Most Christians have pondered the hypothetical scenario that has come to be the benchmark of a person's faith. The scenario is as follows: If someone were holding a gun to your head and told you to deny Christ and live...what would you do?

I believe that, while the above scenario would be a serious test of a person's faith, it is not the test that most of us need to be worrying about. Why? Because most of us will never face a madman with a gun to our head. But many of us daily face the enemy and his minions and the lies that they whisper in our ears.

"God doesn't love you or you wouldn't be going through this."

"God isn't here with you."

"Can't you feel my presence more than His? Where is He, if he loves you so much?"

The true benchmark of our faith is how we responds to the lies that are being fed to us by Satan. When desperation kicks in, and everything around us is falling apart, do we entertain these thoughts? Do we question God over and over again, accusing Him of not loving us or not helping us? Do you we tell Him how angry we are with Him and the circumstances that He has divinely allowed?

I believe that when we do these things, we are essentially denying Christ.

I'm not saying that moments of helplessness and hopelessness won't come, believe me, I've had more than my share. BUT...when the circumstances are beyond our control and not to our liking, we must remember the TRUTH and stop denying it by believing lies.

God is always with us. We must stop asking Him where He is. He is everywhere. He has given us the Holy Spirit. So, at all times, even frightening, painful times, He is with us in two forms, God the father and God, the Holy Spirit. We must believe that. God loves us. His love is so great that He sacrificed His son for our benefit. We may not always feel loved, but the heart is deceptive. We must not be deceived.

We must stop denying Christ. No, there's no gun at our heads. But our lives are at stake. If we can't fight the spiritual forces around us, what makes us believe that we could remain strong under the threat of death?