“It’s the little foxes that spoil the vine”. (Song of Solomon 2:15) 

 You know, those little ‘pesky, troublesome sins....that we all struggle with’? 

 Have you ever stopped to ask why we expect those really ‘bad sinners’ to quite murdering and raping and stealing’ as if those are easier to overcome than those pesky little ones we stay ensnared by...but for some reason believe God is ok with ‘those sins’. I mean...really... if a member in your church choir just ‘snapped’ and got mad at you, came and set fire to your home one night and you lost everything including, God forbid, your own children, are you gonna be fine with his apology as he reminds you that ‘Christians are not perfect, just forgiven’? 

 Yes...an absurd and extreme example but it still serves the point: God tolerates NO sin. And it’s not because He is uptight and ‘has issues’. Sin is what destroys us...ALL sin, including those pesky little ones that we allow to linger and make excuses for. I mean...when the blood of Jesus was shed on that cross, that same blood we sing has ‘wonder working power’, then we can believe it has enough power to overcome everything the enemy throws at us so we can truly ‘go and sin no more’. 

 When you continue to repeat the lie we have been fed that we cannot go and cease from sinning, then you allow the door to remain open for the enemy to continue to enter and to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10). I say ‘lie’ because that is exactly what it is and I will not remain silent in declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Whoever abides in Christ no longer sins. (1 Jhon 3:6). Whoever has been born of God no longer sins because God’s seed is in him and he cannot sin. (1 John 3:9). He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. (1 Pet. 4:2). Whoever is born of God no longer sins and the wicked one cannot touch him. (1 John 5:18) 

 If you are continuing to sin, then you are not abiding in Christ. And the sooner you will just agree with God’s word and repent for believing a lie, the sooner you might find the grace...and the ‘door’ to enter in and learn to abide in Him. Lay the pride aside and just agree with God. I did...and it has changed my life. 

 You cannot continue to walk in peace and sin. It’s impossible...unless of course, you have ‘another gospel, follow another Jesus, and received another spirit’. (2 Cor. 11:2-4) IF...you are walking in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh nature, which is sin. (Gal. 5:16). IF you continue to walk according to the flesh, you will die and have no inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. His words, not mine. (Rom. 8:13; Gal. 5:21) To remain carnally minded is to remain hostile to God; as in you make yourself an enemy of God. (Rom. 8:7-8) 

 So about those ‘little foxes’ that spoil the vine. We are ‘His vineyard’ and God desires to cultivate good fruit. This can only happen when we abide in Him. (John 15:1-8). What is nice about Him doing this work is He sets a hedge around His vineyard. (Matt. 22:33). A ‘hedge’ is set in place to keep out ‘critters’, or the ‘enemy’, you know...like little foxes. That’s why when we are walking or abiding in Jesus, hearing His voice and doing as He says...’following’ (John 10:27) then the enemy cannot touch us. (1 John 5:18) 

 But if we insist on walking according to the dictates of our own heart, failing to surrender to His Lordship (Luke 6:46) then we can expect nothing less than to be outside His protective barrier or covering (Prov. 1:33) and to suffer the consequences. Can I encourage you to study out Isaiah 5 sometime today? When you get to vs. 7, which explains what the ‘vineyard’ represents, please remember that the ‘house of Israel is a ‘type’ or ‘picture’ of the ‘church’ today. 

 Do you remember Paul’s analogy about allowing a ‘little leaven’ to exist or remain? It leavens the whole loaf, as in it spreads. (1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9) 

 Those little sins...ruin the vineyard and leave no fruit. And fruit matters. (John 15:4-6; Matt. 3:10; 7:17-20) 

 As I promised yesterday, I want to share how God extended grace to me to overcome two areas in my life that were like those pesky little foxes. As I shared, when we only hear or read/quote the word, but fail to ‘do’ the word...we deceive ourselves. (James 1:22). We really are in a spiritual war and ignoring the enemy is not an option. We are commanded to resist him and God has equipped us with weapons and armor to make use of. But they are not the kind of weapons and strategies we are used to employing. As Paul said: “though we walk in the flesh, we war not after the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God...”. (2 Cor. 10:3-4). And if you want to be ‘strong in the Lord’ so that you can ‘stand and stand therefore’, you have follow the same strategy that the Israelites used and that was keep His commandments and do what He says’. (Eph. 6:10-14; Deut. 11:8). (Do you think the walls of Jericho came tumbling down because the Israelites were super-heroes?- Joshua 6) 

 I know...it makes no sense oftentimes. But if we really want to see the power of God at work and experience true transformation, we are going to have to learn to ‘do whatever He tells you’. (John 2:5). That is why we are told to ‘lean not in our own understanding’ and that “His ways are not like our ways’. 

 Take Phil. 4:6 for example. It’s one we like to quote and write on sticky post-it notes – “Be anxious for nothing”. Sounds good, does it not? And it is not hard to toss that out as advice when we see others confronted with stressful situations. But when we are faced with those tests...’doing that’ is another whole deal. And I discovered long ago that I just cannot do this if I am not abiding in Him. I mean, I thought I could and I just assumed I was abiding in Him, but I was not. I used to let ‘little things’ stress me out...irritate me...be a spark to getting angry and then altering my mood and attitude that could just ruin a whole day, or at least the part of a day. I mean, something as simple as dropping the old coffee filter with cold, wet coffee grounds across the counter and floor as I am about to throw it away could just irritate the fire out of me...even tossing out a few choice words and letting anger and frustration sweep over me. 

 If I failed to reel that thing in quickly, it would spread and deepen and the next thing you know, I’d be snapping at my wife or kids. The enemy is good about standing close by and adding ‘fuel to the fire’ if we let him. And it always seemed to be those ‘little things’ that would spoil or nip any good fruit in the bud. Now, if we are duped into believing that all that was is ‘just flesh’ and no big deal and God understands and just try better next time, then we have already stepped off that ‘narrow path’ and join ourselves with that ‘many’ who are traveling that ‘broad road’ that Jesus spoke of in Matt. 7:14-15. 

 But it was one particular incident that occurred back 19 months ago that was a game changer for me. I say 19 months ago because that is when my twin grandsons were born and we were out there in California for that incredible experience. I posted about this not long after that but on the day I was returning home here to Texas, I was waiting out front for my Uber driver to pick me up and my heart was hurting and grieving over having to leave those two boys behind. I was not ready to come home yet, but work was waiting on me. In fact, I had already delayed my trip home one more day and was pressing my luck as I had a large school waiting on me the next morning to begin school picture season. 

 I was doing all I could to ‘keep it together’ in the car ride to the airport. When I got to the TSA security check-in, my DL was not ‘clearing me’ so the agent asked for my boarding pass which I pulled up on my phone. He looked at me and said: “Sir...you are supposed to be flying out of San Jose and you are at San Francisco International airport."

 Think about being at Love Field in Dallas and being told you have less than one hour to get to DFW but add about 15 miles...on a Monday morning. Then add CA traffic on the 101....IYKYK. 

 I was stunned and in shock. It was a simple mix up with me not paying attention to what I selected on my Uber app and was oblivious to the fact I was heading north when I should have been driving south to the airport. As I found myself being directed out of the line so as to not slow things down, I wanted to hyperventilate. What was I going to do? I needed to be on that plane. 

 And immediately...I heard the Holy Spirit quote that verse from Philippians to me: “Be anxious for nothing.” It was so loud and clear and resonated deep within my soul. But first, I knew I was going to have to embrace and choose that...before I could actually walk it out. And I did. 

 I took a deep breath...and said: “Ok Lord, I choose peace right now and surrender this situation to you.” And immediately, peace came over me. I no longer was concerned with the outcome and was resigned to simply do as He instructed and then paged for another Uber driver. By the time I found him waiting on me in another location I was not familiar with at that airport, I explained my situation to him and he was like - "Fine...I bet I can travel a little faster this morning if you are good with that.” I was good with that and when he dropped me off at San Jose International, I skirted through security and just as I got to my gate, they were beginning to board the flight. 

 It was truly a defining moment for me as I had made a conscious choice to simply ‘do the word’ and let God take care of the rest. I should also add here that there is a big difference between trying to ‘bury anxiety and irritation and dread’ deep inside so no one else can see or detect it...which is what lots of us believers are prone to doing. I mean, we don’t want people to see ‘bad fruit’ in us, so we bury it. Problem with that...is bad fruit eventually will begin to rot and stink and surface. But this time, it was different. I knew there was a complete surrendering to Him and His perfect will...and it led me in to perfect peace. (Isa. 26:3) Ever since that day, I am often reminding myself that peace is a path we can choose as we abide in Him and it is His perfect peace. Whether it’s missing a green light when I am in a hurry, or spilling my coffee or something not working as planned...it shames me to admit it took 60+ years to get to such a place....but I’m not leaving it for anyone or anything. Tomorrow...we can talk about that other area and how we can actually ‘ bring into captivity, every thought to the obedience of Christ’.