STAND FIRM

Now I can not say that I actually had the privilege of being the official owner of this next nostalgic toy, but I can say my older brother was very proud of his own Stretch Armstrong action figure. Stretch Armstrong had a unique characteristic to him, you could stretch him as far apart as possible, and then he would magically return to his normal size. 

You see, we as men aren't quite the same; when our soul stretches it does not seem to have the same elasticity, we begin to develop habits and patterns of behavior that soon get us stuck in place, and we cannot bend back very easily. When we bend our knees and bow our hearts to the things of the world, we not only show our allegiance to the world, but we begin to adapt to the patterns of the world. 

The Bible is very clear that we are not to conform or bend to this world's patterns. Many men begin a slow descent to their knees. It is a slow fade into the darkness. It starts with one sinful choice, and that choice leads to another decision to succumb to the darkness. 

The Bible encourages us to stand firm in the faith; standing is a decision; it is an active choice. There will always be opportunities to stretch our soul to succumb to evil, but we must choose today whom we will serve and that no matter what comes our way, no matter what the temptation may be, we will stand firm in our faith and not be moved. We will have a resolve and have the fortitude in our soul that says, I stand with Jesus no matter what. I will stand up and stand firm when everyone else may be bowing their knee. 

So I don't think my older brother has truly forgiven me, you see; one day, I was playing with his Stretch Armstrong, and I just kept stretching and stretching ol' Stretch until Stretch could no longer stretch anymore, and then he was stuck with his arms and legs dangling and when my older brother found him all stretched out, let's just say he wasn't very pleased with me. There was no hope for this particular Stretch Armstrong, he was broke. 

There is some good news for us though, modern neuroscience has discovered something called neuroplasticity, which simply means the mind is indeed malleable and can be restored back to its normal state even after years of damage.

So no matter the choices you have bent your knee and mind to in the past, God can heal and restore you.   

Let us choose today that we will stand firm in the faith and resist the enemy and be on guard with our mind and soul and act like the men of God that we were created to be.

ACTION QUESTIONS:

1:  What does it look like to stand firm in everyday life?

2:  What areas have you allowed your soul to be stretched?

3:  How can you reshape your soul and mind to be renewed?