Don't Get Bewitched

We live in a day when so many people want encouragement, but they don’t want to hear rebuke. That’s not going to help anyone grow. Good teaching holds rebuke, correction, and encouragement. It’s about what we need to hear and not just what we want to hear.

Read: 2 Timothy 4:1-8

Respond: According to this passage, what should we keep in every situation?

How do we avoid becoming bewitched by what is happening in this day? It’s easy to get distracted by hot topics when we should be grounded in the truth. Many Christians don’t even know what they believe. We often gravitate to the person who tells us what we want to hear instead of going to the only Source of Truth.

Journal: Have you ever found yourself believing information without filtering it through the Word of God? Share your experience.

Read: Galatians 3:1-5

Does God only work miracles when we do everything right? Did He save us by grace then leave us to figure it out on our own? We were saved by grace: past, present, and future. We exhaust ourselves trying to earn what He’s already done.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.—Romans 5:8 NLT

Journal: Think about the last time you made a mistake. Was your first thought to wonder what you had done wrong? Why?

We’re going to make mistakes, and we often blame Satan for something he didn’t even have to do. He simply uses what we already desired in our hearts to lead us into sin. If we submit our desire to the Holy Spirit, then He can give us the power to overcome it.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.—Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV

The penalty for sin is death. Many try to elude that sobering truth. Death is a spiritual separation from God, but He provided another way. We only have to accept it. By His grace, He saved us from the penalty of sin. He’s pursued us from the moment we were formed. There will never be a day in the life of a believer that we will be absent from the presence of God.

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.—2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV

The most miserable place we can be is to be awakened to our sin but have no power to rule over it. We’ve been saved and don’t ever have to do it again.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.—Romans 8:1-2

Evidence of a broken world is all around us, but this world is not our eternal home. Jesus is saying, “Come to Me. Let Me wash you. Let Me sustain you. Rest in Me.”

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”—Matthew 11:28-30

Activation: Daily submit your sinful desires to God and ask Him to give you the power to overcome them.

Prayer Prompt: Write a prayer for the Activation. Be specific. This is only between you and God.
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