"'I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him" (Hosea 14:4, NKJV).
"... Your sins have been your downfall" (Hosea 14:1, NIV).
"'... But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it" (Gen. 4:7, NKJV).
"Indeed, the LORD will give justice to his people, and he will change his mind about his servants, when he sees their strength is gone" (Deut. 32:36, NLT).
"... Your sins have been your downfall" (Hosea 14:1, NIV).
"'... But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it" (Gen. 4:7, NKJV).
"Indeed, the LORD will give justice to his people, and he will change his mind about his servants, when he sees their strength is gone" (Deut. 32:36, NLT).
Christians don't turn on God and rebel suddenly, but slowly drift: "So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it," (cf. Heb. 2:1, NLT)>
Some believers don't march forward in their faith, nor even tread water, but go back as so-called backsliders. A walk with the Lord implies you are going forward and going someplace! God can heal this phenomenon as He promises above in Hosea 14:4. What happens to initiate such spiritual degeneration or descent? Instead of progressing from degeneration to regeneration, some lose spiritual ground or territory by conceding it to Satan and giving him the opportunity and open the door to his mischief, and degenerate again, even becoming worse than they were at the beginning before they learn their lesson. Like Jesus told of the unclean spirit that returned with seven other spirits eviler than itself! One might ask himself: how low can I go?
It all begins with a "disconnect" from God, whereby we aren't abiding in the Word and become spiritually slack and our laxity affects every area of our walk as we try to go it alone apart from the body that we are members one of another. There is always the danger of spiritual complacency, getting cocky spiritually, and thinking one has "arrived," and Satan may then catch him on a spiritual high, so to speak. Everyone is vulnerable to the wiles of Satan and we must not be ignorant of them, for he specializes in mind-games and psychological warfare, and plays with our ego and pride.
When the Word has lost its pizzazz or we get so-called Bible fatigue, we must heed the spiritual wakeup call and seek the presence of the Lord and not become derelict of our spiritual calling to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him--discipleship can be demanding and we must not become lax! This comes with the territory and we signed up for it. This is why repentance and submission to God's will are not one-time spiritual events, but progressive as we go from faith to faith and grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord.
Faith does seem to begin by waning or deteriorating and this will happen if it isn't fed by the Word of God. Growth needs nourishment! What happens next is a doubting of God's goodness like Job and the believer asks why and when no answer is forthcoming he loses faith or breaks faith with God (however God is always faithful to us), but he never loses faith entirely or goes into utter despair--there's always a seed or minutiae of faith hanging on for life support.
Some believers don't march forward in their faith, nor even tread water, but go back as so-called backsliders. A walk with the Lord implies you are going forward and going someplace! God can heal this phenomenon as He promises above in Hosea 14:4. What happens to initiate such spiritual degeneration or descent? Instead of progressing from degeneration to regeneration, some lose spiritual ground or territory by conceding it to Satan and giving him the opportunity and open the door to his mischief, and degenerate again, even becoming worse than they were at the beginning before they learn their lesson. Like Jesus told of the unclean spirit that returned with seven other spirits eviler than itself! One might ask himself: how low can I go?
It all begins with a "disconnect" from God, whereby we aren't abiding in the Word and become spiritually slack and our laxity affects every area of our walk as we try to go it alone apart from the body that we are members one of another. There is always the danger of spiritual complacency, getting cocky spiritually, and thinking one has "arrived," and Satan may then catch him on a spiritual high, so to speak. Everyone is vulnerable to the wiles of Satan and we must not be ignorant of them, for he specializes in mind-games and psychological warfare, and plays with our ego and pride.
When the Word has lost its pizzazz or we get so-called Bible fatigue, we must heed the spiritual wakeup call and seek the presence of the Lord and not become derelict of our spiritual calling to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him--discipleship can be demanding and we must not become lax! This comes with the territory and we signed up for it. This is why repentance and submission to God's will are not one-time spiritual events, but progressive as we go from faith to faith and grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord.
Faith does seem to begin by waning or deteriorating and this will happen if it isn't fed by the Word of God. Growth needs nourishment! What happens next is a doubting of God's goodness like Job and the believer asks why and when no answer is forthcoming he loses faith or breaks faith with God (however God is always faithful to us), but he never loses faith entirely or goes into utter despair--there's always a seed or minutiae of faith hanging on for life support.
If the backslider persists in his rebellion he may become defiant and get angry at God and even throw a temper tantrum or have a fit to take it out on God Himself--when he should be angry at himself! The reason he cannot recover so easily is that he may have spiritual inertia and cannot make the first move--God must make the overture and He will! This is because of man's natural inclination to sloth or acedia and he is slack spiritually when he is estranged from God or out of fellowship--it takes a work of grace to restore him.
But backsliders have a tendency to commit spiritual suicide and sabotage their own spiritual health by having an aversion to the Word of God and balking at learning the things of God in depth, therefore they are wholly unprepared for the schemes of Satan. The milk of the Word will not be sufficient to feed a seasoned believer through this so-called Anfectung (Martin Luther penned this word--German for "attack"). And he may find himself using yesterday's day-old food and leftovers for tomorrows meal, so to speak, and not realize he needs the unadulterated Word from the Lord to feed his soul, giving daily and timely growth and nourishment meant for that day (our daily bread)/ If he has not developed good devotion habits he may starve himself spiritually and die of spiritual malnutrition, as it were. This is where the body of Christ comes in and acts like an organism, not an organization, to bring healing to those who confess (cf. James 5:16). Soli Deo Gloria!
But backsliders have a tendency to commit spiritual suicide and sabotage their own spiritual health by having an aversion to the Word of God and balking at learning the things of God in depth, therefore they are wholly unprepared for the schemes of Satan. The milk of the Word will not be sufficient to feed a seasoned believer through this so-called Anfectung (Martin Luther penned this word--German for "attack"). And he may find himself using yesterday's day-old food and leftovers for tomorrows meal, so to speak, and not realize he needs the unadulterated Word from the Lord to feed his soul, giving daily and timely growth and nourishment meant for that day (our daily bread)/ If he has not developed good devotion habits he may starve himself spiritually and die of spiritual malnutrition, as it were. This is where the body of Christ comes in and acts like an organism, not an organization, to bring healing to those who confess (cf. James 5:16). Soli Deo Gloria!