Standing Firm in the Faith July 23rd Joy Class (1pm)

Last week, we talked about: Putting on the full armor of God and what that looks like. 

• Recap: Brief overview 
• Now that we have put on the armor, how do we actually stand firm in a world that pushes back?
• Let me tell you about a time when I did not stand firm: Baseball JV story Bob Jones. 

• One of my favorite examples of standing firm in faith is when Peter walked on water in Matthew 14. 
• Not only is it a literal example of “standing” firm in faith but it is so powerful and there are so many teaching applications. 
• Taking your eyes off Jesus, walking step in step with Jesus, not letting yourself be in control, and like I just said- literally standing firm when he walked on water. 

We will look at James 4:7 and 8: 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

• This is a powerful passage. 
• This passage should give us hope and a drive. 
• I love the wording used here.
•  To flee something is to run, to never look back. 
• I love how the image of the devil fleeing you looks. 
• When it says resist the devil this menas that we are going to be tempted. Last week we talked about what our armor is and does this week we are talking about what we can do to fend off those attacks. 
• We are going to be tempted and we are going to struggle with things, it is a part of life. What we do in those moments are crucial. 
• There is this humbling part about submitting ourselves. This is an act of letting go of the driving wheel if you will. 
• For us who struggle with control, this is something that can be a hard challenge. 
• If we submit to God we are letting Him be in control. This is something that we can all struggle with but it can be one of the most benefiting things for us. 

Verse 8, 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 

• We are told to come near to the Lord and he will come to us. This represents the open relationship the Lord has for us. The open arms if you will. 
• I love the image of us washing hands. My hands get dirty a lot in life. When you clean them, you have this sense of comfort and purification. God does this in our lives. Jesus is our cleansing. 
• I love this image of resist the devil, draw near to the Lord. 
• This makes me think of a breath prayer I say: “get away from me satan, draw closer to me Lord.” 
• Prayer can be one of our biggest weapons in this spiritual battle. We talked about how last week after all the pieces of armor are listed prayer is mentioned right after. 
• Prayer helps us draw closer to the Lord. Prayer is a weapon. 
• Prayer helps us stand firm in a world that pushes back. 

In 1 Peter 5:8-9: 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

• Being alert and of sober mind. These are direct commands. There is no getting this mixed up or confused. These commands are easy and something that we should be able to do without confusion. 
• This is another cool and powerful image of what the devil does on a daily basis. He prowls like a lion. We have to be ready to fight back. 
• Another use of the word resist. 
• The image of us being together and fighting the same fight is something powerful. It makes me feel stronger knowing I have powerful Christians backing me up in this fight. 

Standing firm in the faith has many different looks. 

• It is easy and heart warming to look at these stories or verses and praise the faith. 
• In most of these stories there is success for the character or people.
• Standing firm in the faith also looks like praising the Lord and trusting Him when our prayer doesn’t get answered. 
• That can be tough and a hard reality that we have to face. 
• My mind goes to Job. He lost everything and still praised the Lord. That is unwavering faith. 
• It would have been really easy for Job to give into his human desires and temptations of satan. 
• Standing firm in the faith has its different looks. It is not going to look the same for everyone. Each of us have our own story and out own battles. 
• Jonah did the exact opposite thing of standing firm in the faith. He completely disobeyed God’s directions. 
• Standing firm in the faith is a physical effort and a mental effort. 
• We have to be locked in to fight off the devils attacks. We know this is going to happen. He prowls like a lion. We have to stand on guard and understand that we are going to be attacked on multiple fronts. 
• Good army leaders use sea, land, and air to attack. The devil does the same thing. He dresses up his attacks ot try and confuse us and get us weak and in a spiral of hopelessness. 

What are we going to do about this? 

• We are told many times to trust the Lord. 
• I know it can be a hard thing to do. 
• Like I said earlier turning over that trust is such a hard thing. 
• Start now, not tomorrow. 
• We have to keep running the race, no matter how hard it gets. 
• Just keep swimming. (dory example) 
• Nature and the things that can do. (look at Jacksons pictures) 
• Remember our weapons. This is something that we have.
• It can be fun to play a little offense. Having an offensive mindset will help us. 
• Whenever I get tempted something that I have found helpful is to physically do something. That can be call somebody, write a card, do pushups. If I occupy myself I can turn that temptation into nothing. 
• Our togetherness and community can be one of our biggest strengths. 
• There is so much division and hatred in the world today. 
• As Christians we need to stick together. 
• Just like we talked about last week.
• We are only as strong as our weakest link. 
• The more together we are the stronger we are. 
• The more we are going to be able to defend the attacks. 
• Openly talking about our struggles and naming them can do such good. Then we have accountability to rely on each other. 
• We talked about it last week: pray. Prayer is such a weapon. Last week in Ephesians 6:18 we see right after all the pieces of armor we are told to pray, there are so many other verses of prayer. 
• Matthew 7 tells us to ask and seek, James 5 encourages us to pray, and so many more that you all know and love. 

What spiritual battles are we facing today? 

Get in groups and discuss/ pray for each other. 

One Big Prayer 

Ending/Thanks