Staying Strong In A Sinful World- Part 2
By Allan E. McNabb

In this brief series of articles, we’re talking about spiritual strength.

In Part I, we talked about the fact that it’s hard to stay strong, as we live around sinful people.  Like Lot, our souls are tormented by their lawless deeds.

Then we talked about our hearts:
We have to keep our hearts right with God.
We are known by our fruits.
We’ll be judged by our fruits.
We have to be careful not to deceive our hearts.
It takes work to get our hearts right with God, and keep them right!

With these thoughts in mind, we’re going to talk about the preparation required to grow strong, and stay strong.

It Takes Preparation
To do anything well, it takes preparation.

We must prepare ourselves to be good students, good employees, and good parents.  And certainly, we must prepare ourselves to be faithful Christians.

Peter tells us:
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  As obedient children . . .” (1 Pet. 1:13-14).

If we prepare our minds as God commands, we’ll succeed in obeying Him.  But if we don’t prepare our minds, we’ll fail.  Preparing as God commands in His word, is the key to success.

Spend Time With God
To grow strong and stay strong, we must spend time with God by studying his word, praying, and singing spiritual songs.

We study God’s word, meditating and thinking upon it throughout the day.
Rom. 1:16  The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
2 Pet. 1:2-4  God grants us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through knowledge of His word, whereby we become partakers of His divine nature.
Eph. 3:16-20  Through knowledge of God’s word, we are strengthened with power by the Spirit in the inner man.  Then we’re able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
1 Th. 2:13  God’s word performs its work in us, because we believe.

We pray.  Some prayers may be short, offered throughout the day while doing other things, and others may be longer, when we pause from the day’s busy activities.
1 Th. 5:16-18  We rejoice all the time, because we pray all the time, in everything giving thanks to God.
Phil. 4:4-7  We rejoice in the Lord, not  anxious for anything, because we make our requests known to God by prayer and supplication.  As a result, we have the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension.
Col. 4:2  We devote ourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it, with an attitude of thanksgiving.  Therefore we’re on guard against sin, and the trickery of the devil.

We sing spiritual songs to God.  Sometimes we sing silently in our minds, and other times we sing orally when we’re doing things like riding in a car.
Ja. 5:13  God commands us to sing praises when we’re cheerful.  Besides worship to God, this helps us keep our minds on the right things, and motivated to serve God.
Col. 3:16  The word of Christ dwells richly within us, when we sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in our hearts to God.

When we make Bible study, prayer, and singing spiritual songs a daily part of our lives, we grow strong and stay strong.

Don’t Entangle Yourself in Everyday Life
To stay strong while living around sinful people, we can’t entangle ourselves with the daily affairs of everyday life.

Like a soldier, we have to concentrate on our mission, not on the day-to-day, unimportant things of life.
“No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Tim. 2:4).

We must lay up treasure in heaven, not on earth.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).

When we’re devoted to doing God’s work, rather than satisfying the flesh, we grow strong and stay strong.

Sin doesn’t have the allurement it had when we were trying to live for the flesh, because our lives have a higher purpose.  Then, when we are blessed with the physical things of life, we can truly enjoy them as content children of God, happy and satisfied in the Lord.

Consider these questions.
Are you more concerned with spiritual things than physical things?
Do you spend more free time with spiritual activities or recreational activities?
If you lost all your wealth and possessions today, how would that affect you?