60 likes | 71 Views
Learn about the dangers of spiritual drifting, the signs that indicate drifting is happening, and practical remedies to stay grounded in your faith. Discover insights from biblical verses about the importance of vigilance and perseverance in your spiritual journey.
E N D
FACTS ABOUT DRIFTING • Requires no effort Heb. 2:1Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. • It is an unconscious process • Never drift upstream or against tide II Peter 1:5But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, • II Peter 3:17-18beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. • It is dangerous to others Eph. 4:18we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting • The Speed Downstream Increases
SIGNS of DRIFTING • Greater enjoyment of worldly pleasures I John 2: 15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. • II Tim. 3: 44 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God • Less desire to study and meditate on God’s Word Psalm 1: 1-2Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. • Less desire to attend services or be with Gods people Ecc. 4: 9-12 9 Two are better than one,Because they have a good reward for their labor.10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.But woe to him who is alone when he falls,Forhe has no one to help him up.11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;But how can one be warm alone?12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. • Psalm 122:1I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
Remedies for Drifting • Keep rowing, patiently studying Gods word – Heb. 12:1-2 let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, • 2 Peter 1:5, 10 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, • 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; • Guard against rip tides, undercurrents I Peter 2:11Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, • Galatians 5: 16-17I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. • Learn to go against the tide; popularity, peer pressure, modernism, denominationalism, false doctrine of all kinds. • Liberalism and worldliness in the church – probably the greatest enemies of the church in our lifetime!!! • If one drifts along with majority , he will certainly be lost. Matt. 7: 13-14 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Are You Drifting • The danger is real • Many have drifted from the Lord • We would be arrogant to say it could not happen to us • We must have a strong anchor; Eph. 4: 14-15Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Heb. 2: 1-3 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.