Are You Tempted?

If so, know! “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bare.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Cor. 10:13). 

Hey Gang:  Did you know that there is a deadly predator that placed a bull’s eye on your back the moment you were born? And did you know that he quadrupled the bull’s eye the moment you gave your life to Christ as Lord?  A predator that is so very subtle and can appear totally innocent.  This soul seducer can present himself as a harmless lamb, but at the same time have the bite of a viper.  He will take any form necessary in order to persuade you to become dependent on his bangles and beads to find something that rings our bell.

Temptation is a fierce foe and it is out to get you.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that no matter how severe the attack, you don’t have to give in to it!  Read the above verse once again and notice that the promise is not that we will not be tempted, but rather that God will not allow us to endure any temptations to which we cannot say “Be gone”.  We need to have the James 4:5 promise firmly locked into our hearts and minds: "Submit therefore to God, Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.”

There was an old fiery evangelist in England by the name of Wigglesworth.  When he preached, he shook the very rafters of the building. After one of his sermons, and not submitting to the ways of the evil one, a woman asked him to come and spend the night in her house.  She said she had spooks and spirits in her house that constantly harassed her.  After retiring for the night and turning the gas light down he fell asleep, only to be awaked by racket at the foot of his bed.  He turned up the gas light and there was Satan standing at the foot of the bed.  Wigglesworth’s response, “Oh, it is only you, and turned the lamp down and went back to sleep.”

Keep in mind, temptation is not sin until it is put into action.  We cannot keep the birds from flying over our head, but we can keep them from building a nest in our hair.

Sooo, my young friends, a good defense is really a good offence.  We need to adapt Joseph’s method of dealing with Potiphar's wife's advances.  First, he firmly refused, then he used enduring denials, and finally he “cut and ran for it”.   There are times when ‘cutting and running’ is the best plan of action.

Blessings,

Gramps

P.S   Life is a grindstone.  Whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends upon what you are made of.