Too Close For Comfort- THE CHARACTER OF THE CAPTAIN- Friday

The battle heroes who we read about, whether they are in the Bible or some other historical account are those who have overcome great adversity to win their battles.  In overcoming, they become an Overcomer.  They are able to lead and inspire other Overcomers, for they represent moral authority of legitimacy in the eyes of those who know them.  They are emulated.  They are models that need to be followed in life, and there is no greater model than a father for a son or daughter ... if he is this man.  The character of this man must be forged in the furnace of adversity.  It is just the way the Lord forms a man after His own heart.  Look at every hero in the Bible and you will seeOvercomers that were formed by God to become this person.  Look at every hero in life and you will see this dynamic.  It does not come easily.  Character is essential for the Captain of his ship, whether it be in the water, in space, or in his home.

I began this series with an illustration of the Dark Hole phenomenon to point out that the attraction of a temptation is designed to take us deeper and deeper into the grasp of something greater than our ability to escape.  We think it is a small thing ... a small private sin.  But like a Venus Fly Trap that lures its victim to its mucilage to be trapped and digested, those temptations do the same for us.  They seem so innocent and so private, but how foolish we are to think that nothing bad will come from them.  Brothers, believe me when I say that those temptations are a flytrap waiting for the moment to close us in.

Some readers have pointed out that I am a little too emphatic about keeping you guys on alert with spiritual stagnation and a fading commitment to live for Christ.  They have said that grace and tolerance needs to be expressed more.  My response is that they haven't read the body of my work for the last 16 years to draw that conclusion.  If they had, they would see that God's grace is the foundation of everything I believe and teach and write.  But graceis not a license to practice sin.  Why do I point his out?

There are those who use the grace card as a license to practice a sinful condition.  This is another skillful doubt sown by the enemy.  So I want to hit it head on.  Let's talk about it.

The question is, what happens when I sin?  The answer is, we take God's provision to be forgiven by repenting and asking for His forgiveness.  All of us will stumble in sin.  We will find our self tempted and will occasionally fail.  That will happen.  But we do not live there.  The Apostle John points out in 1 John 1 that we all sin and God is faithful to forgive us if we confess our sin and seek His forgiveness.  But he is talking about a stumble or slip into sin because we are imperfect, not a live in condition.  John points out a distinction in the 3^rd chapter that we need to make note of.  Read it:

 "No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."  (1 John 3:6-8 ESV)

There is a big difference in stumbling in sin and practicing sin.  God's grace is not a free license to practice sin.  He will not allow it, and to think otherwise is to be deceived by the devil.

Men, as the Captain of your ship you must be of sound character and integrity with your wife, your family and your God.  This is not a game.  I do sound the alarm for we are in battle mode in this day and time.  We have to keep our defenses up and on alert.  We need to know how to battle against our enemy and win.  You have the ability to conquer anything thrown at you if you will learn to use the powerful weapons you are given to use against your enemy.  Our enemy ... your enemy is in his cloaking mode.  Even though you do not see him, he prowls around you and your family looking for his opportunity to take you, and them, down.  There are many things that you must overcome to protect them and to become the great Captain that your King wants to make of you.  You must overcome the pull toward darkness that baits you personally to come and take a little taste.  The battle is within you to be won there first.  But the victories that follow will be for those who count the most to you, and those victories will be won for them by your walk with Christ.  You must be alert on these things as you go boldly forward.  But indeed go boldly forward, for we need men like you.  Do not be timid.  We have not been given a spirit of timidity but rather the heart and spirit of a warrior.