Even so backsliding is more like a slow-leak, rather than a blowout. We don’t drop into backsliding we drift into it. It usually happens so slowly that no one sees it coming. If we would remember that backsliding starts when growth stops it would help us be better prepared. Mark it down— when we cease to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” ( 2 Pet. 3:18) we have backslid. It matters not where we are in comparison to others, when we stop growing we are going backward. There is no such thing as standing still. We are safe only so long as we are growing. When we stop we are in danger. Sin has its own built in punishment–it provides its own pain. The backslider’s own ways will be the well-spring of his misery, the source of his suffering—as opposed to the “good man” who finds satisfaction within himself.

Bruce Hurt wrote, “The danger and deceitfulness of drifting is illustrated by the story of the English explorer, William Edward Parry, who took a crew to the Arctic Ocean. They wanted to go farther north to continue their chartings, so they calculated their location by the stars and started a very difficult and treacherous march north. They walked hour upon hour, and finally, totally exhausted, they stopped. Taking their bearings again from the stars, they discovered that they were farther south than they had been when they started. They had been walking on an ice floe that was moving south faster than they were walking north. Similarly, how easy it is to be out with step with God, thinking we are walking with Him, when in fact we are moving away from Him faster than we were supposedly walking toward Him! Ouch! That is the tragedy of drifting from the truth. Will you (or I) awaken one day (“come to our senses”) to find, that all the time we have been moving imperceptibly in the wrong direction?! C H Spurgeon was right when he said that “The Christian life is very much like climbing a hill of ice. You cannot slide up. You have to cut every step with an ice ax. Only with incessant labor in cutting and chipping can you make any prog­ress. If you want to know how to backslide, leave off going forward. Cease going upward and you will go downward of necessity. You can never stand still.”

More than we can ever know, our attitude and actions are affected by gratitude. When a man has a thankful heart he will gladly do as he should without urging or prodding from others. Even his ability to enjoy life depends on whether or not he is thankful. And the key to being grateful is remembering from whence came our blessings. He who forgets that is headed for trouble.

“If ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you”   (John 15:7).

Some people read this verse and all they see is the part that says, “..ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you”. They’re the ones who say, “name it and claim it”. But we must consider the whole verse to get the truth. It is only if we abide in Him and His Word abides in us that we can have the assurance of answered prayer. We have that confidence because such a person would not knowingly ask for that which is contrary to God’s will, which we know because we have heard His Word.

Charles Spurgeon wrote: “Note well that we must hear Jesus speak if we expect Him to hear us speak. If we have no ear for Christ, He will have no ear for us. In proportion as we hear we shall be heard. Moreover, what is heard must remain, must live in us, and must abide in our character as a force and a power. We must receive the truths which Jesus taught, the precepts which He issued, and the movements of His Spirit within us; or we shall have no power at the Mercy Seat. Suppose our LORD’s words to be received and to abide in us, what a boundless field of privilege is opened up to us! We are to have our will in prayer, because we have already surrendered our will to the LORD’s command. Thus are Elijahs trained to handle the keys of heaven and lock or loose the clouds. One such man is worth a thousand common Christians. Do we humbly desire to be intercessors for the church and the world, and.. to be able to have what we will of the LORD? Then we must bow our ear to the voice of the Well-beloved, treasure up His words, and carefully obey them. He has need to “hearken diligently” who would pray effectually.”

“And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.“–John 10:41