Jas 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
The Father of lights.
God created the light, remember?
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
God created the main source of our natural light- the sun. And He created the moon and the stars - all light sources or reflectors of light.
Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Gen 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
Gen 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
Gen 1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
God truly is the Father of lights. And NOT only is He the Father of- the Creator of lights, He is the Father of the LIGHT of the world- Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Every good thing comes from God, every truly good thing. Just because our perception is skewed from thousands of years of sin and so many call evil good, and good evil, doesn't mean that God is the Father of evil things. We call a lot of perverted, disgusting things good because we've had our senses so incredibly dulled by Satan. We need to fall before God on our knees and pray that we aren't duped by the evil one who has taken so many people's eternal lives through His perversions. This isn't a popular way to talk at all, this is frown upon by people because they simply do NOT want to hear truth, it goes against their comfortable existence living side by side with Satan's evil they've accepted as good. No one wants to be told that the majority of things they love, the things they like, the things they've embedded into their routine of life all are evil. No one likes it, no one. We come face to face with the evil in our lives and we make a choice whether to accept it or not. We can choose to continue on without changing a thing- this is the power of choice we have- and we can choose our own path. God offers us life- and He offers us ALL good gifts, ALL perfect gifts. Does this mean we'll have all things happy, happy, NO! We've talked about this a lot. The happiness we need to seek is ONLY found in our SAVIOR! If we seek for happiness elsewhere we are only setting ourselves up to fall over and over and over again! It'll be an endless rollercoaster- never ending torture and we'll put ourselves through it because we can find happiness, we can find incredible happiness called JOY in our Lord!
Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Jas 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
By the will of our LORD we all have come into existence. The apostles, the disciples that lived when our Savior walked the earth and for several years after He ascended to heaven were truly a kind of firstfruits- they were the first to live in a world after the promised Messiah's coming. No others had ever lived in that time, not one. And because these men and women lived in this time, this new existence they were cautioned…
'Be SWIFT to HEAR.'
'Be SLOW to SPEAK.'
'SLOW to WRATH.'
Is this EVER bad advice? Seriously, is it?
I know I am VERY guilty of jumping right in there to offer my thoughts, my opinions on things without taking any time to hear, truly hear. And as for being slow to wrath, I have to hang my head in shame over and over again because my wrath all too often seems to come instantaneously.
Jas 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
And that wrath of mine will NOT work the righteousness of God.
That instant wrath of mine goes against God.
Please Lord, please help me to be swift to hear- help me to learn to LISTEN so much more than I do. Please Lord, please help me be slow to speak- help me learn to be quiet, to learn that I don't have to be heard like I all too often believe I do.
Please Lord, please help me to be slow to wrath- help me keep my instant temper in check, please, help me Lord I don't want to work anything that isn't the righteousness of God.
By YOUR GRACE LORD!
In YOUR LOVE!
Amen.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
In my mother's womb
Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psa 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
God knows us while we are in our mother's womb.
God makes us- fearfully, wonderfully, marvelously.
Before we are even created, before we are conceived…God knows us!
It's so incredibly hard to imagine, isn't it? Being known before we are even conceived, being known as we are growing in our mother's womb.
I read this today and thought immediately of my great niece, Rayne Elizabeth born this past Sunday, and my great niece Lyla Rose still in her mother's womb growing soon to be born. God knows these babies! God knew US as babies! We are not conceived by chance without our Creator knowing. The very same Creator who formed the first human beings from the dust of the earth- creating every single part of us from the tiniest cell to the deepest hidden parts inside of us- is the same God today who knows each and every one of us before we are formed.
Some people might speak up about now and start in about all the babies born deformed and such and they'd start blaming God for that and how horrible He must be to allow a baby to be born suffering. These are the same people who become atheists, the same people who would rather believe there is no God than believe there is a God who allows horrific things to happen not only to adults but to tiny innocent babies who've not even had a chance to commit any wrong.
People don't get the whole big picture. They focus on a few bits and then form their opinions, their beliefs. The horrors this world has in it exist because of a choice made by first- an angel, and secondly another choice the first human couple made- NOT because God designed evil and forced it upon that angel or the first humans. People then say God should NEVER have given the angel or mankind a choice but simply made everything perfect without any chance at all whatsoever to do anything wrong, to disobey, no choice between good and evil.
That good and evil exists, and has existed since long before mankind is a mystery- a mystery that we're not allowed to delve into. One of those secrets that belong to God.
Deu 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
God knows of good and evil- it exists and God in making angels gave them the power of choice in knowing evil and good to choose one or the other. Then God made mankind and they didn't know of good and evil other than there was a tree that possessed the key to that knowledge and they were forbidden to eat from that tree and told rather to trust solely in God for all things, they were given everything perfect just like people say they want. Of course people say they NEVER should have been given a choice, that tree should NEVER have been put in the garden and people should have just been allowed to live in this perfect existence without any choice but to do so. We in essence should have been the puppets of the master, NOT ever being allowed an opportunity to love God. Seriously, love can never be forced and setting up a situation where there is NO choice takes away the love. When we love someone it's because we CHOOSE to love someone. Love is a choice, it's not a lustful emotion as so many believe. Love is a choice to make and we do it over and over again in good and bad times as the ol' marriage vows go. Unfortunately the marriage vows aren't enough- we need to choose to love our neighbor, not just a single partner in life, not just our family members. Love is a choice we make and we make it constantly- not just once or once in a while.
Yes, God could have given us no choice- and in return He would have had no love.
That WE made the wrong choice is on US, not on HIM and this is where people get it all messed up. Taking the blame for things goes against our sinful nature- the nature Adam and Even inherited instantly upon disobeying.
Gen 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
The blame went where? Not on themselves. Yes, they had help- Adam had temptation from Eve and Eve had temptation from Satan, but they ULTIMATELY made the choice to disobey, they were not forced.
God did NOT want evil for us. God did NOT want sickness for us. God did NOT want death for us. Yet so many are eager to blame Him for it all, unwilling to take any responsibility at all for anything.
We are truly fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who loves us so deeply He forbears with us after all these many, many, many thousands of years not willing that any will be lost that would be saved, that would choose love over all- even self.
May God bless those little babies, born and unborn - they were fearfully and wonderfully made by our amazing Creator. May their lives be filled with His love now and always.
Amen.
Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psa 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
God knows us while we are in our mother's womb.
God makes us- fearfully, wonderfully, marvelously.
Before we are even created, before we are conceived…God knows us!
It's so incredibly hard to imagine, isn't it? Being known before we are even conceived, being known as we are growing in our mother's womb.
I read this today and thought immediately of my great niece, Rayne Elizabeth born this past Sunday, and my great niece Lyla Rose still in her mother's womb growing soon to be born. God knows these babies! God knew US as babies! We are not conceived by chance without our Creator knowing. The very same Creator who formed the first human beings from the dust of the earth- creating every single part of us from the tiniest cell to the deepest hidden parts inside of us- is the same God today who knows each and every one of us before we are formed.
Some people might speak up about now and start in about all the babies born deformed and such and they'd start blaming God for that and how horrible He must be to allow a baby to be born suffering. These are the same people who become atheists, the same people who would rather believe there is no God than believe there is a God who allows horrific things to happen not only to adults but to tiny innocent babies who've not even had a chance to commit any wrong.
People don't get the whole big picture. They focus on a few bits and then form their opinions, their beliefs. The horrors this world has in it exist because of a choice made by first- an angel, and secondly another choice the first human couple made- NOT because God designed evil and forced it upon that angel or the first humans. People then say God should NEVER have given the angel or mankind a choice but simply made everything perfect without any chance at all whatsoever to do anything wrong, to disobey, no choice between good and evil.
That good and evil exists, and has existed since long before mankind is a mystery- a mystery that we're not allowed to delve into. One of those secrets that belong to God.
Deu 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
God knows of good and evil- it exists and God in making angels gave them the power of choice in knowing evil and good to choose one or the other. Then God made mankind and they didn't know of good and evil other than there was a tree that possessed the key to that knowledge and they were forbidden to eat from that tree and told rather to trust solely in God for all things, they were given everything perfect just like people say they want. Of course people say they NEVER should have been given a choice, that tree should NEVER have been put in the garden and people should have just been allowed to live in this perfect existence without any choice but to do so. We in essence should have been the puppets of the master, NOT ever being allowed an opportunity to love God. Seriously, love can never be forced and setting up a situation where there is NO choice takes away the love. When we love someone it's because we CHOOSE to love someone. Love is a choice, it's not a lustful emotion as so many believe. Love is a choice to make and we do it over and over again in good and bad times as the ol' marriage vows go. Unfortunately the marriage vows aren't enough- we need to choose to love our neighbor, not just a single partner in life, not just our family members. Love is a choice we make and we make it constantly- not just once or once in a while.
Yes, God could have given us no choice- and in return He would have had no love.
That WE made the wrong choice is on US, not on HIM and this is where people get it all messed up. Taking the blame for things goes against our sinful nature- the nature Adam and Even inherited instantly upon disobeying.
Gen 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
The blame went where? Not on themselves. Yes, they had help- Adam had temptation from Eve and Eve had temptation from Satan, but they ULTIMATELY made the choice to disobey, they were not forced.
God did NOT want evil for us. God did NOT want sickness for us. God did NOT want death for us. Yet so many are eager to blame Him for it all, unwilling to take any responsibility at all for anything.
We are truly fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who loves us so deeply He forbears with us after all these many, many, many thousands of years not willing that any will be lost that would be saved, that would choose love over all- even self.
May God bless those little babies, born and unborn - they were fearfully and wonderfully made by our amazing Creator. May their lives be filled with His love now and always.
Amen.
By the grace of God we will NOT FEAR
Fear-
Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Gen 26:24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
Gen 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Gen 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
Fear not.
The message here from God is to FEAR NOT.
Fear not because God is OUR SHIELD.
Fear not because God is OUR EXCEEDING GREAT REWARD.
Fear not because God is WITH US.
We must believe.
By faith Abraham believed God and His word. God was REAL to Abraham. God has to be REAL to us. Fear will overwhelm us if God is not REAL to us.
Fear is real, not fake, not something that is non-existent. Fear is something very, very real to so many people in so many ways. Fear comes to us in many disguises. Fear to one is not fear to another.
Abraham feared having to do what He was being asked, otherwise why would God tell Him to fear not if fear wasn't a factor?
Jacob feared going down to Egypt when Joseph sent for him. Fear was real to Jacob. Fear was real to Abraham. These were great men of God and fear was something they needed to overcome. God needed to tell them to FEAR NOT and He did so for a reason. God knew of their fear. God knew that they needed reassurance because their fear was real. Too many people scoff at fear as if it can't affect them- especially men. Don't be afraid, don't show fear, fear is for wimps, fear is for babies, fear is wrong.
Fear may be wrong but the thing is, people want other people to conquer fear all on their own to prove that they are greater than the fear, they are the ones who either succumb to fear or fight it. It sounds good. It sounds uplifting, it sounds like ego building doesn't it? And being uplifted and ego building is good right? Not right. Turning our lives to focus on our selves is wrong. We have to give up self and grab a hold of God. It is through God we lose fear because God takes that fear away, not because we have that power. TOO many people think they should be able to stop fearing on their own.
We stop fearing because God is our shield, God is our great reward, God is with us, God tells us to fear not. We do cling to God and all He tells us, we believe in God- not ourselves. As long as we believe WE should be able to rid ourselves of fear without depending upon God we will forever fear. Satan may allow us to believe we've conquered fear without God, but it'll be a false belief one that He controls.
By the grace of God we will NOT FEAR, through God we will NOT FEAR. When fear threatens us- and it will- we need to seek God, depend upon God, live for God not ourselves.
All through HIS love, all through HIS grace and mercy, always!
Amen.
Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Gen 26:24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
Gen 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Gen 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
Fear not.
The message here from God is to FEAR NOT.
Fear not because God is OUR SHIELD.
Fear not because God is OUR EXCEEDING GREAT REWARD.
Fear not because God is WITH US.
We must believe.
By faith Abraham believed God and His word. God was REAL to Abraham. God has to be REAL to us. Fear will overwhelm us if God is not REAL to us.
Fear is real, not fake, not something that is non-existent. Fear is something very, very real to so many people in so many ways. Fear comes to us in many disguises. Fear to one is not fear to another.
Abraham feared having to do what He was being asked, otherwise why would God tell Him to fear not if fear wasn't a factor?
Jacob feared going down to Egypt when Joseph sent for him. Fear was real to Jacob. Fear was real to Abraham. These were great men of God and fear was something they needed to overcome. God needed to tell them to FEAR NOT and He did so for a reason. God knew of their fear. God knew that they needed reassurance because their fear was real. Too many people scoff at fear as if it can't affect them- especially men. Don't be afraid, don't show fear, fear is for wimps, fear is for babies, fear is wrong.
Fear may be wrong but the thing is, people want other people to conquer fear all on their own to prove that they are greater than the fear, they are the ones who either succumb to fear or fight it. It sounds good. It sounds uplifting, it sounds like ego building doesn't it? And being uplifted and ego building is good right? Not right. Turning our lives to focus on our selves is wrong. We have to give up self and grab a hold of God. It is through God we lose fear because God takes that fear away, not because we have that power. TOO many people think they should be able to stop fearing on their own.
We stop fearing because God is our shield, God is our great reward, God is with us, God tells us to fear not. We do cling to God and all He tells us, we believe in God- not ourselves. As long as we believe WE should be able to rid ourselves of fear without depending upon God we will forever fear. Satan may allow us to believe we've conquered fear without God, but it'll be a false belief one that He controls.
By the grace of God we will NOT FEAR, through God we will NOT FEAR. When fear threatens us- and it will- we need to seek God, depend upon God, live for God not ourselves.
All through HIS love, all through HIS grace and mercy, always!
Amen.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Fear is a snare...Trusting in the Lord is safety.
Pro 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
Too often we fear things upon the earth. I know I've spent a lot of my life in fear- fearing one thing or another and the truth is fearing man is a snare. Fearing things of earth, fearing man-made things is a trap of Satan's. Satan loves when we fear because that fear reveals that we do not trust fully in the LORD.
We say it's natural to fear and it is, the natural man does fear and should fear, yet a man who is spiritual must place their trust in the Spiritual- in God.
There is a huge temptation to fear. And it is a temptation to fall into fearing and losing trust in God. A snare, a trap to let fear have a hold on our lives.
We read this…
Luk 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Fear causing men's hearts to fail.
If we live in a world where the worst of the worst has not yet occurred, and we let fear have it's power over us, what will happen when the worst does take place?
Fear brings a snare.
If we fear men, we are likely to be fearful of 'things', yes?
Fear… anxiety, terror.
Dictionary definition-
fear
noun
1.
a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid. Synonyms: foreboding, apprehension, consternation, dismay, dread, terror, fright, panic, horror, trepidation, qualm. Antonyms: courage, security, calm, intrepidity.
2.
a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: an abnormal fear of heights. Synonyms: phobia, aversion; bête noire, bogy, bogey, bugbear. Antonyms: liking, fondness, penchant, predilection.
3.
concern or anxiety; solicitude: a fear for someone's safety.
4.
reverential awe, especially toward God: the fear of God. Synonyms: awe, respect, reverence, veneration.
5.
something that causes feelings of dread or apprehension; something a person is afraid of: Cancer is a common fear.
Pasted from
Fear. I think I need to study this more because of the temptation to fear that has ruled my life in so many ways.
May God bless us as we delve into this study more deeply.
By His grace… more tomorrow.
Praise God for His amazing love, His amazing mercy, for the miracle of my great niece being born today.
In His love!
Amen.
Too often we fear things upon the earth. I know I've spent a lot of my life in fear- fearing one thing or another and the truth is fearing man is a snare. Fearing things of earth, fearing man-made things is a trap of Satan's. Satan loves when we fear because that fear reveals that we do not trust fully in the LORD.
We say it's natural to fear and it is, the natural man does fear and should fear, yet a man who is spiritual must place their trust in the Spiritual- in God.
There is a huge temptation to fear. And it is a temptation to fall into fearing and losing trust in God. A snare, a trap to let fear have a hold on our lives.
We read this…
Luk 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Fear causing men's hearts to fail.
If we live in a world where the worst of the worst has not yet occurred, and we let fear have it's power over us, what will happen when the worst does take place?
Fear brings a snare.
If we fear men, we are likely to be fearful of 'things', yes?
Fear… anxiety, terror.
Dictionary definition-
fear
noun
1.
a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid. Synonyms: foreboding, apprehension, consternation, dismay, dread, terror, fright, panic, horror, trepidation, qualm. Antonyms: courage, security, calm, intrepidity.
2.
a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: an abnormal fear of heights. Synonyms: phobia, aversion; bête noire, bogy, bogey, bugbear. Antonyms: liking, fondness, penchant, predilection.
3.
concern or anxiety; solicitude: a fear for someone's safety.
4.
reverential awe, especially toward God: the fear of God. Synonyms: awe, respect, reverence, veneration.
5.
something that causes feelings of dread or apprehension; something a person is afraid of: Cancer is a common fear.
Pasted from
Fear. I think I need to study this more because of the temptation to fear that has ruled my life in so many ways.
May God bless us as we delve into this study more deeply.
By His grace… more tomorrow.
Praise God for His amazing love, His amazing mercy, for the miracle of my great niece being born today.
In His love!
Amen.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Our weapon against temptation
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Sin doesn't just happen to us. For the most part we are not victims of sin but perpetuators. I can introduce situations and circumstances that might cause another to sin, presenting temptation to them and for that I'd be guilty. I can also put myself into situations where I know temptation to sin will be present and then I can presumptuously assume that I'll be able to overcome temptation and remain free from committing sins the temptation is drawing me towards. We are not blameless when it comes to temptation, often inviting temptation and then turning around and lamenting our ability to overcome, to resist the very temptation we've placed in front of ourselves.
Satan wants to disguise temptations as being harmless, seemingly innocent so that we surround ourselves by them and in essence we are tempting God aren't we? Seriously, aren't we? It's a different situation when we come face to face with temptation unexpectedly, but altogether another story when we bring temptation to ourselves. In our society today there is so much corruption it would most likely take leaving the mainstream way of life and entering into the existence of the backwoods sorts to escape. One of the biggest tools of Satan is what we consider our entertainment pursuits. How quickly we become almost obsessed with not missing an episode of one show or another we are watching on televison. How crazily absorbed we are in gaming adventures. We've even let books- ebooks, books on our Nooks or Kindles, and even the old fashioned hand-held books have obsessive qualities to us. To suggest to most people that living with out television, games, books, computers would be cause for saying we are crazy, when in truth it's probably what would be best for us. A lot of us live for our entertainment merely enduring work and the time spent in between our necessities of sleeping, eating, and so on. It makes you wonder a doesn't it, the ol' pursuit of happiness we have a right to. Do you think our forefathers who wrote that 'right' into existence had today's way of life in mind? God, in His word to us told us plainly without mincing words that we are to set our TREASURES in heaven. This world was not sugar-coated by our Savior.
Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
What are we going to have in the world? Tribulation.
Where do we find peace? In Jesus.
Peace, joy, happiness, contentment- these things are NOT to be found in our world, but in Jesus. This goes right back to finding joy in 'divers temptations'. We only find joy because we know that Jesus is working in us, we are being presented with an opportunity to witness to ourselves or publically of Jesus' peace, His love.
Going back to temptations and being tempted, we sabotage ourselves and then like to blame God for not giving us strength to overcome our temptations. The next time you are tempted that you notice- and believe me we don't always notice because these sorts of things have become our way of life- the next time you realize you are facing a temptation and haven't yet succumbed to indulging in that temptation ask yourself if you put yourself in temptation's way. Did you some how perpetuate the situation? Did you know you would face temptation and yet go ahead full steam just because, well, it's part of your life?
Another question we need to ask ourselves is… are we focusing on material temptations and ignoring our internal temptations? Do we sometimes instigate a situation that will have us succumbing to anger, jealousy, envy? There is a lot we need to think about, and to shove it all aside and not think about it does no good at all.
Regardless of how the temptations come about there is one thing we need to talk more about and that is resisting temptation. Seems almost silly to say you need to resist the very temptation you might have encouraged doesn't it, but we are far from free of Satan's influence. So many of us have grown up drenched in Satan's ways- and those ways were called perfectly normal, average, acceptable, expected. When we are called to follow our Savior with a heart that is truly His, we will suddenly begin to notice parts of our lives that aren't truly acceptable.
Temptations need to be resisted, yes?
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Temptations need to be resisted and we are given the key to that resistance and it isn't a magic pill or potion to swallow, it is active resistance, intellectual resistance. Jesus did not come face to face with Satan and his tempting and close his eyes hoping Satan would leave off, that he would go away. Jesus was prepared for that direct temptation from years and years of immersing Himself in His Father's word.
We ignore the word of God, we scarcely know a verse or two by heart and this is the very protection we are given against the temptations we will face.
Just because we do not have Satan personally presenting himself to us and tempting us does not mean that evil being isn't present in every temptation we face. He's there even if we cannot hear his voice, even if we cannot see his face, even if we cannot reach out and touch him. This spiritual adversary is there and present with all his evil cunning. So when we are tempted we are being tempted by the same evil entity that tempted our Savior in the wilderness. We need to use the same weapon our Savior used against Him- the WORD of GOD.
'It is written…'
We've been told.
God has said.
God's word reads.
God says.
This is the truth of the matter.
This isn't God's way.
God has revealed.
That is wrong because God told us this is right.
We can't fight temptation by saying we don't want whatever we are being tempted with. We do want it that's what makes it a temptation. If we didn't want what we were being tempted with then it'd be easy to simply ignore the temptation- in fact it wouldn't truly be a temptation at all. So trying to tell ourselves we don't want something we clearly do want is fighting temptation with the wrong weapon. Jesus didn't say he didn't want the stones changed into bread, he stated a fact. He stated WHY it would be WRONG for Him to indulge in the temptation to change those stones into bread.
Mat 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
He was hungry. He wanted to eat, to relieve that hunger.
Mat 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred
Hungry. Very hungry. Desiring food. Famished. Jesus wanted to eat something yet he wasn't given anything to eat, he wasn't near any food, he was in the desert with rocks and sand, not bread and fruit. There was no food, if there had been food then he most likely would have eaten the food. Satan didn't come bearing a platter of meat and cheese with a jug of wine on the side waving it in front of a very hungry Jesus. The outcome would have been the same, because Jesus would not have done anything the Father didn't direct Him to do. He would have refused the food and drink. Some might think that would have been a greater temptation, to have the food right there in front of Him. Yet Satan wasn't really tempting Jesus to simply eat. He was tempting Jesus to DISOBEY God because in disobeying God is where we sin. Satan was tempting Jesus to break the laws of God that were given to human beings. How? By tempting Jesus to set aside the very humanity He'd taken on and reveal His spiritual power selfishly. Satan was trying to get Jesus to shrug off the pains of humanity and use His divinity. Jesus knew that if He used His divinity that He would be admitting that it was impossible for Him to adhere to His humanity and impossible to save those who had been corrupted by Satan.
Mankind was NOT to live for eating and drinking, eating and drinking was not true life. Keeping the body alive means nothing at all without God. There is no point at all in living without God. Obviously mankind does a great job living without God and surviving on food alone, right? Yet the living they are doing is a temporary existence that will perish in the long run. Any scientist will tell you that a man doesn't have to believe in God or His word and he will still live perfectly fine eating. In fact there have been many, many people who have lived their entire lives without God and had seemingly no issues with staying alive. What Jesus is telling us is that life without God is truly a death sentence. At the end of their earthly existence- because there is NOT a single person alive today that was alive 150 years ago and less. We have a life span and when that life span is over there is no living and eating, no keeping alive. The man who has lived out that life span without God will not have eternal life in God, yet the man who has listened and lived by the word of God as well as their food will have life eternal when the Savior comes and raises them from their graves.
Jesus faced Satan and told him - It is written- God has said- that man is not to live only by eating but by God's every word. Living by God's word, following God's word brings life because love is found in God's words, not in food. It's more important to live for God than for self.
It is written.
When you are tempted can you say - It is written?
Maybe we ought to try - It is written, yes?
Jesus used- It is written and He is our example.
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.
Christ suffered, we will suffer and Christ was our example and we need to follow our example in all things.
Christ faced temptation unlike any we will ever truly face, and when He faced temptation He turned to God's word. We have to use God's word. God's word is our sword-
Eph 6:17 '...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God'
If we do not arm ourselves with the only weapon available to us how can we ever hope to face the wiles of the Devil and survive?
Seriously? How? We are told to take the whole armor of God- is it just to play dress up? I don't think so. We are to don our spiritual armor to fight this very real spiritual battle. The weapon of choice is the word of God and we desperately need to know the word of God all through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, the living Word of God.
In His love, always!
Amen.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Sin doesn't just happen to us. For the most part we are not victims of sin but perpetuators. I can introduce situations and circumstances that might cause another to sin, presenting temptation to them and for that I'd be guilty. I can also put myself into situations where I know temptation to sin will be present and then I can presumptuously assume that I'll be able to overcome temptation and remain free from committing sins the temptation is drawing me towards. We are not blameless when it comes to temptation, often inviting temptation and then turning around and lamenting our ability to overcome, to resist the very temptation we've placed in front of ourselves.
Satan wants to disguise temptations as being harmless, seemingly innocent so that we surround ourselves by them and in essence we are tempting God aren't we? Seriously, aren't we? It's a different situation when we come face to face with temptation unexpectedly, but altogether another story when we bring temptation to ourselves. In our society today there is so much corruption it would most likely take leaving the mainstream way of life and entering into the existence of the backwoods sorts to escape. One of the biggest tools of Satan is what we consider our entertainment pursuits. How quickly we become almost obsessed with not missing an episode of one show or another we are watching on televison. How crazily absorbed we are in gaming adventures. We've even let books- ebooks, books on our Nooks or Kindles, and even the old fashioned hand-held books have obsessive qualities to us. To suggest to most people that living with out television, games, books, computers would be cause for saying we are crazy, when in truth it's probably what would be best for us. A lot of us live for our entertainment merely enduring work and the time spent in between our necessities of sleeping, eating, and so on. It makes you wonder a doesn't it, the ol' pursuit of happiness we have a right to. Do you think our forefathers who wrote that 'right' into existence had today's way of life in mind? God, in His word to us told us plainly without mincing words that we are to set our TREASURES in heaven. This world was not sugar-coated by our Savior.
Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
What are we going to have in the world? Tribulation.
Where do we find peace? In Jesus.
Peace, joy, happiness, contentment- these things are NOT to be found in our world, but in Jesus. This goes right back to finding joy in 'divers temptations'. We only find joy because we know that Jesus is working in us, we are being presented with an opportunity to witness to ourselves or publically of Jesus' peace, His love.
Going back to temptations and being tempted, we sabotage ourselves and then like to blame God for not giving us strength to overcome our temptations. The next time you are tempted that you notice- and believe me we don't always notice because these sorts of things have become our way of life- the next time you realize you are facing a temptation and haven't yet succumbed to indulging in that temptation ask yourself if you put yourself in temptation's way. Did you some how perpetuate the situation? Did you know you would face temptation and yet go ahead full steam just because, well, it's part of your life?
Another question we need to ask ourselves is… are we focusing on material temptations and ignoring our internal temptations? Do we sometimes instigate a situation that will have us succumbing to anger, jealousy, envy? There is a lot we need to think about, and to shove it all aside and not think about it does no good at all.
Regardless of how the temptations come about there is one thing we need to talk more about and that is resisting temptation. Seems almost silly to say you need to resist the very temptation you might have encouraged doesn't it, but we are far from free of Satan's influence. So many of us have grown up drenched in Satan's ways- and those ways were called perfectly normal, average, acceptable, expected. When we are called to follow our Savior with a heart that is truly His, we will suddenly begin to notice parts of our lives that aren't truly acceptable.
Temptations need to be resisted, yes?
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Temptations need to be resisted and we are given the key to that resistance and it isn't a magic pill or potion to swallow, it is active resistance, intellectual resistance. Jesus did not come face to face with Satan and his tempting and close his eyes hoping Satan would leave off, that he would go away. Jesus was prepared for that direct temptation from years and years of immersing Himself in His Father's word.
We ignore the word of God, we scarcely know a verse or two by heart and this is the very protection we are given against the temptations we will face.
Just because we do not have Satan personally presenting himself to us and tempting us does not mean that evil being isn't present in every temptation we face. He's there even if we cannot hear his voice, even if we cannot see his face, even if we cannot reach out and touch him. This spiritual adversary is there and present with all his evil cunning. So when we are tempted we are being tempted by the same evil entity that tempted our Savior in the wilderness. We need to use the same weapon our Savior used against Him- the WORD of GOD.
'It is written…'
We've been told.
God has said.
God's word reads.
God says.
This is the truth of the matter.
This isn't God's way.
God has revealed.
That is wrong because God told us this is right.
We can't fight temptation by saying we don't want whatever we are being tempted with. We do want it that's what makes it a temptation. If we didn't want what we were being tempted with then it'd be easy to simply ignore the temptation- in fact it wouldn't truly be a temptation at all. So trying to tell ourselves we don't want something we clearly do want is fighting temptation with the wrong weapon. Jesus didn't say he didn't want the stones changed into bread, he stated a fact. He stated WHY it would be WRONG for Him to indulge in the temptation to change those stones into bread.
Mat 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
He was hungry. He wanted to eat, to relieve that hunger.
Mat 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred
Hungry. Very hungry. Desiring food. Famished. Jesus wanted to eat something yet he wasn't given anything to eat, he wasn't near any food, he was in the desert with rocks and sand, not bread and fruit. There was no food, if there had been food then he most likely would have eaten the food. Satan didn't come bearing a platter of meat and cheese with a jug of wine on the side waving it in front of a very hungry Jesus. The outcome would have been the same, because Jesus would not have done anything the Father didn't direct Him to do. He would have refused the food and drink. Some might think that would have been a greater temptation, to have the food right there in front of Him. Yet Satan wasn't really tempting Jesus to simply eat. He was tempting Jesus to DISOBEY God because in disobeying God is where we sin. Satan was tempting Jesus to break the laws of God that were given to human beings. How? By tempting Jesus to set aside the very humanity He'd taken on and reveal His spiritual power selfishly. Satan was trying to get Jesus to shrug off the pains of humanity and use His divinity. Jesus knew that if He used His divinity that He would be admitting that it was impossible for Him to adhere to His humanity and impossible to save those who had been corrupted by Satan.
Mankind was NOT to live for eating and drinking, eating and drinking was not true life. Keeping the body alive means nothing at all without God. There is no point at all in living without God. Obviously mankind does a great job living without God and surviving on food alone, right? Yet the living they are doing is a temporary existence that will perish in the long run. Any scientist will tell you that a man doesn't have to believe in God or His word and he will still live perfectly fine eating. In fact there have been many, many people who have lived their entire lives without God and had seemingly no issues with staying alive. What Jesus is telling us is that life without God is truly a death sentence. At the end of their earthly existence- because there is NOT a single person alive today that was alive 150 years ago and less. We have a life span and when that life span is over there is no living and eating, no keeping alive. The man who has lived out that life span without God will not have eternal life in God, yet the man who has listened and lived by the word of God as well as their food will have life eternal when the Savior comes and raises them from their graves.
Jesus faced Satan and told him - It is written- God has said- that man is not to live only by eating but by God's every word. Living by God's word, following God's word brings life because love is found in God's words, not in food. It's more important to live for God than for self.
It is written.
When you are tempted can you say - It is written?
Maybe we ought to try - It is written, yes?
Jesus used- It is written and He is our example.
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.
Christ suffered, we will suffer and Christ was our example and we need to follow our example in all things.
Christ faced temptation unlike any we will ever truly face, and when He faced temptation He turned to God's word. We have to use God's word. God's word is our sword-
Eph 6:17 '...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God'
If we do not arm ourselves with the only weapon available to us how can we ever hope to face the wiles of the Devil and survive?
Seriously? How? We are told to take the whole armor of God- is it just to play dress up? I don't think so. We are to don our spiritual armor to fight this very real spiritual battle. The weapon of choice is the word of God and we desperately need to know the word of God all through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, the living Word of God.
In His love, always!
Amen.
Tempted. It is written.
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Drawn away of his own lust.
His OWN lust.
We each individually have our own lusts, our own flesh desires.
Lust-G1939
Definition:
1. desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust
We are drawn away from God by these lusts, these desires, these cravings we have that are contrary to God's love.
There is not ONE single thing that is good for us that is denied to us.
Satan tempted Jesus to sin, remember that? Jesus was tempted. Some get all upset thinking that Jesus could ever be tempted. They like to imagine that He was above temptation, that the temptation hit an impossibly impenetrable wall a million miles thick, something forever and ever impossible to tempt. The truth is Jesus was TEMPTED- but His temptation - His LUST was NEVER conceived! He never ever fell to any temptation He felt and He did feel them, He became flesh in order to save us. Jesus became flesh so that He might feels as we feel in all ways, that He might face every temptation we face.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus was TEMPTED- Jesus was draw away of His OWN lust and enticed. BUT the difference, the most crucial difference is HIS own lusts were NEVER CONCEIVED- NEVER INDULGED IN- Jesus NEVER fell victim to temptation but ENDURED, DEFEATED, OVERCAME every single wrongful desire He ever had.
It goes against so much of our thinking to imagine Jesus having any wrongful desires doesn't it? Yet, how could He be tempted in ALL points as we are if He had no real temptation to abstain from? If He were impervious to every wrongful desire, if He came to earth, born of a woman taking on human flesh and utilized a special shield that made it impossible to ever have a wrongful desire- how could He truly be touched with the feeling of our infirmities? How? Every single one of us relates to others and their life stories based on the experiences we've had in our own life, right? We might not go through the exact same things in life, but we will take the closest thing to that thing experienced by another and relate to it through that as best we can. We imagine how they might have felt based on things we have felt on perhaps a lesser degree, a lesser level of experience. If Jesus never felt tempted could He truly be touched with the feeling of our infirmities? Could He? Jesus knew what it meant to be human to feel the human pull towards flesh desires, for wrongful desires- and just FEELING the temptation, just being drawn away towards that wrongful lust was and is NOT sin, it's GIVING into that LUST in anyway- mentally or physically. Jesus did NOT give into any temptation He had but faced and overcame every single one by the WORD OF GOD!
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, IT IS WRITTEN, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Mat 4:7 Jesus said unto him, IT IS WRITTEN again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for IT IS WRITTEN, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Deu 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
WE LIVE BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDETH OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE LORD!
Do you live by the words of God?
Do you face your temptations with the word of God?
Seriously! When you feel yourself being drawn away, do you LIVE by the word of God? Do you say… IT IS WRITTEN? Do those words even begin to enter your mind? Seriously, do they? Ask yourself…do they!? I know they really haven't entered by mind much and I'm ashamed to say that, I really am.
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
When lust is indulged - we sin- and when we sin we deserve death.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
We need to boldly go to the throne of grace! We only obtain mercy when we go to the throne of grace and find the grace we need when we have fallen into sin, fallen into temptation.
All by the grace of our wonderful God who has not left us without hope, but has given us all the hope we'll ever need in His amazing Son!
More tomorrow by His grace!
Amen.
Drawn away of his own lust.
His OWN lust.
We each individually have our own lusts, our own flesh desires.
Lust-G1939
Definition:
1. desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust
We are drawn away from God by these lusts, these desires, these cravings we have that are contrary to God's love.
There is not ONE single thing that is good for us that is denied to us.
Satan tempted Jesus to sin, remember that? Jesus was tempted. Some get all upset thinking that Jesus could ever be tempted. They like to imagine that He was above temptation, that the temptation hit an impossibly impenetrable wall a million miles thick, something forever and ever impossible to tempt. The truth is Jesus was TEMPTED- but His temptation - His LUST was NEVER conceived! He never ever fell to any temptation He felt and He did feel them, He became flesh in order to save us. Jesus became flesh so that He might feels as we feel in all ways, that He might face every temptation we face.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus was TEMPTED- Jesus was draw away of His OWN lust and enticed. BUT the difference, the most crucial difference is HIS own lusts were NEVER CONCEIVED- NEVER INDULGED IN- Jesus NEVER fell victim to temptation but ENDURED, DEFEATED, OVERCAME every single wrongful desire He ever had.
It goes against so much of our thinking to imagine Jesus having any wrongful desires doesn't it? Yet, how could He be tempted in ALL points as we are if He had no real temptation to abstain from? If He were impervious to every wrongful desire, if He came to earth, born of a woman taking on human flesh and utilized a special shield that made it impossible to ever have a wrongful desire- how could He truly be touched with the feeling of our infirmities? How? Every single one of us relates to others and their life stories based on the experiences we've had in our own life, right? We might not go through the exact same things in life, but we will take the closest thing to that thing experienced by another and relate to it through that as best we can. We imagine how they might have felt based on things we have felt on perhaps a lesser degree, a lesser level of experience. If Jesus never felt tempted could He truly be touched with the feeling of our infirmities? Could He? Jesus knew what it meant to be human to feel the human pull towards flesh desires, for wrongful desires- and just FEELING the temptation, just being drawn away towards that wrongful lust was and is NOT sin, it's GIVING into that LUST in anyway- mentally or physically. Jesus did NOT give into any temptation He had but faced and overcame every single one by the WORD OF GOD!
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, IT IS WRITTEN, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Mat 4:7 Jesus said unto him, IT IS WRITTEN again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for IT IS WRITTEN, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Deu 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
WE LIVE BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDETH OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE LORD!
Do you live by the words of God?
Do you face your temptations with the word of God?
Seriously! When you feel yourself being drawn away, do you LIVE by the word of God? Do you say… IT IS WRITTEN? Do those words even begin to enter your mind? Seriously, do they? Ask yourself…do they!? I know they really haven't entered by mind much and I'm ashamed to say that, I really am.
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
When lust is indulged - we sin- and when we sin we deserve death.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
We need to boldly go to the throne of grace! We only obtain mercy when we go to the throne of grace and find the grace we need when we have fallen into sin, fallen into temptation.
All by the grace of our wonderful God who has not left us without hope, but has given us all the hope we'll ever need in His amazing Son!
More tomorrow by His grace!
Amen.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Endure temptation
Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Enduring temptation. Enduring trails.
Some might say that life itself is a trial and they wouldn't be far wrong would they, not considering all that people have to endure day by day. Is it any wonder that if we endure- if we hold fast through all of the temptations and trials we face that we will receive a crown of life?
When we love the Lord, when we put ourselves on the side of God we are placing ourselves on the front lines of a spiritual war. We are accepting the fact that every single trial that comes our way will be led by Satan and he wants our destruction. Remember when we talked about counting it joy when we face temptation?
Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations
We do that because we are trusting in our Savior to see us through every trial, every temptation and NOT relying upon ourselves. If we were to trust in ourselves we would fail miserably.
There is joy in belonging to God, a joy you can find no where else. Giving God our lives- every single problem, every trial, every temptation must be given to God and it is only then that we can begin to call temptations and trials - joy, it is only then we can endure temptations, truly endured them. We endure out of love for God. We live our lives, our lives that are filled with one trial after another, daily trails, daily temptations.
We can't forget this-
Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
We should pray not to be lead into temptation, why? Because our natural inclination is to veer towards temptations, it is. The flesh desires things of the flesh and wars against the spiritual things of God. We are asking God to lead us not into temptation, to take away that natural inclination we possess towards temptations. Temptations come not from God, not ever from God but from Satan.
Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man
Trials will come, temptations will come and they must be endured, and we must get to the place where we can truly count them joy knowing they are all temporary to eternity.
More tomorrow by the grace of God!
Amen
Enduring temptation. Enduring trails.
Some might say that life itself is a trial and they wouldn't be far wrong would they, not considering all that people have to endure day by day. Is it any wonder that if we endure- if we hold fast through all of the temptations and trials we face that we will receive a crown of life?
When we love the Lord, when we put ourselves on the side of God we are placing ourselves on the front lines of a spiritual war. We are accepting the fact that every single trial that comes our way will be led by Satan and he wants our destruction. Remember when we talked about counting it joy when we face temptation?
Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations
We do that because we are trusting in our Savior to see us through every trial, every temptation and NOT relying upon ourselves. If we were to trust in ourselves we would fail miserably.
There is joy in belonging to God, a joy you can find no where else. Giving God our lives- every single problem, every trial, every temptation must be given to God and it is only then that we can begin to call temptations and trials - joy, it is only then we can endure temptations, truly endured them. We endure out of love for God. We live our lives, our lives that are filled with one trial after another, daily trails, daily temptations.
We can't forget this-
Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
We should pray not to be lead into temptation, why? Because our natural inclination is to veer towards temptations, it is. The flesh desires things of the flesh and wars against the spiritual things of God. We are asking God to lead us not into temptation, to take away that natural inclination we possess towards temptations. Temptations come not from God, not ever from God but from Satan.
Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man
Trials will come, temptations will come and they must be endured, and we must get to the place where we can truly count them joy knowing they are all temporary to eternity.
More tomorrow by the grace of God!
Amen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)