Dealing With Temptation
Today’s link will take you to the song “Temptation” and a discussion about what it meant for Jesus to be tempted in the desert by Satan. It also talks about what we can do when we are tempted.
Every day we face temptation. It can be anything from the temptation to have an affair or cause bodily harm to someone, to having a second piece of cake when trying to live a healthy lifestyle or making a particular gesture when someone’s driving doesn’t meet certain standards. Regardless of how “big” or “small” the temptation seems, acting on it has consequences. Those consequences may be very visible, such as the loss of a marriage, or jail time or, less visible, such as an increase in stress, mental health issues, or guilt.
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)
We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.
1 John 5:19 (NLT)
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
John 10:10 (NLT)
The Bible is clear that Satan hates us and does everything in his power to tempt us into situations that will cause us harm. Being tempted is not sin, but acting on it is. Sin starts in the mind. When we dwell on the temptation, it gains a foothold in our life, and it becomes harder and harder to resist.
We don’t have to battle temptation on our own. In fact, if we try, we are likely to fail. Jesus left us with a counselor and guide who indwells every true believer in Christ. The Holy Spirit is our weapon against temptation.
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
Galatians 5:16 (NLT)
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
Romans 8:9 (NLT)
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
Romans 8:26 (NLT)
When we are tempted, we can ask the Holy Spirit to fight with us to overcome that temptation. He is stronger, by far, than our adversary and he is capable of winning the spiritual war that surrounds us. What an amazing gift he is!
Regardless of how well we walk within the Spirit, resist the devil, and practice righteousness, there will be times when we fail. Sin is anything that falls short of the perfect life that our Heavenly Father has always wanted for us, and until we are perfected in Heaven, we will continue to fail. But when we do, we can be assured that God will not toss us aside.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
1 John 1: 8-9 (NLT)
The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
Psalm 103:8-12 (NLT)
So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Hebrews 4:14-16 (NLT)
As believers, we can confess our sins and God will completely and totally remove them! This is something that came to mind the other morning for me. I was awake during the night and talking to my Heavenly Father. It struck me that even though we sin every day in some way, (and we certainly shouldn’t abuse his grace,) we can begin every day with a clean slate because of God’s amazing grace!
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)
In that awesome moment with my Savior, I felt free from all guilt, shame and burden because I knew that even though I’m not perfect, Jesus is!
This week, I encourage you to wake up every morning and praise him for a clean slate! Meditate on what it means to be free from guilt and free in Christ. How does that change how you think and feel? How does that change how you live for Christ?
Songs of Victory
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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