The Greatest of Christian Duties #31

The Greatest of Christian Duties #31

Last time, we began the ninth season: the season of temptation. Flavel brought us three helps: (1) worldly pleasure is deceptive and destructive (of far less satisfaction than forcing oneself to eat gravel), and satisfaction in God is infinitely better in every way; (2) secrecy is not a mask for temptation since both God and you witness your evil; and (3) the idea that yielding to temptation can bring advantage is illusory, since all true advantage is found in singular loyalty to Christ…

The Greatest of Christian Duties #30

The Greatest of Christian Duties #30

This is season 9 in Flavel’s book on Keeping the Heart. This season is about times of temptation, where inward thoughts find their way in us and beckon us to do evil. Temptations can come suddenly or can seem to hardly leave the back of one’s mind. Yet, whatever the temptation to do evil, it is the Christian’s duty to dispel its arguments and fill them in with the truth of God’s Word…

The Greatest of Christian Duties #29

The Greatest of Christian Duties #29

In this devotional we are finishing up season 8: the season of great trials. We already looked at three helps: (1) think of how lowly you truly are that you may approach God in truth and faithfulness; (2) cultivate godly communion with God as the psalmist in Psalm 119, which can then weather you against surprise and great trials; and (3) recognize that when you are not cultivating a growing communion with God, then you are cultivating wickedness (divided loyalty): there is no neutral ground…

The Greatest of Christian Duties #28

The Greatest of Christian Duties #28

Our devotional series is starting on season 8 of keeping the heart: the season of great trials. This is a time when very difficult life circumstances happen, whatever they may be. These can often be unexpected, and call for special diligence in keeping the heart. These are often also times of severe testing, which reveals the true nature of the heart…