I am going to do something so rare, this may actually be the very first time I have ever done this- I am going to post something that will not have any biblical reference, and will not have a video, and even rarer than that- it will be short.
If you prefer to watch a video, I just told you there ain’t gonna be one today, so don’t look for “click on this link”.
OK, so why do I say long term progress is not a straight line?
The answer, in a word, is… backsliding. No human is ever going to do something right and never, ever do it wrong again.
If we look at a timeline of some growth activity, such as a record of one’s weight while on a diet, we do not see a straight line going up, or down, but rather more of a sine wave, like a wave in the ocean: up, then down, then up, then down, continually. Like this:
If it stays constant, never gradually going up or down, in science we call that stasis; but, in the case of personal or spiritual growth, the more appropriate word is stagnation, or some sensitive people would prefer to hear it called “staying in one’s comfort zone”.
Call it what you will, it still means there is no growth.
Our attempts at improvement will always will have that waviness, but it will be steadily going either up or down, depending on which way represents progress.
So what does this have to do with salvation, or God, or anything spiritual?
It is an important thing to know because this is the way we change, emotionally and spiritually.
As we learn more about the Bible we will show an upward swing, and if we forget some of what we learned there will be a downward swing, but so long as we don’t forget all we learned the wave will slowly go up.
The same is true with learning how to control our sinful nature (in Hebrew called the Yetzer Hara), how to learn to forgive, the proper way to worship, and learning to get along with others.
Today’s message is simple:
Don’t give up when you screw up!
You WILL screw up, sooner or later, and you will always screw up, now and then. If you allow these occasional dips in your spiritual sine wave to discourage you, well, that is exactly what the Enemy wants to happen.
Don’t give in to him.
And that is it for today (see! I told you it would be short). Know that you will make mistakes, that you will backslide, but always keep this in mind:
Three steps forward and two steps backward is not a failure:
it is a step forward.
Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know to help this ministry grow. Subscribe to my website and also to my YouTube channel (Youtube.com/messianicmoment).
I have written 4 books, and if you like what you get here you will like them, as well; they are in paperback and digital format, and available from my website and on Amazon Books.
I also have a Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” that you are invited to join, just please read and agree to the rules.
That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and an early Shabbat Shalom!
PS: I am having an operation on my back today to relieve my constant pain from lumbar spinal stenosis, so please send up a prayer for me.
