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"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."
(Jude 24)
This week in our devotions we have been exploring how God enables us to serve Him well and how we can help others know Jesus and walk with Him. The Christian life is a blessed one filled with much purpose and responsibility. Every follower of Jesus desires to walk closely with the Lord, please Him, and not bring shame or dishonor to His name. When we stumble and fall into sin, it hurts not only us, but it also harms so many who are watching us and looking to us to show them the way of Christ.
To stumble and be faulty means we do not live up to our high calling as Christians. We give into temptation; we act in ways not becoming a follower of Jesus. We engage in things and words that reflect more our previous carnal nature than the Spirit-filled life we are called to embrace.
The devil wants to make you stumble, sinful, and with much fault. He is committed to that goal. He knows you very well and where your weaknesses lie. But Jesus is better and stronger! He gives us the power to overcome; He and the Spirit pray for us. God wants us to live and finish well. Continually stumbling, weak, complaining Christians are not who we are in Christ nor the "living sacrifice" we should be offering to God (Romans 12:1), nor should it be a part of our message to the lost.
Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."
No Christian will ever bat 1000. We all will sin after we have surrendered our lives to Christ. But we do not have to keep sinning, stumbling, and falling spiritually. Why is that? Because Jesus helps us! He empowers us to get back up and move forward serving Him and pointing others to Him. We are all just a second away from doing something stupid. We need the Holy Spirit every second to empower us and help us stay on the path of righteousness.
Ask the Lord even now to keep you from stumbling into sin, bringing shame to His name, and tarnishing your witness for Christ. Ask Him to forgive you when you think, say, or do something that does not honor God or others. Receive His forgiveness, and then ask the Lord to help you soar in your walk with God–not just walk or jog, but run in the power of the Spirit.
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