"Lord, help me to stay saved" is a practical guide to walking out this Christian life in a victorious manner. It doesn't matter where you are in your walk with Christ, this book promises to encourage, edify and exhort you to holiness. The author combines humor, honesty and transparency to reveal the matters we face in everyday life while providing a Biblical solution to the very issues Christians feel too embarrassed to talk about or just flat out refuse to confront. If you ever felt like no one understands what you're going through then this book is definitely for you. If you apply these principles to your life coupled with a sincere desire to grow spiritually there is no reason for you not to succeed. May you be richly blessed as you endeavor to "stay saved"!
Lord, Help Me To Stay Saved!
By Lori Speed TrollingerAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2010 Lori Speed Trollinger
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4490-6267-5Contents
Foreword..................................xiThoughts on Salvation.....................xiiiPreface...................................xviiIntroduction..............................1Preparing for Battle......................5... Myself (Flesh)........................17... Family................................27... Church Folk...........................45... On My Job.............................59... Everyday Life.........................69Final Words...............................81
Chapter One
Preparing for Battle
"You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet." 2 Sam 22:40
From the moment that you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior the battle begins for your soul. Satan does not want to give you up so he intensifies his efforts to "keep you"; the battle becomes one of colossal proportions because your "win or loss" determines your eternal resting place.
For any battle there has to be preparation; things we do before we find ourselves on the "battle field". I served eight years in the Army and I can attest to this personally: Before there is a conflict and our military is called into action there is training that takes place. From the time you enter the military they are preparing you for one thing- war. Basic training is designed to teach you discipline, endurance, and survival skills so if you find yourself in the thick of battle you are not totally lost. Well, in Christendom we have to prepare for battle as well only it's a different kind of battle. The battle can be anywhere; in your flesh, your home, or even your place of employment.
When we go into battle we have to first be able to identify (recognize) the enemy; you have to know who your enemy is. The enemy is not your husband, your wife, your mother or father (this includes the in-laws), your kids or even your sisters and brothers. The enemy is not the woman at church or the man on your job.
Ephesians 6:12 tells us, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
It does not matter who you have a problem with in this world the root of that problem is always Satan. He goes by many different names: he is the devil, the father of lies, a deceiver, the accuser, tempter, destroyer, ruler of demons and the list goes on.
One thing to remember is that even though the enemy is real and has many capabilities he cannot stop the will of God in our lives but he can hinder it by causing us to get out of the will of God. His eternal resting place has already been determined so his goal is to take as many people as he can with him to hell.
Once we have established who the enemy is we realize that he has very real power but we can rest in the fact that he has already been defeated. When Jesus was crucified He descended to hell and took the keys from Satan forever "settling the score" (see Revelations 1:18 and Ephesians 4:9). We already know that we have the victory so we have to walk in that but first we have to learn how to and that's what I am going to help you do.
So how do we gain victory in this battle??
Have a consistent and effective prayer life
Let's start off by saying that prayer is always our most powerful and effective weapon [that we can have in this battle] no matter what it is that we're dealing with; it should be our first and last resort. I heard someone say when we think that we can do something on our own [without the help of Christ/Holy Spirit] we are insulting Him. Somebody says, "Oh, I would never do that!" Well, when we start our day without prayer that is essentially what we are saying: "God, I don't need your help today, I got it."
Prayer is our life line to God ... this is how we communicate with Him; it's how we come to know Him in an intimate manner and how we come to know His will. Not only is it vital to our Christian walk it is also a commandment! The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to "pray without ceasing" (KJV).
If we are to be Christ like then we are to follow His example. There are numerous accounts in the Gospels where we see that Jesus prayed (see Matthew 14:23, Mark 6:46, Luke 6:12 and John 14:16 ... to name a few). If He, being God in the flesh, had to pray who are we as mere humans to think that we can call ourselves saved and then go out to deal with the world and not be prayed up? Because this is one of the most important things in our Christian walk it is also the area where the enemy fights us the most.
Think about it, when you are a babe in Christ you start off praying and just about all your prayers are being answered quickly so you love to pray. Then as you start to mature in Christ your prayers are still being answered (if they be in the will of God) but more time passes between the time you prayed and when God finally answers (that's a whole other lesson but if you have been saved for any length of time I'm sure I got an "amen" there). Then when you see your prayers aren't being answered [quickly] your prayer life becomes less of a priority and then before long you only pray when you find yourself going through. Oh, we have all been there. (But the more we mature we get the prayer life back under control, right??)
Or what about when you have your set prayer time and someone always calls you right before that time? Or better yet, when you make it to your prayer time and then a million things start jumping in your mind about what you forgot to do and then you become preoccupied? Someone knocks on the door, the neighbor stops by ... and the list goes on and on. Can I get an amen? IT'S A TRICK OF THE ENEMY!!! He doesn't want you to pray and get the heart of God because he knows when you do ... you are his greatest threat-a Christian that has a consistent prayer life and then learns his/her authority (learns the will of God) AND walks in it!
When I first got saved I didn't really know how to pray so I just said whatever came to mind. I remember the first time my First Lady asked me to pray OUT LOUD; IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE ... I thought I was going to die!!! But guess what, I lived and so will you. (If you are a seasoned saint then be patient with me here ... this part may not be for you).
So what do you pray? It doesn't have to be a very long drawn out prayer. It doesn't have to be in the "Theologians Handbook" but it does have to be sincere. God isn't looking for you to serenade Him with a bunch of "75 cent words" but He is looking for you to pray from a sincere and pure heart and to be consistent in your prayer life. I have found that most people don't pray because they don't know how to. But guess what, I'm going to help you out.
In order for your prayers to be effective you have to first be a born again believer (and since you are reading a book on how to stay saved I'm assuming that you are but just in case I had to make sure I pointed that out). Some people aren't buying that so let me give you some scripture to support what I'm saying (Proverbs 15:8 ... and for those that just have to see it in the New Testament (Lord help us) John 9:31).
I think I will elaborate here a little because I know that there are people that feel God answers prayers for everyone whether they are saved or not but it's just not true. Jesus said many times that He and the Father are one and every account we read in the Bible supports this. There is only once in the Bible that specifically states that God and Jesus were separated ... when He was on the cross and had taken on the sins of the world (though He Himself was sinless). He felt the agony of being separated from the Father and cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (see Matthew 28:46, Mark 15:34). God is holy and if He could not look on Jesus with the sin of the sinful world upon Him what makes us think that we can go before our Holy God with the filth of sin upon us? If we have not even made the decision to accept Christ as Savior and repent of our sins what makes us think that we are fit to go before a Holy God? We aren't.
Now ... we take our example on how to pray from Jesus Christ Himself. In Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray. Now, we are not legalistic to say this is the only way that we can pray but if we don't know how, this is a guide for us to follow.
For the sake of not veering too far to the left I'm going to just highlight a few things and then move on. This prayer is telling us that we need to:
1. Realize who we are praying to: Our Father- Jesus Christ who is our authority
2. Worship Him: realize that He is holy and that He reigns
3. Know He is our provision: He gives us our daily bread
4. That we must seek forgiveness: We can't go before Him with unforgiveness or sin
5. Ask for protection: That He will (keep) help us in times of temptation
Ok, so I know it's a lot but it's really not as overwhelming as it seems ... here is a sample prayer you can use when starting your day:
Jesus I come before you asking that you would cleanse me of all sin, unrighteousness and judgment. Make me holy and acceptable in your sight. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing and acceptable to you. Holy Spirit have your way in my life; lead and guide me in everything that I do today ... I pray that everything I do and say will glorify the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, cause me to be a witness today and I ask that you would send souls that I may witness to and share the love of Christ with. God help me to deal with my boss (co-worker ... whoever you may be having difficulties with ... insert their name here) in a way that is pleasing to you. Guard my tongue, my attitude and my actions that I won't bring reproach upon your name. May my light shine so that she/he may be won for the Kingdom of God. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
Now, I tried to keep it simple but I want you to make sure that no matter what your prayer looks like that you have two things in it: you repent (ask for forgiveness of your sins) and that you pray in the name of Jesus. Why? The Bible says in Matthew 6:14, 15 that if we don't forgive we won't be forgiven and if we don't get forgiveness we can't go before the Father. It also says that if we ask anything in the name of Jesus it shall be done (John 16:23).
The next thing we have to do is:
Put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18)
Another thing we need to do daily is make sure that we put on the full armor of God. The Bible tells us in this scripture that if we do this we can take a stand against the schemes of the devil (see verse 10). Let's talk about these pieces of armor and what they represent: - Belt of truth about your waist- self control and restraint
- Breastplate of righteousness- right standing with God; being morally sound
- Feet shod in preparation with the gospel of peace- being prepared with peace and the good news (gospel)
- Shield of faith- Your faith in Christ as well as the Word of God
- Helmetofsalvation- spiritual thoughts or control deliberately exercised over thoughts
- Sword of the Spirit- The Word of God
If we arm ourselves with this armor daily we have already won most of the battle but we still need help from Christ and He has given us that help in the person of the Holy Spirit....
Finally ... we have to make sure that we are rooted and grounded in the things of God! We can not go into battle if we have not established the side we are fighting on! Can you imagine if our soldiers got over to Iraq and blended in with the enemy? We would not be able to distinguish them and it would be a big mess. God wants us to make a decision ... either we are going to serve Him or Satan. He says in Revelations 3:15, 16 that He would rather we be hot or cold, one or the other. He goes on to say if we are lukewarm (straddling the fence!) that He will spit us out of His mouth. Wow. Let me paraphrase for a minute. Basically what He is saying is either we are going to be saved or we aren't; we need to make up our mind which one. If we don't then He will not recognize us as ones that are entitled to the benefits of His kingdom.
Wow, sounds harsh, huh? Well let's look at it a different way: Imagine that you are married ... your spouse pay the bills sometimes, comes home sometimes, talks to you on occasion; as a matter of fact in front of certain people acts as if they don't even know you. Let me tell you being a wife myself ... that is not going to last long at all; as a matter of fact it will prove to have exactly the opposite effect of what you're trying to accomplish in marriage! The less you do these things the more strain will be on your relationship causing you to grow further apart. Well, it is the same thing with God ... you can't tithe when you feel like it. You can not come to church only when all 'hello' is breaking out in your life (or the flip side of that could be you come as long as things are going ok but when Satan starts attacking you stay home because you're feeling defeated). You can not pray on occasion ... you definitely cannot act like you know Him only when you are around His other children; you have to be consistent in the things of Christ!
I'm going to share with you the basics of how to get rooted and grounded in God according to Pastor Chris Stone....
1. You have to be planted in the house of God! (Psalm 92:12-15)
2. You must expose yourself to the presence of God daily [people of God, praise of God, worship of God] (Col 1:21-23)
3. Water yourself constantly with the Word of God (1 Peter 2:2, Eph 5:26)
Now, let's talk about some of the areas that we need His help in ...
Chapter Two
... Myself (Flesh)
"... The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26:41
In order for us to be successful in our Christian walk we have to get SELF (our flesh) under control. I think the Apostle Paul had the right idea when he said in 1 Corinthians 9:27, "I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I myself won't be disqualified for the prize."
Something that stood out to me is that he said he beat his body daily. Notice he didn't say he pleaded with his body sometimes ... he said he beat it daily! Now, I don't know about you but I grew up in a household where we didn't get spanked or get put in timeout we got an old fashioned beating; really it amounted to what the authorities today classify as child abuse! I have to go from a reference that I am familiar with ... and when I picture the beatings I used to get when reading this scripture I think, "Boy, Paul was really serious about this thing!" But let's look even deeper at this scripture and break it down: "I beat my body [flesh] and make it my slave [make it submit] so that after I have preached [witnessed] to others I myself won't be disqualified [ineligible] for the prize" [parenthesis mine]. Wow! Paul really said a mouth full!
Now, how did Paul make his flesh submit so that he could be an effective witness? He trained himself; he worked on the flesh on a daily basis! To get an even better understanding let's go back and look at verses 24-26:
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run but only one get's the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we [Christians] do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air." [Parenthesis mine]
I don't know if you caught that! Paul let's us know that everything he does is done on purpose and with purpose! The world lives this life with the objective of gaining a materialistic prize that does not last but us ... Christians ... our prize lasts forever ... a crown that only the Father can give and it doesn't get old! Is that not awesome?
Paul did many mighty miracles in the name of Jesus Christ after having an encounter with the living God [the Damascus Road experience] yet ... even he had to make up his mind daily that he was going to crucify his flesh. Do we not need to do the same?
So the question you have to ask yourself is this: where is my flesh weak? If you didn't have a problem with drinking alcohol before you got saved then [chances are] you will not [should not] be tempted to drink ... that is an area of the flesh you should not have to worry about. If you did not smoke that should not be an area where you struggle. The Bible tells us we are led away by our own lusts (James 1:14). Now, on the other hand if you had sticky fingers (ok, if you were a thief) before you decided to live for Christ this may be an area where you have to pray harder about ... or if you were a liar ... or dealt with sexual sins like fornication, adultery, homosexuality ... you have to pray about these areas harder and keep them on the cross! Do you see where I'm going? So I ask again ... Where is your flesh weak?
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Lord, Help Me To Stay Saved!by Lori Speed Trollinger Copyright © 2010 by Lori Speed Trollinger. Excerpted by permission.
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