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Luke 4:1-2 - Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. NASU
Once a person is baptized into Christ they can expect the devil to bring all types of temptations before them for the sole purpose of getting them to give up on their faith in Jesus.
Praise God for His strength to overcome every temptation. There is only one way people were going to be able arrive safely on Heaven's shores and that was if Jesus could remain sinless. He is the world's perfect sacrifice because He never sinned.
You and I do not have to go through our trials and temptations alone. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and He will bring scripture to our memories to help us fight off the temptations the devil brings our way. It was with scripture that Jesus defeated the evil one and so it will be with us. We also have Christians we can call when we are being tempted and share with them what we are presently going through. It is during these times other Christians will pray with and for us. They will also share scriptures with us to give us strength and encourage us just by their being there. I John 4:4 says, "…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." When Moses was leading the children of Israel out of the Egypt God protected them with a Pillar of Fire and a Pillar of a Cloud. Exodus 14:13 - Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. NIV We know how this story ends. God parted the Red Sea and they walked across on dry land and after all the Israelites were safe the seas collapsed and killed the Egyptians. God had saved the Israelites. God will save us.
Think About These: By yielding to temptation one may lose in a moment what it took a lifetime to gain. Few speed records are broken when people run away from temptations. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Matt 4:1-4 -Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" NASU
Therefore temptation and sin cannot be the same thing. When you are tempted don't succumb to the thinking well I have been tempted I might as well do it. No. Just because you have been tempted that doesn't mean you might as well participate in sinning that is known as faulty thinking. Temptation is NOT the same as sinning.
Do you want to defeat the temptations the devil throws at you? Then know the Word of God that pertains to your specific temptation. Let me give you an example: suppose you have had a problem with " lying, anger, stealing, or profanity". The apostle Paul gives us a scripture for us to memorize when any of those four temptations come after you. Ephesians 4:25-29 - Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. We are told not to lie. Lay it aside or have nothing to do with lying and speak the truth. Maybe you have had a problem with anger. Well, good news, being angry is not a sin, but what you do with that anger or what you allow the anger to do to you might lead you into sin. Be angry Paul says, but don't sin. If you have had a problem with stealing as some did in Ephesus. Paul informs those who stole to "steal no longer". How is your speech? Is it filled with profanity, or maybe you are a gossip, a slanderer, or a backbiter? All of these are unwholesome ways your words can be used and they are not to proceed out of the mouth of a Christian.
Know the Word of God and when you are tempted, you can defeat that temptation by applying the Word to that specific situation. Think About This: By yielding to temptation one may lose in a moment what it took a lifetime to acquire. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Eph 4:26 - BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, NASU
Mark 3:4-5 - And He said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent. 5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. NASU
Jesus, according to Mark, was angry with the Pharisees attitude in regard to healing on the Sabbath. Jesus was there to heal people and it didn't matter to Him if the healing took place on the Sabbath or not. The way I have said it for years is like this: "It is never wrong to do what is right." What mattered to Jesus was a good deed was done and this glorified God.
I believe this to be a very important issue. You must identify what causes you to become angry. Many people have called Jesus' anger "righteous indignation". I have no problem with anyone calling His anger that. The question for us is "Could our anger be called righteous indignation"?
Driving laws in our country have been changed because Candace used her anger in a positive way. The apostle Paul said, we can be angry we just can't allow our anger to lead us into sinning. Candace allowed her anger to be used in a positive way. So maybe you have been cheated or robbed in some way as Candace was robbed of years with her daughter. It is okay to be angry but don't allow your anger to become sin.
The best solution is learning how to ventilate properly. Let's say you are driving and the person driving the car in front of you is going to slow according to you. How are you going to ventilate what you are feeling? You can get closer and do what they call "riding their bumper" or when you get an opportunity to pass you cut back in real close to them to let them know you don't appreciate how they are driving. OR You could think and say to yourself is God trying to slow me down to save me from a serious accident up ahead? One passenger who was supposed to be on ValuJet Flight 592 from Miami to Atlanta where all 110 people on board were killed. He said, he was yelling and screaming at all the cars that were in front of him for not driving "fast enough" according to him. He said the realization of the crash hit him hard as he stood in the airport and heard the report of the crash of ValuJet Flight 592. All those cars that were in his way were now the reason he was still alive. James 1:19-20 - But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. NASU
I hope you have an anger free week, but if you don't then be angry but don't sin. Think On These: "Anger" is one letter short of danger. For every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness. Striking while the iron is hot maybe okay, but don't strike while the head is hot. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Share this Pump Up with others by Sharing on Your Facebook Page or Forwarding to a friend. Luke 22:40 - When He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."
NASU The Prayer That Changes Things We have all been informed to pray this prayer. This isn't the first time we see this command as we read our Bibles. It is also found in Matt. 6:9-13 and is a part of what is known as the model prayer: Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name….13 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. NASU This is a very interesting command in this way. If we pray it we may never know the temptations that we were able to avoid. Think about it. We pray not to enter into temptation and the Lord answers our prayers and we don't enter into temptation. How are we going to know what temptation(s) we avoided? I guess when we get to heaven and we are informed do you remember praying for temptations to be avoided? Yes, well here is the temptation that was coming to make your life miserable but you avoided it because of your prayer. WOW! You see that Prayer changes things and there really is no way we would ever know to what extent. Temptations Are Strong Before you and I ever sin we are tempted. We must remember the temptation is NOT the SIN. It is only when we allow the temptation to defeat us that we will enter into sin. Again, temptation is not the sin. It is only an avenue that will lead to sin if we allow it. You and I both know that temptations have defeated us. They were stronger opponents than we thought. Some temptations have no affect on this person but totally devastates another. No alcoholic, or drug addict ever thought their first temptation to try the substance they are abusing was going to lead them where they are now. Imagine if they would have been praying, "Lord, may I never enter into that temptation." I think we all know there are some temptations going to come our way, but when they come if we have prayed to overcome them we will be the victors and not the losers. You know the temptations that defeat you. So pray for those temptations specifically to be avoided. Temptations Defeat The Disciples Jesus is in the Garden before His crucifixion and He tells His disciples "to pray that they may not enter into temptation." We know they don't pray. They go to sleep and then the temptations come their way. We will see Peter shortly denying three times that he even knows Jesus. While the other disciples run for their lives. You Can Defeat Your Temptations I believe we can defeat our temptations. I also believe they will be easier to defeat if we have prayed like the Lord has told us. Think on These: A person falls into temptation because he is unwilling to stand up against it. By yielding to temptation one may lose in a moment what it took a lifetime to acquire. When you flee from temptation DO NOT leave a forwarding address. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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