“We will destroy the church if we do not have the courage in a radical day like ours to hold onto the convictions of the Word of God regardless of the cost. But also when we train children to take equally what the Bible says and what people will think, we destroy the Bible’s authority when the chips are down in the university.”
Francis A. Schaeffer, Back to Freedom and Dignity

“But when he turned the water itself into wine, he showed us that the ancient Scripture comes from him too; for by his order the jars were filled. This Scripture, too, is from the Lord. But it has no taste if Christ is not understood in it.” (Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John)

Do you have the “taste” of Jesus in your soul? What is the relationship between “seeking” the Lord and “tasting” of His goodness?

“In attestation of his wondrous wisdom, both the heavens and the earth present us with innumerable proofs, not only those more recondite proofs which astronomy, medicine, and all the natural sciences, are designed to illustrate, but proofs which force themselves on the notice of the most illiterate peasant, who cannot open his eyes without noticing them. It is true, indeed, that those who are more or less intimately acquainted with those liberal studies are thereby assisted and enabled to obtain a deeper insight into the secret workings of divine wisdom.” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Henry Beveridge, tr. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1953), Vol. 1, I.v.2, p. 51.)

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963), Rut, Rot, and Revival

The idea that all you have to do is to accept Christ and you are in is a great mistake. It leaves people with the impression that if they accept Christ they have no fight to fight, no warfare, no job to do and no temptations. They are just in. When you accept Christ rightly as your Lord and Savior you are in, but to be honest, you have just started to fight. People get converted and we do not tell them that they must fight all the way through to heaven because of the spirit of degeneration and the tendency to deteriorate. They must fight, pray through, suffer it out, and live in praise and worship, because if they do not they will deteriorate.

Monday: Ephesians 6:10-20
Like Tozer, Paul uses warfare imagery to describe the battle Christians are in. What role does each piece of armor play in our ability to live godly lives? Do you make it a mental exercise to “put on your armor” every morning? Why might this be a good idea?  How could it help you resist a "spirit of degeneration"?

How do these Scriptures reveal that sin is something we must continue to fight against even after we are saved?  What are some of the strategies you use to deflect temptation or to overcome personal sin?

Abraham Kuyper, Stone Lectures

“Henceforth the curse should no longer rest upon the world itself, but upon that which is sinful in it, and instead of monastic flight from the world the duty is now emphasized of serving God in the world, in every position in life.