Keep Fighting
You may have a sin nature, but does sin have you?
Imagine that you are a world-class concert pianist at the peak of your career, someone who has spent years studying and practicing to develop your art. Your fingers respond instantly to your mental commands, flitting along the keyboard with grace and speed. Then one day you feel a stiffness that was not there before. You go to a doctor, tests are done, and the diagnosis comes back: Arthritis. Your fingers are destined to become wooden and crippled. From the heights of success and acclaim you will plunge to oblivion. It happened to Byron Janis. Within a short time this concert pianist saw arthritis quickly spread to all his fingers, and the joints of nine of them fused.
Some people would have never recovered from such a blow, but Janis decided to fight back. He kept his ailment a secret from all but his wife and two close friends. He worked long hours to change his technique. He learned how to use what strengths he had instead of concentrating on his weaknesses. He also used a regimen of medications, acupuncture, ultrasound, and even hypnosis to deal with the pain. His wife learned how to give him therapeutic massages to loosen his stiff joints. Through hard work and sheer determination, Janis was able to continue his career. He maintained a full concert schedule for twelve years without anyone suspecting. Finally, he told the world at a White House concert in 1985. Currently, he is active in fund-raising for the Arthritis Foundation and still plays the piano. He says, “I have arthritis, but it doesn't have me.”
Janis had arthritis; he could not change that. But what he could change was the arthritis’ affect on him. He could either give in to it and succumb to the side effects, or he could fight it.
In the same way, we all battle sin. The minute we were born, we were in sin. But thanks to Christ, sin no longer has to have power in our lives. We can either give in to it and succumb to the devil’s temptations, or we can fight it.
Never fall to the belief that sin is just natural and you cannot overcome it. That is a lie! God has provided His strength for us to fight the devil and reject his temptations. That is why He commands us in Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
Do not believe the lie that abstaining from sin is hopeless. God says it is possible through Him! We must ask God for strength each day and put on His armor if we are to resist the devil.
Do you put on your Heavenly armor each morning? Fighting the devil in your own strength will leave you feeling hopeless, but when you begin each morning in prayer, putting on God’s armor, you can have God’s strength to face the devil throughout the day!
Source: DITW, January 20, 2009