Heb. 12:4

4 Ye have [antikathistemi] not yet [oupo] resisted [antikathistemi] unto [mechri] blood [haima], striving [antagonizomai] against [pros] sin [hamartia]. KJV-Interlinear

4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; NASB

Resisting here is the resisting of evil. This is the living of the spiritual life while trying to avoid sin and human good. Remember that the sin nature, which resides in each and everyone of us, has two areas of power. An area of strength which is human good, and an area of weakness which is sin. There are several charts on the web site outlining the sin nature and the carnal nature of man.

By resisting evil you are in effect trying to keep yourself in fellowship, or in the power sphere of the spiritual realm. Of course you should know by now how that is accomplished through the confession concept. We confess our sins to God the Father, to get into fellowship. And, we get out of fellowship by committing a sin or rejecting Gods wisdom in some fashion.

To go through life resisting evil in its many, many forms, is difficult. Only Christ was able to accomplish this. You and I have the confession outlet to help us re-focus on our spiritual priorities when we lose our stability in life.

And we can lose track of our stability by getting upset, by getting angry, by lusting after something, by getting a little too uppity in our opinions, by gossip, by hate, by committing a crime, even by becoming indifferent or choosy toward God or doctrine, and so forth.

Because of our vacillations in life we will come face to face with Gods discipline. And probably more often than we would like.

God has tree methods of dealing with people. He can apply judgment against them. He can apply discipline against them. And God can bless.

Being blessed is the preferred relationship, obviously. Being judged is the one you want to avoid. It has a lot of finality which accompanies it. Being on the receiving end of discipline is far better than being on the receiving end of judgment, because discipline means that we will survive to see another day.

Discipline comes in three forms as well. There is deserved suffering because we are simply out of line in our spiritual life. There is corrective suffering, or prevention, to get us back on track with our spiritual life. And there is educational suffering to keep us on the straight an narrow so that we do not falter in some fashion.

God applies each one of these as they become appropriate. Sometimes God doesn t have to do anything because we screw up our own lives ourselves, spending a lot of our time getting ourselves into and out of trouble like we are riding a roller coaster through life. Heaven just sits back is total awe, shaking its head as it were, at our stupidity.

We generally have four great areas with which we have to deal in life. Four great areas that are the source of all of our problems. The first is your own self, or our own thinking. What you think is what you are. And how you think guides what you say and do in life.

The second area of trouble is from other people. Can t get around it, we have to deal with people all of our life. Whether it is family, neighbors, friends, the work place, or strangers, there is always someone out there who will cause you grief of one sort or another.

The third area of trouble for us is through the bureaucratic systems of the world. Businesses, governments, social groups and so forth. All have systems of organization and those systems can be a royal pain at times. Ever try to get through an over done automated telephone answering system?

The fourth area which is a source of our trouble in life comes from naturally occurring disasters. This can range from storms, to automobile accidents, to birth defects, to genetic anomalies or any departure from something normal or common, and so forth.

So, you are surrounded in life.

If you are positive toward God and doctrine, then life will be much easier on you, than if you are indifferent toward your spiritual life. You know what you can expect from God, and you know what you can expect from the world.

Having a spiritual life gives you the edge and capacity for dealing with the inevitable. You can sail through problems because you know that God will have a solution out there for you.

If you ignore your spiritual life, then life will overwhelm you sooner or later.

God can push us right up to the edge of death and beyond it. Of course we will have lots of little charging mosquitoes throughout our life as well, just to keep us from getting too uppity.

Your spiritual status will dictate whether you pass or fail when faced with the problems of life.

Psa. 89:30-32

30 If his sons forsake My law, And do not walk in My judgments, 31 If they violate My statutes, And do not keep My commandments, 32 Then I will visit their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes. NASB

2 Cor. 12:7

7 And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me to keep me from exalting myself! NASB

Job 1:1

1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. NASB

Job 2:6

6 So the LORD said to Satan, Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life. NASB

Job 42:5-6

5 I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees Thee; 6 Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes. NASB

Now is the time to post a prayer.