Dear All,

Oftentimes, when you see a believer who has started so well in the faith, and suddenly, the person becomes very cold in the things of the Lord. These things doesn't happen immediately. They are usually a gradual process. The truth of the matter is, we are all kept by grace and strength of the Lord, but we also need to constantly examine ourselves to see whether we are in faith. It's called the "heavenly race" for a reason, it means there could be some side distractions, hindrances and probably blockages while running.

Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 2 cornithians 13:5

What is backsliding? The word is not something new. It's a word that we can easily tell what it means, but the question is, are you aware that it might be happening to you? The bible says "examine and test yourself" This simply means, one of the ways anyone can know if he/she is in faith, is to always do some evaluations.

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Backsliding is when a believer gradually begin to drift away from the laws of God to the laws of the world. Turning away from God is backsliding. When your love for Christ suddenly wax cold, you begin to lose interest in the things of the Lord. You careless about the commandments and instructions of God.

Like I said earlier, backsliding doesn't happen immediately. It's a gradual process and are in stages. It's always a step backward after another. This could go on and on. It may even take months for anyone to finally complete this process, but it all depends on how soon you are able to do some check and test yourself.

Someone might ask "Is a backsliding Christian still saved? I want you to know that Salvation is by grace and a gift to all believers and followers of Christ. Ordinarily, someone might also question this "why does a backslider still called a child of God?" But thank God for His mercy, love and Kindness who sent His son Jesus Christ to die and pay the everlasting price for the sins of those born and unborn. As many as those who are willing to repent of their sins, shall be saved

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The devil may sound to your ears how you've failed and how God will kick you out. This is not true! The bible says "our holiness is like a filthy rag" If God were to judge our sins, we would have all gone. Who can stand God's holiness? Definitely, no one!

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9

The good news is that God has chosen to save us, not because we are good, but on His Kindness. The only condition of being saved and assured Salvation, is repentance. Only through repentance, accepting, acknowledging and retracing those wrong steps.

Christ can never give up on those who He has saved. The devil only wants to play with your mind for its not the will of God that any soul will be lost, but come back to Him. He has promise to accept us back if only we ask. He's not mad or angry at you rather He's full of mercy and ever kind.

Here's an invitation! His arms are open wide. Don't feel, you have done enough and your sins are too big to forgive.

The LORD says, "Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever. Hosea 14:14

You can come as you are, with all your broken pieces and shameful scars.

Okay, we have seen there's hope for a backslider and that God is always there to take you back, but there's one question "Does this now mean, I can backslid as much as I want?" After all, God is ready to take me back anytime. This will lead to another bible verse

Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?
2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Romans 6:1-2

Of course not! The next question would be "Why do I keep backsliding?" Going back to those things over and over again.

Listen to this, your body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives every believer who has truly and genuinelyaccepted Christ as Lord and Master the ability to overpower sin. The word Christian means Christ like, it is the Holy Spirit that also gives the power to be that person in Christ, a Christian who behave like Him. The Holy Spirit is there to guide, teach, comfort and provides us with the personalities of God.

How have you treated the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit? Do you keep it porous for any other spirit to come in and influence your thoughts and actions? How about your thoughts? Do you try as much as possible to keep your mind away from sinful and imaginary thoughts? Do they glorify the spirit of God or your flesh? What do you do in your free time? If you are a follower of Christ, but you find yourself backsliding over a particular sin then you need to answer these questions.

_{Matese Fields in Unsplash.com}

As believers, we need to constantly work alongside the Holy Spirit. And how do we do this? By having a solid fellowship with the Lord and studying His word. When we do this, we constantly renew our spirit minds causing the "self" in us to disappear

Ways to overcome

• Fellowship with Christ
• Study the word
• Use your spare time wisely
• Identify your weaknesses and ask for God's strength
• Pray for grace
• Help yourself by removing any object that affects you negatively
• Know you have a greater power dwelling in you
• Be selective of your friends

In conclusion,

As I write this, it doesn't mean I haven't fallen short of the glory of God. There was a time when I was so addicted to a particular sin. Anytime, I am free, it quickly comes to my mind, but with the grace and help of God, I asked for the grace to stop because I knew it was actually a sin. Today, to God be the glory, I am died to that sin for over four years now. This is my testimony! You can also share yours, it's never too late to ask for help from God. He's always ready to come to our aid.

Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.
25 "Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the LORD." 1 Samuel 15:24-25

Thank you for reading and God bless you all!!