Friday, December 7, 2018
How to Deal with Temptation
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:7–8 NLT)
You may be surprised to know that testing and temptation can have a positive effect in the life of a believer. It’s been said that Christians are a lot like teabags: you don’t know what they’re made of until you put them in hot water.
Sometimes when things are going well, we become more vulnerable to temptation. When we can’t always make ends meet or we’re sick or we’re having challenges, we are dependent on God. But when things are going well and we have a little extra money in the bank or our health is good, we can become complacent, lazy, and ultimately susceptible. That is when temptation will hit.
That’s when it hit David. There are two names that actually sum up the life of David: Goliath, who reminds us of David’s greatest victory, and Bathsheba, who reminds us of David’s worst defeat. David fell into sin with Bathsheba after he had been successful and ruled for many years. He was kind of kicking back and taking a spiritual vacation. And in his moment of idleness, temptation came.
As the old adage says, “You can’t stop a bird from flying over your head. But you can stop him from building a nest in your hair.” (In my case, the bird had better bring his own materials, because there is nothing there to work with.)
The Bible says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7 NKJV). Notice this doesn’t say to have extended conversations with the devil. Nor does it say to check out what he is offering, just so you know. It says to resist him.
Temptation isn’t a sin; it’s a call to battle. And there is a blessing waiting for the man or the woman who resists temptation.
Copyright © 2018 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
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