(1 Corinthians 10:13)
I spoke recently about getting a battle plan from
God to be victorious over the battles we face during this lifetime. Today,
I want to focus on the temptations we all face each day. It is giving in to
those temptations that end up putting us in the battles we eventually have
to fight. So it is key to understand how to overcome the initial
temptations, thus avoid having to spend so much of our valuable life
fighting battles in our personal life which keep us from being the
productive servants God has raised us up to be. Hear this point clearly.
If satan can't get your soul, his next goal is to at least keep you busy
fighting personal battles. The more time you spend fighting personal
battles, the less time you have to serve God. That is why overcoming
temptation is so important.
The Bible clearly teaches us that evil comes from our heart. The actual
progression is it starts in our heart, moves to our mind, and is manifested
in our actions. That is why "creating a clean heart" is so important. That
is why it is important to stay in that deep, intimate daily contact with
the Lord, so that what flows from our heart is pure and clean...since that is
what dictates our actions. Temptations flow from the sin and evil still in
our heart, and then goes into our mind. It is in our mind that the
temptation finds fertile ground to grow. Again, I have spoken many times of
how important it is to "renew our mind", how important what we put into our
mind on a daily basis is. It is in our mind that temptation grows and
ultimately manifests itself in our actual conduct.
Today's scripture is one of God's special promises. God tells us that He
will always provide us a path of escape. That path of escape occurs while
the temptation is still in our mind. THAT IS THE TIME WE MUST OVERCOME
TEMPTATION. Once we allow it to live in our mind, the dye is cast and will
ultimately result in our rebellious behavior. There is not one person
reading this that can say God didn't give you a path of escape. The problem
is, you chose to ignore it. Many times, He gives us many chances to escape,
but we choose to keep going right through the stop sign, right through the
red light, right through the barriers....and then wonder how we could have
gotten into such a mess. To overcome temptation, you MUST use the path of
escape God gives you while that temptation is still in your mind. Once you
decide not to use that path of escape, it is only a matter of time before
that temptation actually results in rebellious conduct.
I love you and care about you so much. I know so many of you are fighting
the battles of life each day. You are in very difficult situations. My
goal is not only to help you overcome those difficult situations, but help
you to avoid getting yourself in those circumstances in the future. Jesus
loves you so much. Having walked this earth, He understands your weaknesses
and has promised to help you to avoid the temptations of this life. Your
intimate daily contact with Him strengthens you, and your love and desire to
live for Him gives you the motivation to take that path of escape He offers
and overcome temptation. You can count on my prayers that you recognize
each day the temptations this life offers, and use the tools God has given
you to live victoriously. Think of the incredible peace, joy, and the abundance
this life can be when we are living for Him, serving Him, and not constantly
wrapped up in those personal battles. May you be committed today to take
that path of escape he offers the next time you face temptation, and live in
the victory Christ won on Calvary!
