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Victory Through Christ — Armor, Word, Prayer, and Hope

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  The final word on temptation is not a technique; it is a Person. Ultimate victory belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, and every practical means of grace is simply a way of drawing upon His strength. Ephesians 6:10-18 does not say “be strong in yourself”; it says “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” The whole armor of God is then listed: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer. Every piece is Christ-centered. The belt of truth is His truth. The breastplate of righteousness is His righteousness. The sword of the Spirit is His Word. Prayer is dependence upon Him. Daily victory therefore looks like this: Scripture. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). The believer who is regularly taking in the Word is not easily overtaken. When temptation strikes, a memorized verse becomes an immediate weapon. Prayer. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation” (Matthew 26:41)....
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Guarding the Gates — Eyes, Ears, and the World’s System

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  “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-16). John is not describing three isolated sins; he is describing the entire operating system of this present age. The world is organized to feed the flesh, to capture the eyes, and to inflate the pride of life. Every billboard, every entertainment platform, every social feed, and every marketing campaign is engineered, whether consciously or not, to serve one or more of these three. The lust of the flesh is the craving for sinful physical pleasure. The lust of the eyes is the craving for what is seen—possessions, images, experiences that promise satisfaction apart from God. The pride of life is the arrogant self-sufficiency that says, “I have arrived; I need nothing more.” These were the exact cate...
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Location: Dublin, IN, USA
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Flee and Resist — The Twin Commands of Scripture

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  Scripture does not leave the believer guessing about how to respond when temptation rises. Two clear, complementary commands run throughout the New Testament: flee and resist. They are not optional suggestions; they are the God-appointed strategy for victory. First, flee. “Flee fornication” (1 Corinthians 6:18). “Flee also youthful lusts” (2 Timothy 2:22). “Flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14). In the realm of sexual impurity, covetousness, and anything that functions as an idol, the Holy Spirit’s instruction is immediate withdrawal. Joseph did not stay in Potiphar’s house to “prove his strength”; he fled (Genesis 39:12). The man who lingers near the edge of sexual temptation, who keeps the phone nearby “just in case,” who continues to feed the eyes with images he knows are wrong, is disobeying a direct command. There is a time to stand and fight; there is also a time to run. For the lusts of the flesh, the time is always now. Second, resist. “Submit yourselves therefore to ...
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Location: Dublin, IN, USA
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Temptation Is Not Sin — Understanding the Battle

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  Beloved, the moment a person is born again the battle does not end; it intensifies. The old nature remains, the world still presses its claims, and the devil still walks about as a roaring lion. Yet many sincere saints are needlessly discouraged because they have confused the presence of temptation with the commission of sin. Scripture draws a sharp line between the two, and that line is one of the great comforts of the Christian life. Jesus Christ “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). He felt the full weight of hunger, the attractiveness of power, and the pressure of the devil’s suggestions, and yet He never once yielded. If the Son of God could be tempted and remain sinless, then temptation itself is not sin. The apostle Paul likewise spoke with painful honesty about the ongoing conflict inside the believer: “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Romans 7:19). He did not pretend the struggle disappe...
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Location: Dublin, IN, USA
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From Fear to Certainty: How I Came to Know I Belong to Christ

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It’s an incredible thing to be able to write this with absolute certainty: I KNOW, without a shadow of a doubt, that if I were to take my last breath at this very moment, I would be standing face-to-face with my Lord and Savior. If you are a believer—someone who has truly trusted in Jesus Christ—this might sound like a “gimme.” Of course you’d go to Heaven, right? But I am here to tell you that for many years of my life, I did not have that assurance. Instead of the peace that passes understanding, I lived in a constant state of fear and confusion, caught in the web of false doctrines. My story starts very young, between the ages of 4 and 6, when my mother regularly hosted the “Watchtower ladies” from the Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall. Even at that tender age, I was starving for truth. I desperately wanted to hear about Jesus and Heaven. Instead, what I learned from them was devastating. They taught that if I died and wasn't part of the specific 144,000 elite, that was it. I had...
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Location: Dublin, IN, USA
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