Satan
is very stealthy in his efforts to tempt us. He is shrewd and indirect,
mingling lies with truth. He is the father of lies (John 8:44), and His goal is
always to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). He pretends to want our best,
but then with sleight of hand, he devastates us.
The
devil's ultimate goals is to turn us into a full-pledged devil worshipper. He
cannot make an all-out, frontal attack, however; so he starts with a simple
temptation. He whispers the thought in our soul, and smirks as the lie's effervescence
weaves its spell over us.
Please
understand that the temptation is from him, and it is not a sin until we
swallow his bait - hook, line and sinker. At the same time, God always gives us
a way of escape from the temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). The choice is ours,
of course.
Eve
made her mistake by talking to the serpent, and then by believing his lies. We
do the same thing. He plays off our emotions, and then builds on his lies as we
start to agree with his line of reasoning. He rejoices as we fall into his
clutches.
Our
only hope is to submit our thoughts to the Lord for His scrutiny. He will
quickly point out the faulty reasoning behind the devil's logic, and speak His
truth to us in contrast. It is not hard to see the difference, once we give God
the chance to instruct us (James 4:7-10).
Prayer:
Father
God, remind us that we can say, "No" to any of the evil one's
suggestions. He is quick to interject his viewpoint in convincing words that
tickle our fancy. Show us that we fall into sin when we agree with his lies,
and help us not to cross over the line of righteousness and slip into the realm
of disobedience.
We
need Your wisdom as we navigate life through the seen and unseen toils and
snares inherent in this world. You forgive us regardless of our choices, but we
never want to take advantage of Your grace by stepping over the line of
temptation into sin. We love You with all of our heart, spirit, mind and
strength.
Thought
for the Day:
Jesus was tempted in all points just as we are, yet, without sin; and He abides within us with all of His power, discernment, wisdom and grace, which He shares with us as we consult Him with our every thought, word and deed.
Jesus was tempted in all points just as we are, yet, without sin; and He abides within us with all of His power, discernment, wisdom and grace, which He shares with us as we consult Him with our every thought, word and deed.
-
Hebrews 4:15; Proverbs 5-6
