What to do when you fall.....

Fall? I thought we are told that he is able to keep us from falling?

That question needs to be pondered deeply by all those who would dare defeat sin in their life by the avenue of simple faith. It would be my greatest delight to tell you that once you take your stand of faith, that you are dead to sin and alive to God, that all will forever be well, and that we can then walk on in victory over the world, the flesh and the devil until Jesus splits the skies.

If I told you this, I would do you a great disservice. The fact is, becoming established in the faith is a process. The truth never changes. There IS complete victory offered to all not by strength or resolve or by trying harder, but by simply believing in the exceeding great promises that are given to us by our loving Father. But, and this is a big but, God has ordained that our faith be tried, tested, so that no hidden self confidence remains.

Do you remember the teaching gave us on abiding in the vine...that we can do nothing without this intimate abiding in Him? And what happened to the branch that was abiding in the vine? Was it left to flourish with no process still needed to perfect the fruit it was to bear? Absolutely not. Each branch was pruned in order to re-invigorate the branch in the depth of its abiding.

Brothers and sisters, those who have chosen to believe in the great salvation from sin that God freely offers any and all who would simply believe.... faith is the way, the only way to fruitfulness, and God knows that, so in His wisdom, He has ordained that our faith be perfected thru a fight. We are told to fight the good fight of faith. In that fight, hidden self confidence must be exposed, so that our reliance is more and more on His mercy to save us, and the revelation of the inability of us to save ourselves from sin become exceeding clear. Does God then cause us to fall? God forbid. But He knows what our faith needs in order for us to become thoroughly established in the faith. So thus it is that if and when we do falter, we search our hearts as to the cause.

And what do we find when we have fallen from grace that brings complete freedom from willful disobedience back into sin? I can only tell you of my experiences. I hope and pray that my words may save many from futile struggling.

The first reaction is to resolve to do better, to try harder, to keep ourselves free from disobedience. Sadly, the result will be failure. This can be a frustrating time, because the more we sin, the harder our hearts becomeand the further away we drift from God. We do not want to pray, nor draw near the only help we have...Him. We avoid the word, the only strength we have to fight off satan's attacks. We feel after having fallen from such a glorious and lofty walk in grace, that shame must accompany us, that punishment must be our lot and that we must be meant to learn the lesson that we must try harder than we were. The truth is...we are wrong.

So what are we to do in this terrible state of once having walked in perfect grace, grace to defeat the sins of our lives, and then to find ourselves cast down to earth again where our secret sins begin to again devour us? Well, what did we do to begin with to find our way into grace? Is not the answer a simple and profound....I did nothing but believe? Then dear friend, that is again the pathway to glory.

Quite simpy, I have found in those unfortunate times that I have fallen, stumbling in sin again, that the answer is always, always, ALWAYS... according to your faith be it unto you.

Do you long to end your secret struggle with sin and enter the rest of God. Or...have you already tasted of victory only to fall back into your struggle with sin and self? Either wway, there is but one door back into the grace of God, where HE is the one who keeps us from falling....

BELIEVE.

Lest I wear out this scripture, I will remind one and all again and again that we must reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin...by faith.... and that no matter if you fall once or twenty times, the way back is the same as the first time. We must count ourselves as new creations, with the old man passed away. This is the full armor of God and the only way to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one.