Fight the Good Fight of Faith, English Edition

 • Fight the Good Fight of Faith: Playing Your Part in God’s Unfolding Drama

growing Christian endures stress and struggle, trials from within or without, but you must learn to persevere. Evaluate your times of prayer, in the Word, and your involvement in your church. What things does the Holy Spirit want you to do in order to strengthen your ability to persevere in your circumstances? Select one or two things, commit them to the Lord, and begin today, in the power of the Lord, to endure your trials. Remember, you are neither alone nor abandoned; all disciples are learning to endure (2 Tim. 3.12), and the Lord will never leave or forsake you (Ps. 27.1-3). Through the Lord and his strength, you can endure your trials, and honor Christ in all things. Many nervous and emotional disorders are the accumulated result of years of self-indulgent living. I am not thinking of the drunkards or the libertines, but of the respectable Christians who probably would be horrified at the thought of touching liquor or of indulging in gross immorality. But they are nevertheless undisciplined, and the fatal weakness is unmasked in the day of trial and adversity. A lifelong pattern of running away from difficulties, of avoiding incompatible people, of seeking the easy way, of quitting when the going gets rough finally shows up in neurotic semi-invalidism and incapacity. Numerous books may be read, many doctors and preachers consulted, innumerable prayers may be offered, and religious commitments made; the patient may be inundated with drugs, advice, costly treatment, and spiritual scourgings; yet none lay bare the real cause: lack of discipline. And the only real cure is to become a disciplined person. ~ Richard Shelly Taylor. The Disciplined Life: Studies in the Fine Art of Christian Discipleship . Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1962, pp. i-ii.

Despite the opposition I face, I have been given power in the Holy Spirit to be alert at all times, enduring to the end and helping other believers to do the same.

Affirmation

John Wesley (1703-1791), was one of 19 children born to Samuel and Susanna Wesley (who was a remarkable hero of faith herself ). As a young man at college, he and his friends banded together to encourage one another to live a holy life, and others started calling them “Methodists” for their methodical approach. As a tireless preacher and organizer, focusing on the

Prayer