Sin means to miss the mark. Remembering the victory of the cross, helps us to not deviate or compromise in the slightest way from doing what we know is right in God’s eyes. 

Romans 6:19 says, “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us that we are not bound to the sins of our past, nor of sins done against us. It says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

When we dwell in the past in our mind, we have forgotten the victory Jesus won for us on the cross. 2 Peter 1:9 was referring to verses 5-8, and the list of graces that we are to add to our faith.

It says, “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” The contrast between lack and fruit is in verse 8.

It says, “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We gain knowledge by sitting at His feet. We cannot bear any fruit of ourselves. John 15:1-8 was written about abiding in the Vine.

1 Peter 1:14-15 says, “As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts…but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” The only way that we can conduct ourselves in righteous choices is to walk in the Spirit.

All actions are first thoughts. Our battlefield is our mind. The truth? 1 Corinthians 2:16 says that we have the mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Verse 8 says, “…He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

Our flesh hates to die. It wants to be on the top, always pushing down our spirit man. Think of two billy goats vying for the top of the mound. They are constantly butting one another.

Romans 6:16 says, “Do you not know that to whom you  present yourselves slave to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”

Hebrews 5:8 says, “Though He were a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things that He suffered.” He suffered death on the cross for us. He gained victory over death for us. He rose from the grave for us. That is the gospel He has called us to live in. Death to self so that He will be glorified through our lives.

Colossians 2:15 says, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Jesus’ physical flesh was crucified on the cross. When we bring the victory of His cross into our trial, it will crucify our fleshly reactions.

Our flesh resists all manner of suffering. Our hearts need to echo Paul’s words. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

We sin in our flesh not our spirit man. Romans 8:5 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”

We walk in the victory of the cross when we yield to the Holy Spirit. Verse 6 says, “…to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Verse 10 says, “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

Romans 6:1-2 says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Verse 4 explained it really well. When we accepted the Lord as our Savior, “…we were buried with Him through baptism into death…” Dead things have no response.

Verse 11 says, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Verse 12 is a great key for us. It says, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”

What lusts? Our flesh. When we say, ‘If only…” we are lusting. Carrying on a mind conversation with the ‘if only’ requires ignoring the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things you wish.”

I like to picture the word ‘contrary’ this way. An attempt to put two magnets together sets up a field of resistance. Our flesh likes to revile and get even. 1 Peter 3:10 says, “Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”

Revile means to criticize in an abusive or angrily insulting manner. How did Jesus handle reviling? 1 Peter 2:23 says, “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”

I want you to picture a dot drawn on the left side of a chalkboard. Now there is another dot on the right hand side. There is a slight difference in position. To look at it face on, it is not noticeable. However, if we were to draw a line with a ruler from the left to the right, the deviation would be clearly seen. We will continue this tomorrow.

Our trials train us to trust. Psalm 62:8 is a great example of crying out. It says, “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” We pour out our heart while clinging to the Lord through His word.

Psalm 63:8 Amplified says, “My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.” Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

When our heart begins to sink because we feel overwhelmed, we will stand without being shaken when we remember His promises. It is through them that we wage war against our shrinking flesh.

Jeremiah was sinking into despair because of his thoughts. He turned it all around, by latching onto God’s promises. Lamentations 3:1-19 was full of his very descriptive turmoil. Verse 20-21 says, “My soul still remembers and sinks within me. This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope.”

Let’s read the promises that he recounted. Verses 22-23 say, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

After recalling the promises, he makes a faith declaration. Verse 24 says, “The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him!” If we hope in anything other than the Lord, we will falter and our faith will be undermined.

Mark 11:22 is our moment by moment instruction. It says, “…Have faith in God.” Verse 23 addressed our obstacles as mountains (which are very high) and the sea (which can be very tempestuous). 

Verse 24 is still in the context of our faith in God. It says, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

Here is an example of praying and believing from Philippians 4:6-7, Isaiah 41:10, Hebrews 6:19, and Romans 8:28. “Lord, I am feeling anxious right now. This trial is looming before me and I’m overwhelmed. I cry out to You. Thank You for Your resurrection power that dwells in me. I am standing in Your promise of peace that will surpass my own understanding.

You are with me. You are my Help and Strength. You will uphold me through this trial. You are the anchor of my soul. I will not be shaken nor set adrift because my faith is in You. I trust You now to work this all out for my good.”

Let’s go back to James 1:3. It says, “…count it all joy WHEN you fall into various trials.” Note that we are to count our sudden trial as a joyous event at the beginning. We are ready to rejoice when it is over, but are we rejoicing at the beginning?

Proverbs 24:10 says, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” David wrote Psalm 61. How did he deal with things that came at him? Verse 2 says, “From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock  that is higher than I.”

David was asking the Lord to help him hide in Him. He wanted the Lord to be his Protector. Verse 4 says, “I will abide in Your tabernacle  forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.” David’s ‘I will’ was a faith declaration based on his assured future and his unknown present.

I love his words in Psalm 18:1-2. It says, “I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold”

The impact of the trial we fall into, helps us to instantly recognize that we need the Lord. He replaces our weakness with His strength when we cry out to Him. Here is a word picture I like to think about.

In your mind’s eye, take a long strand of hair. Weave it in and out of the links in a chain. Do you see how the hair is fully supported? How much more are we empowered through God’s resurrection power?

Ephesians 1:19 Amplified says, “And (so that you can know and understand) what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength.”

Verse 20 says that it is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead. His power dwells in us. It is perpetually available. Immeasurable. Unlimited. Surpassing  greatness. 

Ephesians 3:16 Amplified says, “May He grant you out of the rich treasure of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the (Holy) Spirit (Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality).” Strengthened. Reinforced.

Why do we cry out? It is our acknowledgment that we cannot do this without Him! Our heart affirms that we absolutely need Him. He is Ever Present, but He makes Himself known in a new way when we cry out. 

2 Peter 1:4 says that we share in His divine nature through His enduring promises. Psalm 136 has 26 verses. Each one ends with, “…For His mercy endures forever.” We are empowered to endure by abiding in His word. It will enable us to know Him in ways we have not experienced Him before.

Hebrews 12:6 says, “For whom He loves He chastens…” The Greek word for chastens means to train up a child, educate, or discipline. The Lord’s goal was explained in verse 10. Speaking first of our earthly fathers, “For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.”

Verse 11 in the Amplified says, “For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields…” Let me remind us of God’s afterwards for Job. 

James 5:11 says, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the endurance of Job and seen the end intended  by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

Trials are never punishment for wrong, but are for specialized training in something that is right. Everyone has trials, righteous or unrighteous. The key is accepting our trial as essential for our spiritual growth—the end intended.

Peter expressed it well. In 1 Peter 1:4-5 he wrote about the future hope of our incorruptible inheritance that is laid up and kept by God’s power. Verse 6 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while,  if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.”

I link this to Paul’s expressed words in 2 Corinthians 4:17. It says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

I’m sure that you agree with me that our trials don’t feel light. Paul went on to help us with this right perspective. Verse 18 says, “While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things  which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

What we focus on will determine our attitude. This was written about Moses. Hebrews 11:27 Amplified says, “(Motivated) by faith he left Egypt behind him, being unawed and undismayed by the wrath of the king; for he never flinched but held staunchly to his purpose and endured steadfastly as one who gazed on Him Who is invisible.”

When we focus all our attention on the intensity of our trial, we lose God’s perspective that will empower us to endure. Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). His future joy (us) was His focus.

What is our future joy? 1 Peter 1:8 says, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” We can endure now because we know nothing is in vain. Everything will be redeemed.

The Lord will use every situation, hardship, trial, emotional pain, and adversity we have ever been through, or will go through for our good. He uses them to mold us into His character. His end intended is that we will be more like Him, so that we might reflect Him to others.

What we desire to reap will be determined by our choice of seeds to sow. James 3:18 says, “Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” Here are some seeds of peace that we can sow.

Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” Titus 3:2 says, “To speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle showing all humility to all men.”

How does this practically work? When we live under the control of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to lead us, He will always set our feet onto the path of righteousness. When our flesh rises up, we must instantly conform our next thoughts to God’s perfect way.

I read this in Matthew Henry’s commentary many years ago. Proverbs 15:1, “If wrath be risen like a threatening cloud, pregnant with storms and thunder, a soft answer will disperse it and turn it away.” I love the word picture.

Proverbs 25:15 Amplified says, “By long forbearance and calmness of spirit a judge or ruler is persuaded, and soft speech breaks down the most bonelike resistance.” Proverbs 29:11 says, “A (self-confident) fool utters all his anger, but a wise man holds it back and stills it.”

We have a strategic part. It takes two to quarrel. It doesn’t work with just one person. Proverbs 26:21 Amplified say, “As coals are to hot embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man to inflame strife.”

Proverbs 17:1 says, “Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife.” Proverbs 15:18 Amplified says, “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger appeases contention.”

One of the ways that our trials train us is by sitting still in the Presence of the Lord. He is our True Refuge in the midst of the storm. Psalm 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

James 1:5 alludes to the fact that during our trials we will have questions. We have never been this way before. All we have to do is to ask. He will give us His wisdom that will help us navigate through.

It is already stored up. It is part of our spiritual DNA. Proverbs 2:6-7 says, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.”

Genesis 1:29 says that every herb will yield seed, and the trees that yield fruit will have a perpetuating seed within them. The harvest is in the seed. Let us sow for a harvest of righteousness!

All glorifying fruit comes from abiding. John 15:4 says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” This is a principle that never changes.

Our trials are designed to draw us closer to the Lord. They help to make us more aware of His eternal truths. Verse 5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

We cannot endure our trials unless we are abiding in Him. James 1:3 says that our trials test our faith which produces the fruit of patience. Verse 4 in the J. B. Phillips says, “But let that process go on until that endurance is fully developed…” 

Hebrews 10:36 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” The Greek word for endurance combines two words. Hupo (under) and mone (to remain).

We often try to get out from under the intense pressure of our trials instead of embracing them. We use mental gymnastics by deflecting, complaining to others, seeking emotional fillers, or resisting grace through pride.

If you have pleaded with the Lord to remove your trial, but He hasn’t done it, then it is time to rethink your prayer. Paul did. Three times He pleaded with the Lord to take away the thorn in his flesh.

When the Lord made His perfect way clear, Paul wholeheartedly embraced it. The words, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” echoed in Paul’s heart. His heart exploded with revelational insight. 

They impacted him. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “…Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” We need God’s grace-strength to endure, so let’s embrace our trials with gladness and joyful heart acceptance.

There is a note in my Bible from the Strong’s on hupomone. I refer to it frequently. The word means: constancy, perseverance, continuance, bearing up, steadfastness, holding out, patient endurance. The meaning describes the fruit of righteousness.

Hebrews 12:11 Amplified says, “For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful, but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it…”

How sad and futile to go through a trial and not be trained. If we are not trained then there will be no fruit that glorifies the Lord. The rest of the verse says, “…a harvest of fruit that consists in righteousness—in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action…”

Like a potter works water into dry clay, our trials work to conform us to God’s will. Isaiah 32:17 says, “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.”

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul wrote that Christ has laid a foundation in our lives. We are to be careful how we build on it. Verse 12 gave two categories. Gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw.

A record of wrongs is like wood, hay, and straw. It can instantly set a blazing fire through our tongues that burns others. Have you ever been burned in a relationship? “Reviving Burned Stones” is the title of one of my 2016 ebooks, and the title of chapter two in my paperback and ebook entitled “Victorious Garden.”

Before our tongue wags, a thought was formed. James 3:5-6 says that our tongue is a little member, a fire, and it is so strategically set that it can defile our whole body. Ugh! Would you drink water that was full of disease causing germs?

Let me take you back to Numbers 5:11-31. You can read the whole portion for yourself. When a wife is thought to be unfaithful, she is made to drink contaminated water. Verse 19 says of the priest, “…take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.”

Picture for a moment what this meant. The tabernacle floor was where the animals were killed. There would be blood on the floor and flies all over it. it would dry until the next sacrifice. Do you eat food after it has fallen on your floor, or flies have been all over it?

Ephesians 4:29 Amplified says, “Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk (ever) come out of your mouth…” Foul, polluting, evil, unwholesome, and worthless words contaminate in two specific ways. First through records of wrongs inside our heart, and then spewed on the one we just blasted.

James 3:2 is our wisdom. Let me rewrite part of it for you. The criteria for our words comes from, “…a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature.”

Every trial, adversity, and hardship trains our character to be more like Christ in our words and actions. Romans 5:3-4 Amplified says, “Moreover (let us also be full of joy now!) let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, know that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity)…”

As we feel the squeeze of our circumstances, we can be assured that the Lord is at work to form our character. At the moment when we think we cannot take it anymore, if we embrace it, our hidden flesh will surface. The Lord knows how much pressure it will take. He never goes over that.

I know this from personal experience. After I fell into the ravine my pain was intense and unrelenting. About every four months I would tell the Lord that I couldn’t take it anymore. That was my pattern for years, until the Holy Spirit taught me how to process it to acceptance, and embrace my pain because God was at work through it.

A wheel potter must center the clay before it can be worked into a usable vessel. So it is with our hearts. Our trials are divinely designed and orchestrated to expose what keeps us from reflecting the Lord to others.

We are not forced to think the way we do. James 3:2 in the Amplified says, “For we all often stumble  and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech (never says the wrong things), he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature.”

Never say the wrong things are preempted by our thoughts. Every word is first a thought. Yesterday I addressed perversity through transforming our mind. We can only do that through bringing Scripture into our heart.

What happens when we say something that should not have come out of our mouth? We offend our hearers. If we gossip, we not only sin, but we bring another into our sin. Proverbs 26:22 says, “The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go  down into the inmost body.”

The Amplified says, “…words of sport (to some, but to others  are like deadly wounds); and they go down into the innermost parts of the body (or of the victim’s nature).” ‘Just kidding’ type words, as well as gossip affect in myriad ways. Have you ever been wounded by other’s words about you?

The literal for innermost being is rooms of the belly. I wonder how many digestive problems are related to wounds from words. There is a term ‘gut punched’ which might be said when we are betrayed or our character is slammed.

For me, James 3:2 helps clarify that we are the true controllers of our thoughts. I love verse 3’s analogy of the horses’ bit. It says, “Indeed we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.” 

Our ‘bit’ in our mouth is God’s hidden word. It will redirect our speech before it goes in the wrong direction. Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” This ‘bit’ will turn us from an angry outburst (flesh) to a calm spirit that will not react when provoked.

1 Corinthians 13:3-7 lists some ways to express God’s love to others. Verse 5 says, “Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil.” The Greek words for ‘provoke’ are: arouse to anger, irritate, to exasperate.

What do you do when someone irritates or exasperates you? Does that arouse hidden anger, or unresolved issues to surface? Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”  

When we don’t keep our heart house cleaned out, these hidden things will spew out of our mouth unexpectedly. You have heard of hoarders. These are folks that don’t throw anything away. We are admonished to cast off the works of darkness. In other words, we are not to stuff them away and ignore their sinful roots.

1 Corinthians 13:5 Amplified says, “…it takes no account of evil done to it (it pays no attention to a suffered wrong). How many of us keep a record of wrongs done to us? That is exactly what we do when we keep bringing up the past to someone. We will continue this tomorrow.

Our flesh has a perverse desire to dwell in the past. How many times have you entertained past scenes through your mind? Rehearsing what might have been is non productive. “If only…” is futile mental gymnastics that fatigues our brain.

James addressed this issue as a temptation. James 1:14-15 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

We are enticed with the perversity of futility. It doesn’t make logical sense to keep recirculating our past through our thoughts. Yet we continue to do it. When I fly, I turn off the air vent. Why? I don’t want to breathe in the recirculated germ filled air.

God told Balaam that his way was perverse. Perversity is contrary to truth. Here is eternal truth. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Our past is passed. We cannot go back and change it. We only keep it alive through our thoughts. When we dwell in our past, we are shunning God’s truth. Romans 1:18 says, “…who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Anything that opposes God’s word is unrighteousness. The Amplified says, “…who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative.”

1 John 1:6 in the Amplified says, “(So) if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are (both) speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth (which the Gospel presents).”

The moment we were saved, according to John 5:24, we passed from death to life.  Colossians 1:13 says, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

Salvation brought us up and out of the miry clay pit. Psalm 40:2 says, “…and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.” Colossians 2:6 says, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”

We are new creations. We dwell in the present, with a living hope focused on eternity with the Lord. How then shall we live? Paul’s example is key. Philippians 3:13 says, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.”

Forgetting and reaching is a fluid motion. We are not stuck in our past. We have been delivered from dwelling in the darkness of sin. We are children of His Light. Romans 13:12 says, “…Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

We cast off and put on through our thoughts. The moment we think a certain thought, we can instantly change to another thought. When we hide God’s word in our heart, it permeates our thought process. 

Here is one example. If we have Philippians 4:13 woven into the fabric of our heart, it will be there for instant recall. The moment we think “I can’t” we can instantly replace that thought with “I can” because His resurrection power is within us.

The caterpillar used to crawl and eat leaves. When it died in the cocoon, its past was  passed. It was transformed into a totally new creation. God created the butterfly to fly and drink nectar from flowers. Before salvation we were enslaved to think only sin filled thoughts. Salvation freed us to have the mind of Christ, so every thought is a choice.