“I will guard my ways” (Psalms 39:1)

Fellow-pilgrim, don’t say in your heart, "I’ll do whatever I want, because God is with me”. “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Modern ideas of “faith in your faith” have caused countless disasters. Presumption, fueled by pride, blinds people “who set their mind on earthly things” (Philippians 3:20). The Apostle James warned, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” (James 4:13-16). 

There’s a temptation in every mercy; a snare in every joy; and if you ever reach heaven, it will be a miracle of divine grace to be ascribed entirely to God’s grace. Be on your guard. Don’t presume on His mercy. You can be sure, if you get out in front of Him, He will let you fail. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). 

 There’s nothing in this world to encourage Christian holiness, but everything to destroy it. Your constant prayer should be, "Hold me Lord, and I will be safe." But you must also watch; guarding every thought, word, and action, with holy jealousy. Don’t expose yourself unnecessarily; but if you’re led by God to go where Satan’s darts are flying, keep your belt of truth in place ( Ephesians 6:14 ); for if Satan finds you’re a hypocrite, his arrows will reveal it. 

 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalms 139:23-24).