“Today is a new
day and I am NOT going to give in again.
I can do this!” If only I had a
dollar for every time I’ve said that in my life regarding temptations…then,
maybe then it wouldn’t have felt so painful when I failed to accomplish that
goal!
Have you ever
been tempted to do something that you knew was wrong? If you are living and breathing, I’m certain
the answer is YES! In case you didn’t
know, we live in a fallen world and temptations are all around. Some are subtle…others are in your face!
God’s Word says
we were made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), fearfully and
wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Yet,
because of the fall of man, we were all born with sinful natures (Romans
3:23). Have you ever thought
about what your sinful tendency is? What
is it you are tempted to do most often? Most
of us could probably list our top 3 strongest temptations and tendencies. For some of us, they may have been evident
from a young age. Others may have developed
over the years as a result of our environment and choices. Genetics and environment most definitely play
a factor in our temptations and tendencies!
Regardless of when those tendencies became evident in our lives, we all
fight the temptations from the enemy…he just targets us in different
areas. I have four young children and I
can already identify in them some of their sinful tendencies and I can see how
the devil tempts them in that area! I
have one child who has a quick temper!
From a young age, we have had to learn how to tame the beast! I laugh as I write that, but seriously, she
has a tendency to lose her anger and Satan uses that sinful nature/tendency to bait
her. He recognizes her tendencies and he
is crafty enough to customize his schemes to her tendencies…and he is
successful many times as she loses her temper and hauls off and hits her
brother or sister!
Whether your sinful
tendency is rage, addiction, sexual immorality, or overeating…the enemy recognizes
your tendency and you can be sure he’s going to tempt you where you are weak
because he desires to keep you in a life of sin and bondage.
John 16:33 says, “Here on
earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the
world.”
Pay particular
attention to the word “trials” in that passage. Now, read what James 1:2-4 says below.
“Consider it a great joy, my
brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing
of your faith produces endurance.
But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and
complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4
Trials test our
faith. Testing of our faith produces
endurance. Endurance must complete its
work. Then we are complete and lack
nothing.
This sounds simple,
but I’m sure you have learned that it’s not near as easy when you are in the
midst of experiencing those trials and testing of your faith. The enemy loves to strike us where we are weak. When we are weak, we don’t have as much
endurance so we need to do what we can in the natural to build up our defense and
then activate our faith so that God can do the supernatural!
For the person who
tends to turn to alcohol to solve your problems, your defense would be to never
enter the bars and stay away from the gatherings that are inundated with
alcohol! Your defense is stronger when
the drink isn’t right in front of your face.
Satan knows he can tempt you easier if he gets you to the party or to
the bar, so you can be assured he’s going to place people in your lives or in
your work environment that drink. Will
you take the bait?
For the person
who has a tendency to lose your anger, your defense would be to get a good night’s
rest and allow yourself plenty of time to get things done! Your defense is stronger when you are well
rested and not rushed. Satan knows he
can tempt you easier if he can keep you feeling stressed and overwhelmed. You can be assured he’s going to place people
in your lives to get in the way because he knows it will bring frustration and
that’s how he can steal your joy! Will
you take the bait?
For the person
battling fear, your defense is obviously going to be tailored to what you
fear! For me, since I fell into this
category, I’ll tell you what my defense is!
I have learned to recognize my tendency to worry and be fearful about certain
things. I know that’s an area of
weakness that the enemy has always tempted me with in an effort to keep me in
bondage. Because one of my biggest fears
has to do with sickness, death, or something happening to one of my children or
family members, there are specific things that I can do to build my
defense! I have to stay away from scary
movies, articles, and shows that chronicle real life stories about life
altering scenarios. They only produce
more worry so I just can’t watch them or read about them. I also need to stay off of the internet when
I get sick. If I google my symptoms or
the symptoms of my child, it almost always tells me I’m either dying or have a
serious disease so my defense is stronger when I stop so that my mind doesn’t
start dwelling on worst case scenarios!
I don’t live in denial, but I have learned that the enemy uses those
search results to keep me in bondage so in an effort to build my defense in the
natural, I choose to stay away from it! I’d
rather trust the expertise of my doctor more than some stranger who posted a
comment under the same question I typed into my search bar. You can be assured that Satan will use social
media, entertainment, and the news stations to surround me with stories of
sickness, death, abductions, and tragedies so much so that I could become a
prisoner in my own home because I’m afraid to leave my home or let my family
leave the house for fear of catching something or something happening to one of
us. Will I take his bait? Will you take his bait?
The enemy is
always scheming. He’s always tempting us
to take the bait. I mentioned there are
things that we can do in the physical realm to strengthen our defense and we
need to do everything in the natural that we can do to resist the devil. However, when we look at the life of Jesus,
we can learn firsthand how to resist and have victory over the devil’s
temptations. This past week, I was
reading the portion of scriptures in Matthew where Jesus was led to the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil.
Jesus was tempted
three times and each time he responded with, “It is Written.”
Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted by the Devil. After He had
fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry. Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If
You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
But He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread
alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him stand on
the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are
the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He will give His angels orders
concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you
will not strike your foot against a stone.”
Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the
Lord your God.”
Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him
all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will
fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and
serve only Him.”
Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to
serve Him.
Isn’t it just like Satan to wait and strike us
with temptation when we are at our weakest?
Notice Satan didn’t even approach Jesus until AFTER he had fasted 40
days and nights. He was physically weak
and hungry. These temptations for Jesus
were just as real and personalized as the temptations that we face every single
day. Satan knew Jesus was hungry so he
tempted him in his weakest area at that moment.
He does the same to us…tempts us in our weakness.
As I read this portion of scripture aloud, the
words “IT IS WRITTEN” just stood out to me.
In the past, I have read this story and thought “Well, this is
JESUS! Of course he’s not going to fall
for the tricks and temptations of the enemy!
He’s the Son of God!” However,
this time as I read it over and over, I realized what Jesus did! Listen, friends…GOD IS SO GOOD!!! He loves us so much that He came to earth in
the form of man so that He could pay the ultimate price for our sins so that we
could have eternal life with Him someday!
As if that wasn’t enough, Jesus left us an example all along the way of
how to live victoriously over the enemy while we are here on earth! We don’t have to wait for heaven to have
victory over the enemy and Jesus proved it here in this story!
How many times in our lives do we try to build
our defense in the natural only to realize we are too weak and continually give
in to the temptations of the enemy!? How
many times have you said to yourself I’m going to start eating healthy only to
realize that you are too weak to resist that piece of pie. How many times have you told yourself you are
going to stop smoking only to realize that you are too weak to resist the
desire? How many times have you told
yourself that you are going to choose joy only to realize you are too weak to
resist the urge to lose your temper when your kids get out of bed for the tenth
time at bedtime? Ya’ll, let me tell you
something…we ARE too weak! Yes, we need
to do our part in the natural, but Jesus said it best… “IT IS WRITTEN”! That’s our defense! The written Word of God is our defense! There is a reason God’s Word is called the
SWORD of the Spirit! It’s what we battle
with friends! What is the enemy tempting
you with today? Is he tempting you to
depend on a substance? Is he tempting
you to take hold of the doctor’s report?
Is he tempting you to be fearful for your children’s safety? Is he tempting you to be unfaithful? Is he tempting you to lose your temper? Is he tempting you to be deceitful? Is he tempting you to receive that sickness
that is trying to attach itself to you?
Is he tempting you to give into that tendency that you have had for so
long?
It’s time to tell the devil, IT IS WRITTEN!
IT IS WRITTEN: “NOT EVERYTHING THAT IS PERMISSIBLE TO ME IS
BENEFICIAL TO ME. I WILL NOT BE MASTERED
BY ANYTHING!” (1 Corinthians 6:12)
IT IS WRITTEN: “PRAISE THE LORD, MY SOUL, AND FORGET NOT ALL HIS
BENEFITS. HE FORGIVES ME ALL OF MY SINS
AND HEALS ALL OF MY DISEASES!” (Psalm 103:2-4)
IT IS WRITTEN: “NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST ME WILL PROSPER!” (Isaiah
54:17)
IT IS WRITTEN: “HE HAS GIVEN HIS ANGELS ORDERS OVER ME AND MY
CHILDREN TO PROTECT US IN ALL OUR WAYS!” (Psalm 91:11)
IT IS WRITTEN: “MY GOD OF HOPE HAS FILLED ME WITH JOY AND PEACE!”
(Romans 15:13)
IT IS WRITTEN: “THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE. I WILL BE GLAD AND REJOICE IN IT!” (Psalm
118:24)
IT IS WRITTEN: “I AM A CHILD OF GOD!” (Galatians 3:26)
IT IS WRITTEN: “GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN ME, THAN HE THAT IS IN
THE WORLD!” (1 John 4:4)
IT IS WRITTEN: “I AM THE HEAD AND NOT THE TAIL.” (Deuteronomy
28:13)
IT IS WRITTEN: “I AM BLESSED GOING IN AND BLESSED COMING OUT!”
(Deuteronomy 28:6)
IT IS WRITTEN: “I AM LOVED!” (John 3:16)
IT IS WRITTEN: “I AM FORGIVEN!” (Luke 7:48)
IT IS WRITTEN: “I AM HIGHLY FAVORED!” (Luke 1:28)
IT IS WRITTEN: “BY HIS STRIPES I AM HEALED!” (Isaiah 53:5)
IT IS WRITTEN: “I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHIRST WHO STRENGTHENS
ME!” (Philippians 4:13)
IT IS WRITTEN: “I HAVE NO FEAR!” (2 Timothy 1:7)
IT IS WRITTEN: “IF GOD IS FOR ME, WHO CAN STAND AGAINST ME!”
(Romans 8:31)
IT IS WRITTEN: “EVERYHTING I PUT MY HAND TO WILL PROSPER!” (PSALM
1:3)
IT IS WRITTEN: “THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH!” (Nehemiah
8:10)
Whatever it is that the devil is tempting you
with today, I can assure you there is a scripture written in the Word of God
that you can declare to resist his lies and temptations! Stop fighting in your own strength. Stop giving in and taking the bait. Instead resist him with the Word of God. Every time you feel the tendency to give in,
remember these words…IT IS WRITTEN! It
only took hearing those words three times from Jesus Himself before Satan had
to flee! With every written Word of God
spoken, it was like a stab in the heart with a double-edged sword! Think about that! The Word of God is alive and active! It’s powerful! It worked for Jesus and it still works for
you today! You are victorious! IT IS WRITTEN!!!
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