The Serpent’s Lie

There’s a moment in Genesis 3 that never fails to stop me in my tracks. The serpent whispers his deadly suggestion to Eve, and then we read these heartbreaking words: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it” (Genesis 3:6).

Desirable for gaining wisdom.

The first sin in human history wasn’t just about disobedience, it was about choosing the wrong source of wisdom. The serpent convinced Eve that true wisdom came through independence from God, through trusting her own understanding rather than God’s Word. And in that tragic moment, humanity began walking a path that has led us into countless dead ends, detours, and disasters ever since.

Two Paths to Wisdom

As I sat with my morning Scripture today, a thread began to weave itself through the readings - from Genesis to Proverbs to James. And what emerged was this stark reality: there are two competing claims to wisdom in this world, and they lead in opposite directions.

The world’s wisdom, what James calls “earthly, unspiritual, of the devil,” always begins with the same promise the serpent made: “You can be wise in your own eyes. You can lean on your own understanding. You don’t need to depend on God.” It sounds empowering. It feels like freedom. But it’s a path that leads away from life.
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God’s wisdom takes us in the opposite direction entirely. Listen to how Proverbs 3:5-7 describes it:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.

Did you catch that? True wisdom doesn’t begin with intelligence, education, or even good intentions. It begins with trust. With dependence. With humility. With acknowledging that we don’t have this figured out on our own.

The Paradox of Humility

Here’s what struck me this morning: the path to godly wisdom requires humility, but it also produces humility. It’s both the doorway and the destination.

Jesus put it this way in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). To be poor in spirit is to come before God empty-handed, acknowledging our desperate need for him. It’s the opposite of being “wise in our own eyes.”

And when we walk in that posture, trusting God rather than leaning on our own understanding, submitting to him rather than asserting our independence, something beautiful happens. We don’t just receive wisdom; we’re transformed by it. Proverbs 3:18 tells us that “wisdom is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.”

Wisdom becomes not just something we know, but something we become. And that wisdom keeps us humble, which keeps us dependent on God, which keeps us on the right path.

Wisdom from Above

James gives us a clear picture of what this God-given wisdom looks like in practice. He writes: “The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17).

Notice how every quality James lists flows from humility. Peace-loving people don’t insist on their own way. Considerate people think of others before themselves. Submissive people yield to God’s authority. Merciful people extend grace because they know how much grace they’ve received.

This is wisdom that doesn’t just fill our heads, it changes our hearts and transforms our relationships. It makes our paths straight because it keeps us walking in step with the Spirit rather than stumbling along in our own strength.

Which Tree Are You Eating From?

So here’s the question I’m asking myself today, and I invite you to ask it too: Which source of wisdom am I drawing from?

Am I trusting in the Lord with all my heart, or am I leaning on my own understanding? Am I wise in my own eyes, or am I poor in spirit? Am I eating from the tree of life, or am I still falling for the serpent’s lie that I can gain wisdom apart from humble dependence on God?

The truth is, we all drift toward independence. We all want to be “desirable for gaining wisdom” on our own terms. But that’s the wrong path. It always has been.

The right path, the path of wisdom, is marked by trust, humility, and surrender to God. It’s the path Jesus himself walked, “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-7).

Proverbs reminds us that “by wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place” (Proverbs 3:19). The God who created everything invites us to trust him with our lives, to acknowledge him in all our ways, to find our wisdom in him.
That’s not weakness. That’s the path to life.

Walking Points

• Reflect on Genesis 3:6. In what areas of your life are you most tempted to seek wisdom apart from God, to be “wise in your own eyes”?
• Read through Proverbs 3:5-7 slowly. What does it look like practically for you to “trust in the Lord with all your heart” rather than leaning on your own understanding? Where do you struggle most with this?
• Consider James 3:17. Which quality of wisdom from above do you most need in your life right now? How might humble dependence on God help you grow in that area?
• Think of a current decision or challenge you’re facing. Are you approaching it by leaning on your own understanding, or by trusting and submitting to God? What would change if you shifted your approach?
• Who is someone in your life who demonstrates godly wisdom marked by humility and dependence on God? Consider reaching out to them for prayer and encouragement this week.

Prayer
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Gracious Father, forgive me for the times I’ve been wise in my own eyes, for the moments I’ve trusted my own understanding rather than leaning fully on you. Thank you for the gift of your wisdom, which is pure and peace-loving, considerate and full of mercy. Help me to be poor in spirit, humbly dependent on you in every area of my life. Make my paths straight as I acknowledge you in all my ways. Guard me from the serpent’s lie that I can find life and wisdom apart from you. Instead, lead me to eat from the tree of life, to take hold of your wisdom and hold it fast. Transform me by your truth, shape me by your Spirit, and keep me walking on the right path, the path of trust, humility, and surrender to your perfect will. In the name of Jesus, who is himself the wisdom of God incarnate, I pray. Amen.

​The Unexpected Harmony of Scripture

This morning I sat down with my Bible and did something I’ve done many times before: I read the second chapter of several different books. Genesis 2, Joshua 2, Job 2, Psalm 2, Proverbs 2, Isaiah 2, Matthew 2, and James 2. I wasn’t looking for a theme. I wasn’t trying to connect dots. I was just reading my Bible.

And yet, the Lord had a message waiting for me.

It started with Proverbs 2, where Solomon lays out the choice before us as clearly as any passage in Scripture: the path of righteousness and the path of the wicked. Wisdom calling. Folly beckoning. Two ways. Only two. It’s impossible to miss how central this theme is to God’s Word, this idea of the right path, of walking with God, of pursuing Christlikeness and holiness through Spirit-empowered wisdom.

But then something remarkable happened.

God’s Surprising Guidance

As I kept reading, I discovered I wasn’t just reading about the right path in theory. I was reading about God actively directing his people onto different paths: redirecting them, protecting them, guiding them step by step.

In Joshua 2, Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute, no less, told the Israelite spies to take a different route: “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you” (Joshua 2:16). Could it be that God was guiding his people through someone who wasn’t even part of Israel? Someone whose past was marked by sin, but whose faith was real enough to risk everything?

And then I turned to Matthew 2. The wise men were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they went home “by another route” (Matthew 2:12). Joseph was told to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt, a completely different path than he’d planned (Matthew 2:13). Later, when he returned, he was warned again to go to Nazareth instead of Judea (Matthew 2:22).

Three times in one chapter, God redirects the path.

When Scripture Sings in Harmony

Here’s what struck me: I didn’t set out to read about paths this morning. I was just reading chapter two of these books. And yet there it was, God’s Word harmonizing beautifully, without me orchestrating it, pointing to this fundamental truth: God guides and directs our steps.

And then came James 2:25, which brought it all together: “And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?”

The very woman who redirected the spies in Joshua is held up in the New Testament as an example of living faith. Her act of sending them by “another way” wasn’t just clever strategy, it was faith in action, trusting that the God of Israel was the true God, even when it cost her everything.

The Wisdom That Guides

So what’s the connection between all these redirected paths?

It’s wisdom. God’s wisdom. Not the wisdom of this world that Paul calls foolishness in 1 Corinthians 1:18 and following. Not human cleverness or strategic planning. This is Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered wisdom that comes from above, the kind James describes as “pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason” (James 3:17).

Proverbs 2 promises that when we seek wisdom like hidden treasure, we’ll understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. And part of that knowledge is learning to recognize when God is redirecting our path.

Sometimes he does it through dreams, like with Joseph and the wise men.

Sometimes he does it through unlikely people, like Rahab.

Sometimes he does it through circumstances, through Scripture, through the counsel of godly friends, through that still, small voice in our hearts that says, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).

The Path Is a Person

But here’s what we must never forget: ultimately, the right path isn’t a set of directions. It’s not a formula. It’s not even a life plan we can map out and execute.

The right path is a Person.

Jesus said, “I am the way” (John 14:6). Not “I’ll show you the way” or “I know the way.” He is the way. Walking the right path means walking toward Christ, with Christ, in Christ, through Christ, for the sake of Christ, and only by the power of Christ’s Spirit dwelling in us.

This isn’t Stoicism. It isn’t self-improvement. It isn’t Eastern philosophy or worldly wisdom dressed up in spiritual language.

This is the call to follow the One who is Wisdom incarnate, to trust him when he redirects our paths, to walk by faith even when the route he chooses makes no earthly sense.

When God Changes Your Plans

Maybe you’re in a season where God is redirecting your path right now. You had plans - good plans, godly plans even, and suddenly you’re being told to go a different way. To the hills instead of home. To Egypt instead of staying put. To Nazareth instead of the place that seems more logical.

Take heart. God has been doing this since the beginning. He guided his people through a prostitute in Jericho. He protected his own Son through dreams and detours. He has been faithfully directing the steps of his children for thousands of years.

The question isn’t whether God is trustworthy to guide us. The question is whether we’ll trust him enough to follow when he redirects our path.

Richard Baxter once wrote, “Walk not by sight, but by faith, and resign yourselves up to the will of God.” That’s what Rahab did. That’s what Joseph did. That’s what the wise men did.

And that’s what you and I are called to do as we seek to walk the right path in 2026.

Walking Points

• Can you think of a time when God clearly redirected your path? What did that look like? How did you know it was him?
• Proverbs 2 urges us to seek wisdom “like silver” and search for it “as for hidden treasures.” What does that kind of pursuit look like in your daily life?
• In what area of your life right now might God be trying to redirect you? What path have you been walking that he might be calling you to reconsider?
• How can you cultivate the kind of faith that Rahab had, the kind that acts on what God reveals, even at great personal cost?
• Who are some brothers and sisters in Christ you can talk with about discerning God’s direction for your life? Make time this week to reach out to them.

Prayer
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Gracious God, you are the Lord who guides our steps. Thank you for your Word that shows us, again and again, how you faithfully direct your people along the right path. Forgive us when we resist your leading, when we cling to our own plans instead of trusting yours. Give us wisdom from above, wisdom that is pure and peaceable, gentle and open to reason. Help us to recognize your voice when you redirect our paths, whether through Scripture, dreams, circumstances, or the counsel of faithful friends. Grant us faith like Rahab’s, that acts on what you reveal. Give us obedience like Joseph’s, that moves quickly when you speak. Make us wise like the Magi, willing to change course when you warn us. Above all, keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. May we walk with him, in him, and for him all our days. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

​Puzzle Pieces and Movie Scripts

Everyone has a worldview. It may be well thought-out, logical and coherent, or it may be loosely thrown together and disorganized, but everyone has one. Quite simply, a worldview is your philosophy or view of life, a way of looking at the world around you.

Think of the cover of a puzzle box. If you were to dump all the puzzle pieces on the ground without seeing what the picture on the cover looked like, you would have a pretty hard time putting the puzzle together. Similarly, life presents us with thousands of questions and issues which are like pieces to a puzzle. Without the right worldview to follow, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to know where and how all the pieces fit.

Or, think of a worldview as a movie script. The late Francis Schaeffer said that life is like entering a very long movie that has already started and then learning you have to leave before it ends. In such a situation we would be significantly lost without some outside help. Schaeffer suggested that the Bible gives us the script of the whole movie. Therefore, even if we’ve missed the first part of it, and even though we’ll have to leave before it’s over, we can still see how we fit into the big picture. A Christian worldview is essential because it will be the view of life that most closely corresponds to reality.

Elements of a Worldview

What are the key components that comprise a person’s worldview? Let me briefly mention five of the most important elements that shape our view of life.

1.) The first aspect of a worldview is your view of God: Does God exist? Is God personal or impersonal? Is there only one God or many? Does God require anything from us? What is the nature of God? It has been rightly observed that a person’s answers to these questions will be the greatest influence on the way a person thinks and lives.

2.) Second, a worldview focuses on the issues of purpose, value, and ultimate questions, such as: Are miracles possible? Is the universe all there is? What is the purpose of our existence? Why does something exist rather than nothing? Is there objective meaning to life?

3.) The third area a worldview addresses is the question of knowledge. It seeks to answer how we know what we know. What is the authority upon which a person should base their claim to truth or morality? Is each person the measure for right and wrong or is there an objective standard? We live each day according to the way we view knowledge, whether we recognize it or not.

4.) Fourth is the issue of ethics. How do you make moral decisions? Are you bound by what God has revealed or by cultural convention or laws? Are some acts really wrong or merely inconvenient?

5.) The last major element of a worldview has to do with the nature of humankind. How do you view human beings? Are we basically good? Are we basically sinful? Is there such a thing as sin? Are we grown-up germs caused by evolution or do we have real purpose and design? What happens when we die?

These are the significant elements which make up one’s worldview, and again, we all have a worldview whether or not we’re conscious of it.

So What?

A Christian ought to prayerfully and intentionally put together a biblical world and life view. To live a life of love for God and neighbor will require a life that is lived faithfully according to that worldview. Furthermore, those of us who are parents will want to pass that view of life on to our children, and those who disciple others will want to help them develop it as well.

I once read that a worldview is as “practical as potatoes.” Far from being purely an academic or philosophical pursuit, our view of life has a “real life” shaping effect. Only as we interpret the world around us through the lens of a Christian worldview will we be better able to see how we ought to live and bear a faithful witness to it. Writer George Barna has written for years on the sad news that there is virtually no difference between Christians and unbelievers in what they believe and how they live their lives. The one exception, he notes, are those believers who consciously hold a biblical worldview. Do you hold such a worldview?

The Apostle Paul wrote, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Now, I want to be clear about something: Christians who are committed to a biblical worldview will not agree on every particular. We will differ on matters of interpretation, application, and emphasis. Some of these differences are minor; others touch on significant theological or practical questions. That’s to be expected in a diverse body of believers seeking to faithfully follow Christ across different times, cultures, and contexts.

But here’s what we shouldn’t do: we shouldn’t pretend that having a worldview doesn’t matter, or that one worldview is as good as another, or that our faith can remain privatized and disconnected from the rest of our lives. The call to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength demands that we think Christianly about all of life. We may debate the particulars, and we should do so with charity and humility, but we must not abandon the task itself. A life lived for Christ requires a mind submitted to Christ. The question isn’t whether you’ll have a worldview - you already do. The question is whether that worldview will be shaped by the Word of God or by the spirit of the age.

Walking Points

• Have you ever thought thoroughly about what you believe as a Christian and how it plays out in your daily life?

• Of the five elements of a biblical worldview, which one are you most familiar with? Least familiar with?
• Talk with one or two Christians this week about the five key elements of a worldview to discover more about how you view life.

• Then, pray about getting together regularly with these brothers and sisters in Christ so you may grow in your understanding and application of God’s Word, for it really does apply to every sphere of life.

Prayer

All-wise and all-knowing God, you are the Lord of Heaven and earth. Nothing truly makes sense apart from you. Forgive me when I try to live in your world as though you don’t exist. Whether it’s the way I view the universe and my place in it, the moral decisions I make every day, my values that I pass on to others, how I understand where I came from, why I’m here, and where I’m going after death, please help me have your true and eternal perspective on all such matters and not that of the world around me. Let my thinking, speaking, and living be radically out of step with the prevailing culture that surrounds me, but give me greater love for those who are a part of it, so I may reach them with the grace and truth of your Gospel. And Lord, I pray that the things I believe will make a genuine difference in the way I live my life, so that I may be holy, even as you are holy. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

Looking Back, Moving Forward

As we stand on the threshold of a new year, it’s natural to look back and assess where we’ve been. But it’s also crucial to look ahead and ask ourselves: How will I live in the year to come?
The Apostle Paul had something important to say about this in Ephesians 5:15-17:

Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

The Question We All Need to Ask

Here’s what strikes me about this passage: Paul’s saying there’s nothing casual or accidental about living the Christian life. It takes purpose, commitment, and intentionality.

So let me ask you the same question I’m asking myself as we enter 2026: Are you living carefully, wisely, and intentionally in the area of your faith?

I’ve discovered something about myself over the years. When I “don’t have time” to spend in prayer or Scripture in the morning, I’m usually not “very careful” in how I live throughout the rest of the day. And when I’m not being careful in my walk with Christ, I’m a sitting duck for the devil. It becomes much easier, and more likely, for me to give in to the temptations in my life.

What “Careful” Really Means

The word “careful” in this passage means “accurate and exact.” It carries the idea of closely examining or investigating something. Paul’s talking about our walk with Jesus, the Christian life. He’s saying we need to closely examine how we’re living, where we struggle and why, and how to successfully navigate those areas.

If you’ve ever read Pilgrim’s Progress (my favorite book outside of the Bible), you know that most of the story focuses on Christian’s pursuit to live the Christian life after he comes to faith. Chapter after chapter reveals what happens when he’s not being “careful in how he lives.” We watch as he makes mistakes, takes wrong roads, listens to bad advice, and often ends up in gut-wrenching predicaments.

But we shouldn’t laugh at the poor guy, because his experience is ours. Through the smallness of our daily surrenders to sin and temptation, we also veer off the road and end up miles from where we should be.

Wisdom Is Skill for Living

Paul’s call to “be careful” by being wise and not foolish isn’t some intellectual exercise. The word “wisdom” in Scripture means “skill for living.” And Paul says that part of what it takes to get this skill is understanding what the Lord’s will is.

If you don’t know what pleases or displeases God, then it’s awfully hard to please God.
But here’s the thing: once we understand God’s will, we then have to do it. Romans 12:2 explains how we learn God’s will:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We have to renew our minds. And how do we do that? By regularly reading, studying, and meditating upon God’s Word, for starters.

Learning to Listen

So often in my prayer life, I want to do all the talking. But someone once asked a question that made me feel really foolish: “If you had a chance to eat dinner with the smartest person in the world, would you really want to be the one doing all the talking?”

And yet, that’s me. Doing all the talking when I pray. Not listening.

I believe a key to a transformed life and a renewed mind is listening to God. And we listen to God when we interact with his Word, whether it’s in private devotions, Sunday morning worship, or in a Bible study with a small group.

I’m able to pray and live much more effectively when I know what God’s will is, when I know what pleases him. Living wisely, the way Paul had in mind, takes place once we’ve considered what God has said about something and then acted on it.

Redeeming the Time

That phrase “making the most of every opportunity” literally means “redeeming the time.” As we step into 2026, this is our calling: to live with such care and intentionality that we squeeze every drop of Kingdom purpose out of the days God gives us.

This isn’t about frantic activity or packed schedules. It’s about living on purpose, for God’s purposes. It’s about understanding that we represent Christ and being careful to look like him in how we spend our days.

Where Are You Now?

So as 2025 ends and a new year begins, what are you regularly doing in your life to help you know what God’s will is? What areas of your life are you living wisely in? What areas need attention?

Who are some people you can enlist to help you live wisely for the Lord in 2026? Who is someone you can help to live wisely?

I encourage you to think about those questions and then ask the Lord to lead you into fellowship with some folks who’ll help encourage one another to live wisely and redeem the time in the year ahead.

Let’s not waste 2026. Let’s make the most of every opportunity God gives us.

Prayer
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Gracious God, as we stand at the beginning of a new year, help us to live carefully and wisely. Forgive us for the times we’ve been careless in our walk with you, for the opportunities we’ve squandered, for the ways we’ve conformed to this world instead of being transformed by you. Renew our minds through your Word. Help us to understand your will and give us the courage and strength to do it. Lead us to brothers and sisters in Christ who will walk with us, encourage us, and hold us accountable. May we make the most of every day you give us in 2026, redeeming the time for your glory and the advancement of your Kingdom. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Fifteen years have passed since I first shared these words, and in that time God has continued the work of change in my own life that I describe here. The question this devotion asks remains as urgent and as grace-filled as ever. I share it again, praying it will encourage you in your pilgrimage toward Christlikeness.

The World Around You

A few years ago the men in our church studied the words of the Apostle Paul to his young son in the faith, Titus. In chapter three of the letter that bears his name, Titus was instructed to encourage the people entrusted to his care to not be like the world around them: foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, being hated and hating (Titus 3:3). He then reminded them of something very important with these words: At one time they too were… just like that.

Paul told Titus that because of God’s love, the redeeming work of Christ, and the renewing and washing work of the Holy Spirit, the Christians in Crete were no longer like the world around them.

Have You Changed?

That fact, very naturally, brought up a painful question in our group discussion: What if we’re still like that? What if we’re still like the world around us? One possible answer to the question was even more painful: No change in your life may mean you aren’t in Christ, you haven’t been redeemed, washed, and renewed.

We’re all at different places in our relationship with Christ. And, of course, we all walk at different paces with him. Thus, we won’t all look alike. Yet, if we can’t look back at our lives a year ago, two years ago, or five years ago and see some sort of growth, some level of maturation in faith, love, godliness, and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit, then we may well need to ask the question: Am I truly in Christ? Of course, only God knows the heart and this isn’t about others judging you. But it is about each of us doing an honest assessment of ourselves.

There’s no getting around the fact that true faith in Christ will result in a changed life. We can’t possibly remain the same.

Facing the Music

About eight months after I graduated from college, I went back to visit a few friends who were still there. I also returned to share with them the news that God had called me into ordained ministry, and I would be heading off to seminary soon. I was very excited. I was also a bit nervous. Why was I nervous? Well, I had not always lived a godly life while in college. I knew it and I knew my friends and fraternity brothers knew it.

What happened? Well, my closest friends thought my news was great and wished me well. Others laughed me out of the room. I absolutely deserved it.

The laughter stung, but it also testified to something real: the distance between who I had been and who God was calling me to become. That journey from old self to new self – that’s the pilgrimage of progressive sanctification. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it certainly doesn’t happen without God’s grace meeting us at every turn.

Glory to God

I give glory to God, and God alone, that 37 years later I can point to real change in my life. And, as the old saying goes, while I’m not where I pray I will one day be in my faith, by God’s grace I’m not where I once was. I don’t know if I was the chief of sinners way back then, but I certainly was competing for the title. That fact makes the following words from Paul all the more precious to me.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:15b-16)

If God could work in Paul’s life, as well as my own, then he can work in any person’s life. I praise God for the truth and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to change lives.

Where Are You?

So where are you now compared to where you once were? Do too many of the descriptions in the New Testament of the unbelieving world still describe you? Are you moving on to maturity with Christ, training yourself for godliness day by day? The progressive nature of growing in Christlikeness means it will never end on this side of Heaven. But faithfulness to Christ does require we get started.

And here’s the good news: if you sense even the faintest stirring toward Christ, if you feel the slightest pull toward change, God is already at work in you. Long before we turn toward him, he has been turning us. That restlessness in your spirit, that dissatisfaction with who you’ve been, that’s prevenient grace, God’s grace that goes before us, preparing the way. We start with rebirth. We continue by growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through the power of God’s grace and Spirit. Are you moving forward? Have you started yet?

Richard Baxter reminds us: “Rest not till grace shall reign in your hearts, and sin be subdued; and in the midst of temptations, trials, and weaknesses, maintain the life of faith.”

Walking Points

• Can you think of a Christian you know whose life is different than when you first knew them? What about them has changed?

• How about your own life? Can you identify areas in your life that are markedly different than when you first came to know Christ? What are those areas? Did they change all at once or was it a slow process?

• How did you know you needed to change? How did the process take place (i.e., what did the change look like)?

• Name two or three areas that are still “works in progress.” What are you actively doing to become more like Christ in those areas?

• Discuss these issues with two or three brothers and sisters in Christ and actively pray for one another.

Prayer
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Gracious God, you are the Lord of our lives. I confess that all too often I resist obeying and following you and resist the change you desire. I am grateful for your patience with me and for the wonderful news of your Gospel. Move me, by the power of your Spirit, to pursue you for all I’m worth, for surely in that pursuit I will also find myself becoming more like you. Help me to find Christian brothers and sisters who also seek to walk with you and help us to build up and pray for one another. Enable me to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, encourage others to do the same, and bring glory to your name. In Christ I pray. Amen.