Where are you GALLERY?!! I’m waiting to hear from any of you to find out if you have found THE V.O.I.C.E.. I sure hope you have. I am praying for each of you this week. I know every week presents a new set of problems, temptations, and frustrations, but God’s grace is always there in plenty to help you through.

I’m thinking tonight that many of you will be back in school before August is over; a thought, I’m sure, you would rather not think about. Now is the time to prepare for the spiritual warfare you will face. Some of you will be going back to a Christian School. Though it is a Christian School, there will still be temptations to sin. Many times, the wrong types of influences can find their way into your Christian School. No doubt, you are already thinking of someone who bears the name “Christian,” but in no way lives it. I pray for you that you will be an outstanding testimony this coming year at school.

Most of you will be heading back to the local public school. My heart goes out to you understanding the bombardment you will face. You are a “new creature” surrounded by the children of Satan who do not really care for your zeal for Christ. Any Christian who dresses, talks, and acts like one will sooner or later face criticism. Your teachers believe you came from monkeys, your friends think you are from outer space, and your enemies think you are from the loony bin. Oh well, we all know you are children of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. Your Father owns the Universe, your home is in heaven, and your eternal destiny is secure. You ought feel badly for your friends and seek to witness to them. Their father is Satan, their future home is hell, and their eternal destiny is unsure. I’ll be praying for you that God will use you in a great way. When you are persecuted just remember the dear Christian girl who died in the Columbine shooting for her faith. Well, are you ready to get started with THE W.E.D.G.E. PRINCIPLE?

WRITE DOWN YOUR GREATEST TEMPTATIONS

Last Sunday we began with an introduction to THE W.E.D.G.E. PRINCIPLE. Proverbs 23 gave us a great understanding of what it means to set a wedge of protection between us and sin. This Sunday I want to start on the first part of what this wedge is. If you are going to have victory over temptation and break the cycle of sin in your life you must first Write down your greatest temptations. Turn to Deuteronomy 17:14-19 in your Bible and read the passage with me.

The Lord is setting out some guidelines for anyone who would be king of Israel. Can you pick them out? First, he was not to have a multitude of horses. (It’s interesting that in Israel today, you don’t see horses, but donkeys.) Secondly, he was not to have a multitude of wives. Last of all, He tells them not to have a multitude of wealth. Why did God not want them to multiply any of these things? Notice, the horses would lead the Jews to go right back to Egypt, the wives would turn the king’s heart away from God, and the riches would keep the king from depending on God. See, God was establishing rules that would be a wedge to keep the king from sinning against Him. If they never became dependent on horses for farming or war, they would not be tempted to go back to sinful Egypt. If they never married wives from other kingdoms (for the political purpose of uniting kingdoms and forces), they would never follow after their strange gods. If they never became rich, they would never stop depending on God.

Then in verses 18-19 God mentions the greatest wedge of all. The king was commanded to sit down and write out a copy of the law that would include these three specific warnings. What was he doing? He was writing down his greatest temptations. You can imagine it would be hard to sin against the very thing you had just written down out of the Bible.

Don’t miss the point! The first part of putting a wedge between you and sin is to write down your greatest temptations. If it was necessary for a king to stay right with God, it would certainly be right for you. Maybe you should do what the king was to do. Start writing out the verses that talk specifically about the sin you have trouble with. Then there are two things you need to do:

• Remember what God has commanded you.
• Rehearse the consequences of your sin.

Turn with me to I Kings 10:26 and read through to 11:4. We’re told about one of the greatest kings of Israel, Solomon. This is a king that had a tremendous start, but he very quickly forgot what God commanded him to do. Notice in these verses that Solomon multiplied horses, wives, and riches. Do you suppose Solomon might have forgotten to write out the law concerning these things? It would seem so. If not, he had definitely forgotten what God told him. It’s no surprise to you and me that this passage tells us the results of his breaking the law was the Jews going back to Egypt for horses, the riches causing them not to trust God, and the wives turning his heart away from the Lord. Everything God said would happen came to pass.

We find from Scripture that the rest of Solomon’s life was a wreck. Why? He did not rehearse the consequences of his sin. Had he thought about what God promised would happen, he might have been wiser and listen to God.

I want to encourage you to start this first aspect of THE W.E.D.G.E. PRINCIPLE. Write down your greatest temptations and ask God to give you the strength to keep His commandments. When you are tempted to sin anyway, rehearse the consequences of that sin. Well, this concludes this edition of THE V.O.I.C.E.. Let me know how you all are doing. I will continue to pray for you.