Escaping Temptation
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:13
"God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted
beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of
escape, that you may be able to endure it."
Nobody is exempt from temptation! Not even Jesus who had
a full on confrontation with the Devil who tried every temptation there was to
get Jesus to sin. Jesus had a scripture to knock down every temptation with the
contempt it deserved.
One of Jesus' most powerful blocks to temptation was
fasting. In this case He fasted for forty days ie no food for over 6 weeks. He
lived on the power God gave Him, and the strength you get when you deny every
lust of your flesh.
The strongest lust by far is the lust for food. Followed
by money, power, alcohol, drugs, sex and worldly acclaim (fame). These are the
common temptations everyone faces. So if you can deny the lust to gratify
hunger, then you can deny the other lusts too. A three day fast on water only,
with prayer and commitment can break any habit.
Jesus had an answer for the Devil in Matthew 4 v 10. He
said Get behind me Satan because the Word says you shall worship the Lord your
God and Him only shall you serve. This means that when you yield to your habit
you are serving the Devil. He (the Devil) is testing you to see if you really
worship and serve God only.
In James 1 v 13 -15 we read: "Let no man say when he
is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither
tempteth He any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own
lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
James also said in 4 v 7: "Submit yourselves
therefore to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you."
Therefore God cannot be manipulated by man or Devil. God
is not testing your commitment to Him, but the Devil is. Whoever you yield to,
that is your master. You can keep denying your drug habit, or any other habit,
or you can fast 3 days on water only - no food, no sex, no alcohol, no drug, no
TV, no work, no smoking, no entertainment.
Focus your life on Jesus for 3 days, and His ability to
set you free. Truly submit your life to God in every way and be cleansed by the
Blood of the Lamb of every sin, lie, denial, theft, addiction, bitterness and
demon. Then resist Satan. Deny him. Say NO, get thee behind me Satan. I
overcome you through the Blood of Jesus my Lord and my God. Satan WILL flee.
The temptation will vanish.
Another day the Devil will test your commitment again. If
you have continued to walk with Jesus in humility and gratitude, you will
submit to God and resist that temptation and the Devil will flee. If you
steadfastly stick to your guns you will be accomplished in overcoming
temptation and know that you are free indeed.
If you fill your heart and mind with praises to God, the Devil will look
elsewhere for victims.
If you are full of pride after your first victory and
boast about how you are now free and neglect to keep up the good work, the
enemy will find your body a nice, clean, empty house and your original lust
will return and bring seven worse demons with it and your condition will be far
worse than before.
Do not mess with God's plan for your life. You will now
be possessed by those demons and they don't come out easily. Unless you are 100% determined to walk the
rest of your life in God"s perfect will, don't even bother trying to get
loose. This cycle applies to all
addictive temptations. All lusts.
Jesus says to John in Revelations: unless you overcome
Satan and all his evil power over you, your name will be blotted out of the
Lamb's Book of Life. Seeing that only those whose names are in this book on the
day of Judgment will make it into Heaven, please use this exhortation as an
incentive to overcome every temptation, lust, habit that offends the Lord.
Because I was ignorant of the devil and his methods when
I was growing up, and fell into many stupid temptations, it is my quest in this
life, through my own deliverance and personal experiences, to inform without
compromise all who suffered from this same ignorance.
I found out that there was a hidden devil who hates every
human being and plans their utter destruction and death with glee. He hates our
God and uses His creation and its misery to hurt Him. The destruction of our
souls and bodies reaches the highest Heaven, and Jesus was sent to destroy
these works. Only He can undo the ravages of sin, lust and disease.
Trust Him with your life. He gave it to you!
Prayer: Father God, we are grateful for Jesus our Lord
every day. Forgive our bad habits and give us the strength to overcome them
through the power of Jesus. We don't want to be slaves to sin nor serve the
devil, we want to serve You in a good conscience. Today our ignorance is
exposed and we know ourselves as frail and fragile souls. When we are weak, You
are strong. Help us in our hour of need. In Jesus' name. Amen.