Blessed is the man that endureth temptation... James 1:12
You'll never be exempt from temptation. Each season of life just brings temptation in a different form. When you're young you'll struggle with the need for companionship and sexual fulfillment. In business you'll be tempted to distort the truth, cheat and pocket the money. When you become successful, if you're not careful you'll become ego-driven, controlling and opinionated. The truth is, you never become so spiritual as to be exempt from temptation. After forty days of prayer and fasting, Satan tempted Jesus. So you are as vulnerable to attack after a great spiritual experience as you are in your lowest moments.
Satan understood Jesus' assignment and he was out to stop Him from accomplishing it. And he is out to stop you too! The battle you're in is not over the past, it's over the future. In the face of repeated temptation Jesus defeated Satan by using the Word of God, and you must too. Without it you have no defense.
In what specific areas do you struggle? What's your strategy for victory? What percentage of the time are you successful? Which Scriptures have you memorized to help you conquer the tempter when he comes against you?
Look at Samson, God's champion: blinded, chained, grinding corn like an ox in a Philistine dungeon. Sin has a blinding effect, a binding effect and a grinding effect. Prisons are filled with people who were too weak to stand up against Satan. Dreams crash daily on the rocks of temptation.
Move the ship of your life away from those rocks while you still can. Get into the word of God and tap into the power with which you can defeat the wiles of Satan and triumph over his temptation.
Good truth, but I feel its very important also to be sure you know its not the normal experience for a true convert to be giving into temption, many leave this as a gray area, where you will give into your flesh at some point, but as long as you are doing this less, and staying in a good focus group, then all is well with God, but we know giving into temptation such as porn, drunkeness, adultery, out bursts of anger, etc, lead to death, and require real repentance to forsake it!
A Call to Repentance
Joel,2-12 “Now, therefore,” says the LORD,
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
13 So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the LORD your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
14 Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind Him—
Here is more strong proof what the lord requires of His creation to be reconciled to Himself, it’s very simple but made so complicated by the heaps and heaps of pastors and ministries who have the nerve to say mankind does NOT have to repent to be saved.
They come with a simple plan that was concocted by many reformed preachers and bible scholars, making the way to the cross more of a simple confession you are a sinner, then accepting the great substitution Jesus miraculously made for them, but they fail to give any proof that the word of God let alone the King of Kings taught this non sense!
Many will fight with all they have to preserve their man made doctrines including original sin, which then gives them many excuses to ignore the powerful verse above as well as many more strong warnings to repent, turn, come broken in heart before the mercy seat, and hope and pray God will grant pardon!
Now if this was being preached in the church system today, and well understood by the saved in sin defenders, then the mess Christianity is in today would not be so, instead, the word of God would become real, and powerful, converting the lost soul, once in love with sin, rebellion and the world, now cleansed and purged of all filthiness, and wickedness, ready to receive the implanted word of God!
But today these verses are totally ignored, and replaced with a sin message, undermined by many, many, reformed errors, where simple repentance is lost in a sea of original sin, imputation, substitution, OSAS etc, producing a church that was called poor, blind and naked by Jesus Himself!
2 Corinthians 6;17 The.refore
“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”[d]
18 “I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the LORD Almighty.”[e]
Act 26:20 But to those first in Damascus, and Jerusalem, and to all the country of Judea, and to the nations, I made known the command to repent and to turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
Tommy 1-23-13
PS. We must come to Jesus on His terms, not mans, I know many are taught the opposite today, they either were indoctrinated into these teachings at an early age, and refuse to even search the scriptures, search what the early church taught, or dig deep to see just how far off the mark many liberal translations of the Bible are.
When the reformation came about, around the year 1500, many denominations were formed that took these errors and built on them, leading to what we have today! Many will profess anything different from what their beloved denominations teach is heresy, and a lie, especially those who cling to Calvinism, or any form of it.
This I understand, and accept, as God predicted this would happen, when the few remnant come with the truth. But it’s a bitter pill to swallow, when you see so many sincere people, young and old, so angry and upset when the truth is presented to them, and they attack the messenger.
To me this shows just how far off the mark they are in their minds, they love the lie, refuse to hear anything else except the born sinner, Jesus sub plan, made so famous by the likes of Billy Graham, Ed Young, and many more mega preachers, selling a gospel that is totally backwards from what the early church and Christ taught.
Are we full of pride and arrogant to say these things? Are we evil, uncaring, and full of hate when we confront the wall of deception accepted as truth today?
I guess I can also say this about the many who cling to the saved IN sin message, repeat after me crowd, who has every excuse why they can sin with impunity, then just confess, and then continue as a vile sinner in heart, where purity and separation is a pipe dream never to be accomplished in this life, even though the whole council of God is against them.
Dig deep as commanded, have some confidence in the Lord to lead you into truth, not some ministry or church pastor you support, who clings to these errors for whatever reason.
The gospel according to godliness is a TO DO gospel, which can only be received and understood in its form and context when the sinner wakes up and does this:
James 1-21-22;
21 So get rid of all uncleanness(repent) and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].!
1, You repent first and foremost, see 2 Corinthians 7-10-11.
2, Then if the repentance is real, and from the heart, godly sorrow as described in 2 Corinthians, you then can receive the implanted word of God, and understand it as written by God.
3, Now you become a passionate doer of the word, obeying God from your heart, cleansed and purified, broken and willing to learn and grow more, and more in His great truth.
