What are we practicing?

Reading: Nehemiah 11-12 and 1 John 3

Scripture: 1 John 3:7-8, Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

Thoughts: As I struggle with lust and all the things that come with that, verses like these hit me and make me think. Growing up in the Church and being a believer in Christ and the work He did on the cross, there are so many messages out there on how it all works. There is the once saved always saved, there is the must confess to a priest regularly and many more that I can’t think of. As I struggle with seeking God and not striving after the desires of my flesh I wonder if I am practicing my sinning or am I falling into temptation. That is the question that we need to ask God and ourselves. I long to not have these desires except for toward my wife. We all need to seek God to understand where we are in our relationship with him and to gain insight into whether we are practicing righteousness or sin.

Prayer: Father God, I thank you for your Son, I thank you for filling me with your Holy Spirit. I thank you for the blessings you have poured out on my life. The ones seen and the ones not seen. I thank you for calling me into a relationship with you. I ask for help in rooting out the lust and the anger in my life. Lead me into the loving man you have called me to be.