Feeling Tempted?

Temptation is something we all have to deal with; even Jesus was tempted.

Matthew 4:1-4

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”4 But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

So, how do you deal with temptation? We can learn a lot from looking at how Jesus dealt with temptation. When He was tempted, He responded with the Word of God. He was quoting the words Moses spoke to the people of Israel to remind them of the lessons they had learned in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy 8:3

3 “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. “

Each time Jesus was tempted, He quoted the Word of God as His only response. It is hard for us to respond the way Jesus did to temptation when we don’t know the Word of God. We need to not only read it daily, but study, meditate on it and memorize it.

How well do you know the word of God? Would you be able to respond to temptation the way Jesus did by quoting His Word? We spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to avoid temptations or prevent ourselves from falling into temptation. For most of us, we find ourselves committing the same sins over and over again. Maybe we need a new approach to dealing with those familiar temptations by simply responding with the Word of God.

Make an effort to spend time reading His Word each day. If you are not sure where to start, I would suggest the book of James. It is a short book that is all about how to live your life in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. You will find words you can use when tempted and may just find yourself being convicted of things you didn’t even realize were sin while reading it.

• Photo from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
• Scripture from http://www.biblegateway.com

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Spiritual Boot Camp Day 26

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and are ready to gear up for this week’s spiritual boot camp as we continue to look at James 4. We will be tackling some tough topics such as submission, temptation, sin, humility, our words and judgment. Buckle up because it might just be a bumpy ride!

James 4:7

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Verse 7 is directly tied to verse 6 where we were told “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. If we want to humble ourselves, we must first submit to the Lord. “Submission is not the same as obedience. Instead, it is the surrender of one’s will, which leads to obedience.” Humility begins with submitting to the Lord’s plans, desires and will for our lives and requires us to lay down our own in order to pick up His. Then we have to follow up our submission with a willingness to be obedient.

It is important to note that we can resist the enemy. He is NOT more powerful than our God and he does NOT have the power to overcome us.

1 Corinthians 10:13

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it.

This verse is very clear that we have everything we need to resist the enemy – we have a faithful God and His Holy Spirit dwells within us empowering us to follow Him. He doesn’t allow us “to be tempted beyond what” we “can bear”. In addition, He provides us a way out. So often when we are going to do something we aren’t supposed to do we get the sense that we aren’t supposed to do it. We hear that inner voice telling us we shouldn’t do it. That voice is the Holy Spirit trying to provide us a way out – a choice to submit to the Lord or fall into the temptation of the enemy. 

Other times, He actually provides a way out. When we are tempted to do something we shouldn’t do and we get a phone call from a friend asking us to do something else during that time instead. We may chalk these ways out up as coincidences and be grateful they have come along, but they are not coincidences or just great timing – they are the way out provided by our Heavenly Father.

When have you heard that inner voice telling you not to do something, not to say something or not to go somewhere and you ignored it? Did you find yourself doing something, saying something or being somewhere you shouldn’t have been? When was the last time you were provided a way out of temptation by the Lord? What situation or relationship are you in right now where you need His help? Are you submitting to His will or are you going your own way? In what areas of your life do you need to resist the enemy? Submit those areas to the Lord and follow that submission up with obedience to do His will rather than your own. 

• All Scripture references are from http://www.biblegateway.com

• Quote from “The Expositor’s Bible Commentary”, Vol. 12, Zondervan

Spiritual Boot Camp Day 5

Today we will be looking at what James has to say about temptation. It is something Jesus faced and something we too face on a daily basis.

James 1:13

 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

This verse makes it very clear that God is not the one who tempts us. God tests us to strengthen our faith but He never tempts us to sin.

James 1:14-15

but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Verse 14 says we are tempted by our “own evil desires”. Paul talks a lot about the internal struggle we face between the desires of our flesh versus the desires of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. Our flesh tempts us to do what we want to do versus what the Lord would have us do.

It says we are “dragged away” and “enticed” by our evil desires. “These two verbs are taken from the sphere of fishing and hunting.” “James pictures man’s “evil desire,” first, as attracting his attention and persuading him to approach the forbidden thing and, second, as luring him by means of bait to yield to the temptation.”1

Isn’t that a great description of what happens when we are tempted. It like watching a small child touch something the have been told not to touch. They look at it, they approach it, they back up and the approach it again. They get a closer look and reach out, but draw their hand back and eventually they reach out and touch it.

When we succumb to the temptations of our flesh, we experience spiritual death, a separation of ourself from the Lord. Recognizing our sin as sin is so important because we won’t change what we don’t acknowledge. What sin in your life do you need to acknowledge and seek forgiveness and turn from today?

James 1:16-18

¹⁶ Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ¹⁸ He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

What a contrast James introduces in these verses. We have been looking at our own evil desires leading to sin and spiritual death, but oh how it changes when we look at the Lord. James refers to the Lord as “the Father of the heavenly lights”. He is our Father and He loves us and longs for us to turn from our sin the way we do with our own children. It hurts Him when we make the wrong choices just like we are hurt when our children or loved ones make the wrong choices. It is hard for us to sit back and watch someone we love heading down the wrong path and it is the same for the Lord. We try to lead and guide our loved ones and the Holy Spirit tries to lead and guide us. “Heavenly lights” is quite a contrast from the darkness of sin.

These verses remind us that every good thing we have comes from the Lord. What do you need to thank the Lord for today? What blessings do you have in your life you take for granted? Spend some time today looking at your attitude, words and actions. Do you see where you have been lured by your own evil desires to sin? Confess them and seek His forgiveness. Don’t let the sun go down today without seeking His forgiveness so that there is no distance between you and your Heavenly Father and than Him and praise Him for all your blessings!

• Scripture references from http://www.biblegateway.com
• 1 Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 12, Zondervan