Power and Problems Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Power and Problems -------------------------- Date: 4/16/2001 Keywords: "blessing" "love" "power" "problems" "transformation" "trouble" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Romans 5:1-3* 1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2. through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance. Questions 1. What does verse 3 mean by "And not only this"? Go back to the first two verses, and see what blessings God has already given His children. To review this in more detail, see the previous two studies.   2. Think about your problems including your temptation to play with pornography. Can you imagine being proud and happy to have these trials in your life? By your resisting temptation, who might benefit besides you?   Practical help If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ to save you, you have been justified with God. This results in a new power source at your disposal to purify your life. Instead of a six-volt battery, you have been connected to something like a nuclear reactor. Even that as an example falls far short of reality. Actually you have been reconnected with your Creator — the same one who created all the stars in the universe, each one many times more powerful than all of the energy present within all the atoms of this little planet. As an example of the power and majesty of God, recall the story of the giving of the Ten Commandments. Read how the Children of Israel came to Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. Here is the description of how God came down to the mountain in front of the people. 16. So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who where in the camp trembled. 17. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. Now here is a mind-bending truth. The God of Mount Sinai is also the pure embodiment of love. 1 John 4:8 declares "God is love." He goes on to give proof of this fact. 9. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [legal substitute or sacrifice] for our sins. 11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Through the awesome power of God's love, sinners are transformed into saints before an unbelieving world. This is the evidence God chooses to use of His existence and power. And the most startling thing about this metamorphosis is the appearance of an unexplained love for others. People who walk with God have the capacity to love others in a pure and gentle way replacing unloving, self-centered porn behavior. Modern science and philosophy have a difficult time explaining the transformed life. It is easier to view changes in habits as being the result of changes in stimulation or conditioning or even random chance — not conversion! So the world's solutions for the addict consist of mind-control exercises, use of chemicals, or physical restraint. Besides, if conversion is true, then the honest scientist, philosopher or therapist has a problem: What must he or she do with this God personally? So exult in your trials. Resist and grow strong so that your light will shine before men. Look to that day when you will stand before your Heavenly Father, and He praises you as an overcomer. In the end, it won't be a question whether or not you fell; the true test is whether or not you got back up and continued the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12). eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2001 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."