“Faith Based Sober Living Principles For Men And Women From Jesus Christ”

We all have a common enemy and his name is Satan. Our enemy is always seeking to prevent us from being of a sober mind. Another enemy we have is ourselves, our flesh, or otherwise known as our own desires, which are constantly being fuelled by the voice of Satan.  If we can be convinced that we are drug addicts, alcoholics, sex addicts and all the other things that are propagated on the unaware, then we are successfully led away from the Truth, and the door remains open for those things to be a reality in our lives. Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 34, “ Surely, surely, I tell you, whoever commits sin is the servant of sin. If Jesus tells me I am free and Satan tells me I am not and I doubt God, I have begun the process of sin. I have opened the door. 1 John Chapter 5 verse 4 says whoever is born of God overcomes the world, and that the victory that overcomes the world is our faith.

In Matthew chapter 17 verses 14-20, a man brought his son who was by modern day terminology mentally ill, or by slang crazy, to the disciples to be healed and they could not perform the miracle. So they brought him to Jesus who called them all faithless and perverse and said because of their unbelief they could not perform this miracle. He went on to tell them that if they had faith like a mustard seed that nothing would be impossible to them.

This statement by Jesus Christ is not telling us that if we have a little faith we can do anything, but instead it is to give us insight into the nature of the mustard seed. You plant it, it grows into a tree, that’s what it does. It knows it is a mustard seed, it does not doubt that it is a mustard seed, it is designed by God to grow into a tree, and so it is able to grow into what God intended it to be. No one can tell it any thing different, because it does not follow anything except what God has designed it to do. That is great faith, not a little or small faith, but complete faith in it’s destiny and in Christ who created it.

Complete faith is required to stand against sin. The disciples did not have this complete faith when they tried to cast out the spirits that were causing the young man’s mental illness. In the mustard seed example Jesus is explaining that the smallest of seeds with complete faith, that is full faith, is able to accomplish what God has sent it to do. Jesus had complete faith not a little faith. Jesus, in several places pointed out to the disciples their little faith. We either stand in faith or doubt, if we think we stand in both then according to James chapter 1 verse 8 “ A double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. And according to Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.

The truth is Adam and Eve did not begin to sin by eating from the tree that God told them not to eat from, that was the completion of their sin, The beginning of their transgression was doubting God. First, Eve doubted whether or not God had been truthful with her about the consequences of eating the fruit when Satan suggested the idea to her. (That also gave her a connection to the fruit that she did not previously have.) That then opened the door to taking a closer look at the fruit, and, along with the persuasion of someone who seemed to know what he was talking about, the admiring of the fruit.

Then she began to fully believe the persuasion and ate of the fruit. After that she was wise and knowledgeable enough to go and offer it to Adam who also doubted God as soon as he saw that she had not dropped dead from eating it. You see eating of the fruit was not the beginning of sin, but doubting God was. Listening to Satan was not the beginning of sin, doubting God was.

When Jesus was in the wilderness in Matthew chapter 4, Satan came to him after 40 days, 40 nights to tempt him. It is clear by what we read that Jesus actually had a conversation with the Devil, in that Satan suggested to him that he should use his power to make himself food from stones, at which Jesus replied, “ It is written, man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that comes out of God’s mouth.” After this Satan continued to approach Jesus, and Jesus would listen and then respond appropriately from God’s heart. God was in Christ telling Satan man needs to listen to me and not you.

Satan’s persuasion is always aimed at the flesh of man, because it is not possible to make God in man fall. God cannot be overthrown. When you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God to the point of beginning to follow his teachings, that means God is in you. It is written in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 3, “ No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost.”  Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 11 verse 27 that only God knows the Son and only the Son knows God, and also whoever the Son (that is Jesus) reveals God to knows him as well. So if you truly believe Jesus is the Son of God to the point of trying to obey the words of Christ, that means God is in you working his perfect will. Therefore you have the power to overcome the lying of Satan.

Though you may start with a little faith as the disciples did you will continue to grow in that faith to reach the full measure of the stature of Jesus Christ who is in you. So always be doing the good works of Christ by your faith and think always on good things of Christ. Also let the words of Jesus Christ be in your mind totally. Focus On Jesus

Jesus said in John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”.