Defenses against lust‘I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully.’ Job 31:1 NIVTo win the battle against lust, you must decide once and for all to be fully committed to God. Steve Arterburn says that means establishing three perimeters of defence: 1) Your eyes. Job said, ‘I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully.’ It’s the lingering look that opens the door to trouble. Before...  Read More

Everything you need is in God’s Word ‘If the Son sets you free, you are truly free.’ John 8:36 NLT Sometimes we tell new believers to clean up their act, without telling them how! Jesus said, ‘If the Son sets you free, you are truly free.’ The Amplified Bible puts it like this: ‘Then you are really and unquestionably free.’ The key to victory in life doesn’t lie in exercising more willpower, but i...  Read More

Power to quit‘Honor God with your body.’ 1 Corinthians 6:20 NLTAre you a smoker? If you are, the odds are stacked against you. ‘But it’s my life,’ you say. No, listen: ‘You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body’ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT). Why indulge in a habit you wouldn’t recommend to others, or risk not living long enough to ful...  Read More

Hey, wise up!‘Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts.’ Romans 13:14 NKJVJohnny Cash sang ‘I keep a close watch on this heart of mine; I keep my eyes wide open all the time’. Good song; even better theology! Insanity is doing the crazy stuff others do, hoping for a better result. Wise up! David messed around with another man’s wife and ended up with a blighted conscience, a ruined rep...  Read More

Breaking habits‘The weapons we fight with...have divine power to demolish strongholds.’ 2 Corinthians 10:4 NIVWe all struggle with habits – what’s yours? Be honest! For many of us, it’s our attitude that keeps us from growing, excelling, and soaring to the heights God planned for us (see Psalm 139:23-24). Bad habits are ways of thinking and acting that become part of our everyday lives; ways of tr...  Read More

Zechariah 4:6Then he said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts."...  Read More

Live a life of integrity‘The integrity of the upright will guide them.’ Proverbs 11:3 NKJVAfter leading the Nation of Israel for forty years, the prophet Samuel didn’t get a retirement party and a gold watch. He got something much better in the form of this commendation: ‘You have not cheated or oppressed us’ (1 Samuel 12:4 NIV). He led them, instructed them, and blessed them, but not one time did...  Read More

God accepts you ‘in Christ’, so accept yourself‘God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good...and He approved it completely.’ Genesis 1:31 AMPCYou can’t deal with anything effectively until you first accept it for what it is – including yourself! Dictionary definitions for ‘accept’ include: 1) to receive willingly; 2) to view as right; 3) to agree with. First, acceptance invo...  Read More

The need for repentance‘Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted.’ 2 Corinthians 7:10 NKJVThere’s a difference between confessing your sin and repenting of it. In Scripture, the word ‘repentance’ means ‘to turn away from sin’. By confessing your sin you acknowledge what you have done; by repenting, you turn away from it. And the good news is that there’s no limit ...  Read More

Breaking habits‘The weapons we fight with...have divine power to demolish strongholds.’ 2 Corinthians 10:4 NIVWe all struggle with habits – what’s yours? Be honest! For many of us, it’s our attitude that keeps us from growing, excelling, and soaring to the heights God planned for us (see Psalm 139:23-24). Bad habits are ways of thinking and acting that become part of our everyday lives; ways of tr...  Read More

Zechariah 3:1-7Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.  The Lord said to Satan, "The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?"  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel.  He spoke and said to tho...  Read More

ou can’t always trust your feelings‘The human heart is the most deceitful of all things.’ Jeremiah 17:9 NLTWe all know well-intentioned people, who, when you ask them to do something, you’re not sure they will follow through. As nice as they are, they’re unreliable. Your feelings are like that; much of the time you can’t count on them because they’re not attuned to what’s best for you. They’re mor...  Read More