Change—Is It REALLY Possible?

What's Your Story?

How's this for a ludicrous moment in the Bible? "The Israelites started wailing and said, 'If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost-also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.... We were better off in Egypt!'" (Num. 11:4-5, 18). Really? Better off with a good meal but a maniacal dictator's crushing demands and cruel torments? Better off with instant gratification but without freedom or a future? Fortunately, we would never think this way! Monotony and hardship would never cause us to forget the wonders of God's ...

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Killing Your Sin

If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live (Rom. 8:13). Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Col. 3:5).

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal. 5:24).
"The tiger ate her hand. It slowly proceeded to eat the rest of her arm." That's how Vikram Chari described the horrifying spectacle that he and his six-year-old ...

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Do You Neglect the Holy Spirit?

The great question for us to ask ourselves is whether our life is lived more in the power of the flesh than in the power of the Holy Spirit. The indica­tions that a Christian is serving God in the power of the flesh are very easy to detect. Self-effort always ends in sin. In Galatians 5, the Christians were quarreling and in danger of devouring one another. Count the number of expressions the apostle used to indicate their lack of love, and you will find more than twelve—envy, jealousy, bitterness, strife, and all sorts of others. The apostle ...

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Counter Lies with Truth

Our culture is riddled with deception. It's everywhere, as illustrated by the following outlandish advertising claims:

• "Become a World-Class Violinist Instantaneously."

• "How to Play the Piano ... Instantly!"

• "'Instant Health' at the Flip of a Switch!" (ad for a kitchen appliance)

• "Melt 10 lbs. in 10 minutes! ... a workout so easy, you do it in your pajamas!"

• "Look Better and Feel Younger in Just Minutes a Day ... The key to a healthier, happier life." (ad for an oxygen chamber—price tag: $3,999.95)

Sometimes it's easy to see through the falsehood (as in the claim that one can ...

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Real World: Husband, Father, Porn Addict

The Scenario

It started "innocently" enough when I was younger, glanc­ing at women's clothing catalogs when Mom and Dad weren't around. Real problems started when my parents let me have a television in my own room, and I'd channel surf for hours at night, looking for anything arousing. Later I was introduced to the vast online world of staged and airbrushed beauty, a world of "free" content piped into my own house on my computer. How horrifying it would be to have all this exposed to my family that I love, and how many times I ...

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Moving Past Zero

Imagine using a line graph to picture our struggle to change. Any activity below zero would indicate steps taken to battle sins like lust, greed, hatred, and selfish­ness. Any activity above zero would indicate steps of positive obedience like prayer, witnessing, serving, and giving. Now, if we were to graph the life of the average Christian, my hunch is that we'd see the majority of energy being invested below zero, in the "minus territory" of trying hard not to do wrong things. We're confessing to God, renewing pledges of repentance, seeking accountability from friends or family to ...

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