Overcoming Temptations

 

 

As we mature spiritually, our life, which is immersed in Jesus, becomes our main focus and our ultimate desire (2 Timothy 3:12). Thankfully, God’s Spirit increases our maturity by positioning our desires against the flesh and toward spiritual matters (Galatians 5:17). We reap His generosity every day of our life (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

 

When satanic forces tempt us to walk in sin, God’s Spirit builds our faith by teaching us to resist temptation. We follow Jesus’ example after His time of fasting in the wilderness, and we use God’s Word to resist compromising temptations. 

 

With Christ in us, Satan’s accusations against us are mere words on the wind that do not find their mark in our soul (Revelation 12:10; Ephesians 6:16). Our position in Christ is one of righteousness, peace and joy (Romans 14:17), regardless of our failings and shortcomings. 

 

We find our true identity in the work of God in our life, not in our human traditions or accomplishments. In our self, there is no good thought, word or deed (Romans 7:18). Only through Christ can we walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25), and fulfill God’s plan for our life (Ephesians 2:10).

 

Prior to coming to Christ and repenting of our sins, we listened to the satanic leading in our life. We were slaves to sin, until Christ set us free (Romans 6:15-23; John 8:36). God’s Spirit changes our desires and exchanges our weaknesses with His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).

 

Satan’s temptation no longer wields any power over us (John 12:31; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 4:4). Our focus is not on gratifying our desires and aspirations, protecting our reputation, achieving personal accomplishments and goals, and pursuing more possessions and wants (I John 2:16), but on God’s perfect plans for us. 

 

This prevents negative thoughts and emotions – lies from the devil’s workshop – from influencing our life and causing negative actions and reactions. Walking in the Spirit keeps us balanced, peaceful, content and committed to our Savior and Lord.

 

Prayer:

Father God, once we come to trust You with our whole heart, we no longer need to fight to preserve our self, our possessions and our achievements (Philippians 3:8). Thank You that once we come to Christ for His eternal salvation, we are a new creation, which is not possessed by satanic opposition, temptation and influences.

 

You never tempt us (James 1:13), but You strengthen us to stand against satanic attempts to render us ineffective for work in Your Kingdom. You test us (Hebrews 11:17; John 6:6), so that we can see what we are made of and where our weaknesses still reside within us, which enables us to cooperate with Your Spirit’s sanctifying process and to become more like Jesus with each passing day (Hebrews 4:15).

 

Thought for the Day:

Although we still live in this world after our encounter of repentance with Jesus Christ, we are no longer part of this world, or influenced by the mindset, worldview and philosophy of this world; we may be tempted by our own desires, but due to the Trinity of God within us, we have the power to stand against our flesh, the world and the devil. 

- John 17:11-16; Matthew 4:1; Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:5; James 1:14

 

A Life-long Process

 

Salvation is an instant work in our spirit, ridding us of the effects of Adam’s sin. In Glorification, when we receive our immortal body, it is also an instantaneous work. However, in between, is the Sanctification process in our soul – our thoughts, emotions and choices, which takes a lifetime of renewal by God’s Holy Spirit.

 

We gain a whole new insight into right and wrong, sin and righteousness. Our worldview changes from socially acceptable ideology to Biblically based convictions. Our carnal desires change over time too, and we are no longer tempted by satanic forces to use our body, soul and spirit for ungodly practices. 

 

God’s Spirit introduces us to the Trinity of God abiding in us. We come to understand the unity we have with the presence of God dwelling within us. We are the Temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are never, ever alone again (Hebrews 13:5). 

 

When someone as big as God moves into our spirit, we recognize His manifestation in every area of our life. God’s Spirit exchanges our finite way of thinking with the infinite ways of God, and we come to understand that things, which we cannot see except by faith, are more real than the things on this earth that we can prove with our human reasoning. 

 

We learn to walk by faith and not by sight, because that is where the reality of life actually exists (2 Corinthians 5:7-9). When we surrender our life to God’s control, He strengthens us in body, soul and spirit. He renews us as a new creation and redeems us from an eternity in the torments of hell (John 3:18). 

 

Life loses its stress-factor, and our spirit and soul are freed from the anchors of this life that keep us from experiencing the freedom of Christ in us (John 8:36). As we devour God’s Word, it also sets us free from the bondage of sin into the glorious liberty of walking in God’s Spirit (John 8:32; Romans 8:2).

 

Prayer:

Father God, we want to walk in Your will for our life, so that we can bring You pleasure as we experience the perfect freedom from the shackles of sinful choices and living a limited life according to our human resources. You show us better options, more sound thought processes, and how to live with more peace and joy in spite of our circumstances.

 

Your goodness in supplying all of our needs is astounding (Philippians 4:19), and we are often surprised that You answer our prayers before we even had time to verbalize them to You. You created us for Your plans and purposes, and we find complete joy when we walk right in the middle of them (Ephesians 2:10). Thank You for keeping us safe on Your straight and narrow road, and for guiding us by removing Your peace from our soul when we start to stray to the broad and wide road that leads to destruction (Philippians 4:7; Matthew 7:13-14).

 

Thought for the Day:

God uses our humanity for His glory as He also replaces our carnality with His spiritual maturity; this enables us to make better choices, entertain more positive thoughts and emotions, live a healthier life, and enjoy His divine appointments that He provides for us throughout our lifetime.

- Philippians 4:8; Romans 9:17

 

Any Time in Any Place

 

 

God spoke with a voice from Heaven at Jesus’ baptism to let the world around Him know that Jesus was His beloved Son, and He was very pleased with Jesus’ choices with His life. Then, God gave Jesus His Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22). Jesus felt an assurance that our Father loved Him, and that our Father would continue to show Jesus His will and purpose for Him (John 5:20).

 

Now, Jesus gives us the privilege of knowing our Father God, whenever He wills to reveal Him to us. All it takes is spending quality time to communicate our deepest spiritual desires to Christ in us who is united as one being with God (Matthew 3:17, 11:27; Colossians 1:27; John 10:30, 14:10:11, 21, 17:21). 

 

Eternal life is actually knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent to pay our sin debt (John 17:3). David, the shepherd, understood the encouragement that comes to us from our Father God. Our Father has praise for all of His Godly ones and those who draw near to Him. He guides us with His horn of salvation (Psalm 148:14; Hosea 6:6).

 

Jesus is our Vine, and we hang out with Him as His branches, bearing His fruit as we abide in Him (John 15:4). During sad times and blessings, our Father God has compassion on us (Romans 8:15; 1 John 3:1). He keeps us safe on His straight and narrow road, so that we do not stumble into danger or devastating sinful desires (Jeremiah 31:9; Psalm 103:13).

 

The Lord of Hosts is our Maker, our true Husband, our Redeemer. He has called us as His own, even in our abandonment, rejection, and grief (Isaiah 54:4-8; Hosea 2:19; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:7). He makes His sun to shine on us and He showers us with His blessings (Numbers 6:24-26).

 

Prayer:

Father God, teach us that You are accessible to us at any time in any place. You are always eager to spend time with Your Saints and You even rejoice when we leave this earth and join You in Heaven (Psalm 116:15). We often get so caught up in the mundane issues of our life that we do not make time to spend in Your intimate presence, or to consult You for Your perfect plans for each moment of our day (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

 

We want to change this conundrum, and start taking advantage of the comfort and guidance of Your presence within us, as well as the divine appointments that You set up for us to minister to others for Your Kingdom. Help us to simplify our life to exclude those concerns that are not part of Your will for us. Teach us to focus on what You created us to do for each moment of our day (Ephesians 2:10). You may even call us to be still and to know You as our God, as we sit in companionable silence in Your cherished presence in our life.

 

Thought for the Day:

God is available to us at any time in any place, in blessings and in severe trials, in quiet days and in fruitful ones; God created us in His image, as a male or a female, in order for husband and wife to love each other as we love our self, and to populate the earth with other human beings that are His potential adopted children with us.

- Genesis 1:27-28, 2:24; Matthew 19:5; Ephesians 5:28

 

 

 

Our Option and Choice

 

 

We have a choice in life – well, many choices actually, but only one that influences the sum total of our entire existence. Do we give our soul, body and spirit to God to control (Romans 12:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:23), or do we allow Satan to continue as the governing factor of our choices (John 3:18)?

 

Satan uses devastating sinful temptations, debilitating lies that affect our negative emotions and thoughts, and many outside influences that he controls for his evil purposes to ruin our life. One option that we have in life is to buy into the perspective of Satan’s lies that he uses to fuel the worldview of our society, 

 

Another option is to allow God’s Holy Spirit to transform us into a new creation as God’s adopted child (2 Corinthians 5:17). However, even if we humble our self enough to give God control of our life, our flesh as well as the world’s pull and satanic forces still tempt us to take back control now and then. 

 

We may simply forget to consult the Lord in some decision, or we may want something so strongly that we ignore God’s direction, or we give-in to the pressure of friends or relatives to do something that causes us to step outside of God’s will and forfeit His peace in our life (Philippians 4:7).

 

We may want to buy a particular item yet feel no peace about it, or relinquish our time and effort to accomplish a certain task, or yoke up with people to perform a ministry that we do not feel God calling us to do. These decisions always rob us of God’s peace and joy that give us His strength and power to accomplish His purpose for our life (Ephesians 2:10).

 

At other times, some event, activity or item may trigger a memory from a wound in our past. We may be tempted to allow this memory to depress us and to discourage us from following God’s plan for our day. It may affect our health, our joy, our security and our comfort.

 

These memories have the power to debilitate us if we allow them to do so; or we can, alternatively, give our self permission to feel the pain, consider the memory from every angle, and then to thank God for healing that unseemly wound in our life. This sets us free through Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary’s cross, from the bondage this memory held over us for too many years.

 

Prayer: 

Father God, Your Word is full of examples of people who started out serving Satan and then fell in love with You and Your love for them. They willingly and gratefully became Your bond-servant for eternity. Strengthen the inner being of every person who does not know You, so that they can push past satanic lies to be the person they can be through the power of Your Holy Spirit. 

 

Jesus is our alpha and our omega – our beginning and our end (Revelation 1:8), our Savior and King and Lord (1 Timothy 1:1). He fills all in all (Ephesians 1:23. We worship You as our triune Godhead, and we are so appreciative of all Your facets as our great “I AM.” You enable us to heal from traumatic wounds in our past and current life; You give us health in our body, strength for our muscles, support for our bones, and truth for the healing of our soul.

 

Thought for the Day:

God’s Spirit transforms us from:

Wounded to healed, 

Abandoned to loved,

Isolated into His adopted family,

Despised sinners to His redeemed,

Spiritually blind to living by faith in the spiritual realm,

Lonely to having God’s constant living presence in our spirit and soul.

 

A Good Marriage - Showing Gratitude

 

In a long-term marriage, we often fall into the trap of taking each other for granted. We make our own plans and go in different directions for most days of the week. If we do not carve out time to snuggle and chat each day, we can feel like a housekeeper and a paycheck before long.

 

When we know that we are appreciated, desired and enjoyed, we will go to any lengths to please our mate, lighten their load, and make them happy (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Otherwise, we get discouraged, feel ignored, and grow weary and eventually even bitter. 

 

God treasures us and teaches us by His example to cherish each other. Jesus is our perfect example of how to respond to negative words and persecution against us emotionally, mentally and physically. He used silence to take the wind out of His tormenters’ negative words and behavior. We can learn from Him how to respond to hurtful words and actions from one another.

 

Like two fencing partners, we can initiate and engage in constructive communication, as well as to pull back and remain silent in order to deflect an argument and to keep from entering the “blame” game or retaliating with unkindness. God will help us to take a searching inventory of our soul and to heal our wounds, as well as to see the extenuating circumstances that cause our spouse to react to us negatively.

 

Relying on analytical thinking and bridled emotions in our own mind keeps us from striking back in anger with accusations. Overcoming frequent battles may take time, but as we discuss them calmly, after we both take a “time out,” this honest but reasoned discussion will help us to find better ways to communicate in the future.

 

We may never reconcile all of our dissimilarities, but we can learn to cherish these differences and to find common ground in other areas that will prevent disagreements from tearing us apart. Having a spiritual perspective on our incompatibilities helps us to dwell together in unity.

 

Prayer:

Father God, teach us how to write one another a kind letter about how we truly feel, rather than to make accusations about our mate’s words and actions in a disparaging manner. We want to communicate love and acceptance of one another, simply by just noting the behavior that hurt us and how it made us feel without passing judgment or criticizing.

 

Then we can read each other’s letters and discuss ways that we can both change our behavior and improve in our manner of relating to one another. You are the provider of every good and perfect gift in our life, and our spouse is our most cherished gift from You. Help us to appreciate our individual good points and to have patience when we have a conflict. 

 

Thought for the Day:

God loves us unconditionally, warts and all; He even loved us while we were still sinners; we can adopt this same benevolent attitude toward one another, show appreciation to each other, and continually help one another to make our daily life run more smoothly and efficiently.

 

The Joy of the Lord

 

 

If we are totally honest, we realize that to want something for our self, that is outside of God’s will for us, is a ridiculous desire. He wants His best for us, and our finite mind cannot even conceive of how amazing His plans are for our life (Jeremiah 29:11). 

 

We may think that we cannot be happy unless each of our specific desires is fulfilled; however, the joy of the Lord exceeds feelings of happiness, and is our strength each day (Nehemiah 8:10). We can thank Him for His supply in every area of our life, even before He provides it for us.

 

As authentic Born Again Believers, we believe in the unseen even more than in the seen. That is what faith is all about. God may not supply in the way that we expect, because it is usually much better than we could ever imagine (Philippians 4:19). He simply asks us to trust Him with our whole heart.

 

Even in the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil. He comforts us as He walks within and beside us through it all. His goodness and mercy surround us all the days of our life, then even through the portal of death, through the gates of heaven, and into Jesus’ waiting arms (Psalm 23).

 

We often remember the trauma of our experiences and fail to remember God’s abundant provision. Recalling His intervention will build our faith for our current and future issues. God is always working on our behalf – in good times and in damaging ones. There is no circumstance too impossible for God’s glory to rectify (Jeremiah 32:27-35). 

 

Keeping a journal of God’s intervention for us helps to build our faith in His faithfulness during future events. He is the Father of Lights and the giver of every good gift (James 1:17). He is also the Lord of Angel Armies, and He comes to us in our defense like the calvary in the old western movies depicted with a bugle blowing and horses hooves pounding the earth (1 Samuel 1:11).

 

Prayer:

Father God, help us to remember Your intervention in all of our negative issues. We can run to You as our high tower, our refuge, our rock, and our fortress (Psalm 18:2-6, 46:1-2), and place all of our trust in You (Proverbs 3:5-6). We can go one step further and actually rejoice in our tribulation, counting it all joy (1 Thessalonians 5:15-18). We learn to condition our mind to find contentment and inner peace, even in the vilest of circumstances.

 

Gratitude for all that You did for us, that You are doing for us, and that You will do for us before it even happens enables us to walk in Your peace and joy, which brings contentment. Focusing on the positive seed for a miracle, which You plant within every trial, will enable us to feel these positive emotions. Help us to notice the little things You do for us each moment of the day that helps us to face the future without fear.

 

Thought for the Day:

Job worshipped God in the midst of the avalanche of agonizing loss that he experienced all in one day, because he realized that God gave him everything, and that He had every right to take it all away again; we too can turn to praise rather than complaints when matters do not go our way throughout our lifetime, because God always gives us back more than what Satan tries to steal from us.

- Job 1:20-22, 6:2-11

 

Our Cherished Treasure

 

 

Making God more of a priority in our life is the firm foundation of a happy life. When we do, He can make us more of a priority in His provision and protection, as well as healing and helping us. He drenches us with His love, grace, comfort, peace, affirmation, and continual presence within us.

 

Jesus already died for us all - the grand gesture of love for everyone; therefore, the least we can do for Him is to keep His commandments, worship Him with our whole heart, consistently read His Word, and praise Him for His goodness and self-sacrifice for us (John 14:15-31). 

 

God cherishes us, and longs for us to have this same cherishing devotion for Him. He made us a people for His honor and glory, and He loves to spend time with us – even if it is in companionable silence. He is our great God above every created person and thing (Deuteronomy 6:4).

 

God gradually reveals to us His plans and purposes for each moment of our life (Ephesians 2:10). Then, we follow His guidance specifically. We can do nothing lasting in our human abilities, but we can do all things through Jesus Christ, our Lord (John 15:5; Philippians 4:13). His divine appointments for us turn out to be adventures, the memories of which we cherish for our whole lifetime.

 

When we cherish His blessings, we can praise Him all day long, as well as the through the trials that we are experiencing. However, we also need to listen to Him. Monologues are not the best method of communication; but dialogue, where we both talk and we both listen, is very productive. 

 

We can actually pray Biblical verses, not to hold them over God’s head to force His hand to work in our behalf, but to build our faith in His faithfulness, goodness, and abundant love for us. Deepening our relationship with God takes time, effort and devotion; but it pays off in huge dividends.

 

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for paying our sin-debt by becoming our Emmanuel – our Savior in human form. We are so sorry that Your only begotten Son, Jesus, had to live a hard life on this earth, and an even harder death of betrayal, scourging, mock trials, crucifixion and death. His stripes guarantee our healing in our spirit through salvation, in our soul through sanctification, and eventually in our body through glorification.

 

We so appreciate all the times that You also heal us on this earth as our Great Physician. As Your Spirit changes our soul through various levels from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:16-18), we learn to trust in You completely for every need in our life – from the simplest to the most devastating. We praise You, O Lord our God, in all that we think, in all that we say, in all that we do, and in all that we hope for, as we live for Your glory.

 

Thought for the Day:

A relationship with God is a cherished treasure that the wise will seek after, even to the losing of our life for His sake; and when we daily take up our individual cross and follow Him, we find that He provides us with an intimate union with Christ in us – who is our only hope of heaven.

- Matthew 10:18-19, 13:44-46; John 3:18