Recently, I talked with a man who had bright flowers in his life’s window box.  But upon opening the front door, I saw the discouragement of one who had dropped the shield of faith.  The fiery darts were really getting through to him.  (Study Ephesians 6:10 and following.)  It was an old story.  He had been dabbling in sin, trying to repent, and slipping back again.  Worse than the six ounces of sin he had on his heart was the 10 pounds of muddy discouragement he was carrying.

How crafty our enemy!  He presses us toward one extreme or the other:  One fellow continues presumptuously in sin, while he cooly banks on eternal security and argues the point that there is, after all, no sinless perfection.  Then, another fellow catches a glimpse of the so-called Victorious Life and decides to face up to his sins, but his earnest spirit is burdened and broken by the inventory he is driven to take.  His very honesty regarding sin gives a grand opportunity to the devil.

The first fellow is the hardest to help.  He is in rebellion.  Read Ephesians 5:3-7.  The second fellow’s discouragement is leading him to drop the shield of faith.  Likely, he is accepting evil spirit accusation as if it were Holy Spirit conviction.  Study Revelation 12:10 and 11.  The secret, inner testimony of our hearts must be to the sufficiency of God’s grace, not to our misery and failure.  This must be declared boldly in prayer and held onto in faith.  I John 1:7; 3:8; Colossians 1:12-14; 2:9, 10, 15.  I call these texts “battle verses” and use their actual phrases repeatedly in prayer.  Here are the right weapons for this kind of warfare, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

Now allow one other word of exhortation to those who would help the struggling:  In all the stress to get there and hear what the lost and alienated are trying to say to us and in all the effort to identify and get involved, don’t lose the ball in the high grass.  Mark 16:15 does not read, “Go into all the world and listen.”  Nor does 2 Corinthians 6:17-7:1 read “Be identified with them.”

Read and pray over all the Scriptures I have cited above.  Blessings!