An Audience of ONE

Let's face it, sin can be really attractive.

But sin doesn't always "just happen". The idea has been dropped in our minds and we begin to plan how to execute it. We often don't weigh the cost of our actions before acting on them.

We often find ourselves in situations where we think no one is watching and we can get away with that which is taking over our thinking. But I am here to say, that we have an audience of one.

There is an audience that sees everything, and nothing can be hidden from him. While judgement may not come right away for our actions, blessings can be lost, and we may never be the wiser.

It's so important that we have the intention of doing the right thing all the time, with the mindset that God is watching and that he does know all of our thoughts and actions. But, be reassured, God always gives us a way of escape.

So, when we think of that thing that we really shouldn't be doing or thinking of, we must be looking for a way of escape so that we avoid doing that which we will regret.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:

but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye

are able: but will with the temptation also makes a way to escape,

that ye may be able to bear it. "

1 Corinthians 10:13

Holding onto holiness can be very difficult, in fact, it can be so difficult that we are often tempted to give up and just go in our own direction no matter the cost. But there is glory in that, not just for God, but for our own integrity.

So, I believe we must ask ourselves a very serious question. Do we want to be vessels for the Lord all the time or just when it's convenient for us? This is an incredibly hard question because it brings our true hearts to the surface, and often, we don't like what we see.

An exercise I do often is to take a long look in the mirror.

Through my eyes, I can see the real me. And if in that deep analysis I see some areas I either need to work on or remove I act right away.

If you think about it, most people don't like to look in the mirror. Yeah, they brush their hair, put on makeup, and primp, whatever. But do they really look into themselves? I mean, in the eyes and look deep into their own soul?

There could be a surprise there for them, but they have to look and like me keep cleaning up the areas of our hearts, the deep places where we meet with God and ask him, is this supposed to be here and if not, remove it.

Bad habits are hard to break, they say if you can stop something for 3 days then you are on the right track. Then before you know it, the thing we were chained to, is gone. Three days!!! That's all it takes in most cases.

Now let me help you here, be ready to put something in its place. If you are going to remove a bad habit, you have to put a good habit in its place. This helps us to be more successful.

I quit smoking in January 1996.

I had made a promise to God to quit, not because you can't be a Christian and smoke, but I really felt the Lord wanted me to let this crutch go and lean on him. I tried and tried and just wasn't winning this battle. Three days, right? Nope, wasn't working.

I prayed one afternoon on January 5th and said Lord I can't even do for you without you. See I was trying to quit in my own power, but that was not the lesson for me from Him. As of the 6th I never smoked again.

It wasn't until I completely surrendered my will to his that success came. I avoided it as best I could to be around them, but I found that when I was, God held my courage together and I wasn't even tempted.

No one knew what I was doing. It was just between me and my God. I worked hard to not be irritable, or to take my frustrations out on anyone while going through withdrawals. But really now, I don't remember going through many withdrawals.

I remember God being faithful to help me conquer that which he had blessed me to do. It's the same with sin. The flesh is hard to keep into submission, so let us remember, hard is hard, and hard is not bad.