More Than You Can Bear If You Think You Stand

More Than You Can Bear

If You Think You Stand

Confidence gives us peace and removes the sweaty hand of insecurity

But in our confidence we need to heed the words of Paul

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!     

We need to be very careful about what we accept from this world

Make sure your confidence is in the right place

 “Be careful that you don't fall!”

Because the temptations and cravings of this world effect all of us

Sometimes it is hard for us to tell when we have crossed the line to temptation

From our confidence in Christ to the pride of life

1 John 2:16 KJV

 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.

If You Think You Stand

One of our greatest hindrances is pride.

My granddaughter is learning to

drive and just got her driver’s license.

She does not have a lot of driving

time on the road and feels insecure.

This insecurity is a good feeling because it

 causes her to think about things.

 She did not have to think about things

when she was sitting in the passenger seat.

Being insecure is not comfortable for her, but it is

good for her as she develops good driving habits.

As she gets more driving time in…

 Her confidence will rise and this too is a good thing.

You and I who have been driving for years

 don’t think about every turn, stop and go.

Those things we were so insecure about when

first starting to drive have become common.

 Whether we are backing up in a congested

parking lot after the game lets out…

Or, we are on the highway at 70 miles per hour

on a busy holiday, we drive with confidence.

Both insecurity and confidence

have their place in our lives.

Our goal in life is to move from the

sweaty hands of insecurity to confidence.

Confidence allows us to relax and enjoy the ride.

 Just as the line from insecurity to confidence

is crossed, we find ourselves facing another line…

The line of pride.

The Church at Corinth had receive

the Good News of Jesus Christ.

God had touched many lives and for those lives

that had been touched, the church was the place to be.

There was forgiveness, love, peace, singing

songs and great meals called love feasts.

The Word of God was taught and preached,

 helping people to know God in deeper ways.

At some point these people who had

tasted and seen that the Lord is good…

These people who had a foundation

built by Apostle Paul…

These people like you and I…

 Crossed the line from confidence

in Christ over to pride.

Paul says it this way…

 So, if you think you are standing firm,

be careful that you don't fall!      

If you know anything about Corinth

at the time of Paul’s letter…

 You know that every kind of

temptation to sin was there.

The church was being influenced

by the community it was in.

The church was falling because the people

were going back to sinful life styles.

Just like the people Moses led out of Egypt

who had seen supernatural provision from God…

 Turned back to the old life styles of Egypt.

Being in the world, but not of the world,

 is a message we see often in the Word of God.

Jesus in his famous prayer of John 17

spoke to the Father concerning the separation

He and His disciples had with the world.

They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

John 17:16

John writes…

Do not love the world or anything in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:15

The Bible teaches a love-hate relationship with the world…

For God so loved the World

 John 3:16

Then in 1 John 2:15 we are told to hate the world.

Do not love the world or anything in the world.

John goes on to say…

For everything in the world —

the cravings of sinful man,

the lust of his eyes

and the boasting of what he has and does —

comes not from the Father but from the world.

1 John 2:16

The world can be a place of insecurity.

As we get more experience with the world…

 We become more confident in it.

When Paul is warning believes…

 

“If you think you are standing firm,

be careful that you don't fall!”

He and John are warning us of the

temptation and cravings of this world.

These temptations and cravings brought

great hardships on the followers of Moses

as a whole generation died in the wilderness.

These temptations and cravings brought

great hardship on the Church in Corinth.

John wrote strong words because the temptations

and cravings of the world was destroying lives.

 

In each of these situation with Moses, Paul,

and John, there were people like you and I

that thought they were standing firm.

We, too, need to be very careful about

what we accept from this world.

Make sure your confidence is in the right place…

 “Be careful that you don't fall!”

Because the temptations and

cravings of this world effect all of us.

Sometimes it is hard for us to tell when

 we have crossed the line to temptation…

From our confidence in Christ to the pride of life.

1 John 2:16 KJV

 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.

One of our greatest hindrances is pride.

It is when temptation causes us to be…

 

Over confidence, over righteous.

 

It is hard work to get your confidence.

Faith is like climbing a mountain.

So when you get to the top, don’t go “OVER”.

Don’t go back down the mountain…

 But stand firm.

Keep the faith a strong standard.

Scripture Reading

 1 Corinthians 10:11-13 NIV

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

1 John 2:15-17 NIV

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.