When my wife, Darla, and I moved from inland Georgia to Florida, we decided to try some of the adventures we'd seen in travel brochures. We went to the beach and SeaWorld. We strolled in riverside parks watching alligators, sandhill cranes and otters. All fun, but I loved snorkeling.

It was like entering another world hidden just under the thin surface of the ocean. I knew it was there before, but experiencing this world transformed it from something abstract to something I could see and touch.

Darla, however, hadn't so much as dipped her toes in salt water since she saw the movie Jaws in 1975. We decided to break in our new mask and fins in the fresh water of Blue Springs.

In the spring's main pool, water comes bubbling out of a hole 150 feet deep, though most of the area is shallower—anywhere from four to 10 feet. Floating over the hole was eerie. Even in the clear water, darkness swallowed the bottom depths.

Darla wasn't going anywhere near that hole.

She stayed on the fringes of the pool where she could stand up when she felt like it. It seemed safe there. She wrongly thought—because she had never snorkeled—that she had to work to stay on the surface, and that if she tired she would sink into darkness.

The truth is, we all have enough buoyancy, or blubber, to stay on top of the water. It is simple physics. The hard part isn't staying afloat; it's staying underwater when we dive. If we stop kicking, we bob to the top like a duck. The water does the holding-up part; we just do the kicking-around part.

There were certainly hazards: alligators in the spring, water in the mask and up your nose, or getting snagged on a root, but losing buoyancy was not one of them. Once Darla believed that, she started kicking around, even floating over the hole.

Walking in the Spirit is like snorkeling. It can be daunting. Often we see the alligators and sharks of spiritual warfare and religious persecution. So we hang out on the fringe of the pool, where we can stand on our own two feet and feel safe, never venturing out into the deep water for fear we'll sink into darkness. We don't understand—having never experienced it—that God does the holding-up part. We just do the kicking-around part. Once we believe that and push out into deep water, the abstract idea of walking in the Spirit becomes a very real and fascinating new world. The hazards remain a possibility, but you can't beat the experience.

As we talk with people about Jesus, they sometimes acknowledge a belief in Jesus. But God wants more—He wants our trust.

To illustrate the difference between belief and trust, tell people about "The Great Blondin." This French aerialist (born Jean Francois Gravelet) stretched a 1,300-foot length of rope, just 2 inches thick, across Niagara Falls in 1859. The 35-year-old pushed a stove in a wheelbarrow across the rope and cooked an omelet midway.

But his greatest feat was to carry a man over the falls on piggyback. According to reporters, Gravelet sprinted the last few yards and plunged with his human cargo headlong into the crowd.

In 1860, the Prince of Wales was invited to travel over the falls on Gravelet's back, but he declined. Certainly he "believed" The Great Blondin could do what he claimed. He just refused to stake anything of value on it. He didn't trust him.

God is not content with our intellectual belief. He wants us to trust Him completely, to get on His back and go.

I raced like wildfire on my bike, legs churning like steel pistons as I zipped over the sizzling pavement. A cluster of slow-moving cyclists passed in the opposite direction. They strained with each stroke of the pedal. Ha! I gloated to myself. They are out of shape, and I'm unstoppable! Woo-wee! Move over, Lance Armstrong. Get ready to hand over that yellow leader's jersey!

I reached my turnaround point in record time. Then, as I looped around toward home, I ran headlong into a stiff wind blowing hard from the Atlantic coast.

"Ugh," I groaned. "The wind."

My quick pace had nothing to do with my strength at all. I had simply enjoyed a wonderful tailwind-soon-to-be-horrible-headwind.

All of a sudden I didn't feel so spry. I felt ashamed at my arrogance. The cyclists whom I had judged harshly just moments before had been wrestling with the wind. Now it was my turn.

As I struggled home, I thought of how I often make the same mistake in my spiritual life.

It is easy to judge others as less spiritual, or to mistake God's strength as my own. God allows each of us, at different times, to face circumstances that buffet and blow hard against our souls. So why do I compare myself to others? I don't know their stories—how far they have come or what challenges they face in their lives. At least they are still pedaling. Who knows how I will withstand when trials hit?

I labored to finish my ride. My legs burned. Inside, my heart ached in recognition of my pride and self-centeredness. How foolish of me to take credit for God's work in my life—He gives me everything I need for life and godliness. I can't live the Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit any more than I can set land-speed records without hurricane-force tailwinds.

So, I guess Lance gets to keep the yellow jersey after all. I'm certainly no competition. I can't win the Tour de France any more than I can live the Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit to propel me.

If you've ever visited an amusement park, perhaps you found yourself wandering into a hall of mirrors. On every wall is a mirror—sloped, twisted and angled to create distorted reflections.

While the hall of mirrors might be an amusing place to visit, none of us would want to live there. Unfortunately, we do live in a world of twisted and distorted views. On the day Adam and Eve rebelled against God, sin made its way into the world. Sin might be described as the force that twists all the "mirrors" out of shape. It shows us only grotesque views of what God created to be beautiful.

Sin has corrupted everything. We have no point of reference—unless we begin to see life from a godly, biblical perspective. We cannot trust our own impressions; we need a dependable authority.

Even with the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, you still have a free will, and can be willful and disobedient. You can choose to give in to temptation and reap the sad consequences. Then the next time temptation comes along, you will find it much easier to ignore the still, small voice of the Spirit and give in again. This is what we call a "slippery slope."

One might think that common sense alone would be enough to keep us out of trouble. It should be easy enough to see that giving in to a particular temptation would be bad for our health; giving in to another specific one would destroy our marriage. Yet people make tragically poor decisions every day. I believe there are four reasons why most people are deceived so frequently in life.

The first is the matter of who is doing the deceiving. The Bible tells us that the chief prince and ruler of this world, Satan, is the master of deception. The enemy has been practicing his craft since the dawn of time, and he understands which approaches are most likely to succeed. The devil works overtime, trying to distort every truth we have received from God. He makes ugly things seem beautiful and foolishness seem wise.

After experiencing salvation, our souls are under God's protection. Nothing Satan may devise can snatch us from the security of our heavenly Father's grip. And though the war is over, spiritual battles and skirmishes continue to rage all around us. Satan wants to convince you he has not been defeated. While he cannot take away your eternal life, he can cause you great misery on this earth, drawing you away from the victorious, abundant life you were created to enjoy.

A second reason for deception also involves the Great Deceiver. Satan's lies can be more difficult to detect because he mixes in just a pinch of truth. Half-truths are much more deceptive than outright lies. In the garden, the devil actually quoted God's Word; he did the same when he was in the wilderness with Jesus. But as always, he twisted and misrepresented the truths of God's holy Word. Always keep in mind that he will give you "good," often "spiritual" reasons to do the wrong thing.

A third reason it is difficult to see through the world's false reality is because sin distorts our reasoning and judgment. This is like wearing smudged eyeglasses or looking through a poor mirror. In fact, our very reasoning faculties are corrupted. That is why it is so important for us to pray and seek God's guidance on issues large and small; we cannot trust our flawed human judgment.

A fourth reason for our deception is that the basic values of the world, so opposed to God's values, become persuasive. The world constantly praises the immediate, while the Bible speaks for the eternal. The world exalts the self, while the Bible exalts Christ. The world glorifies materialism, while the Bible extols spiritual values.

Our only safe harbor from the deluge of untruth is the truth of God's Word. If we stray from it, we will quickly fall prey to the world's delusions.

We have access to the very teachings and principles that guided God's people thousands of years ago, and His Word is eternal and never changes. The day you accepted Christ, the Holy Spirit came into your life, and He opened your eyes to see into Scripture with true understanding. The Bible, through the interpretation of the Holy Spirit, is fully interactive with our daily lives. Read it, study it, memorize it, and meditate upon it each morning and throughout the day, until your last conscious thought each night. God provided the ultimate road map for navigating our way through a complex and dangerous world.

Adapted from His Intimate Presence, ©2003, by Bill Bright, New Life Publications, Campus Crusade for Christ. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Not long ago I was hurrying down the street in front of my building in New York City and there it was again: the red Volkswagen that had been parked in the same place—a 40-minute parking spot—for three days.

I began to slide into my usual grumble mode when God very clearly reminded me, This car has repeatedly drawn your attention because I want you to pray for its owner. What an idea—not to pray that the owner would shape up and follow the parking rules, but to pray for his personal needs and that he would seek after the Savior.

God was using whatever means He could to get my attention so that I would pray, sort of like a divine pointer. And I had been missing the opportunity. Energized by this new idea, I'm learning to be alert for these prayer promptings. Now when I notice people littering or hear them using profanity or see them running red lights, I assume God wants me to pray for them.

I don't know how God is using those prayers in their lives, but they sure make a difference in mine. Instead of detouring into grumbling and complaining, I am inspired to keep tuned in to God and what He is doing. Nothing that happens to me is accidental—even frustrating or annoying encounters. God intends to use everything to further His kingdom, and He offers me the opportunity to participate.