Psalm 121:1-3 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

We left off yesterday admitting to ourselves that sin is still present in our lives and that the power over sin lies with God. This also is part of God’s plan. Remember that Jesus was tempted in every way as we are and did not sin. Temptation is not sin. Giving in to temptation however is sinning.

If we focus on the sin we miss the goal of the plan. Growing in Christ, to be more Christ like is a character building process. God created us to love and to return that love, and to spread that love in the furtherance of kingdom building. He did not perfect us instantly because He did not create puppets without a mind of their own.

Acts 20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

To build you up, to grow in Christ, is a process in which God leads by the power of the Holy Spirit within you. In this He is the Comforter and the Helper. Here in Acts 20:32 we find the first two words of help, grace and sanctified.

Because we cannot deal with sin on our own we need to look to those blessing God has bestowed upon us to help us deal with sin. These are just the first two we examine as the help provided to us by God. We should understand what help is provided in order to ask for that help.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

The fourth P is in that we will be saved from the presence of sin. Sin is still with us until that day when we shall be transformed into the incorruptible form and be as our Savior is, eternal, Holy and incorruptible. Until that day we suffer the harassing influences of sin in the flesh. We should not deny it.

We heard about the power over sin. We covered that yesterday. Since we have to suffer sins nagging presence for the time being, what are we to do about it?

Philippians 2:12c work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

It wasn’t just enough for God to say work at it, He has blessed us with the tools to be successful in our attempts. What craftsman in training up an apprentice would not provide him the right tools to perform any given task?

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

In this endeavor we are not alone. The daily blessings bestowed upon us are meant to help us and our brethren in working out our daily salvation.

Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another‘s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.