HOW TEMPTATION WORKS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2023.

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 strategies since inception have not changed. All temptation follow the same four-steps process, which Satan used both on Adam, 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 how you can satisfy the urge by having sex with anybody around you, after-all nobody will see you or know except you and your 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, that You will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I am able to bear, and will always make a way of escape, and always strengthening me to run with vigor the race set before me, in Jesus’ mighty Name I have prayed, Amen. 

PRAISE THE LORD!

WE HAVE THE POWER TO RESIST THE DEVIL!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2023.

SUBJECT: WE HAVE THE POWER TO RESIST THE DEVIL!

Memory verse: "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4 vs 7.) 

READ: First Peter 5 vs 8:

5:8: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

5:9: Resist him, stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

5:10: But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

INTIMATION:

There is within man the power to resist the temptations of the devil. God has never given Satan the power to voluntarily subject people to his will. If one desires to seek God, then Satan has no power to subjectively keep one away from God. Our power to resist Satan is exemplified in the fact that we can make him flee. Since God will not allow the individual Christian to be tempted beyond that which he is able to endure, then we must assume that we have the power to make the devil flee from us (First Corinthians 10 vs 12 - 13; Matthew 4 vs 8).

Our power to resist Satan makes us responsible for our own actions. However, we must keep in mind that no man has the power within himself. It is through the power of the gospel, and Christ working in us, that we are able to resist the devil (Philippians 4 vs 13). We must choose to unleash this power in our lives in order to flee from all temptations that come to us through the work of the devil. And since we have this power, then we will all stand before God in judgement and be held directly accountable for our deeds. Each one will give account of himself before God (Second Corinthians 5 vs 10). 

The apostle James’ imperative command to draw near to God (James 4 vs 8), places the responsibility for our action on our shoulders. In this he identifies the source of power to resist the devil. The individual must take the initiative to keep himself in the love of God. Those who have allowed their lives to be directed by the world must repent and turn to God. Those who have made their hands dirty by becoming a friend to the world must repent and turn to God. They must become pure with wisdom from above in order to remain in the grace by which they are saved.

Satan has no power over the one who voluntarily keeps himself close to Jesus. However, Satan roams about as a nervous lion looking for his lunch. Those who are ignorant of his warning roars will fall victim to his hunger for the souls of men. Therefore, it is necessary that the Christian learn how the devil seeks to destroy the lives of men. One must be aware of how he stalks his prey. The sober and vigilant Christian is constantly listening for the roar of the hungry Satan. He can identify how Satan works. However, if he becomes ignorant of God’s Word, or enticed by the lust of flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life, he or she will be ensnared by Satan and consumed (First John 2 vs 15 - 16). 

Christians have been called out of the world through their voluntary obedience to the gospel. Since they have been called by God through the gospel, they will be guarded by God through trials. The Christian must remember that Satan cannot voluntarily consume anyone he chooses. The apostate Christian has simply given himself or herself over to Satan because of his or her own ignorance of the Word of God or willingness to forsake the fellowship of the community of God’s people. 

Peter’s admonition, in the passage we read today, is evidence that the Christian has the voluntary power to stay away from the consuming hunger of Satan to devour souls. The context in which one is more apt to fall is when one is under trials and persecution. Therefore, it is in such a state that one must be sober and vigilant to resist Satan. Christians can withstand the temptations that are presented by Satan by exercising faith in God through prayer, Bible study, and good works toward others. One must understand that as a Christian, others have also gone through similar trials that he or she may be suffering. Since others endured, then certainly the ones under similar circumstances of trial can also endure. 

The Scripture, in Ephesians 6 vs 12, says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” These who are not “flesh and blood” are demons over whom the devil has control. They are not mere fantasies—the are very real. We face a powerful army whose goal is to defeat Christ’s church. When we believe in Christ, these beings become our enemies, and they try every device to turn us away from Him and back to sin. Although, we are assured of victory, we must engage in the struggle until Christ return, because Satan is constantly battling against all who are on the Lord’s side. 

We need supernatural power to defeat Satan, and God has provided that by giving us His Holy Spirit within us and His armor surrounding us. If you feel discouraged, remember Jesus’ words to Peter: “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16 vs 18).

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, my ‘Senior Partner,’ and Your whole armor to withstand the wiles of the devil. Bestow on me the divine wisdom to always ask for the supernatural power You have made available to us through the Holy Spirit, and that I may rest assured in Your guidance and protection, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

HUMILITY ENGENDERS GOD’S GRACE AND EXALTATION!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 09, 2023.

SUBJECT: HUMILITY ENGENDERS GOD’S GRACE AND EXALTATION!

Memory verse: "Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt you at the proper time.” (First Peter 5 vs 6.) 

READ: James 4 vs 6 - 8 & 10:

4:6: But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

4:7: Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

4:8: Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

4:10: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

INTIMATION:

Humidity engenders God’s grace and exaltation. God’s grace is extended toward those who have humbly submitted to Him (Romans 5 vs 20). Those who are arrogant and proud will not submit their lives to the will of God. They resist submission, and thus, God resists giving His grace to them in order that they might be saved. Since God will resist those who are proud, it is imperative that men submit themselves to the will of God. When one does submit to God’s will, he will be lifted up. 

Being humble involves having a true perspective of oneself. It does not mean you should put yourself down. Truly humble people compare themselves only with Christ, realizing their sinfulness, and understand their limitations. On the other hand, they also recognize their gifts and strength and are willing to use them as Christ directs. Humility is not self-degradation; it is realistic self-assessment and commitment to serve. It means proper respect for God.

Obedience to God begins with humility. When we look at creation, we often feel small by comparison. To respect God’s majesty, we must compare ourselves to His greatness. This is a healthy way to get back to reality. We must believe that His way is better than our own. We may not always understand His ways of working, but by humbly obeying, we will receive His blessings. We must remember that (1) God’s ways are best; (2) God wants our obedience more than anything else; (3) God can use anything to accomplish His purposes.

Since God will not save the proud or arrogant, the apostle James plea is that the first step in repentance must be to submit to the will of God. Only through the spirit of submission is God able to mold the demeanor of the obedient for eternal dwelling. When one submits to God’s will, he or she will be lifted up. However, we must first recognize the sovereignty of God over all things before we will humbly submit to His will. 

The proud person will seek to rule his own life. They take little account of their weaknesses and do not anticipate stumbling blocks. They think they are above the frailties of common people. In this state of mind they are easily tripped up. In thinking that he or she has his or her life in control, the proud person usually tries to bear all his or her burdens without asking for the help of others. He tries to walk alone. Ironically, proud people seldom realize that pride is their problem, although everyone around them is well aware of it. 

The humble person, however, who has cast his or her burdens on the shoulders of God, will find peace and security in the care of God. It is our responsibility to take the initiative to deal with our pride. We cannot exalt ourselves before God on the basis of our works. Man’s pride detours him from submitting to the Will of God. 

Let us not loose sight of the end result of all our humility and self-sacrifice—a joyous banquet with our Lord! God never asks us to suffer for the sake of suffering. He never asks us to give up something good unless he plans to replace it with something even better. Jesus is not calling us to join Him in a labor camp but in a feast—the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19 vs 6 - 9), when God and His beloved church will be joined forever.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue  me with the spirit of humility that I will humble myself before You at all times and to do Your Will in all things, knowing that I have no power of my own to accomplish much without You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

TRUE FAITH THAT PLEASES GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 08, 2023.

SUBJECT: TRUE FAITH THAT PLEASES GOD!

Memory verse: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11 vs 1.) 

READ: Hebrews 11 vs 1 - 6:

11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

11:2: For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

11:3: By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

11:4: By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and through it he being dead still speaks.

11:5: By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death; “and was not found, because God had taken him”, for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

11:6: But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

11:7: By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

INTIMATION:

True faith combines assurance and anticipation. It is the confidence based on past experience that God’s new and fresh surprises will surely be ours. The beginning point of faith is believing in God’s promises. He will do what He says. When we believe that God will fulfill His promises even though we don’t see those promises materializing yet, we demonstrate true faith—believing that ‘He who promised is faithful and will do it’ (Hebrews 10 vs 23).

True faith is pleasing to God, and such faith moves the one who possesses it into action and confidence in the promises of God. It is a faith that does not give up hope in what God has promised as a reward for the believer. It is not a simple confession with one’s mouth that he believes in God. It is a life commitment to the work of God who is working to bring about the final end and purpose of all things. Believing that God exists is only the beginning, even the demons believe that much (James 2 vs 19 - 20). God will not settle for mere acknowledgement of His existence. He wants your faith that leads to a personal, dynamic relationship. 

Biblical faith is based on evidence. The apostle John, in his gospel, recorded the evidence of the miraculous works of Jesus in order that we believe (John 20 vs 30 - 31). God has never expected us to believe without evidence. Consequently, in the 1st Century, He confirmed His messengers and message by miraculous manifestations. Belief without evidence is only superstition. The faith of the Christian, however, is not superstition. Our faith today is based on the record of the testimonies of the patriarchs of old who gave their testimony to the work and faithfulness of God—those who actually experienced the confirming work of God. 

Christians have hope in those things that they have not experienced because God has given miraculous evidence to the truth of the message they believe. They grow in faith in the promises of God as they study the testimony of those who personally experienced the confirming miracles that are recorded in the Bible. Though they are dead, the account of their active faith still teaches us lessons of obedient faith that is pleasing to God.

The faith of Christians is not in the meritorious performance of religious ceremonies. It is in the performance of Jesus on the cross who offered an atoning sacrifice for our sins once and for all time. If one’s faith does not move him or her into depending on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, it is a faith that does not please God. Faith must act in faithful obedience to the will of God. Without this obedient faith, one has deceived himself into believing that a simple belief in the existence of God is sufficient for salvation.

If one claims to have faith in God, and yet does not manifest such in the behavior of his or her life, then such faith is of no profit toward salvation. Faith without benevolent actions is self-deception on the part of the one who seeks to please God on his own conditions. One’s faith must be manifested by the benevolent actions toward others. The love of God cannot be seen without obedience to the commandments of God. The faith in God can be seen with benevolent actions toward one’s fellow man. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are the same yesterday, today, and remains the same forever. You have manifested Your greatness in Your wondrous works from the beginning and has continued till this day, and will forever do the same. My absolute trust is in You and Your unchanging nature. Endue me with the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, that I may speak as I believed, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE CURSE OF POVERTY!

 

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 07, 2023.

SUBJECT : THE CURSE OF POVERTY!

Memory verse: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree") (Galatians 3 vs 13.)

READ: Deuteronomy 28 vs 15 - 20:

28:15: But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

28:16: Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.

28:17: Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

28:18: Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

28:19: Cursed shall shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

28:20: The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.

INTIMATION:

God created us and His Will is for us to live in obedience to His rules, and in abundance. However, disobedience will result into reversal of His blessings to us. Poverty is a curse resulting from disobedience to the law of God. It is Satan's handiwork. God's Will is for us to prosper and be in abundance. In the beginning, God placed everything that man could use and enjoy in the Garden of Eden. God saw to it that Adam lacked no good thing. Additionally, He created Adam in his own image and after His likeness (as we are also created), leaving nothing to be desired. Adam was the master of the kingdom given to him. God only placed Himself above Adam as his Master.

God's Will of abundance for us was supreme until that fatal day Adam and Eve, our first parents, committed high treason against God by doubting His integrity, and believing God's permanent enemy—Satan. When Satan deceived Eve into partaking of the fruit from the tree prohibited by God (tree of the knowledge of good and evil) and gave some to Adam, they died, not physically but spiritually. 

Spiritual death—the nature of Satan—overtook their once righteous spirit, and they became one with Satan. Every phase of their lives came under the curse of their new god—Satan. They were driven out of the Garden; abundance was no longer theirs to enjoy. Adam had to toil and sweat in order to survive. His beautiful life was overrun by thorns and thistles both in the physical and in the spiritual world.

God's heart yearns for His people to be free, and in His infinite wisdom and mercy, sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, for our sake as a propitiation, to pay the supreme price to redeem us from the curse of the law. He took our deserved punishment for our sins upon Himself and paid the wages we owed, the wages of sin which is death. He died a shameful death on the cross to redeem us from the curse of the law. The Scripture notes, "Surely He has borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace upon Him, And by His stripes we are heeled" (Isaiah 53 vs 4 - 5). 

The Scripture reveals that Jesus bore the curse of poverty at the same time He bore the curse of sickness. You can believe for divine prosperity just as you believe for divine health. Both blessings already belong to you. You should refuse lack just as quickly as you refuse sickness because they both are the curse of the law and Christ has already redeemed you from that curse. 

The blessing of Abraham is ours, as well as the promises of the Spirit. God adopted us and gave us right to become His children upon our acceptance of our redemption by our "Sacrificial Savior," Jesus Christ. We are reinstated to our original position with Him. His wish is that we shall prosper in all things and be in health, just as our soul prospers (Third John 2). Prosperity is God's Will for us.

Most of the times, we look at finances and prosperity in a different way from other things, such as divine health. The Word principles for divine health, healing, deliverance etc., is the same with divine prosperity and abundance. If a symptom of sickness came on my body, I would not stand it. I would take authority over it immediately and not allow it to remain. By doing this, I walk in divine health. I am convinced that healing and divine health belong to me in the New Covenant. 

Divine prosperity works exactly the same way, but we have not been using the Word to believe for divine prosperity as we had for divine health. We usually live in the laws of prosperity (paying tithes, give offering, make kingdom investments etc.), but we don't take authority in the Word. If you have obeyed the laws, then take authority in the Word.

We have been acting on prosperity differently from other provisions of the Word. In this way, we would allow symptoms of lack to come on us and stay there. We are willing to tolerate it, and sometimes claim it’s God's Will. But the word is very clear on the Will of God (Jeremiah 29 vs 11 & Third John vs 2), and our identity and inheritance in Christ Jesus. For instance, confess continually the Word in Second Corinthians 9 vs 8 and personalize it; "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” 

The Word says that God is able to get it to you. Don't look to natural sources. Don't look at your job, your present position, your natural capabilities, and present financial position, but look unto God. Keep your eye single on the Word. You have to realize and know that He can and will work in your behalf. God is real! He is able to get things done!

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you for all you did for us in redemption. We have been redeemed from the curse of the law by the grace of our Messiah, Jesus Christ, though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, that I through His poverty might become rich. I refuse the lies of the devil, and embrace the truth of my abundant life in Christ, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!