26 Growing Through Temptation

 

 

 

PURPOSE # 3

 

 

You Were Created To Become Like Christ

 

 

Let your roots grow down into Christ

and draw up nourishment from him.

See that you go on growing in the Lord,

and become strong and vigorous in the truth.

Colossians 2:7

 

 

26 Growing through Temptation 

 

 

Happy is the man who doesn't give in and

do wrong when he is tempted, for afterwards

he will get as his reward the crown of life that

God has promised those who love him.

James 1:12

 

My temptations have been

my masters in divinity.

Marthin Luther

 

Every temptation is an opportunity to do good.

On the path to spiritual maturity,

even temptation becomes a stepping-stone rather than a stumbling block

when you realize that it is just as much as occasion to do the right thing

as it is to do the wrong thing.

Temptation simply provides the choice.

While temptation is Satan's primary weapon to destroy you,

God wants to use it to develop you.

Every time you choose to do good instead of sin,

you are growing in the character of Christ.

 

"When the Holy Spirit controls our loves,

he will produce this kind of fruit in us:

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

Galatians 5:22-23

These nine quailities are an expansion of the Great Commandment

and portray a beautiful description of Jesus Christ.

To have the fruit of the Spirit is to be like Christ.

 

God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life

by allowing you to experience circumstances

in which you're tempted to express the exact opposite quality!

Character development always involves a choice,

and temptation provides that opportunity.

 

Happiness depends on external circumstances,

but joy is based on your relationship to God.

We learn real peace by choosing to trust God in circumstances

in which we are tempted to worry or be afraid.

Likewise, patience is developed in circumstances 

in which we're forced to wait and are tempted to be angry or have a short fuse.

 

God uses the opposite situation of each fruit to allow us a choice.

Integrity is built by defeating the temptation to be dishonest;

humility grows when we refuse to be prideful;

and endurance develops every time you reject the temptation to give up.

Every time you defeat a temptation,

you become more like Jesus!

 

 

How Temptation Works

 

 

"We are very familiar

with his evil schemes."

2 Corinthians 2:11

From the Bible we learn that temptation follows a four-step process,

which Satan used both on Adam and Eve and on Jesus.

 

In step one, Satan identifies a desire inside of you.

We think temptation lies around us,

but God says it begins within us.

"For from within, out of a person's heart,

come evil thoughts,

sexual immorality, theft, murder,

adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit,

eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy,

slander, pride, and foolishness.

All these vile things come from within."

Mark 7:21-23

James tells us that there is

 "a whole army of evil desires within you."

James 4:1

 

Step two is doubt.

"Watch out!

Don't let evil thoughts or doubts

make any of you

turn from the living God."

Hebrews 3:12

 

Step three is deception.

Satan is incapable of telling the truth and is called

"the Father of lies."

John 8:44

Anything he tells you will be untrue or just half-true.

But a little sin is like being a little pregnant:

It will eventually show itself.

 

Step four is disobedience.

You finally act on the thought you've been toying with in your mind.

What began as an idea gets birthed into behavior.

 

"We are tempted

when we are drawn away

and trapped by our own evil desires.

Then our evil desires conceive

and give birth to sin;

and sin, when it is full-grown,

gives birth to death.

do not be deceived, my dear friends."

James 1:14-16

 

 

Overcoming Temptation

 

 

Refuse to be intimidated.

Temtation is a sign that Satan hates you,

not a sign of weakness or worldliness.

The Bible says, "When you're tempted,..." not if.

 "Remember that the temptations

that come into your life are

not different from what others experience."

1 Corinthians 10:13

 

It is not a sin to be tempted.

Jesus was tempted, yet he never sinned.

Hebrews 4:15

Temptation only becomes a sin when you give in to it.

Martin Luther said,

"You cannot keep birds from flying over your head

but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair."

You can't keep the Devil from suggesting thoughts,

but you can choose not to dwell or act on them.

 

Recognize your pattern of temptation and be prepared for it.

 "Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce,

and would like nothing

better than to catch you napping."

1 Peter 5:8

The Bible tells us repeatedly to anticipate and be ready to face temptation.

Matthew 26:41; Ephesians 6:10-18;

1 Thessalonians 5:5, 8; 1 Peter 1/l13; 4:7; 5:8

"Don't give the Devil a chance."

Ephesians 4:27

 

Wise planning reduces tamptation.

"Plan carefully what you do....

Avoid evil and walk straight ahead.

Don't go one step off the right way."

Proverbs 4:26-27

"God's people avoid evil ways,

and they protect themselves

by watching where they go."

Proverbs 16:17

 

Request God's help.

"Call on me in times of trouble.

I will rescue you,

and you will honor me."

Psalm 50:15

The Bible guarantees that our cry for help will be heard

because Jesus is sympathetic to our struggle.

He faced the same temptations we do.

He "understands our weaknesses,

for he faced all of the same temptations we do,

yet he did not sin."

Hebrews 4:15

 

"Let us have confidence, then,

and approach God's throne, where there is grace.

There we will receive mercy and find grace

to help us just when we need it."

Hebrews 4:16

 

Temptations keep us dependent upon God.

When you stumble—which you will—it is not fatal.

Instead of giving in or giving up, look up to God, expect him to help you,

and remember the reward that is waiting for you:

"When people are tempted

and still continue strong,

they should be happy.

After they have proved their faith,

God will reward them with life forever."

James 1:12

 

 

 

DAY TWENTY-SIX

Thinking About My Purpose

 

 Point to Ponder: Every temptation is an opportunity to do good.

 

Verse to Remember: "God blesses the people who patiently endure testing.

Afterward they will receive the crown of life

 that God has promised to those who love him."

James 1:12

 

Question to Consider: What Christlike character quaility

can I develop by defeating the most common temptation I face?

 

 

p 201~208

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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