“I have resolved that my mouth will not sin” (Psalm 17:3). This
is a good resolution, yet one that cannot be accomplished without God’s
guidance and control in us. The most righteous have tried to not sin, but this
is the walk of life, impossible without God. Once receiving salvation through
Christ’s life, death and resurrection given for you, you begin the sanctifying
process of living like Jesus, the only sinless One. He did not do it through
His divinity, for He gave that up to live with us and show us the way to
holiness and righteousness. He was tempted in every way like us Hebrews 4:15
tells us. His temptation by Satan in the desert built up His strength even in
fasting. Jesus overcame the temptation by seeking His Father in Heaven, just as
we can.
Daniel the Hebrew taken into slavery by Nebuchadnezzar was a
man who sought the Lord continually to living purely. The vegetarian diet on
which He and His friends prospered was to show God’s favor upon him. We have
God’s favor also as we put aside sin through His power being made perfect in
our weakness as Paul tells us in 1Corinthians 12:9. Yes we will be tempted as
Daniel was, and even suffer as he did in the lion’s den. But God is faithful. “No
temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be
tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians
10:13). Yes, God is faithful to provide a way out or through, an escape so you
can handle the temptation. We are all
tempted, but the key is not to fall. As we trust God to resist sin He is
faithful, but we need to be watching and listening for the queues or help. He
enables us to resist it.
I know from personal experience that each time we resist we
get stronger. This does not make us immune, but more able, with God’s help to
resist. I think that there are several
things important to this quest.
·
Resolve
not to fall with God’s help through prayer and His Word
·
Resist
the Devil by praying for help
·
Resolve
before a temptation that you will not go there
·
Remove
temptations from your life (porn, sinful behaviors)
·
Run
from temptations like Joseph did from Potiphar’s wife
·
Retreat from
sinful situations and go on retreat to be restored
·
Rest
in God’s love and refreshment
·
Reconcile
yourself daily to refuse to fall to temptation
·
Resolve to
find an accountability partner to share your life and pray for you
·
Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), also known as reinforcing
steel, reinforcement steel and colloquially in Australia as reo, is a steel bar
or mesh of steel wires used as a tension device in reinforced concrete and
reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and hold the concrete in tension.
This description is better known in Scripture as putting on the full armor of
God:
·
“Finally,
be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so
that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day
of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done
everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around
your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet
fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up
the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of
the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.
And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s
people.” (Ephesians
6:10-18).
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.