Going from Standing For Truth to Walking In It, Having Godly Patterns for Life

 Standing is great, but what do babies try to do once they learn to stand? Walk, of course; followed by running and getting into who knows what. 😊 Now that we’ve talked about stands a while, let’s move forward in those stands – especially standing in the breach in prayer; first to be sure we’re right with God & others, then praying for others.

Our 1st President, Washington, could have just been appointed; he was the perfect pick. Yet, he knew the future was important, so he faced elections like others would. (One reason why it’s vital to have a way to see who a good pastor is first. Humility is vital in a leader. A good man will be interviewed about his faith, life, etc., & have others asked about him.)

Our stands give us precedents in life. A precedent in law means an earlier case is similar, so the present case should be decided in a similar way. In life, it could be called a pattern of living. Some are preference - choosing carpet, rugs, or hardwood. Others are very important. When we stand against the wiles of the devil, stand on the Word of God, stand in prayer, stand for truth, etc., we’re setting patterns that help us move forward in life in a Godly way. If our lives contain bad patterns – falling into certain sins, for instance – the Bible shows how to stop them and start good patterns.(2 Tim. 3:16)

Many of our patterns were disrupted in the last year. Some of you may have even faced depression because of it. Others faced very hard spiritual warfare. No matter how your life was changed, we can all see how our patterns of thought impact us. They lead to actions that could have very bad consequences if we’re not careful. 

The disciples had some good patterns – following Jesus – and bad ones – thinking only of their own plans – while Jesus walked the Earth. Once they knew His death was for their sins and saw Him risen from the dead, they were devoted to following Jesus 100%. All but John died awful deaths for the cause of Christ. John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos; church history says the Romans tried to kill him by boiling him alive first. If this is true, God miraculously protected him. Needless to say, anyone else would have died instantly.

For us, going forward means remembering Christ’s death for our sins and rising bodily from the grave. It means letting Him work in us. It means letting Him live through us as salt and light of the world. And, it means adopting patterns that help us grow in Christ. As we celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection, and see how the Apostles got on fire for God, we see two big things. 1. They’d seen the risen Christ (the definition of an Apostle – there can be no apostles today), but we’ve seen God work in other ways as we’ve trusted Him; and, 2. We should have the same passion to see people come to know Jesus.

Those good patterns should continue our whole lives.  Jenny Evans said she’d become a better prayer warrior during last year’s shutdown, she’s 92. She likely didn’t always grow at the same speed. But she knew when she went astray to get back on track quickly. She knew to once again follow those precedents – the Godly patterns in her life.

A few kids in our prayer list need this: Either situations made them doubt; temptations led them astray; or both. I included an updated prayer list with a few important changes as we’ve learned more. The Holy Spirit led me to pray Adrianna recall her love for Jesus and what He’d done for her even before I typed my first list, but I didn’t know why. Now I do. That’s what Jenny said last spring about the Spirit leading you.

That zeal is shown in living for Jesus, too. As we make choices that impact our lives, they should help us to show others who Jesus is. Use those stands to build patterns so, “seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”(Heb. 12:1)