ESCAPING TEMPTATION!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2022.

SUBJECT: ESCAPING TEMPTATION!

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 the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (First Corinthians 10 vs 13.) 

READ: Genesis 3 vs 1 - 5:

3:1: Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God Indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

3:2: And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3:3: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

3:4: Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

3:5: For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

INTIMATION:

Temptation is to entice to sin; to put to test; to make a trial of. Temptation is Satan’s invitation to give in to his kind of life, and give up on God’s kind of life. Satan is busy getting people to sin. In our society filled with moral depravity and sin-inducing pressures, temptation to sin is relatively high. It happen to everyone, and no one can say or feel he or she has been singled out. Temptation will always come, therefore, we need to be constantly on guard against the devil’s ongoing attacks. The good news is that many others have resisted temptation, and so you can do it. 

We must realize that being tempted is not sin  until we give to the temptation. Temptation comes from evil desires Satan is throwing up inside of us. 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 temptation is before it is too strong or moving too fast to control. However, any temptation can be resisted because God will show you a way out. Then, to resist temptation we must:

(1) Pray for strength to resist. If we attempt to meet life’s challenges with human effort alone, we will find the pressures and temptations around us too great to resist. We must be alert and pray. Being alert means being aware of the possibilities of temptation, sensitive to the subtleties, and spiritually equipped to fight it. Because temptation strikes where we are most vulnerable, we can’t resist it alone. Prayer is essential because God’s strength can shore up our defense and defeat Satan’s tempting power.

Jesus said to His disciples, “Watch an Pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14 vs 38.) He is speaking to all of us. In time of great stress, you are vulnerable to temptation, even if you have a willing spirit. Therefore, to escape temptation we must keep watch—stay awake and be morally vigilant by praying to God, and this is how you maintain your vigilance. 

(2) Run, sometimes literally, from anything you know is wrong. Stay away from people, places, and situations that may tempt you. God will help you recognize those people and situations that give you trouble. Running from a tempting situation is your first step on the way to victory, and often can be the most courageous action to take. Remove yourself physically from any situation that stimulates your desire to sin. Knowing when to run is as important in spiritual battle as knowing when and how to fight. 

(3) Seek support of friends and loved ones who love God and can offer help when you are tempted. This is how you build up your resistance and help others. When one is weak, others are strong. The devil often tempts us when we are vulnerable—when we are under physical or emotional stress (for example, lonely, tired, weighing big decisions, or faced with uncertainty). Sharing your concerns or opinion with others can help you avoid any temptations by the devil. You may have strong faith, but you also have areas of weakness, and that is where temptation usually strikes. Strengthen and protect yourself where you are weak because a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. 

(4) Be focused on doing God’s Will and not your own. Often we tempted not through our weaknesses, but through our strengths, where we are most susceptible to pride. We must guard at all times against his attacks. When we give in to the devil and wrongly use our strengths, we become proud and self-reliant. Trusting in our own powers, we feel little need of God. To avoid the trap, we must realize that all our strengths are God’s gifts to us, and we must dedicate those strengths to His service. 

Most decisions about how to face temptation are made with cool heads long before we feel the heat of temptation. Build your defenses now before temptation strikes. When temptation strikes it is too late to ask for advice. When desire is fully activated, people don’t want advice, they want satisfaction. Resistance is easier if the decision has already been made. Don’t wait to see what happens. Prepare for temptation by deciding now how you will act when you face it.

All Christians struggle with temptation. Sometimes it is so subtle that we don’t even realize what is happening to us. Satan wants to destroy believers or at least neutralize them through sin, shame, and guilt. He tries to block God’s purposes for your life or for someone else’s life. God has promised that he won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. Ask God to help you recognize temptation and to give you strength to overcome it and choose God’s way instead. At the root of most temptation is a real need or desire that God can fill, but we must trust in His timing. 

Prayer: Abba Father, help me to recognize temptation and give me the strength to overcome it, and choose Your way at all times, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!