HOW TEMPTATION WORKS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY DECEMBER 14, 2020.

SUBJECT : HOW TEMPTATION WORKS!

Memory verse: "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (First Corinthians 10 vs 13.)

READ: Mark 7 vs 21 - 23; James 1 vs 14 - 15.

Mark 7:21: For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 

7:22: thefts, covetousness, weaknesses, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 

7:23: All these evil things come from within and defile a man.

James 1:14: But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 

1:15: Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings death. 

INTIMATION:

The accuser of brethren, Satan, is the tempter, and has continued in his known tricks since creation. And because his tricks are known to us, Satan is entirely predictable. His ways and strategy since inception have not changed. All temptation follow the same four-steps process, which Satan used both on Adam and Eve and on Jesus.  The apostle Paul says in Second Corinthians 2 vs 11, "...For we are not ignorant of his devices." The four-step process is; (1) Identifying a desire inside of you, (2) identifying your doubt, (3) employing his deception on you, and (4) luring you into disobedience.

 

STEP ONE.

Satan starts by identifying a desire inside of you. It may be a legitimate or normal desire, like the desire to be loved and valued or to feel pleasure or have a better living. Or an illegitimate or sinful desire, like the desire to get revenge or to control others or to cheat on others. Temptation starts when Satan suggests (with a thought) that you give in to an evil desire, or that you fulfill a legitimate desire in a wrong way or at the wrong time. 

Satan's known tactic on legitimate desires is to suggest shortcuts. These shortcuts are often temptations! For instance, you have a financial need, and there is some money entrusted in your care, he will suggest to you to use it since nobody will know or see you. You may have a sexual urge, he will suggest to you can satisfy the urge by having sex with anybody around you, after-all nobody will see you or know except you and you partner. 

STEP TWO.

Step two is doubt. Satan tries to get you to doubt what God has said about the sin: Is it really wrong? Did God really say not to do it? Didn't God mean this prohibition for someone else or some other time? Doesn't God want me to be happy? The Bible warns, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." (Hebrews 3 vs 12.) Our heart turn away from the living God when we stubbornly refuse to believe Him. If we persist in our unbelief, God will eventually leave us alone in our sin. Beware of the deceitfulness of sin; it attracts but also destroys.

STEP THREE.

Step three is deception. Satan is incapable of telling the truth and is called "the father of lies." (John 8 vs 44.) Anything he tells you will be untrue or just half-true. Satan offers his lie to replace what God has already said in the Word. Satan say, "You will not die. You'll be wiser like God. You can get away with it. No one will ever know. It will solve your problem. Besides, everyone else is doing it. It is only a little sin." But a little sin is like being pregnant: it will eventually show itself.

STEP FOUR.

Step four is disobedience. You final act on the thought you've been toying with in your mind. What began as an idea gets birthed into behavior. You give in to whatever got your attention. You believe Satan's lies and fall into the trap of which the apostle James warns us about in one of passages we read today—James 1 vs 14 - 15.

Temptation comes from evil desires inside us, which the devil exploits. It begins with an evil thought and becomes sin when we dwell on the thought and allow it to become an action. The best time to stop a temptation is before it is too strong or moving too fast to be controlled. Never make excuses for evil thoughts and wrong actions. Excuses include (1) it's the other person's fault; (2) I couldn't help it; (3) everybody's doing it; (4) it was just a mistake; (5) nobody is perfect; (6) the devil made me do it; (7) I was pressured into it; (8) I didn't know it was wrong; (9) God is tempting me. 

A person who makes excuses is trying to shift the blame from himself or herself to something or someone else. That is wrong. As a Christian, accept responsibility for your wrongs, confess them, and asks God for forgiveness. The Scripture says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (First John 1 vs 9.)

Prayer: Abba Father, You are merciful and gracious. I know, most faithful God, You will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I am able to bear, and will always make a way of escape, in Jesus’ mighty Name I prayed, Amen. 

PRAISE THE LORD!