those fancy heart rate monitors and tonight my plan was a ride in the somewhat cooler evening air. 

As I was riding and struggling to get the most out of my time in the saddle, a verse came to me that I often think of during a workout -“For bodily exercise profiteth little…” I Tim 4:8a.  Paul refers to physical exercise to teach us by comparison that while working out is good, there is something even more profitable -- godliness.  I don’t want you to miss the greater truth there, but tonight I honed in on the first part of the verse and encouraged myself that there was at least some profit to what I was doing while I dodged cars and watched for potholes in the dark.

Somewhere around mile three I began thinking about the discipline required to really make an exercise routine work.  If I am to really become a strong cyclist, or strong runner, or strong ______ (insert your sport of choice) I have to do it on a regular basis, and from time to time stretch myself.  I started thinking about how similar my spiritual life is.  In the spirit of my workout, when I got home I set aside what I was planning on writing and did a short word study…

Did you know in the New Testament, we are told to "be strong" only three times?

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. I Cor. 16:13

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Eph 6:10

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. II Tim. 2:1

That blew me away!  Of all of the directives and important plans our Father has for us in the New Testament, only 3 things warranted a command to be strong in them.  What exactly does it mean to be strong in: faith, power of the Lord, grace in Jesus?  Let me encourage you to study these passages out on your own, but to help you get started here are some tips:

Be Strong in Faith – I Cor 16:13

The Corinthians had a crisis of faith when they stopped adhering to the word of God and ended up in a carnal way.  Paul wrote I Corinthians in order to correct their actions according to what the word of God said.  Faith, essentially is knowing what God said, and realigning your life to do what God said.  In a word faith is obedience (to his word).  For a whole list of examples see Hebrews chapter 11.  Are you strong in your obedience to his word?  Keep in mind willful ignorance of what God says is not an excuse.

Be Strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might – Eph 6:10

Sounds good.  What does it mean?  A key to understanding this passage is to follow through with the passage and look at the context of the last half of chapter 6.  Essentially, Paul is instructing the church in the warfare that is Christianity.  Don’t fool yourself, there is a war going on for your consecration and for the souls of men.  Failure to see this will lead to weakness in this area and certain injury on the battlefield.  To be strong in the Lord and suited for battle requires arming yourself with truth, righteousness, preparation of the gospel, faith, salvation, the word of God and watchful prayer.  Whoa!  That’s a heavy list.  I guess warring in the name of Jesus involves more than just snatching a verse a day from the clutches of my morning routine.  Are you strong in the Lord and ready for the battle?  Know that the enemy certainly is.

Be Strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus – II Tim 2:1

Unfortunately, many of us jump past this verse when reading chapter 2 in anticipation of the famous discipleship verse found in verse 2 where Paul commands us to invest in faithful men who will also invest in faithful men.  Did you ever notice that verse two of II Tim. 2 starts with the word “And?”   Paul is continuing his thought from verse 1 where he tells Tim to “be strong in grace.”  What does that mean?  Good manners, elegance of movement, sophistication?  I think you’ll find if you study the word out that there are spiritual elements to all of those things relating to grace, but at the core I think you’ll find something more.  You see the discipleship, taking place in verse 2, has to come from something substantive in your own life.  What is that substance?  It’s you living verse 1.  In other words you have to be strong in grace (v.1) before you have anything to really invest in anyone else (v.2).  Without living verse 1, you will be investing a very limited amount of goodness into others, if anything good at all.  So what does being strong in grace look like?

Here’s a clue -- Chapter 1 drips of the condescending act of Jesus to save mankind.  Chapter 2 then continues with “thou therefore” (pointing back to the act of Jesus) “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”  Here’s another clue, Paul, in the book of Ephesians tells us that “unto everyone of us is given [the gift of] grace” in his famous list of spiritual gifts.  Grace, simply put, is the act of condescension unto others for their eternal benefit.  It’s you arresting the will of the flesh and maybe even forsaking what is rightfully yours (condescending) in order to preach the good news of the gospel to someone in need.  What’s that, your gift isn’t evangelism?  No problem.  If you’re saved, you’ve got the gift of grace (Eph 4:7). Be strong in it.

How do I get strong in these areas?  Daily Exercise. Your faith stance strengthens with each obedient step you take as you witness God honoring his promises and you develop a track record of success with God.  Your power in the Lord surges as you consistently arm yourself and become skilled with the weaponry and armor that God provides.  And you become stronger and stronger in grace every time you say no to the flesh and yes to opening your mouth with the good news of the lowly Jesus.

Know this – the enemy would love to see you wallow in weak faith, weak power and weak grace.  I believe that there must be something particularly special about those three areas to be singled out as they are. This week I’m making sure these three workouts are part of my regiment.  God forbid I am weak in any of them!