backslidding

On The Edge 

pjimgallagherLeave a comment

Proverbs 5:14
“I was on the verge of total ruin, in the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

“The assembly of the congregation”, or in our case, the church, was designed by God as a means to help the individual believer grow in Christ. The Word of God, corporate worship, and fellowship, were all designed by God to help each of us grow in Christ. When we come to church with a soft heart, eager to hear from God, His Word has a way of speaking directly into the things we are facing; equipping us in advance against trials and temptation. When we enter worship, with a desire to give back to God for all He has given to us, we find we draw near to Him, and surrender more of ourselves to Him. When we develop honest fellowship with other believers, we are willing to ask for prayer and counsel. When we remain open to share our struggles, we find that iron sharpens iron, and we are able to overcome sin and temptation.

That being said, it is dangerous when we enter the assembly of the congregation, put on a mask, and begin to play the Christian game. By wearing a smile and speaking our best Christianese, we convince others that all is well, when in reality we have begun to wander from the Lord. Instead of allowing the Word to do its work in our lives, by convicting, instructing, and changing, or taking advantage of the fellowship of the saints, we use our church time to pretend all is well.

Solomon warns of the danger of living like that. He declares, it is possible to be on the verge of total ruin, while standing in the midst of the assembly. Backsliding begins long before we stop gong to church. It starts when we begin to pretend all is well; when truly we have begun to drift. Instead of putting on your best mask, come to the fellowship with a hunger for the Word, a desire to worship, and an eagernes to glean all you can from other believers.

Pastor Jim

 

Wanderer

pjimgallagher1 Comment

Jeremiah 14:10
“Thus says the Lord to this people:
Thus they have loved to wander;
They have not restrained their feet.”

Jesus simplified life into two categories. He said we are either walking on the narrow road that leads to life or the broad road that leads to destruction. The way off the wide and unto the narrow is through the gateway of Christ. In fact, on one occasion, He even referred to himself as the door. The Gospel message is nothing short of offering us a ticket off the wide road to destruction, through the doorway of Jesus, on to the narrow road that leads to eternal life. Here Jeremiah warns of the danger of wandering off that road. He even explains what caused Judah to wander off.

“They have not restrained their feet.” 

Years ago, while working in youth ministry, I went on my first and only backpacking adventure. Under the leadership of a friend who was quite skilled, we took a group of teenagers to the southern Sierras for a 4 day adventure. Before we ever left the church parking lot, he warned us all of the danger of wandering off the path. He said there would be things that would distract our attention and lead us astray, and we needed to determine in advance, to avoid these things. He recalled the details of hikers who had failed to heed the warnings, got off the trail, and were never heard from again. Needless to say,we all determined to avoid wandering off the path.

This same approach is necessary in our walk with the Lord. We need to restrain our own feet. We need to determine in advance that we will not walk down those roads that lead us away from Christ. If we start out each day girded in the armor of God, with the goal of pleasing Christ, we will be much less likely to find ourselves wandering away from Him, or returning to our past behaviors.

Pastor Jim

 

Perpetual 

pjimgallagher1 Comment

Jeremiah 8:5
“Why has this people slidden back,
Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit,
They refuse to return.”

Like a doctor who has carefully examined a patient and given his diagnosis, Jeremiah declares the sickness of Judah to be perpetual backsliding. Backsliding is a biblical term that refers to a follower of God who has returned to his pre-conversion lifestyle. Perpetual is a term wnich means continual, like a pendulum. The perpetual backslider is the person who makes a commitment to the Lord, falls back into sin, makes another commitment, followed by another fall, and this becomes the cycle of his life.

God designed the human brain to develop patterns. These patters can be extremely helpful. I recall my first attempts to learn chords on the guitar. It was a pain staking process, my brain would tell my fingers what to do, but they seemed incapable of following orders. I can remember times when I had to use my right hand to bend my left hand into the proper shape to make a simple ‘D’ chord. After some time however, a pattern developed, and I could contort my fingers to the proper position, seemingly without thought or effort.

While these patterns can be positive, they can also lead to perpetual bad behavior, and great effort must be taken to break the pattern. This is particularly true of someone whose Christian life has become cyclical. The solution is not to give up or to think that is just how things have to be. Instead, it is time to make some changes in how you approach walking with Christ. It is already clear that you love the Lord deeply, or you would not continually come back to Him, so the focus must be on things that will create permanence. Jesus explained that the secret to a fruitful life is to abide in Him. The Psalmist proclaims, this is done by daily delighting  in the Word of God. To delight in the Word means we read it, study it, meditate upon it, and do what it says. The key to breaking the pattern of perpetual backsliding is to make daily investments in God’s Word.

Let’s get started today.

Pastor Jim